…….
contd
The bryophytes are divided into liverworts and mosses.
LIVERWORTS: They include Riccia and Marchantia. The
liverworts grow usually in moist, shady habitats such as banks
of streams, marshy ground, damp soil, and bark of trees and
deep in the woods. The plant body of a liverwort is thalloid, e.g.,
Marchantia. The thallus is dorsiventral and closely appressed to
the substrate. The leafy members have tiny leaf-like appendages
in two rows on the stem-like structures.
Reproduction in Liverworts
Asexual reproduction: It takes place by
1. Fragmentation of thalli: A piece that breaks off a
gametophyte and then lands in a suitable habitat will grow
into a new gametophyte. The breakage may be accidental
such as animal trampling or erosion.
2 Formation of gemmae: (sing. gemma). Gemmae are
specialized structures .They are green, multicellular, asexual
buds, which develop in small receptacles called gemma cups
located on the thalli. They are small discs of haploid tissue.
They are found in Marchantia. The gemmae become detached
from the parent body and come in contact with the soil start
producing rhizoids and germinate to form new individuals.
Sexual reproduction: male and female sex organs are produced
either on the same or on different thalli. Riccia is monoecious
i.e. male and female sex organs are produced on the same thallus
whereas Marchantia is dioecious where the male and female sex
organs are produced on separate thallus. There are some
extensions of the thallus or upright structures called
gametangiophores. There are two gametangiophores
1. Archegoniophore: It bears archegonia; a multicellular
structure or sex organ of the gametophyte phase.
Archegonium is flask-shaped and produces a single egg
(ovum or female gamete)
2. Antheridiophore : bears antheridium; a multicellular
structure or sex organ of the gametophyte phase producing
and containing the biflagellate antherozoids or male
gamete.
The antherozoids are released into water where they come in
contact with egg in archegonium. An antherozoid fuses with the
egg to produce the zygote. Zygotes do not undergo reduction
division (meiosis) immediately. They produce a multicellular
body called a sporophyte by repeated mitotic division. The
sporophyte is not free-living but attached to the photosynthetic
female gametophyte and derives nourishment from it. The
sporophyte is differentiated into a foot, seta and capsule. After
meiosis, haploid spores are produced within the capsule. These
spores germinate to form free-living gametophytes.
