Colura

Colura is the botanical name for a genus of Jungermanniopsida, it was first described in 1835 by Dumortier.

Description

The plants are only a few millimeters in size and all live as epiphytes or epiphyllous. The only 1 mm large leaves form small, sealed with a kind of flap pockets of water and serve at Colura zoophaga - but as has been suspected for nearly a hundred years until in 2000 it was proven - as devices for ciliates and other protozoa, which in after only a short life span these traps die and partly diffuse directly into the moss tissue, where they are partly decomposed by bacteria.

Dissemination

The species of the genus inhabit almost all tropical regions, up to Colura calyptrifolia which is to be found from the tropics to Scotland. In the German speaking any kind is based.

System

There are about 20 species are known:

• Colura ari
• Colura calyptrifolia
• Colura clavigera (South America)
• Colura cylindrica (South America)
• Colura digitalis
• Colura greig - smithii (South America)
• Colura hattoriana
• Colura lyrata (South America)
• Colura rhynchophora (South America)
• Colura saccophylla
• Colura sagittistipula
• Colura tenuicornis (South America)
• Colura tortifolia (South America)
• Colura ulei
• Colura valida (South America)
• Colura zoophaga (Kenya )