forks across the damp tree bark surface
- Size
- Width: 2–5 cm
- Lifespan
- 3–7 years
- Diet
- Photosynthetic. Draws energy from sunlight. Requires consistent moisture, high humidity, and stable bark surfaces.
- Habitat
- Grows on bark of trees, rocks, and wood in damp, shaded forests. Forms flat, ribbon-like strands that fork into network of green branches.
- Range
- Found throughout North and South Islands on bark of native trees, rocks, and wood. Most common in lowland and montane forests with high rainfall. Also found worldwide.
- Endemism
- Native
- Main Threats
- None significant. Common and widespread in damp, shaded forests. Localised threats include forest clearance, removal of old trees, and climate change reducing humidity.
- Population
- Not Threatened. Common on bark of native trees, rocks, and wood in damp, shaded forests throughout New Zealand. Widespread in temperate regions.
- Conservation Status
- Not Threatened
- Human Risk
- harmless
- Handling Note
- common liverwort, safe to handle
- Conservation Note
- Native liverwort; not assessed by NZTCS as bryophytes are generally outside the scope of current threat classifications.
- Te Ao Māori
- No recorded Māori name distinguishes metzgeria liverwort from other liverworts. Liverworts generally called pūkohu or grouped with small damp-loving plants. Tangled, ribbon-like mats on bark noticed. Looked like rivers of forest. Like branches of tree. No distinct name survives. Not used as medicine or dye. Too small. Too delicate. Too easy to overlook. Simply part of forest. Quiet, branching presence on bark.
Observers trace its forks. Metzgeria furcata looks like tangle of green ribbons. Body or thallus is flat, ribbon-like, and branching. Forming loose, sprawling mats on bark. Ribbons are translucent and pale green. Often with waxy sheen. They split and split again. Forking into network of branches that never quite go in straight line. Liverwort of indecisive split. Keeps changing mind about where it is going. Looks like it cannot commit to direction.
What makes it special is branching. Metzgeria liverwort is one of most branched liverworts in New Zealand. Thallus forks repeatedly. Creating complex network of green ribbons spreading across bark. Branches are flat and ribbon-like. With distinct midrib running down centre. Margins are wavy and often have fringe of tiny hairs. Liverwort of endless fork. Never quite decides. Seems to embody idea of possibility.
Thallus is only one cell thick in most places. Making it translucent and delicate. Surface covered in tiny, peg-like projections called papillae. Giving it slightly rough texture. Colour is pale, translucent green. Often with waxy sheen. Under hand lens, papillae visible. Tiny bumps that catch light.
Biologically it reproduces by spores released from capsules on short stalks. Also reproduces asexually via gemmae. Small, disc-like propagules forming on thallus. Gemmae break off and grow into new plants. Form of cloning allows liverwort to spread across bark.
To find metzgeria liverwort is to find tangle of green ribbons on bark. Pale, translucent, and forked. Living indecision on trunk. See way they split and split again. Way they never quite decide where to go. Liverwort of endless fork. Keeps changing mind. Proves not knowing where you are going can be beautiful thing. It carries on regardless.