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Bryophyta

(Phylum)

Overview

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(Gr. bryon: moss; phyton: plant) A phylum of simple plants possessing no vascular tissue and rudimentary rootlike organs (rhizoids). They grow in a variety of damp habitats, from fresh water to rock surfaces. Some use other plants for support. Mosses show a marked alternation of generations between gamete-bearing forms (gametophytes) and spore-bearing forms (sporophytes): they possess erect or prostrate leafy stems (the gametophyte generation, which is haploid); these give rise to leafless stalks bearing capsules (the sporophyte generation, which is diploid), the latter being dependent on the former for water and nutrients. Spores formed in the capsules are released and grow to produce new plants. Formerly, this phylum also included the liverworts and hornworts, now regarded as separate phyla (see Hepatophyta; Anthocerophyta) and the mosses were classified as a class (Musci) of the Bryophyta. The term 'bryophytes' is still used informally to refer to members of all three phyla. Syn. Bryopsida.

Photos

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Taxonomy

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The Phylum Bryophyta is further organized into finer groupings including:

Classes

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Andreaeopsida

Andreaeaceae is a family of which includes two genera, Andreaea, containing about 100 species, and the genus Acroschisma. The Andreaeaceae prefer rocky habitats ranging from tropical to arctic climates, on which they form tufted colonies, typically with reddish to blackish shoots. The capsules lack the peristome mechanism and dehisce longitudinally to release the spores, resulting in a paper-lantern appearance. [more]

Anthocerotopsida

Hornworts are a group of , or non-vascular plants, comprising the division Anthocerotophyta. The common name refers to the elongated horn-like structure, which is the sporophyte. The flattened, green plant body of a hornwort is the gametophyte plant. [more]

Bryopsida

The Bryopsida constitute the largest of mosses, containing 95% of all moss species. It consists of approximately 11,500 species, common throughout the whole world. [more]

Hepaticopsida

[more]

Marchantiopsida

The Marchantiophyta are a division of plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like other bryophytes, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information. [more]

Sphagnopsida

The Sphagnopsida includes a single subclass Sphagnidae, with three orders. The order contains only the genus Sphagnum, with all but two of the species. The order Ambuchananiales contains a single living species, and Protosphagnales contains a single fossil species. [more]

At least 610 species and subspecies belong to the Class Sphagnopsida.

More info about the Class Sphagnopsida may be found here.

Sources

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Last Revised: September 22, 2009
2009/09/22 05:56:30