| Common Name |
Bryophytes |
| Habitat |
Moist, shaded areas, damp, humid localities, hills, stream banks, marshy ground, damp soil, tree bark |
| Plant Kingdom |
Amphibians of the plant kingdom (live in soil, dependent on water for sexual reproduction) |
| Role in Plant Succession |
Important in plant succession on bare rocks/soil |
| Plant Body |
Thallus-like, prostrate or erect, attached to the substratum by unicellular or multicellular rhizoids, lacks true roots, stems, or leaves, may possess root-like, leaf-like, or stem-like structures |
| Main Plant Body |
Haploid gametophyte |
| Sex Organs |
Multicellular; male antheridium (produces biflagellate antherozoids), female archegonium (flask-shaped, produces a single egg) |
| Fertilization |
Antherozoids released into water, contact archegonium, antherozoid fuses with egg to produce zygote |
| Zygote Development |
Zygote does not undergo reduction division immediately; produces a multicellular body called a sporophyte |
| Sporophyte |
Not free-living, attached to the photosynthetic gametophyte, derives nourishment from gametophyte |
| Spore Production |
Sporophyte undergoes meiosis to produce haploid spores |
| Spore Germination |
Spores germinate to produce gametophyte |
| Economic Importance |
Limited; some mosses provide food for herbaceous mammals, birds, and other animals. Sphagnum moss provides peat used as fuel and packing material due to its water-holding capacity |
| Ecological Importance |
First colonizers on rocks, decompose rocks making substrate suitable for higher plants, reduce soil erosion by forming dense mats on the soil |
| Divisions |
Liverworts and Mosses |
| Liverworts (3.2.1) |
|
| Habitat |
Moist, shady habitats such as banks of streams, marshy ground, damp soil, bark of trees, deep in the woods |
| Plant Body |
Thalloid (e.g., Marchantia), dorsiventral, closely appressed to substrate |
| Leafy Members |
Tiny leaf-like appendages in two rows on the stem-like structures |
| Asexual Reproduction |
Fragmentation of thalli or formation of gemmae (green, multicellular asexual buds) in gemma cups |
| Gemmae |
Detached from the parent body, germinate to form new individuals |
| Sexual Reproduction |
Male and female sex organs produced on the same or different thalli |
| Sporophyte Structure |
Differentiated into foot, seta, and capsule; meiosis produces spores within the capsule |
| Spore Germination |
Spores germinate to form free-living gametophytes |
| Examples |
Marchantia |
| Mosses (3.2.2) |
|
| Life Cycle Stages |
Protonema stage (develops directly from spore, creeping, green, branched, filamentous), leafy stage (develops from secondary protonema as lateral bud, upright slender axes with spirally arranged leaves) |
| Attachment |
Attached to soil through multicellular and branched rhizoids |
| Vegetative Reproduction |
Fragmentation and budding in secondary protonema |
| Sexual Reproduction |
Antheridia and archegonia produced at the apex of leafy shoots |
| Sporophyte Structure |
Consists of foot, seta, and capsule; more elaborate than in liverworts |
| Spore Production |
Spores formed after meiosis within the capsule |
| Spore Dispersal |
Elaborate mechanism for spore dispersal |
| Examples |
Funaria, Polytrichum, Sphagnum |
