Marchantia – Antheridia

Scientific name : Marchantia
Common name: Liverwort / Umbrella Liverwort
Classification: Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Marchantiophyta
Class: Marchantiopsida
Order: Marchantiales
Family: Marchantiaceae
Genus: Marchantia
Habitat:
1) Marchantia clings to the substrate it grows on, which is often damp rocks or mud.
2) Occasionally, after intense forest fires, it appears on mineral soils in depressions or under the
shade of fallen logs.
3)It is cosmopolitan in its distribution.
Characteristic Features :
1) The thallus segments are green to dark green in color and dichotomously branched, meaning
they continuously branch into two branches.
2) The segments often form enormous mats and are between 10 and 15 millimeters (0.4 and 0.6
inches) broad.
3)One can find parasol-like structures that stand upwards of 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) above the
thallus.
4) If the structure is slightly segmented, like the outline of a doily, it is growing on a male plant,
and the structure is called antheridiophore will produce male gametes (antheridia).
SIDE NOTE
Marchantia has around 9000 species world wide