New York Scalewort

A leafy liverwort that forms a low-spreading mat of irregularly branched, leafy stems. The mat of leafy stems clings tightly to the underlying surface, and the mat pictured was approximately 4cm tall. The individual leafy stems are only 1 mm across and were reddish brown, which is their usual color during the winter. Along the stems, there are alternate leaves that partially overlap each other. The lower lobes of the leaves can store water, which enables these miniature plants to withstand dry spells for a long period of time. For some reason, I've never paid much attention to these before even though I see them everywhere-they look like little snowflakes or roots spreading on tree trunks, but their structure is quite amazing, especially up-close!