A generalized liverwort life cycle based on the genus Marchantia. The haploid male & female gametophytes bearing erect archegoniophore & antheridiophore are quite distinctive. The diploid sporophyte is essentially reduced to a spore-bearing sporangium. The green bottlewort gametophyte is minute, but visible to the naked eye, especially if you are on your knees; however, a magnifying glass really helps. The dark sporophyte (sporangia), after gametophyte has shiveled and turned black, is difficult to spot without magnification.

The involucres and thallus are the haploid plant (gametophyte generation). It develops from a distinct, haploid spore characteristic of the bottlewort species Sphaerocarpos drewiae.

Bottleworts are dioecious, a term referring to a species population containing male and female individuals. It is not the same as bisexual! Male plants are exceedingly difficult to spot because they are very small and often crowded between clusters of female plants. Like female plants, their involucres sit upright on the surface of a minute thallus. They are often reddish purple, especially when growing in sunlight. Motile sperm are released from antheridium inside each involucre. They swim to nearby involucre of female plant when ground is wet. Fertilization occurs inside egg-bearing archegonium within involucre of female plant. The resulting zygote develops into a multicellular embryo and eventually into a sporangium. As the sporanium matures into a spherical spore-bearing structure, the female plant darkens and withers. By late spring, the dry ground has small black sporangia where the green bottleworts once grew.