Marchantiales

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Order of non-vascular plants known as liverworts

title: "Marchantiales" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["marchantiales", "liverwort-orders"] description: "Order of non-vascular plants known as liverworts" topic_path: "general/marchantiales" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchantiales" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Order of non-vascular plants known as liverworts ::

| image = Marchantiales cf Conocephalum 20071111.jpg | image_caption = Conocephalum conicum - a thallose liverwort | taxon = Marchantiales | authority = Limpr., 1877 | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision = See Classification

Marchantiales is an order of thallose liverworts (also known as "complex thalloid liverworts") that includes species like Marchantia polymorpha, a widespread plant often found beside rivers, and Lunularia cruciata, a common and often troublesome weed in moist, temperate gardens and greenhouses.

As in other bryophytes, the gametophyte generation is dominant, with the sporophyte existing as a short-lived part of the life cycle, dependent upon the gametophyte.

The genus Marchantia is often used to typify the order, although there are also many species of Asterella and species of the genus Riccia are more numerous. The majority of genera are characterized by the presence of (a) special stalked vertical branches called archegoniophores or carpocephala, and (b) sterile cells called elaters inside the sporangium.

Phylogeny (extant Marchantiales)

Based on the work by Villarreal et al. 2015

|1={{clade |label1=Marchantiaceae |1=Marchantia |2={{clade |label1=Dumortieraceae |1=Dumortiera |2={{clade |label1=Aytoniaceae |1={{clade |1=Cryptomitrium |2={{clade |1=Mannia |2={{clade |1=Asterella |2={{clade |1=Reboulia |2=Plagiochasma |2={{clade |label1=Cleveaceae |1={{clade |1=Aitchisoniella |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Clevea |2=Peltolepis |2={{clade |1=Athalamia |2=Sauteria |2={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |label1=Monocleaceae |1=Monoclea |label2=Conocephalaceae |2=Conocephalum |2={{clade |label1=Oxymitraceae |1=Oxymitra |label2=Ricciaceae |2={{clade |1=Ricciocarpos |2=Riccia |2={{clade |1={{clade |label1=Targioniaceae |1=Targionia |label2=Wiesnerellaceae |2=Wiesnerella |2={{clade |label1=Monosoleniaceae |1=Monosolenium |2={{clade |label1=Cyathodiaceae |1=Cyathodium |label2=Corsiniaceae |2={{clade |1=Corsinia |2={{clade |1=Stephensoniella |2=Cronisia |3=Exormotheca

Phylogeny (extant and extinct Marchantiales)

Extinct complex thalloid liverworts are often represented by coalified compressions that preserve superficial morphological traits and do not allow exhaustively analysing their fine anatomy; though, in exceptional cases, fossils might preserve cell details.

Extinct Marchantiales - which commonly date back to the Mesozoic - can be grouped in Marchantia-like and Riccia-like fossils according to their overall morphology. While the phylogenetic relationships among many extinct and extant Marchantiales remain equivocal, it has been suggested that some fossils are closely related to extant Marchantiales.

Marchantites cyathodoides (Townrow) H. M. Anderson (Middle Triassic), for instance, is a Marchantia-like fossil whose detailed morphological characters (e.g., thallus with midrib, reduced air chambers, rhizoids and ventral scales) suggest a nested position within Marchantiales. Some Riccia-like fossils have even been assigned to families based on their overall morphology and branching patterns, such as the case of Ricciopsis sandaolingensis Li & Sun (Middle Jurassic). The first phylogenetic analyses that include both extinct and extant Marchantiales have further clarified the relationships among these taxa and have revealed new relationships among families. Likewise, the inclusion of fossils in total-evidence analyses implied that some groups of complex thalloid liverworts might be older than previously inferred.

Summary tree based on the work by Flores et al. 2020:

|1=Takakia ceratophylla |label2=Marchantiophyta |2={{clade |1=Haplomitriopsida |label2= |2={{clade |label1=Jungermanniopsida |1={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=** * Pallaviciniites sandaolingensis* + ** |2=Pellidae |label2= |2={{clade |label1=Metzgeriidae |1={{clade |1=Pleuroziales |label2= |2={{clade |1=** Metzgeriothallus sharonae + ** |2=Metzgeriales |2=Jungermanniidae |label2=Marchantiopsida |2={{clade |1=Blasiidae |label2=Marchantiidae |2={{clade |1=Neohodgsoniales |label2= |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=Sphaerocarpales |label2=Marchantiales |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=Lunulariaceae |2=** Marchantites cyathodoides + ** |label2= |2={{clade |label1=Marchantiaceae |1={{clade |1=** Marchantites huolinhensis + ** |2=Marchantia |label2= |2={{clade |1=Dumortieraceae |label2= |2={{clade |1=Aytoniaceae |label2= |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=Cleveaceae |label2= |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=Wiesnerellaceae |label2= |2={{clade |1=Targioniaceae |2=Monosoleniaceae |label2= |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=Monocleaceae |2=Conocephalaceae |label2= |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=Oxymitraceae |label2=Ricciaceae |2={{clade |1=Ricciocarpos |2=Riccia |3=** Ricciopsis + ** |label2= |2={{clade |1=Cyathodiaceae |2=Corsiniaceae

Origin and evolution

Liverworts, possess a compelling narrative of evolutionary intricacies, particularly within the realm of complex thalloid liverworts.

The genus Hepaticites, spanning Carboniferous strata of various regions, presents a puzzling case as its affiliation with the complex thalloid liverworts dependen on its individual species. Similarly, the Carboniferous Blasiites lobatus raises questions about its relationship with the Blasiales, the sister group to Marchantiales. The appearance of Marchantites loreus in the Early Permian of Russia offers the first clear evidence of the Marchantiales in the Paleozoic. However, rosette-shaped fossils that resemble Ricciaceae are as old as the Early Devonian – suggesting a much older origin for the group.

Molecular analyses, calibrated with the Triassic fossil Marchantites cyathodoides, suggest an origin for this group in the Permian or later. In contrast, total-evidence dating paints a more ancient picture, tracing the complex thalloid liverworts back to the Silurian-Devonian boundary, highlighting a narrative of morphological stability across epochs. Thus, the complex thalloid liverworts emerge as significant players in the ongoing saga of plant evolution, their history intertwined with the deep complexities of geological time.

Classification

Taxonomy based on work by Söderström et al. 2016 and synonyms from Collection of genus-group names in a systematic arrangement. The order Lunulariales, proposed by Long 2006, has been recently re-included in Marchantiales as a family.

|image=Liverwort cross section.jpg |width=300 |annotations= |caption = Cross section through a marchantialian thallus.

References

  • Crandall-Stotler, Barbara J. & Stotler, Raymond E. "Morphology and classification of the Marchantiophyta". page 63 in A. Jonathan Shaw & Bernard Goffinet (Eds.), Bryophyte Biology. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press:2000). .
  • Grolle, Riclef (1983). "Nomina generica Hepaticarum; references, types and synonymies". Acta Botanica Fennica 121, 1-62.

References

  1. Limpricht, G.. (1877). "Kryptogamen-Flora von Schlesien".
  2. Villarreal. (2015). "Divergence times and the evolution of morphological complexity in an early land plant lineage (Marchantiopsida) with a slow molecular rate". New Phytologist.
  3. (2018). "Why Are Bryophytes So Rare in the Fossil Record? A Spotlight on Taphonomy and Fossil Preservation". Elsevier.
  4. Anderson, Heidi. (1976). "A review of the Bryophyta from the Upper Triassic Molteno Formation, Karroo Basin, South Africa". Palaeontologia Africana.
  5. (2019). "Ricciopsis sandaolingensis sp. nov., a new fossil bryophyte from the Middle Jurassic Xishanyao Formation in the Turpan-Hami Basin, Xinjiang, Northwest China". Palaeontologia Electronica.
  6. (2020). "Defying death: incorporating fossils into the phylogeny of the complex thalloid liverworts (Marchantiidae, Marchantiophyta) confirms high order clades but reveals discrepancies in family-level relationships". Cladistics.
  7. (December 2023). "Dating the evolution of the complex thalloid liverworts (Marchantiopsida): total-evidence dating analysis supports a Late Silurian-Early Devonian origin and post-Mesozoic morphological stasis". New Phytologist.
  8. Söderström. (2016). "World checklist of hornworts and liverworts". PhytoKeys.
  9. "Part 2- Plantae (starting with Chlorophycota)".
  10. Long, D. G.. (July 2006). "New Higher Taxa of Complex Thalloid Liverworts (Marchantiophyta – Marchantiopsida)". Edinburgh Journal of Botany.
  11. (24 May 2019). "Supplemental Information 1: Bryophyte Phylogeny Poster 2019 - full A0 size".
  12. (2018). "Combined phylogenetic analysis of the subclass Marchantiidae (Marchantiophyta): towards a robustly diagnosed classification". Cladistics.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

marchantialesliverwort-orders