Identification notes
Kurzia is a genus of tiny pinnately branched leafy liverworts with leaves deeply divided into usually four long narrow lobes that are 2-4 cells wide or less at the base. They are closely related to the rarer genus Tricholepidozia, but have no stem hyalodermis and the leaves are transversely inserted. Vegetatively the species can look quite similar, and fertile material is usually required for confident identification.
Kurzia sylvatica usually grows in patches on wet peaty banks or damp acid rocks, either in pure patches, which can be quite dense and extensive, or mixed with other liverworts such as Cephalozia bicuspidata. Because the stems are so small (approx 350µm wide) there is quite often a film of water trapped by the fine leaves which makes them difficult to see clearly with a hand lens, and the stems look rather like long, thin, catkins. K. pauciflora usually grows amongst Sphagnum in bogs.
It is usually necessary to search through material with a stereo dissecting microscope to find inflorescences. The female gametangia are pointed. The female bracts have cilia 2-3 cells long (in K. pauciflora they are longer).
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