The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Porella platyphylla
Porella platyphylla is a small leafy liverwort (a non-flowering moss-like plant) that grows on tree bark and rocks in damp, shaded woodland. It is grown mainly by enthusiasts for naturalistic or vivarium displays, and it needs consistent moisture and humidity.
Porella platyphylla is a species of liverwort belonging to the family Porellaceae. It has a Holarctic distribution, occurring across Eurasia and North America, where it typically grows on tree bark and rocks in areas with adequate rainfall. The species is most common in regions receiving at least 600 millimetres of annual precipitation. The species forms part of a complex taxonomic group that includes several closely related species and hybrids, with populations showing distinct genetic differences between continents despite their morphological similarity.
The species is characterised by its obtuse-rounded leaf lobes with flat margins, and irregular teeth at the perianth mouth when mature. It reproduces both sexually, with separate male and female plants, and asexually through leaf fragments. P.
Porella platyphylla produces a wide range of terpenoid metabolites, including mono-, sesqui-, di- and triterpenoids. The species belongs to the "nonpungent" chemotype of Porella species (referring to taste rather than smell), producing primarily pinguisane sesquiterpenoids and sacculatane diterpenoids – carbon skeletons that remain unique to liverworts. The species can be distinguished chemically from pungent Porella species, which produce intensely pungent drimane compounds and related substances. P. platyphylla belongs to the pinguisane-sacculatane chemotype, characterised by high amounts of pinguisane-type sesquiterpenoids alongside sacculatane-type diterpenoids. It is known for the presence of monoterpenoids, with α-terpinene as the most abundant component.
Chemical composition shows strong correlation with molecular phylogenetic data in the genus Porella. The chemical profile of P. platyphylla places it in a clade with P. navicularis, both sharing the pinguisane-sacculatane chemotype. The absence of pungent drimane compounds distinguishes this clade from the P.
Porella platyphylla is widely distributed in forest ecosystems that receive at least 600 millimetres of annual precipitation. It is particularly abundant in northern and central Europe and along the Atlantic coast and islands, though it can also be found scattered throughout Mediterranean regions. The liverwort has a Holarctic distribution pattern, occurring across Eurasia and North America. The species shows distinct geographical structuring in its genetic makeup, with European and North American populations forming separate sister clades. While the species is capable of long-distance dispersal—as evidenced by its wide distribution—molecular evidence suggests that successful establishment and genetic mixing between distant populations remains relatively rare. Whilst the species is widespread in Europe, the typical European form (P. platyphylla sensu stricto) has been confirmed from only a single locality in New Mexico in North America.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Porella platyphylla by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
