# Hornworts of Great Britain
The hornworts of Great Britain are the four species of the plant division Anthocerotophyta recorded in the country: *Anthoceros punctatus*, *Anthoceros agrestis*, *Phaeoceros laevis*, and *Phaeoceros carolinianus*. They are thalloid land plants quite distinct from mosses and liverworts.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Number of British species | Four confirmed hornworts, against 299 liverworts and 795 mosses at species rank in Britain and Ireland[1](https://doi.org/10.1080/03736687.2020.1860866) |
| The four species | *Anthoceros punctatus*, *A. agrestis*, *Phaeoceros laevis*, *P. carolinianus*[2](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CC-2021-Online-Version.pdf) |
| Typical habitat | Bare, damp arable soil on neutral or slightly alkaline, water-retentive clay and loam[3](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Atlas-of-British-and-Irish-Bryophytes-V1-55.pdf) |
| Most widespread species | *Anthoceros punctatus*, recorded in roughly 70 British vice-counties[2](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CC-2021-Online-Version.pdf) |
| Most restricted common species | *Phaeoceros carolinianus*, recorded in about 20 vice-counties[2](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CC-2021-Online-Version.pdf) |
| Population trend | *A. agrestis* recorded in 88 hectads in Britain in 1950–1989 but only 50 in 1990–2013[3](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Atlas-of-British-and-Irish-Bryophytes-V1-55.pdf) |
| Recording framework | 112 British vice-counties; additions accepted only with a voucher specimen[2](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CC-2021-Online-Version.pdf) |
## What hornworts are, and are not
Hornworts are a small division of land plants. Two features separate them from the other bryophytes. They are the only extant land plant lineage, apart from some lycophytes, with a single chloroplast (or just a few) per cell[4](https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.16874). And their sporophyte lacks a seta: it is essentially a growing sporangium that produces spores continuously upward from a basal meristem, and it bears stomata[4](https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.16874).
## The British list
The 2020 checklist of the bryophytes of Britain and Ireland recognizes four hornworts at species rank, alongside 299 liverworts and 795 mosses[1](https://doi.org/10.1080/03736687.2020.1860866). The Census Catalogue of the British Bryological Society lists the same four species, each with Watsonian vice-county records: *Anthoceros punctatus* L., *Anthoceros agrestis* Paton, *Phaeoceros laevis* (L.) Prosk., and *Phaeoceros carolinianus* (Michx.) Prosk.[2](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CC-2021-Online-Version.pdf).
Older floras applied some of these names differently. *Anthoceros agrestis* was long treated under *A. punctatus* in the broad sense; the UKSI accepted name for Field Hornwort lists *Anthoceros punctatus auctorum* as a synonym, reflecting that earlier misapplication[5](https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NBNSYS0000036062). ITIS, which verifies *A. punctatus* L. as a species, records further synonyms from older treatments, including *Anthoceros husnotii* Steph. and *Anthoceros constans* Lindb.[6](https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=15661).
## Distribution and habitat
The two *Anthoceros* species and the two *Phaeoceros* species differ clearly in how widely they are recorded. *Anthoceros punctatus* appears in roughly 70 British vice-counties in the Census Catalogue, while *P. carolinianus* is recorded in far fewer, about 20[2](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CC-2021-Online-Version.pdf).
Habitat separates the two *Anthoceros* species. *A. agrestis* is a colonist of bare soils almost entirely restricted to arable fields, where it grows as a summer annual on neutral or slightly alkaline, water-retentive clay and loam, from sea level to 215 m; in contrast, *A. punctatus* sometimes grows in fields but is more often found in other habitats[3](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Atlas-of-British-and-Irish-Bryophytes-V1-55.pdf). Sporophytes of *A. agrestis* mature from July to December, and in a Swiss population studied by Bisang (2003), the first sporophytes matured just four weeks after germination[3](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Atlas-of-British-and-Irish-Bryophytes-V1-55.pdf).
Cornish recording notes illustrate the range of secondary habitats used by *A. punctatus*: damp soil in arable fields, mainly cereal stubble, and also wet, little-used tracks at heathland edges, china clay spoil, river banks, and pastures, often with associates such as *Ceratodon purpureus*, *Phaeoceros laevis*, *Riccia sorocarpa*, and *Tortula truncata*[7](https://cisfbr.org.uk/Bryo/Cornish_Bryophytes_Anthoceros_punctatus.html).
## By the numbers
Hornworts are a very small part of the British bryophyte flora: four species against 299 liverworts and 795 mosses[1](https://doi.org/10.1080/03736687.2020.1860866). The same imbalance holds across Europe, where Hodgetts' review for the National Parks and Wildlife Service of Ireland counts 541 liverwort and hornwort taxa together, of which 242 (45%) are Red List candidates, and 1439 mosses, of which 693 (48%) are candidates[8](https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/IWM84.pdf).
Two numbers help explain the small European flora. Hornworts worldwide comprise only 11 genera in five orders[4](https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.16874). And European *A. agrestis* is young: a single and recent origin, less than one million years ago, has been suggested for the species in Europe[4](https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.16874).
## Conservation status and threats
The best-documented trend concerns *A. agrestis*. In Britain it was recorded in 36 hectads before 1950, 88 hectads in 1950–1989, and 50 hectads in 1990–2013; in Ireland it has been recorded in only 2 hectads since 1990[3](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Atlas-of-British-and-Irish-Bryophytes-V1-55.pdf). The Atlas attributes the English decline to arable intensification, including a large-scale shift from spring cultivation to autumn plowing, which does not allow *Anthoceros* thalli that germinate sufficient time to produce spores; a similar decline has occurred in central Europe[3](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Atlas-of-British-and-Irish-Bryophytes-V1-55.pdf).
The species is not necessarily lost from a site when it disappears. *A. agrestis* may reappear in fields after years of unfavorable management from a persistent spore bank[3](https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Atlas-of-British-and-Irish-Bryophytes-V1-55.pdf).
## References
1. A new checklist of the bryophytes of Britain and Ireland (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/03736687.2020.1860866
2. A Census Catalogue of British and Irish Bryophytes (2021 online version), British Bryological Society. https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CC-2021-Online-Version.pdf
3. Atlas of British and Irish Bryophytes, Anthoceros agrestis account, British Bryological Society. https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Atlas-of-British-and-Irish-Bryophytes-V1-55.pdf
4. The hornworts: morphology, evolution and development, New Phytologist. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.16874
5. Anthoceros agrestis: Field Hornwort, NBN Atlas. https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NBNSYS0000036062
6. ITIS Report: Anthoceros punctatus. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=15661
7. Cornish Hornworts: Anthoceros punctatus. https://cisfbr.org.uk/Bryo/Cornish_Bryophytes_Anthoceros_punctatus.html
8. Hodgetts, Checklist and country status of European bryophytes, Irish Wildlife Manuals 84, National Parks & Wildlife Service. https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/IWM84.pdf
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Plants and algae › Mosses and other bryophytes › Regional bryophyte floras › British Isles bryophyte floras › List of hornworts of Great Britain*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license