Journal 



OF THE 



NEW-YORK MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



Vol. IL JULY, 1886. No. 7. 



LIVERWORTS. 



BY THE REV. J. L. ZABRISKIE. 



{Read June i^th, 1886.) 



The Liverworts {Hepaticce) are closely allied to the Mosses. 

 And while it may be difficult to separate them from the Mosses 

 by description, still a very slight acquaintance serves to distin- 

 guish them by sight. 



They are divided into two main sections, with a nearly equal 

 number of genera in each. The first section includes those gen- 

 era whose vegetation is frondose ; i. e., whose stem and leaves are 

 confluent in a leaf-like mass. The second section includes 

 those genera whose vegetation is foliaceous ; /. e., whose leaves 

 are distinct from the stem, as is the case with the Mosses. 



I exhibit entire fruiting specimens, in vials of water, of two 

 species of Liverworts, both belonging to the first, or frondose 

 section. 



I. The Brook-Liverwort {Marchantia polymorpha, L.). It 

 frequents shady, moist places ; especially shady springs. The 

 frond grows flat upon the wet soil, moss, &c. It is frequently 

 from one to three inches in length, and one inch wide, usually 

 forked at the growing end, of a bright green color, and has 

 numerous rootlets underneath. The staminate, or male organs 

 of reproduction, are little shield-like, lobed bodies on the upper 

 surface of the frond. 



Besides these there are sometimes also found, in the same 

 situation, little cups, which contain buds, like minute green 

 lenses, which are capable of originating new individuals. The 

 pistilate, or female organs of reproduction, start from the edge 

 of the frond, and ascend in a slender peduncle, sometimes two 

 or three inches high. And at the summit of this there expand, 



