Tag: classification of bryophytes

Dawsonia is a genus of acrocarpous mosses that includes the tallest and largest self-supporting mosses in the world. Specifically, Dawsonia superba can grow up to 50 to 60 cm in height, which is exceptionally large for a bryophyte. Other genera like Funaria and Pogonatum are much smaller.

In the hornwort Anthoceros, the sex organs (antheridia and archegonia) are deeply embedded within the dorsal tissue of the gametophytic thallus. They develop from hypodermal cells and do not project outward on stalks or specialized gametophores, unlike in many liverworts.

Anthoceros is a well-known genus of hornworts, which belong to the bryophyte division Anthocerotophyta. Funaria is a moss, while Marchantia and Riccia are liverworts belonging to the division Marchantiophyta.

The archegonium is a stalked flask-shaped structure with a basally swollen venter and an elongated neck 

The first true land plants were non-vascular plants such as mosses and liverworts that appeared in the early Ordovician period. 

Elaters are present in hepaticopsida (marchantia). Pseudoelators are present in Anthocerotopsida. Single layered capsule wall splits into a number of longitudinal valves, which extend from apex towards the middle of capsule. The valves are rolled back due to annular thickenings in jacket cells. Jerky movement of elaters due to their hygroscopic nature leads to loosening up of spore mass and scattering of spores in air.

Riccia has the simplest sporophyte among all bryophytes, consisting solely of a capsule. It lacks both a foot and a seta, which are present in other bryophytes like Marchantia, Anthoceros, and mosses.