An order of liverworts in the subclass Jungermanniidae, consisting of a single genus and two species. Some authors put the Takakiales in the Calobryales owing to branching from a prostrate branched stem, lack of rhizoids, copious mucilage secretion, and massive frequently scattered archegonia that lack protective envelopes. However, sporophytes have never been seen, and so it is difficult to demonstrate any meaningful relationship.
The members of the Takakiales consist of a very small gametophyte made up of a branched system of prostrate, leafless stolons and erect, radially organized branches with terete appendages. The “leafy” branches are simple or forked and have a weak central strand of narrow cells enclosed by larger cells. The leafy appendages are small and scalelike below, larger and crowded above, and variable in arrangement. The leaf cells lack oil bodies. Mucilage is secreted by simple filaments on leafy branches and by branched filaments clustered on both leafy and stoloniform branches. The archegonia are scattered and not enclosed by protective structures. See also Bryophyta; Calobryales.
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