marchantiacese

pl. [Mod. Lat. mar chant i(a); Lat. fem. pl. suff. Muscle Liverworts an order acogens, trith Bot .: Liverworts; an order of Acrogens, broadish lobed thalloid fronds, emitting roots from their underside. From the bifurcations of the frond arise stems bearing sporanges with spores mingled with elaters, but having no columella. The male fruit is mersed in se ile or stalked discoid or peltate receptacles. The Marchantiacese grow on the earth or trees in damp places. They are found in all but the driest climates; two grow in Melville Island. Lindley enumerates fifteen genera, and estimates the known species at twenty. He divides the order into two sub-orders, Mar chantee and Targionese; Berkeley into three, Targioniese, Jecorariese, and Lunulariese.