The dominant generation in the liverworts is the gametophyte; it is the larger, long-lived
plant, the plant you are most likely to see in the field. The gametophytes, which range from
approximately 0.15 mm to 2.5 cm in width and 2 mm to 25 cm in length, are mostly prostrate
thallose or leafy forms. The thallose gametophytes are flat, membranous forms with even,
slightly wavy, lobed or leafy margins. 
THE THALLOSE LIVERWORT Blasia
The leafy gametophytes are distinguished into stems and leaves.
THE LEAFY LIVERWORT
Bazzania
Often, the leaves are arranged in two lateral rows, but, not uncommonly, a third row of smaller
leaves is present on the ventral side of the stem, the side appressed to the substrate. The
gametophytes, whether thallose or leafy, are anchored to the substratum by microscopic hair-like,
colorless rhizoids. The latter are unicellular entities and should not be confused with the
macroscopic, multicellular roots of other plants.
There is a great diversity in the shape of liverwort leaves; they may be undivided,
variously lobed or divided into hair-like segments, or they may be folded into two lobes of
unequal size with the smaller lobe situated atop or below the larger.
Vegetative (asexual) reproduction in the liverworts may be accomplished by branching
and the dying off of the older parts of the plant so that the branches become separated, by
specialized whip-like branches or by leaves that drop off the plant. It is often effected by one- to
several-celled or sometimes multicellular propagules called gemmae that are produced on the
margins and surfaces or at the tips of leaves, or on modified branches. Sometimes they are
formed in specialized crescent-, cup-, or flask-shaped containers that are borne on the upper
surface of the gametophyte.
Liverwort gametophytes, and indeed the gametophytes of all land plants, produce eggs and
sperm. When a sperm fuses with an egg a new cell called a zygote is formed. In the liverworts,
this cell eventually develops into the short-lived, small and compact sporophyte which usually
consists of a terminal globose to cylindrical spore case called a
CAPSULE, a stalk called the seta and a
basal mass of cells called a foot which is embedded in and, therefore,
obscured by the tissues of the gametophyte. 
LIVERWORT SPOROPHYTE
When the sporophyte is mature, the seta elongates carrying the capsule 2-3 inches into the
air. The capsule then splits open, usually into four segments or valves, and the unicellular thick-walled spores within are released. Under suitable conditions, each spore can germinate and give
rise to another gametophyte.
The liverwort commonly shown in introductory texts is Marchantia. This is
unfortunate because Marchantia is not a typical liverwort. In contrast to the vast majority
of liverworts which are internally simple leafy forms, Marchantia is a highly specialized,
structurally complex thalloid plant.
There are probably two reasons why Marchantia was initially the liverwort of
choice for general textbooks. Because Marchantia is very common in northern Europe, it
was, in the latter half of the 19th century, the most studied liverwort and, consequently, was
described in all the books, including American botany texts which were patterned after those
published in Europe. Furthermore, in the late 1800s, a German botanist, Leopold Kny, made
exceptional illustrations of Marchantia that most printers preferred to use. Here is Kny's
wall chart of the male gametophyte of Marchantia. 
KNY'S WALL CHART SHOWING MALE
GAMETOPHYTE OF Marchantia
Regrettably, the practice of using
Marchantia has persisted to the present time; it is still the most, and not uncommonly the
only, illustrated liverwort in introductory texts. It seems the time has come to break with
tradition and to stop focusing on Marchantia. The liverworts would be far better
represented by leafy forms such as Calypogeia or Lophocolea, plants with two
lateral and one ventral row of leaves.
THE LEAFY LIVERWORT
Lophocolea
REFERENCES on Liverworts
Return to Bryophytes
Go forward to Mosses or Hornworts
