Colura

Colura is a genus of epiphytic liverworts and consists of approximately 60 species that are distributed mostly in the tropics. Species in this genus are no larger than a couple millimetres in size and may possess small water sac organs formed from fused leaf margins that trap small ciliates. It is because of this trapping mechanism that some species have been suspected of carnivory, even as early as 1893. One such species, Colura zoophaga, was the subject of a study that aimed to investigate the assumed carnivorous habit among liverworts. The results confirmed that ciliates were captured and died within the water sac traps, which are not unlike the bladder traps of Utricularia. Whether the species attract, digest, or absorb the prey has not been confirmed, however. The epiphytic habit of the genus, requiring all nutrients to be acquired from rainwater, is similar to the habit of known carnivorous plants.[1][2]

Colura
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Division:
Marchantiophyta
Class:
Jungermanniopsida
Order:
Porellales
Family:
Lejeuneaceae
Genus:
Colura

(Dumort.) Dumort.
Species

Approximately 60, see text.

Species
  • Colura acroloba
  • Colura ari
  • Colura australiensis
  • Colura bisvoluta
  • Colura calderae
  • Colura calyptrifolia
  • Colura conica
  • Colura crispiloba
  • Colura fistulosa
  • Colura leratii
  • Colura pulcherrima
  • Colura queenslandica
  • Colura saccophylla
  • Colura simplicior
  • Colura superba
  • Colura tenuicornis
  • Colura zoophaga
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References
  1. Barthlott, W., Porembski, S., Seine, R., and Theisen, I. (2007). The Curious World of Carnivorous Plants: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Biology and Cultivation. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 180-181.
  2. Barthlott, W., Fischer, E., Frahm, J.-P., and Seine, R. (2000). First experimental evidence for zoophagy in the hepatic Colura. Plant Biology (Stuttgart), 2: 93-97.


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