Marchantia polymorpha
 
Green-Tongue Liverwort

Antheridiophores Top

Armit, Saskatchewan
13-July-2020

The colony contains male gametophytes bearing antheridiophores and female gametophytes bearing archegoniophores.  The antheridiophores are reproductive structures containing antheridia that produce motile sperm.  The archegoniophores are reproductive structures containing archegonia that produce egg cells.  The sperm cells swim to the egg cells and fertilize them. After fertilization, the zygote develops into a sporophyte which largely consists of a capsule where spores are produced. The spores are released through the fragmented tip of the capsule.  The vegetative body of the plant is a flattened mass of mostly undifferentiated cells called a thallus.  The top surface of the thallus bears gemma cups which produce vegetative propagules called gemmae.  The bottom surface of the thallus bears rhizoids which are uniseriate, thread-like projections that function in anchorage and absorption.