Bryophyte

From Freepedia

Bryophytes are embryophyte plants ('land plants') that are nevertheless non-vascular: they have tissues and enclosed reproductive systems, but they lack vascular tissue that circulates liquids. They neither flower nor produce seeds, reproducing via spores. 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.

There are three groups, the Marchantiophyta (liverworts), Anthocerotophyta (hornworts), and Bryophyta (mosses). Modern studies generally show one of two patterns. Either the liverworts were the first to diverge, followed by the hornworts, while the mosses are the closest living relatives of the vascular plants. Or else, 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.

References

• 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. ISBN 0-521-66097-1.
• Prihar, N. S. (1961). An Introduction to Embryophyta: Volume I, Bryophyta (4th ed.). Allahbad: Central Book Depot.
• Raven, Peter H., Evert, Ray F., & Eichhorn, Susan E. (1986). Biology of Plants (4th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN 0-87901-315-X.
• 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.