Takakia is an enigmatic mosses genus with only two species. It was first discovered in the Himalayas and described simply as a new liverwort species (Lepidozia ceratophylla) within an existing genus by William Mitten in 1861. The discovery of similar odd plants in the mid-20th century sparked more interest, many unusual features of these plants such as finger-like leaves, creeping rhizomes, capsule ruptures along a single spiral slit, etc. led to the establishment in 1958 of the species Takakia lepidozioides, and the species originally described by Mitten was subsequently recognized by Grolle as belonging to this new genus, and accordingly renamed Takakia ceratophylla.
In 2005, we found Takakia lepidozioides populations in the Gawalong glacier area at altitudes of above 4,000 meters and set up sample sites in a ~18 km2 region, with real-time image and meteorological data recorders to characterize individual plant growth and development, and population dynamics in a climatic context. To gain a more holistic view of this enigmatic species, we complemented our field observations with laboratory experiments on its physiology, characterized its biochemistry and cell biology and performed a whole genome sequencing and analysis.
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