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bryophyte

  (brī'ə-fīt') pronunciation
n.

A plant of the Bryophyta, a division of photosynthetic, chiefly terrestrial, nonvascular plants, including the mosses, liverworts, and hornworts.

bryophytic bry'o·phyt'ic (-fĭt'ĭk) adj.
 
 

Any of the green, seedless land plants that make up the division Bryophyta, numbering at least 18,000 species and divided into three classes: mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. They are distinguished from vascular plants and seed plants by the production of only one spore-containing organ in their spore-producing stage. Most bryophytes are 0.8 – 2 in. (2 – 5 cm) tall or, if reclining, generally less than 12 in. (30 cm) long. Found throughout the world, from polar regions to the tropics, they are most abundant in humid environments, though none is marine. Bryophytes are extremely tolerant of dry and freezing conditions. Peat moss is economically important to humans in horticulture and as an energy source. Some bryophytes are used ornamentally, as in moss gardens. In nature, bryophytes initiate soil formation on barren terrain and maintain soil moisture, and they recycle nutrients in forest ecosystems. They are found on rocks, logs, and forest litter.

For more information on bryophyte, visit Britannica.com.

 
WordNet: bryophyte
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: any of numerous plants of the division Bryophyta
  Synonym: nonvascular plant


 
Wikipedia: bryophyte

The bryophytes are those embryophytes ('land plants') that are 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.

Bryophyte classification

The bryophytes do not form a monophyletic group but consist of three groups, the Marchantiophyta (liverworts), Anthocerotophyta (hornworts), and Bryophyta (mosses).

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

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. As a result, bryophyte sexuality is very different from that of other plants. There are two basic categories of sexuality in bryophytes:

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. Those terms apply only to seed plants.

See also

References

Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about:
  • Chopra, R. 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. 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.



 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bryophyte" Read more

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