Lejeuneaceae is the largest family of Marchantiophyta. Most of its members are found in the tropical, while others can be found in temperate regions.
The main characteristics of the family are that:
-
The leaves are incubous.
-
Amphigastrium is usually present, sometimes reduced.
-
Leaves are divided into lobe and lobule.
-
Archaegonium in a perianth.
Some large genera of the family are Lejeunea, Ceratolejeunea (around 84 species,) and Cheilolejeunea (around 275 species,).
Taxonomy
The Lejeuneaceae are the largest family of
Marchantiophyta with more than 1600 species,
which equates to roughly 20% to 25% of all liverworts. These species are assigned to 95 genera.
[Crandall-Stotler, Barbara. & Stotler, Raymond E. "Morphology and classification of the Marchantiophyta". pages 62-63 in A. Jonathan Shaw & Bernard Goffinet (Eds.), Bryophyte Biology. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press:2000). ]
List of genera