Marchantia polymorpha (umbrella liverwort)

c. 1890

Historical Brendel Plant Model, Botany Department, University of Otago

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Marchantia polymorpha (umbrella liverwort) grows worldwide. It is dioecious which means that the plant has separate male and female parts and this model depicts the female reproductive organ which can grow up to 10 centimetres in length; the ‘spokes’ of the umbrella-like structure house the egg-producing organs. The University of Cambridge hosts a website exclusively devoted to the liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha.