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

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: 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.

  • Aytoniaceae <small>Cavers 1911</small> [Rebouliaceae; Grimaldiaceae]
  • Asterella <small>Palisot De Beauvisage 1805</small> [Fimbraria <small>Nees 1820 non</small> Fimbriaria <small>Stackhouse 1809</small>; Asterella <small>section</small> Wallichianae <small>Long 2014</small>; Hypenantron <small>Corda 1829</small>; Octokepos <small>Griffith 1849</small>]
  • Cryptomitrium <small>Austin ex Underwood 1884</small> [Platycoaspis <small>Lindberg 1889</small>]
  • Mannia <small>Corda 1829 nom. cons.</small> [Grimaldia <small>Raddi 1818 non Schrank 1805</small>; Cyathophora <small>Gray 1821 non Michelin 1843</small>; Neesiella <small>Schiffner 1893b</small>; Duvalia <small>Nees 1818 non Haworth 1812 non Bonpland 1813</small>; Neesia <small>Leman 1825 non Sprengel 1818</small>; Arnelliella <small>Massalongo 1914</small>; Sindonisce <small>Corda 1829</small>]
  • Plagiochasma <small>Lehmann & Lindenberg 1832 nom. cons. non Pomel 1883 </small> [Aytonia <small>Forster & Forster 1775</small>; Ruppina <small>Linnaeus</small>; Rupinia <small>(sic) Corda 1829</small>]
  • Reboulia <small>Raddi 1818 nom. cons.</small>
  • Cleveaceae <small>Cavers 1911</small> [Sauteriaceae]
  • Athalamia <small>Falconer 1848</small>
  • Clevea <small>Lindberg 1868</small> [Gollaniella <small>Stephani 1905</small>]
  • Peltolepis <small>Lindberg 1876</small>
  • Sauteria <small>Nees 1838</small> [Sauchia <small>Kashyap 1916</small>]
  • Conocephalaceae <small>Müller ex Grolle 1972</small>
  • Conocephalum <small>Hill 1773 nom. cons.</small> [Conicephala <small>(sic) Wiggers 1780</small>; Conocephalus <small>(sic) Necker ex Dumortier 1822 non Blume 1825 non Thunberg 1815</small>; Anthoconum <small>Palisot De Beauvois 1804</small>; Fegatella <small>Raddi 1818</small>; Hepatica <small>Adanson 1763 non Miller 1754</small>; Hepaticella <small>Leman 1821</small>; Strozzius <small>Gray 1821</small>; Nemoursia <small>Merat 1840</small>; Sandea <small>Lindberg 1884</small>; Conocephalum (Sandea) <small>(Lindberg 1884) Inoue 1976</small>]
  • Corsiniaceae <small>Engler 1892</small>
  • Corsinia <small>Raddi 1818</small> [Guentheria <small>Leman 1821 non Sprengel 1826</small>; Tessellina <small>Dumortier 1822 non Dumortier 1874</small>; Brissocarpus <small>Lindenberg 1829</small>]
  • Cronisia <small>Berkeley 1857</small> [Carringtonia <small>Lindberg 1868</small>; Funicularia <small>Trevisan 1877</small>; Boschia <small>Montagne 1856 non Korthals 1844</small>; Myriorrhynchus <small>Lindberg 1884</small>]
  • Cyathodiaceae <small>Stotler & Crandall-Stotler 2000</small>
  • Cyathodium <small>Kunze ex Lehmann 1834</small> [Synhymenium <small>Griffith 1849</small>; Synymenium <small>(sic) Hagen 1910</small>; Cyathodium (Metacyathodium) <small>Srivastava & Dixit 1996</small>]
  • Dumortieraceae <small>Long 2006</small>
  • Dumortiera <small>Nees 1824</small>
  • Exormothecaceae <small>Müller ex Grolle 1972</small>
  • Aitchisoniella <small>Kashyap 1914</small>
  • Exormotheca <small>Mitten 1870</small> [Corbierella <small>Douin & Trabut 1919</small>]
  • Stephensoniella <small>Kashyap 1914 non Cernosvitov 1934 non Lastochkin 1935</small>
  • Lunulariaceae <small>Klingrräff 1858</small>
  • Lunularia <small>Adanson 1763</small>
  • Marchantiaceae <small>Lindley 1836</small>
  • Marchantia <small>Linnaeus 1753</small> [Chlamidium <small>Corda 1828</small>; Marchantiopsis <small>Gao & Chang 1982 non Douin & Douin 1918</small>]
  • Monocleaceae <small>Frank 1877 </small>
  • Monoclea <small>Hooker 1820</small>
  • Monosoleniaceae <small>Inoue 1966</small>
  • Monosolenium <small>Griffith 1849</small> [Dumortieropsis <small>Horikawa 1934</small>]
  • Oxymitraceae <small>Müller ex Grolle 1972</small>
  • Oxymitra <small>Bischoff ex Lindenberg 1829 non (Blume) Hooker & Thomson 1855</small> [Pycnoscenus <small>Lindberg 1863</small>; Tessellina <small>Dumortier 1874 non Dumortier 1822</small>]
  • Ricciaceae <small>Reichenbach 1828</small>
  • Riccia <small>Linnaeus 1753</small> [Hemiseuma <small>(Bischoff) von Klinggraeff 1858</small>; Riccia <small>section</small> Hemiseuma <small>Bischoff</small>; Hemiseumata <small>Bischoff Lindley 1847</small>; Riccia (Pteroriccia) <small>(Schuster 1984) Schuster 1985</small>; Pteroriccia <small>Schuster 1984</small>; Thallocarpus <small>Lindberg 1874a</small>; Cryptocarpus <small>Austin 1869 non Kunth 1817 non Dozy & Molk. ex Dozy & Molk. 1846</small>; Angiocarpus <small>Trevisan 1877</small>; Ricciella <small>Braun 1821</small>; Riccinia <small>Trabut 1916</small>]
  • Ricciocarpos <small>Corda 1829</small> [Euriccia <small>Lacouture 1905</small>; Lichenoides <small>Lindley 1847 non Hoffmann 1789 non Barrande 1846</small>; Lemna <small>Rafinesque 1817 non Linnaeus 1753</small>]
  • Targioniaceae <small>Dumortier 1829</small>
  • Targionia <small>Linnaeus 1753 non non Hesse 1923</small>
  • Wiesnerellaceae <small>Inoue 1976</small>
  • Wiesnerella <small>Schiffner 1896</small>

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.
  • Life cycle
  • Photos of various species
  • Additional photos of species
  • Morphobank project