Spruceanthus theobromae is a species of liverwort

Marchantiophyta

The Marchantiophyta are a division of bryophyte plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like other bryophytes, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information....

 in the Lejeuneaceae

Lejeuneaceae

Lejeuneaceae is the largest family of liverworts. It is also considered as the most evolved one, since most of its members are epiphytes, which means the grow mainly upon tree trunks....

 family. It is endemic to Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

. Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 is plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

s . It is threatened by habitat loss. Spruceanthus Theobromae has recently been found in 16 different locations (all of them cacao plantations) at the foot of the Andes in Ecuador. According to Prof. Dr. S. Robbert Gradstein of
Albrecht von Haller Institute of Plant Sciences, he stated that the Spruceanthus theobromae,"is no longer considered endangered. Kautz & Gradstein 2001".

Source

• Bryophyte Specialist Group 2000. Spruceanthus theobromae. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 August 2007.

• TEN - Treasure Sites [Threatened Species - Endangered Reptiles & Amphibians]
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Endangered Species
• Encyclopedia of Endangered Species. Edited by Mary Emanoid in Association with IUCN - The World Conservation Union. Detroit, Washington D.C., London: Gale Research Inc., 1994

• 1998 Team 19689 - World Endangered Species: Website

• Prof. Dr. S. Robbert Gradstein at the Albrecht von Haller Institute of Plant Sciences, Department of Systematic Botany in Göttingen, Germany.
• http://www.sysbot.uni-goettingen.de
• Gradstein, S. R. 1999. On the rediscovery of Spruceanthus theobromae (Hepaticae), an endangered species of cacao trees in western Ecuador. Bryobrothera 5: 81-86.
• Kautz, T. & Gradstein, S. R. 2001. On the ecology and conservation of Spruceanthus theobromae (Lejeuneaceae, Hepaticae) from Western Ecuador. The Bryologist 104: 607-612.