They are found at their best in damp, shady places. Many of them may be kept indefinitely in the greenhouse. Riccia, Marchantia, Conocephalus, Asterella, and many others vegetate luxuriously, and often fruit if kept on moist soil in a shady part of the greenhouse, and they do fairly well in the ordinary laboratory if covered with glass and protected from too intense light. Riccia natans is a valuable type for illustrative purposes. It floats freely on the surfaces of ponds and ditches.
Sporophytes then appear as black dots along the grooves.
After the spores are shed, the thallus remains sterile for the rest of the season. Marchantia and similar forms are not difficult to establish out of doors. A rather damp, shady spot close to the north side of a building is best. Scrapings from a board which has been nearly burned up make the best fertilizer to scatter on the soil, if one is to cultivate Marchantia. Such freezing as Marchantia receives in the vicinity of Chicago does not prevent it from appearing again the next spring.