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Biology · Ch 3 — Kingdom Plantae

Liverworts (Hepaticeae)

3.2.2.1

Liverworts (Hepaticeae)

Liverworts (Hepaticeae) are considered the most primitive members of Bryophyta.

Body form. The gametophyte is a flat plant body called a thallus, which is green, dorsiventral (flattened top-to-bottom, with distinct upper and lower surfaces) and prostrate (lying close to the ground), anchored by unicellular rhizoids.

Examples. Riccia and Marchantia. …

Figure 3.5aRiccia and Anthoceros

What this figure shows. A flat, green, dorsiventral, prostrate thallus of a liverwort (Riccia) with fine unicellular rhizoids on its underside, shown alongside a hornwort (Anthoceros) whose thallus bears an upright horn-shaped s …