Liverworts

Three species of liverwort are covered in this section:

• Marsh earwort (Jamesoniella undulifolia)
• Norfolk flapwort (Leiocolea rutheana var. rutheana)
• Petalwort (Petalophyllum ralfsii)

Marsh earwort  

This is a European Boreo-arctic montane species which is widespread in Europe but also occurs in North America and Eastern Asia. Despite its wide range, with possibly as much as 25 – 49% of its world population in the UK, its conservation is considered to be a global concern.

The only record for this species in the North West region is from Barrowfield, southwest of Kendal, where it is believed to have become extinct in the early 1960’s.

Norfolk flapwort

This is a Circumpolar Boreo-arctic montane species, which is considered to be of favourable conservation status in Europe as a whole. Not more than 24% of its world population occurs in the UK.

The type variety of this species is currently known from a single site in the north of England, where it occurs in a base-rich flush at an altitude of 260m on Tarn Moor on the Orton Fells.

Petalwort

This is a member of the Mediterranean – Atlantic element of the British flora that is uncommon throughout its range, but it also occurs in North America. In European terms, its conservation status is unfavourable and, because the species is native to Britain where it is likely that 25 – 49% of its global population occurs, it has been included in Appendix I of the Bern Convention, as well as Annexe IIb of the EC Habitats Directive.

This species is extremely localised in NW England, where all known occurrences are confined to the Sefton coast system of sand dunes.

For further information please see the document for download on this page.