Within the bryophytes (liverworts, mosses and hornworts), liverworts (Marchantiophyta) are now widely accepted as the most ancient clade of land plants (Forrest et al. 2006; Crandall-Stotleret al. 2008). Liverworts comprise a diverse and ecologically important group of approximately 8000 species that can form abundant biomass on moist soil and rocks, or as epiphytes