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Some liverworts are capable of asexual reproduction; in bryophytes in general "it would almost be true to say that vegetative reproduction is the rule and not the exception." [ 25 ] For example, in Riccia , when the older parts of the forked thalli die, the younger tips become separate individuals.
The production of gemmae is a widespread means of asexual reproduction in both liverworts and mosses. In liverworts such as Marchantia, the flattened plant body or thallus is a haploid gametophyte with gemma cups scattered about its upper surface. The gemma cups are cup-like structures containing gemmae.
Marchantia is a genus of liverworts in the family Marchantiaceae and the order Marchantiales.The genus was named by French botanist Jean Marchant after his father.. The thallus of Marchantia shows differentiation into two layers: an upper photosynthetic layer with a well-defined upper epidermis with pores and a lower storage layer.
Marchantia polymorpha grows on shaded moist soil and rocks in damp habitats such as the banks of streams and pools, bogs, fens and dune slacks. [1] While most varieties grow on moist substrates, Marchantia polymorpha var. aquatica is semi-aquatic and is often found invading marshes, as well as small ponds that do not have a consistent water table.
Liverworts reproduce through both sexual and asexual reproduction. [5] In natural populations, the high genetic variation observed suggests that sexual reproduction might dominate. Species of Conocephalum are dioicous, [11] meaning that the male and female reproductive structures are produced on separate plants. [29]
Liverworts, mosses and hornworts spend most of their lives as gametophytes. Gametangia (gamete-producing organs), archegonia and antheridia , are produced on the gametophytes, sometimes at the tips of shoots, in the axils of leaves or hidden under thalli.
Studies of Radula species have revealed patterns in how these liverworts reproduce and adapt over time. While most species reproduce with separate male and female plants (a condition called dioecy), some species have evolved to have both male and female reproductive organs on the same plant (called monoecy).
All other living groups of land plants have a life cycle dominated by the diploid sporophyte generation. It is in the diploid sporophyte that vascular tissue develops. In some ways, the term "non-vascular" is a misnomer. Some mosses and liverworts do produce a special type of vascular tissue composed of complex water-conducting cells. [42]