About Indocolea devendrae:
- It is a new species of bryophyte plant.
- It was discovered in the forests of northern Kerala.
- It has been named 'Indocolea devendrae' in honour of noted bryologist and specialist in the study of non-flowering plants, Devendra Kumar Singh of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).
- A unique feature of the newly identified plant is that it grows on the mushroom Phellinus fastuosus, which develops on tree trunks.
- Indocolea is an entirely new genus discovered in India and belongs to liverworts, a group within the bryophytes.
What is a Liverwort?
- It is a species of small nonvascular (lacking xylem and phloem) spore-producing plants.
- They are closely related to mosses and hornworts.
- Unlike flowering plants, liverworts lack true roots, stems, and leaves.
- Rather than having distinct stems and leaves, liverworts have a combined structure called a ‘’thallus’’ that branches, creating flattened lobes.
- They absorb water and nutrients directly through their surface.
- Liverworts are distributed worldwide, though most commonly in the tropics.
- The plants are not economically important to humans but do provide food for animals, facilitate the decay of logs, and aid in the disintegration of rocks by their ability to retain moisture.
- Liverworts are among the oldest terrestrial plants on Earth, with fossil records dating back over 470 million years.
