Pleurozia
# Pleurozia

Pleurozia is the only genus of liverworts in the family Pleuroziaceae, which is now classified in its own order Pleuroziales, but was previously included in a broader circumscription of the Jungermanniales. The genus includes twelve species, and as a whole is both physically distinctive and widely distributed.

The lower leaf lobes of Pleurozia species are fused, forming a closed water sac covered by a movable lid similar in structure to those of the angiosperm genus Utricularia. These sacs were assumed to play a role in water storage, but a 2005 study on Pleurozia purpurea found that the sacs attract and trap ciliates, much in the same way as Utricularia. Observations of plants in situ also revealed a large number of trapped prey within the sacs, suggesting that the species in this genus obtain some benefit from a carnivorous habit. After Colura, this was the second report of zoophagy among the liverworts.

## Taxonomy

The genus Pleurozia has been subdivided into three subenera:

* Pleurozia subg. Pleurozia
   * Pleurozia gigantea (Weber) Lindberg
* Pleurozia subg. Constantifolia Thiers
   * Pleurozia purpurea Lindberg
   * Pleurozia conchifolia (Hooker & Arnott) Austin
* Pleurozia subg. Diversifolia Thiers
   * Pleurozia acinosa (Mitten) Trevisan
   * Pleurozia articulata (Lindberg) Lindberg & Lackström
   * Pleurozia caledonica (Gottsche ex Jack) Stephani
   * Pleurozia curiosa Thiers
   * Pleurozia heterophylla Stephani ex Fulford
   * Pleurozia johannis-winkleri Herzog
   * Pleurozia paradoxa (Jack) Schiffner
   * Pleurozia subinflata (Austin) Austin
* Unplaced
   * Pleurozia pocsii Müller
