Oil bodies are the unique feature of most liverworts. Their shape, color and distribution pattern in leaf and underleaf cells are important taxonomic features of the genus Calypogeia. Most species of the genus Calypogeia have pellucid and colorless oil bodies, whereas colored, including gray to pale brown, purple-brown or blue oil bodies, are rare. To date, C. azurea was the only species with blue oil bodies to have been considered as a species of the Holarctic range. This species has been noted in various parts of the northern hemisphere–from North America, through Europe to the Far East. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic diversity of C. azurea from different parts of its distribution range and to ascertain whether blue oil bodies appeared once or several times in the evolution of the genus Calypogeia. The phylogenetic analyses based on four plastid regions (rbcL, trnG, trnL, trnH-psbA) and one nuclear region (ITS2) revealed that C. azurea is presently a paraphyletic taxon, with other Calypogeia species nested among C. azurea accessions that were clustered into four different clades. Based on the level of genetic divergence (1.03–2.17%) and the observed morphological, ecological and geographical differences, the evaluated clades could be regarded as previously unrecognized species. Four species were identified: C. azurea Stotler & Crotz (a European species corresponding to the holotype), two new species from Pacific Asia—C. orientalis Buczkowska & Bakalin and C. sinensis Bakalin & Buczkowska, and a North American species which, due to the lack of identifiable morphological features, must be regarded as the cryptic species of C. azurea with a provisional name of C. azurea species NA.

A Dunes and eolian cover sands play an important role in the morphology of Wolin Island and the surrounding area. From radiocarbon dates, palynological data, archaeological evidence and the study of Swedish maps from 1694, it can he inferred that the above forms accumulated in the Late Vistulian (Older Dryas and Younger Dryas) and Holocene periods, mostly in the Subboreal and Sub-Atlantic periods. The development of eolian processes was due to climatic conditions during the Late Vistulian as well as the Holocene human involvement in the environment of dune-covered areas and the absence of a vegetation cover on sand spits emerging successively from the sea.

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Within Calypogeia fissa, two subspecies connected with geographic distribution are formally recognized: C. fissa subsp.fissa in Europe and C. fissa subsp.neogea in North America. Isoenzyme studies have shown that the European subspecies is genetically differentiated and composed of three genetically distinct groups PS, PB and G. The PS group has the most distinctive morphological features, but no morphological diagnostic traits have been found for groups PB and G. The sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers developed on the basis of ISSR markers, applied in the study, allowed the delimitation of all groups distinguished in Europe within the C. fissa complex (PS, PB and G). The markers also revealed genetic differences between the European and American subspecies. Five primer pairs (Cal01, Cal03-Cal06) of the six pairs studied are useful as the diagnostic tool for the identification of particular groups from the C.fissa complex. The examined SCAR markers showed that the PS group of C.fissa subsp.fissa was the most distinct; it differed from both groups PB and G as well as from C.fissa subsp.neogea. All plants determined on the basis of diagnostic isozyme loci as the PS group amplified a longer product (380 bp) of the Cal04 primer pair than the rest of studied groups and yielded no amplification products in Cal03, Cal05 and Cal06 primers. The primer pair Cal03 distinguished the plants of the PB group from the remaining groups, since only the PB group generated a PCR product of about 290 bp. The genetic differences between all four studied groups of the C.fissa complex were supported by DNA sequences of the SCAR marker Cal04.

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