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Bernd Haynold, Wikipedia Commons Contributor
Jungermanniaceae
JUNGERMANNIA polymorpha
Common Liverwort, Marchantia
This entry has yet to be reviewed and approved by L2G editors.
A low-growing mat of green growing in a sunny location is usually a telltale sign of the common liverwort. It looks somewhat similar to the closely-related mosses and hornworts. The common liverwort is a primitive, non-vascular plant native to all parts of the world, from the tropics to the polar tundra, in a wide array of habitats from cliffs, heath lands, bogs and forests. Liverworts do not flower, but reproduce with spores or by developing more vegetative growth. They also have two physical forms during their life cycle: the plant-like, most common and enduring gametophyte stage and the reproductive sporophyte stage when spores are formed and shed.
Common liverwort's foliage may be considered leaf-like, but the green, photosynthesizing organs are more accurately called thalli. Liverwort may range from yellowish olive green to bright, vivid green or gray-green at anytime during the year. Each thallus is broad and oval, later branching at their tips with new growth. A thallus can produce a cup-like structure called a gemma that fragments into two new liverworts in the mat-like cluster. During the rare, infrequent sexual reproduction event, both antheridia and archegonia structures arise from the main plant mass, creating upright stalks. The stalks look like umbrellas. Moisture on the liverwort allows sperm to reach eggs on the stalks. Fertilized stalks, known as sporangia, release millions of spores into the environment. The spores are driven by wind or moved in water where they may germinate once situated on moist substrate.
Common liverwort is not a commonly grown garden plant, but it does provide color and texture to moist areas of the landscape. Most often, the liverwort is regarded as a pesky weed in greenhouses or gardens. In the wild, common liverwort grows best in slightly acidic soil that is fertile and moist to seasonally soggy in full sunlight or very bright indirect light. This non-vascular plant is among the first organisms to repopulate an area after a wildfire, and therefore has value in stabilizing slopes and preventing erosion and run-off in areas void of other plants. However, once common liverwort proliferates and creates a widespread mat, it prevents the germination and establishment of other, more advanced plant species in a habitat.
12 - 1
1 - 15
A1, A2, A3, H1, H2, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Perennial
Full Sun, Partial Sun
1"-2" / 2.5cm - 5.1cm
6"-36" / 15.2cm - 91.4cm
World/Pandemic
Acidic, Neutral
Average
Clay, Loam
Wet Site
Medium
Average Water
Mat-forming
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
None
Lime Green, Gray Green
Green, Lime Green
Gray Green, Yellow Green
No
Yes
Glossy
Semi-Evergreen
Container, Groundcover
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