Liverwort Problems and Cures

Liverworts are primitive plants that can become a nuisance in plant pots and lawns. Liverworts are related to mosses and can look like slimy Algae.

There are 300 species of Liverwort native to the UK and up to 10,000 worldwide.
Thallose Liverworts have a flattened, plate like body, called the thalus, and no leaves.
A common thallose is Marchantia which is topped with an umbrella like sexual organ.
Leafy Liverworts have two ranks of flattened leaves growing out from a stem and a third under-layer.
Instead of bearing regular roots, liverworts anchor themselves with simple appendages known as rhizoids

These plants are a nuisance because they colonise a pot plant and form a crusty surface layer.
Liverworts like acidic, moist, shadyÂ conditions so deny them these luxuries where practical.
Use free drainage in pot plants especially at the top couple of inches.
Liverworts can grow on hard surface and can be treated with acetic or pelargonic acid, (Doff Fast Acting Natural Weed Sprayor Finalsan moss killers)
If they infest a damp lawn scrape off the excess and spike to improve drainage. Add lawn sand if desired.
Some thallose Liverwort species are aquatic and grow on ponds like flecks of lettuce.
Liverworts reproduce by spores or gammea often transferred by water. Water pots from the bottom.
Glyphosate and several weed killers will work. Add a few drops of detergent in the water to try to penetrate the waxy surface of the Liverwort.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
Alpine Garden Society (AGS)
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