Blasiaceae
Encyclopedia
Blasiaceae is a family
of liverworts
with only two species: Blasia pusilla (a circumboreal species) and Cavicularia densa (found only in Japan
). The family has traditionally been classified among the Metzgeriales
, but molecular cladistics suggests a placement at the base of the Marchantiopsida.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of liverworts
Marchantiophyta
The Marchantiophyta are a division of bryophyte plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like other bryophytes, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information....
with only two species: Blasia pusilla (a circumboreal species) and Cavicularia densa (found only in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
). The family has traditionally been classified among the Metzgeriales
Metzgeriales
Metzgeriales is an order of liverworts. The group is sometimes called the simple thalloid liverworts: "thalloid" because the members lack structures resembling stems or leaves, and "simple" because their tissues are thin and relatively undifferentiated. All species in the order have a small...
, but molecular cladistics suggests a placement at the base of the Marchantiopsida.