Marchantia

Description

Marchantia is a genus in the family Marchantiaceae of the order Marchantiales, a group of liverworts. The Marchantia thallus shows differentiation into two layers: an upper photosynthetic or assimilatory region and a lower storage region with a well-defined upper epidermis with air channels (barrel-shaped). The thallus features tiny cup-like structures called gemmae cups, which are used for asexual reproduction. The combination of barrel-shaped pores and gemmae cups are diagnostic of the genus.