Systematics

Description

Distribution & Habitat

Culture

Propagation

Uses

References

Scientific Name

 Marchantia polymorpha

 

 

Common Name

Liverwort

 

Taxonomy

• Kingdom Plantae
• Phylum Hepatophyta
• Class Hepaticae
• Subclass Marchantiae
• Order Marchantiales
• Family Marchantiaceae
• Genus Marchantia

Also known as Marchantia aquatica 

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Rook, Earl J.S. 1999. A Boundary Waters Compendium. http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/moss/marchantia.html. Accessed 27 April 2001.

Description

• Small non-vascular plants, generally less conspicuous than mosses
• Form flat, branching; thallus generally 0.8"-4" long and 3/8"-3/4" broad.
• Thalli dichotomously branched and exhibit apical growth.
• Numerous rhizoids attach the gametophyte (thallus) to the soil. Smooth rhizoids penetrate the soil, while tuberculate rhizoids run horizontally along the surface of the plant.
• Dioecious 
• Its sex organs develop on stalks that grow up from the top surface of a ribbon-like thallus. This plant shows the female sexual structures that look like umbrellas with radiating spokes

Distribution and Habitat

• A cosmopolitan species ranging from tropical to arctic regions
• It is the most widely distributed hepatic in the world
• Found in various habitats ranging from tropical forests to arctic tundra, but it is not a dominant or indicator species
• A terrestrial genus that grows on a wide variety of sites within its range including cliffs, closed forests, alpine heathlands, peat bogs, minerotropic fens, springs, swamps, grasslands, and tundra
• Mats interfere with seedling growth from other forms of vegetation
• Formation and invasion of mats after a fire helps to prevent soil erosion
• Revegetates areas where mineral soil has been exposed
• Aids in the replenishing of humus and prepares the soil for future vegetation

 Cultural Information

Soil · subcalcareous, moist, and wet mineral soil

Water requirement · adequate amount

Light · full sunlight
Humidity · N/A
Temperature · arctic to tropical
Other · grows best in soil of pH 6.0

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Propagation Methods

• The gametophyte propagates itself vegetatively and also produces the gametes, which give rise to the sporophyte
• Gametophytes produce gemma cups which are small budlike structures that detach from the parent plant and serve as vegetative propagules
• Each gemma cup gives rise to numerous gemmae that are released when the gemma cup fills with water
• Gemmae can be transported to favorable sites and will form a pair of young plants
  

Uses/ Fun Facts

• As many as 7 million spores may be formed on each plant
• Food source for the round-winged muslin moth Thumatha senex
• Has a high lead tolerance and may be an indicator of high lead concentrations
• It also tolerates other heavy metals. Gemmalings grow in lead concentrations to 400 parts per million (p/m) and zinc concentrations to 100 p/m. Copper suppresses growth but chelated copper complexed with ethylene-diaminetetraacetic acid is tolerated at high levels.
• Historically, M. polymorpha was thought to be an antidote for diseases of the liver and tuberculosis due to the fact that its form and texture resemble that of an animal liver
• Rapidly invades burned areas by light, wind-borne spores
• Dichlorophen kills M. polymorpha
• Responses to Fire
• Study of mitochondrial conservation between M. polymorpha and several Angiosperm species

 General References

• Rook, Earl J.S. 1999. A Boundary Waters Compendium. http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/moss/marchantia.html. Accessed 27 April 2001.
• Botany Greenhouse U. of Wisconsin-Madison Botany Department. 1999. http://www.wisc.edu/botit/tour/Roomsix-Ma.html. Accessed 27 April 2001.
• Laboratory of Science Education, Hiroshima University. 1997. http://scied123.ed.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/plantrep/eplntidx.html. Accessed 27 April 2001.
• Controlling Cryptogams. http://www.forestry.auburn.edu/sfnmc/class/fy614/cryptogams.html. Accessed 27 April 2001.

Image References:

• http://www.wisc.edu/botit/tour/Marchantia.html. Accessed 27 April 2001.
• http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/P141677.HTM. Accessed 27 April 2001.
• http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/P141678.HTM. Accessed 27 April 2001.
• http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/P141676.HTM. Accessed 27 April 2001.

This page was developed by:

Kingsley E. Baldwin III, W&J Class of 2001

 

Last revised on 2 May 2001