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EXERCISE 1

BRYOPHYTES 1.) Marchantia sp.(liverworts)

Marchantia is a liverwort. Shown are male and female reproductive structures called antheridiophores and
archegoniophores, which grown from scale-like vegetative thalli. Flat-topped antheridiophores produce motile
(flagellated) sperm. The palm tree-like archegoniophores bear archegonia, which produce eggs (archegonia are not visible
here). An egg is fertilized to produce a 2n zygote; mitosis produces a multicellular 2n sporophyte; and finally, meiosis of
2n cells produces 1n spores. The yellow blob on one archegoniophore is a mass of spores being released from a
sporangium.

What is a liverwort?
A liverwort is a flowerless, spore-producing plant - with the spores produced in small capsules. The
introductory WHAT IS A BRYOPHYTE? page noted that bryophytes have a gametophyte stage and a

sporophyte stage. The spore capsule (possibly with a supporting stalk, or seta) is the sporophyte and this grows
from the gametophyte stage.
The aim of this page is simply to describe the features you can see in a liverwort. You will see much, but by no
means all, of the variety to be found in the liverworts. While the identification of liverworts often requires the
use of a microscope, you can learn a lot just by using your eyes and a handlens that magnifies 10 times. In the
reference button youll find some
books with good colour
What's in a name?
photographs of Australian
liverworts. Looking through
The English word "wort" means "small plant" and it turns up in names such
them will give you a good
as Pennywort and Bladderwort. The term liverwort originated from the fact
introduction to liverwort
that the early herbalists thought that one of the liverworts had some
diversity.
resemblance to a liver - and some use as medicine for liver ailments. Hence
the word liverwort for a "liver-like small plant".
The following references are
very useful for more detail about As well as the term liverwort you may also see the alternative term hepatic
this great diversity, from the
used and this comes from the Greek word "hepatikos" - meaning liver. Do
macroscopic view to the
not confuse the ordinary English word hepatic (meaning liverwort) with the
microscopic level. Much of the
genus name Hepatica. The latter is in fact in the flowering plant family
following information on this
Ranunculaceae! That family also contains the genus Ranunculus, the plants
page has come from these books. of which are commonly called Buttercups.
We'll start with definitions of the two broad liverwort groups - leafy and thallose. After that there'll be a few
general points that apply to both types of liverworts. However, liverworts show such diversity that it is not
possible to make too many general statements that apply to both the leafy and thallose species. After that, there
are links to sections that go into more detail about the different types of liverworts.

What does a liverwort gametophyte look like?


In broad terms, a liverwort gametophyte will show one of two forms, depending on the genus. In a leafy
liverwort the gametophyte consists of leaves on stems. In a thallose liverwort you'll see a flattish, green sheet possibly wrinkled or lobed. Such a sheet is called a thallus and, in many cases, that's all there is to the
gametophtyte. However, in some thallose genera there's a bit more to the gametophyte, as shown in the
accompanying photograph of a Marchantia
. Those umbrella-like structures, which have grown out from the
flat, green thallus, are still part of the gametophyte. Those umbrellas will be explained at the end of this page

A leafy liverwort, Schistochila balfouriana


(left)
A thalose liverwort Marchantia sp. (above)

The thallus of a thallose liverwort can be anything from thin and translucent to thick and opaque, depending on
the genus. The liverwort of the early herbalists was Marchantia
polymorpha and one characteristic of all species of Marchantia Thallus and thallose
is that the thalli are thick and opaque. Such a thallus is many
Dont confuse these two words. The first is
cells thick and the cells in different layers within the thallus have
the name of the flattish green sheet and the
different functions. Thallose liverworts in which there is such a
second is an adjective that describes that
differentiation of cell function are called complex thallose
sheet-like growth form.
liverworts. On the other hand, thallose liverworts in which there
is no such differentiation of cell function are called simple thallose liverworts. The upper surface of the thallus
is almost always some shade of green. The genus Cryptothallus provides the exception - with a whitish thallus.
This genus is unusual in that it does not photosynthesize, but relies on a fungus for its food. There's some more
about this in the ECOLOGY-FUNGI SECTION. Thus far, Cryptothallus has been found in several European
countries, Greenland and Costa Rica
.
Many people are familiar with the thick, green and somewhat leathery sheets of the complex thallose species
Lunularia cruciata
. This is a cosmopolitan species that is very commonly found in gardens, parks and in
pots in nurseries and glasshouses. The complex thallose genera Lunularia and Marchantia are probably the
most widely noticed liverworts. But the simple thallose species outnumber the complex thallose species.
However, the simple thallose liverworts are far less robust and are therefore easily overlooked. Finally, there are
far more species of leafy liverworts than there are of thallose liverworts.
Many people will have seen leafy liverworts - in their own gardens, in public parks, in the bush - but have
simply thought of them as just another moss. You might easily confuse leafy liverworts with mosses (which also
have a leaves-on-stems growth form). You might even mistake some of the thin, thallose liverworts for mosses because those liverworts have thin, translucent thalli and moss leaves are typically thin and translucent. You
might confuse the thick, thallose liverworts with hornworts (which also have a flattish-sheet growth form).
However, once youve read this page as well as the WHAT IS A MOSS? and WHAT IS A HORNWORT? pages,
you will have all the information to let you tell the three bryophyte groups apart. For convenience, the
distinguishing features of all the bryophytes are summarised on the page that lets you answer the question:
WHICH BRYOPHYTE IS IT?

The division of the liverworts into leafy and thallose is very useful and is used by all bryologists. However, it is
important to note that there are a few liverworts, classified as thallose, which come very close to leafy in
appearance. The liverworts show a great variety of gametophytic form (far greater than that shown by mosses or
hornworts). Regardless of whether a liverwort is
leafy or thallose, the gametophyte is the dominant
stage - in terms of both bulk and longevity.
Sporophytes are fairly ephemeral. This is markedly
different to the flowering plants where the
sporophyte is the dominant stage.
All liverworts produce mucilage, which helps
liverworts absorb and retain water. The mucilage is
produced by the gametophytes, either internally in
slime cells or externally in slime papillae. The latter
are simply very tiny outgrowths, possibly stalked,
from the gametophyte. Amongst the thallose
Riccardia
liverworts there are genera (such as Riccardia, right)
wattsiana, thallose liverwort
in which the mucilage is produced by slime papillae
and genera (such as Marchantia) with internal slime cells. In the leafy liverworts mucilage is produced in slime
papillae, which may be found on stems or leaf tips, depending on the species. Liverworts produce mucilage at
the growing points and this mucilage protects the growing points from drying out.
Since liverworts are photosynthesizing plants, their cells contain chloroplasts. In addition to chloroplasts, the
cells of about 90% of liverwort species contain oil bodies
. These vary in size, shape and number per cell,
depending on species and are therefore useful for identification. While often colourless, brown and blue oil
bodies are also found. There are species in which the oil bodies are found in the majority of cells, while in
others they are confined to isolated cells. In some cases the oil bodies are persistent and can be found in dried,
herbarium specimens but in many species the oil bodies disintegrate when a specimen is dried for storage in a
herbarium and the oil bodies are then permanently lost. The compounds found in these oil bodies are various
terpenoids and the amount produced various between species. In many cases the functions of these compounds
are unknown, but they do give distinctive aromas or tastes to various liverworts.
Another feature common to virtually all liverworts is the presence of rhizoids. These are anchoring structures,
superficially root-like, but without the absorptive functions of true roots. Liverworts in the genus Haplomitrium
lack rhizoids and have a rhizome-like growth, with both erect and subterranean stems. As a rule liverwort
rhizoids are single-celled, with just a few species having multi-celled rhizoids.
The male and female gametes (sperm and eggs) are produced on the gametophyte (in antheridia and
archegonia, respectively) and a fertilized egg will develop into a spore-bearing sporophyte. Thus the spores are
part of the sexual reproduction cycle. There's more about this in the REPRODUCTION SECTION.

The sporophytes
Liverwort sporophytes may develop in a variety of ways, which cannot be summarised simply, so they'll be
covered in more detail in the sections dealing with the different types of liverworts. However, there are some
common features that can be given here. First, there is always a spore-containing capsule. This capsule is
spherical to cylindrical and is blackish when mature. The mature capsules spilt open to release the spores.
Within the capsules of most species there are elaters as well as spores.
. ELATERS are microscopic, spirallike structures which usually twist or untwist in response to changes in humidity and often help in spore
dispersal. Moss spore capsules don't have elaters, but you do find elaters (or pseudo-elaters) in hornwort
capsules. Also, the spore capsules in almost all moss species open by a definite mouth, rather than by splitting.

In the leafy liverworts the sporophyte consists of a spore


capsule atop a flimsy stalk (or seta). The seta is attached to a
stem of the gametophyte. In thallose liverworts the sporophyte
may appear in various ways, including the same capsule-onseta form that is found in leafy liverworts. However, in some
genera the spore capsules appear on quite complex supporting
structures. In the genus Marchantia the spore capsules are
formed on the undersides of the umbrella-like structures
shown in this photo. The umbrella and the flat, green thallus it
grew from are gametophytic and the sporophytes are just the
Marchantia sp. sporophytes
capsules, hidden within that yellow fluffy stuff (the yellow
fluffy stuff is usually the remains of elaters and spores after
the capsule has split) that you can see in the photo. The stem holding up the umbrella is not a seta holding up a
capsule.

2.) Polytrichum

3.) Anthoceros (Hornworts)

VASCULAR PLANTS
VASCULAR CRYPTOGRAMS
1.) Lycopodium sp.

Lycopodium (from Greek lukos, wolf and podion,


diminutive of pous, foot) is a genus of clubmosses, also known as ground pines or creeping cedar,[1] in the
family Lycopodiaceae, a family of fern-allies (see Pteridophyta). They are flowerless, vascular, terrestrial or
epiphytic plants, with widely branched, erect, prostrate or creeping stems, with small, simple, needle-like or
scale-like leaves that cover the stem and branches thickly. The leaves contain a single, unbranched vascular
strand and are microphylls by definition. The kidney-shaped or reniform spore-cases (sporangia) contain spores
of one kind only (isosporous, homosporous) and are borne on the upper surface of the leaf blade of specialized
leaves (sporophylls) arranged in a cone-like strobilus at the end of upright stems. The club-shaped appearance
of these fertile stems gives the clubmosses their common name.
Lycopods reproduce asexually by spores. The plant has an underground sexual phase that produces gametes,
and this alternates in the lifecycle with the spore-producing plant. The prothallium developed from the spore is a
subterranean mass of tissue of considerable size and bears both the male and female organs (antheridia and
archegoniae). However, they are more commonly distributed vegetatively through above- or below-ground
rhizomes.

2.) Equisetum

Equisetum (/kwsitm/;
horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that
reproduce by spores rather than seeds.[2]

3.) Nephrolepis multiflora

SPERMATOPHYTES
1.)GYMNOSPERMS
Pinus kesiya

ANGIOSPERMS
The parts of the plant body are also differentiated into two kinds of functional plant
organs: vegetative and reproductive. The vegetative structures include the root, stem, and
leaves; the reproductive parts consist of the flower, fruit and seed.

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