Romance among the lower life forms

Just a random portion of a damp and shady bank in early March but there's so much going on here. Only one plant is actually in bloom, the golden saxifrage in the top right corner, but the leaves of barren strawberry and lesser celandine are visible and bluebell shoots are pushing up through the moss - their flowers will follow.

But to me the most interesting thing is the tangle of delicate filaments, resembling the finest of Japanese thread noodles, that indicate that sex has taken place among the liverworts. These are a very simple, early, form of plant life, which, instead of stems, roots and leaves, possess flat green lobes called thalli that adhere to a damp surface. (The shape naturally gave rise to the entirely erroneous belief that they were good for ailments of the liver.)

Liverworts appeared on the earth 400 million years ago, before true plants developed. Despite their primitiveness their sex life is complicated and surprisingly elaborate. First off, they can also reproduce asexually if needs be, but leaving that aside, they do exist as male and female forms which bear respective 'structures' on their lobes. When sufficiently moist , male cells migrate from the male structures and find their way into the female structures. Following fertilization, the female cell produces a tiny black capsule which is born upwards by the stems seen here. The capsule bursts open to release ripe spores into the air. Hence the little fluffy yellow topknots. The spores float away to start new liverworts. The cycle of life keeps turning.