🌿 Intermediate Practical Manual – Marchantia

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🌿 Intermediate Practical Manual – Marchantia

🔬 Classification of Marchantia

  • Division : Bryophyta

  • Class : Hepaticopsida

  • Order : Marchantiales

  • Family : Marchantiaceae

  • Genus : Marchantia

✨ Characters of Marchantia (Specimen)

  1. The thallus is dorsiventrally flat, thalloid, and grows on the soil surface.

  2. It is dichotomously lobed, each lobe having an apical notch.

  3. A dark median furrow (mid-rib) runs on the dorsal side and extends into each lobe.

  4. The dorsal surface bears gemma cups, which contain vegetative propagules called gemmae.

  5. The ventral side bears unicellular rhizoids of two types:

    • (a) Smooth-walled rhizoids

    • (b) Tuberculate rhizoids
      (These help in anchorage and water absorption through capillary action.)

  6. Reproductive organs are borne on special stalked structures:

    • Antheridiophores (male) → arise from apical notches of male thalli, bear antheridia.

    • Archegoniophores (female) → arise from apical notches of female thalli, bear archegonia.

  7. The antheridiophore has a flattened or convex head containing antheridia.

  8. The archegoniophore is umbrella-shaped with ribs; archegonia are present between the ribs.

👉 By these features, the specimen is identified as the Thallus of Marchantia.

🖼️ Diagram (Marchantia Male Thallus)

  • Thallus

  • Antheridiophore

  • Antheridial cluster

✅ Thus, Marchantia is a liverwort that shows both vegetative reproduction (gemmae) and sexual reproduction (via antheridiophores & archegoniophores).

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