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Proskauera is a recently erected genus represented by two species, both of
which occur in Tasmania. Species of Proskauera were previously part of Plagiochila until
molecular work supported the ancestral nature of the two
Proskauera species. Proskauera otherwise looks like a small
Plagiochila. The papillose cells
of the leaves however is a highly distinctive character which separates
Proskauera
from Plagiochila. Proskauera pleurata (= Plagiochila pleurata) is an
uncommon and nondescript rainforest liverwort that grows almost exclusively
as small dark clumps on the
low branches of trees or shrubs in rainforest or wet forest.
P. pleurata is dioecious (different male and female plants).
The perianth is distinctively ribbed .
P. pleurata may be mistaken for the
closely related P. fruticella but the latter species occurs
more as a terrestrial species growing beside streams and the leaf
cells are less densely papillose.
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