Bazzania trilobata

Bazzania trilobata is a distinctive leafy liverwort whose core habitat in Scotland is in temperate rainforest. It is an indicator of good oceanic conditions, and that rarer species may be present nearby.

Globally, the core range of this species seems to be both Western Europe, and the forests of eastern North America.

The picture above is a mat of Bazzania trilobata growing on a common alder (Alnus glutinosa) in the Trossachs. The leaf bud at the foreground of the picture is from that alder. The purplish straggly species in the background is another liverwort of the genus Frullania, The turquoise green thing to the left of the alder are possibly the squamules of a Cladonia - I should go back to have a look.

That mat is about the size of a hand, so for a liverwort, those leaves are really quite large. The leaves end in three lobes, wbich unusually for a liverwort even I can make out without a hand lens. I have just realised this is why its called trilobata. Up until now, I thought it was because it looked like a group of extinct arthropods which evolved in the early Cambrian period (over 500 million years ago) called trilobites, which it sort of does... a little. I'm seeing it less now...

The forked branching at the end is also a useful ID feature for this species.