Ward's® Liverwort (Marchantia) Slides

Explore the life cycle of non-vascular plants.

• Ward's produced slides

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Marchantia is a Bryophyte with very distinct reproductive structures. Each of those structures are available on individual slides, or as a combined life cycle slide. The haploid thallus is the largest of the vegetative structures, forming a low broad phyllids base anchored to the soil with rhizoids. As the thallus matures it will produce Gemma cups, for vegetative reproduction. Each haploid thallus will produce either antheridia or archegonia. These haploid structures fertilize in the presence of water and produce a diploid zygote which divides into many haploid spores. When mature, the sporophyte contains many spores and elater inside a capsule. The life cycle slide contains examples of a Gemma cup, an antheridia, an archegonia, and a sporophyte.