Megaceros (botany)

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Megaceros

Megaceros vincentianus from a South-Brazilian rain forest; Spores pressed out of the sporophyte.

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Anthocerotophyta
Class:	Anthocerotopsida
Order:	Anthocerotales
Family:	Dendrocerotaceae
Genus:	Megaceros Campbell

Species

Megaceros aenigmaticus Schust.
Megaceros alatifrons Steph.
Megaceros denticulatus
Megaceros endiviaefolius (Mont.) Steph.
Megaceros flagellaris (Mitt.) Steph.
Megaceros fuegiensis Steph.
Megaceros gracilis
Megaceros guatemalensis Steph.
Megaceros novae-zelandiae Steph.
Megaceros pallens (Steph.) Steph.
Megaceros pellucidus (Colenso) E.A. Hodgs.
Megaceros salakensis D. Campb.
Megaceros tjibodensis D. Campb.
Megaceros vincentianus (Lehm. & Lindenb.) Campb.

Megaceros is a genus of hornworts in the family Dendrocerotaceae. The genus is found in east Asia, Australia, eastern North America, and tropical America. Its name means 'big horn', and refers both to the exceptionally large size of the gametophyte thallus and to the large, horn-shaped sporophyte that the plants produce. Many species have a branching thallus that is more than two centimeters wide. The gametophytes are monoicous.

The genus Megaceros is unusual among hornworts in that the sporophyte does not have stomata, and the spores are green because they contain chloroplasts, as does the related genus Dendroceros. The thallus cells often contain more than one chloroplast, as opposed to other hornwort genera. The elaters are helical. The genus Megaceros was first recognized in 1907 by D. Campbell.

[edit] References

Hicks, Marie L. (1992). Guide to the Liverworts of North Carolina. Durham: Duke University Press.
Parihar, N. S. (1961). An Introduction to Embryophyta, Volume I. Allahbad: Central Book Depot.