Liverworts

• Small and inconspicuous and can form large masses in favorable habitats

Leaves: single layer of undiffentiated cells; two rows of equal sized leaves and a third row of smaller leaves

Leafy: tropics and some in temperate regionsThalloid: moist, shaded banks or greehouses

Most gametophytes develop directly from spores, but some form a protonema-like filament of cells, from which the gametophyte developsContinues to grow from an apical meristem

In Marchantia: the gametangia are borne on gametophores, which grow perpendicular to the ground

Fragmentation

Gemmae cups (located on the dorsal surface of gametophyte)

Its gametophyte has a liver shaped outline; initiated with meiosis; unicellular 

• Antheridia borne on short side branch with leaves called androecium

Sporophyte generation: consists of foot, stalk, capsule, elaters (with wall thickenings), which are sensitive to slight changes in humidity and twist in response; some have a perianth surrounding (tubular sheath); initiated with fertilization; dependent on gametophyte; unbranched; no stomata