Liverwort
I find Liverwort fascinating, and this very much enlarged photo shows very small "parasol" structures growing up through the surrounding mosses. I think this one belongs to the Marchantia species. Saw this one in the forest out past Bragg Creek, west of the city, three days ago.
"One reason liverworts are so curious is that in terms of the evolution of life on Earth, these plants are old. Liverworts are often referred to as "the simplest true plants." Instead of bearing regular roots, liverworts anchor themselves with rather primitive and simple, one-celled appendages known as rhizoids. Liverworts are called liverworts because long ago the people who named them felt that the curious arrangement of cells on the surface of some liverworts was similar to the cell arrangement in actual livers taken from animals." From backyardnature.net.
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Taken on Tuesday June 30, 2009
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Posted on Saturday July 4, 2009
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