Spores of Plagiochila (Dumort.) Dumort.: the taxonomic relevance of morphology and ultrastructure

ABSTRACT Plagiochilaceae is a family of leafy liverworts that are distributed worldwide. It is of great importance due to its taxonomic and ecological implications among bryophytes. Most species of the family belong to the genus Plagiochila, but there is no consensus regarding its infrageneric circumscription. There have been few palynological studies involving Plagiochilaceae and Plagiochila. Here, we describe the spore morphology of seventeen species of Plagiochila and discuss the taxonomic value of palynological characters for these taxa. The spores were processed by standard palynological ...