Jungermannia

Jungermannia, a Linnæan genus of cryptogamous plants, containing a great number of species, which some modern botanists have divided into many genera, and some have even formed into an order, Jungermanniaceæ, although it is more generally regarded as constituting a sub-order of Hepaticæ (q.v.). The distinctive characters of the sub-order are that the spore-eases open by four valves, and that the spores are mixed with elaters. The species much resemble mosses in appearance. Many are natives of Britain, some of them very common in moist places. The tropical species are very numerous, and some of them are to be found even on the young shoots and leaves of plants.