Bryophytes are all embryophytes ('land plants') that are non-vascular: they have tissues and enclosed reproductive systems, but they lack vascular tissue that circulates liquids. The embryophytes are the most familiar group of Plants They include Trees Flowers Ferns Mosses and various other green Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Non-vascular plants is a general term for those Plants (including the Green algae) without a vascular system ( Xylem and Phloem This is an article about vascular tissue in plants For transport in animals see Circulatory system. They neither have flowers nor produce seeds, reproducing via spores. A flower, also known as a bloom or Blossom, is the reproductive structure found in Flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also A seed (in some plants referred to as a kernel) is a small embryonic Plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat usually with some stored In Biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions The term bryophyte comes from Greek βρύον - bruon, "tree-moss, oyster-green" < βρύω - bruo, "to be full to bursting, to abound" + φυτόν - fyton "plant". The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c

Bryophyte classification

The bryophytes do not form a monophyletic group but consist of three groups, the Marchantiophyta (liverworts), Anthocerotophyta (hornworts), and Bryophyta (mosses). A clade is a taxonomic group comprising a single Common ancestor and all the descendants of that ancestor The Marchantiophyta are a division of Bryophyte Plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. This is an article about the non-vascular plants The name Hornwort is also often applied to an aquatic plant Ceratophyllum demersum in the family Ceratophyllaceae Mosses are small soft Plants that are typically 1–10  cm (0

Two hypotheses on the phylogeny of land plants (embryophyta).

Modern studies of the land plants generally show one of two patterns. In one of these patterns, the liverworts were the first to diverge, followed by the hornworts, while the mosses are the closest living relatives of the polysporangiates (which include the vascular plants). In the other pattern, the hornworts were the first to diverge, followed by the vascular plants, while the mosses are the closest living relatives of the liverworts. Originally the three groups were brought together as the three classes of division Bryophyta. However, since the three groups of bryophytes form a paraphyletic group, they now are placed in three separate divisions. In Phylogenetics, a group of organisms is said to be paraphyletic if the group contains its most recent common ancestor but does not contain all

Bryophyte sexuality

These plants are generally gametophyte-oriented; that is, the normal plant is the haploid gametophyte, with the only diploid structure being the sporangium in season. In Plants and Algae that undergo Alternation of generations, a gametophyte is the multicellular structure or phase that is Haploid, containing "Haplo" redirects here For the fictional character see The Death Gate Cycle. "Haplo" redirects here For the fictional character see The Death Gate Cycle. A sporangium (pl sporangia) is a Plant or fungal structure producing and containing Spores Sporangia occur in angiosperms, As a result, bryophyte sexuality is very different from that of other plants. There are two basic categories of sexuality in bryophytes:

• Dioicous bryophytes produce only antheridia (male organs) or archegonia (female organs) on a single plant body. Monoicous organisms are defined as having both sperm-producing and egg-producing reproductive organs in the same individual An antheridium (plural antheridia) is a Haploid structure or organ producing and containing male Gametes (called antherozoids or Sperm An archegonium (pl archegonia) from the Ancient Greek ἀρχή ("beginning" and γόνος ("offspring" is a multicellular
• Monoicous bryophytes produce both antheridia and archegonia on the same plant body. Monoicous organisms are defined as having both sperm-producing and egg-producing reproductive organs in the same individual An antheridium (plural antheridia) is a Haploid structure or organ producing and containing male Gametes (called antherozoids or Sperm An archegonium (pl archegonia) from the Ancient Greek ἀρχή ("beginning" and γόνος ("offspring" is a multicellular

Some bryophyte species may be either monoicous or dioicous depending on environmental conditions. Other species grow exclusively with one type of sexuality.

Notice that these terms are not the same as monoecious and dioecious, which refer to whether or not a sporophyte plant bears one or both kinds of gametophyte. All land plants and some Algae, have life cycles in which a haploid Gametophyte generation alternates with a Diploid sporophyte, the generation of a Those terms apply only to seed plants. The spermatophytes (from the Greek word "Σπερματόφυτα" (also known as phanerogams) comprise those Plants that produce Seeds They are

Gallery

Mosses are one group of bryophytes.

See also

• Embryophyte
• Marchantiophyta (liverworts)
• Anthocerotophyta (hornworts)
• Bryophyta (mosses)
• Plant sexuality

References

• Chopra, R. The embryophytes are the most familiar group of Plants They include Trees Flowers Ferns Mosses and various other green The Marchantiophyta are a division of Bryophyte Plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. This is an article about the non-vascular plants The name Hornwort is also often applied to an aquatic plant Ceratophyllum demersum in the family Ceratophyllaceae Mosses are small soft Plants that are typically 1–10  cm (0 Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of Sexual reproduction systems found across the Plant kingdom N. & Kumra, P. K. (1988). Biology of Bryophytes. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-470-21359-0.
• Crum, Howard (2001). Structural Diversity of Bryophytes. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Herbarium. ISBN 0-9620733-4-2.
• Goffinet, Bernard. (2000). Origin and phylogenetic relationships of bryophytes. In A. Jonathan Shaw & Bernard Goffinet (Eds. ), Bryophyte Biology, pp. 124-149. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP is a Publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534 ISBN 0-521-66097-1.
• Oostendorp, Cora (1987). The Bryophytes of the Palaeozoic and the Mesozoic. Bryophytorum Bibliotheca, Band 34. Berlin & Stuttgart: J. Cramer. ISBN 3-443-62006-X.
• Prihar, N. S. (1961). An Introduction to Embryophyta: Volume I, Bryophyta (4th ed. ). Allahabad: Central Book Depot.
• Raven, Peter H. , Evert, Ray F. , & Eichhorn, Susan E. (2005). Biology of Plants (7th ed. ). New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. ISBN 0-7167-1007-2.
• Schofield, W. B. (1985). Introduction to Bryology. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-949660-8.
• Watson, E. V. (1971). The Structure and Life of Bryophytes (3rd ed. ). London: Hutchinson University Library. ISBN 0-09-109301-5.

External links

• Glime, Janice M. , 2007. Bryophyte Ecology, Volume 1. Physiological Ecology. Ebook sponsored by Michigan Technological University and the International Association of Bryologists.