Bryophyte | |
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Marchantia, an example of a liverwort (Marchantiophyta) | |
Scientific classification![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Phragmoplastophyta |
Clade: | Embryophyta |
Subdivisions | |
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Bryophytes (/ˈbraɪ.əˌfaɪts/)[2] are a group of land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic division, that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants: the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses (Bryophyta sensu lato).[3] In the strict sense, the division Bryophyta consists of the mosses only. Bryophytes are characteristically limited in size and prefer moist habitats although some species can survive in drier environments.[4] The bryophytes consist of about 20,000 plant species.[5][6] Bryophytes produce enclosed reproductive structures (gametangia and sporangia), but they do not produce flowers or seeds. They reproduce sexually by spores and asexually by fragmentation or the production of gemmae.[7]
Though bryophytes were considered a paraphyletic group in recent years, almost all of the most recent phylogenetic evidence supports the monophyly of this group, as originally classified by Wilhelm Schimper in 1879.[8]
The term bryophyte comes from Ancient Greek βρύον (brúon) 'tree moss, liverwort' and φυτόν (phutón) 'plant'.
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