Elizabeth A Brown, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Published online: May 2003
DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0003677
The liverworts are a group of green land plants that diverged before the dominant land plants such as angiosperms and gymnosperms. Together with mosses and hornworts, liverworts differ from all other land plants in having a free living gametophyte (a plant with only one set of chromosomes) as the dominant generation.
Keywords: liverworts; mosses; hornworts; bryophytes; early land plants; gametophyte
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Figure 1. (a) Incubous leaf insertion, dorsal view. (b) Incubous insertion, ventral view showing underleaves with transverse insertion on the stem. (c) Succubous leaf insertion, dorsal view. (d) Radula; plants lack underleaves and lateral leaves have a ventral lobe; club-shaped perianth protects the emerging sporophyte. (e) Lateral leaf of Schistochila showing keel on lower edge of leaf and cilia on margin. (f) Lateral leaf of Frullania with ventral lobule and stylus between lobule and stem. (g) Lateral leaf of Cheilolejeunea with inrolled ventral lobule. (h) Lateral leaf (half illustrated) of Trichocolea showing extensive lobing that occurs in some liverworts. (i) and (j) Lepidozia species showing some of the variation in extent and number of lobes that may occur in liverworts.
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| Further Reading | |
| Bischler H (1998) Systematics and evolution of the genera of the Marchantiales. Bryophytorum Bibliotheca 51: 1–129. | |
| book Bopp M and Capesius I (1998) "A molecular approach to bryophyte systematics". In: Bates JW, Ashton NW and Duckett JG (eds) Bryology for the Twenty-first Century. Leeds: Maney and British Bryological Society. | |
| book Crandall-Stotler B and Stotler RE (2000) "Morphology and classification of the Marchantiophyta". In: Shaw AJ and Goffinet B (eds) Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |
| book Crum H (2001) Structural Diversity of Bryophytes. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Herbarium. | |
| book Endlicher S (1841) Enchiridion Botanicum. Leipzig: W. Engelmann. | |
| book Goffinet B (2000) "Origin and phylogenetic relationships of bryophytes". In: Shaw AJ and Goffinet B (eds) Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |
| book Gottsche CM, Lindenberg JBG and Nees von Esenbeck CG (1844–1847) Synopsis Hepaticarum. Hamburg: Meissner. | |
| book Kendrick P and Crane PR (1997) The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants. A Cladistic Study. Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington and London. | |
| book Krassilov VA and Schuster RM (1984) "Paleozoic and mesozoic fossils". In: Schuster RM (ed.) New Manual of Bryology, vols 1 and 2. Nichinan: The Hattori Botanical Laboratory. | |
| book Malcolm B and Malcolm N (2000) "Mosses and Other Bryophytes". An Illustrated Glossary. Micro-Optics Press: Nelson. | |
| book Miller NG (1984) "Tertiary and quaternary fossils". In: Schuster RM (ed.) New Manual of Bryology, vols 1 and 2. Nichinan: The Hattori Botanical Laboratory. | |
| book Renzaglia KS and Vaughn KC (2000) "Anatomy, development and classification of hornworts". In: Shaw AJ and Goffinet B (eds) Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |
| book Schuster RM (1984) "Comparative anatomy and morphology of the Hepaticae". In: Schuster RM (ed.) New Manual of Bryology, vols 1 and 2. Nichinan: The Hattori Botanical Laboratory. | |
| book Schuster RM (1984) "Evolution, phylogeny and classification of the Hepaticae". In: Schuster RM (ed.) New Manual of Bryology, vols 1 and 2. Nichinan: The Hattori Botanical Laboratory. | |
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