Can elemental bismuth be a liquid crystal?

A number of anomalies have been reported in molten Bi, including a first-order liquid–liquid transition at 1010 K and ambient pressure, which is irreversible at cooling rates of several degrees per minute. An interpretation of these effects as due to long-range bond-orientational order is suggested. Significant evidence for directionality in liquid Bi, albeit only at temperatures close to melting, is available in experiments made circa 1930. Further experimentation is called for.