Short answers, pulled from the story.
The name liverwort originates from the Doctrine of Signatures, an ancient belief that the plant's shape resembled the human liver and could cure liver diseases. This misconception led to the common name hepatics, derived from the Latin word hēpaticus meaning belonging to the liver.
In 2010, five different types of fossilized liverwort spores were found in Argentina, dating to the Middle Ordovician period around 470 million years ago. These fossils suggest that liverworts were among the first plants to colonize land.
In 2008, Japanese researchers discovered that certain liverworts fire sperm-containing water up to 15 centimeters in the air using raindrops splashing into shallow cups. This mechanism allows them to fertilize female plants growing more than a meter from the nearest male.
Bryologists classify liverworts in the division Marchantiophyta, which is named after the genus Marchantia. The division is sometimes referred to as Hepaticophyta, but this name should not be confused with the flowering plant genus Hepatica.
There are approximately 9000 species of liverworts distributed globally, thriving in humid locations, deserts, and even the Arctic. They cover large patches of ground, rocks, and trees wherever they find a firm substrate.