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Radula is a genus of about 248 species of leafy liverworts, small green plants that form scaly patches on tree trunks, logs and rocks in moist, sheltered places. Commonly grown members are rarely cultivated; they are usually found growing wild and are best kept in damp, shaded conditions.
Radula is a genus of liverwort in the family Radulaceae. The genus includes 248 species of small plants that typically grow as green, scaly patches on tree trunks, logs, or rocks in moist environments. It is distinguished from other liverworts by several unique features, including the production of root-like structures (rhizoids) exclusively from leaf surfaces and characteristic branching patterns. The plants have rounded, overlapping leaves consisting of two unequal lobes, with considerable variation in structure across species. Following a major taxonomic revision in 2022, the genus comprises five subgenera with distributions ranging from tropical to temperate regions. The oldest known fossil species, R. cretacea, found in Burmese amber, dates to the Cenomanian age, though molecular evidence suggests the genus originated in the Triassic period, around 228 million years ago.
Genus Radula is chemically distinct from other liverworts because it produces unique compounds called bibenzyls and their derivatives. These are organic molecules made up of two connected benzene rings with various chemical modifications. The most common compounds found in Radula species are 3,5-dihydroxy-2-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)bibenzyl and 2-geranyl-3,5-dihydroxybibenzyl, which often form the basic structure for more complex molecules in these plants.
Of particular interest is the presence of compounds similar to those found in cannabis (cannabinoids) in some Radula species. For example, Radula marginata produces perrottetinene, a compound that has psychoactive properties similar to THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component in cannabis). Research has shown that perrottetinene can cross the blood-brain barrier and cause effects like lowered body temperature and reduced movement in laboratory studies.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Radula (plant) 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.
