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Article: Bryophytes
- Article from:
- Plant Sciences
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Bryophytes
Plant scientists recognize two kinds of land plants: bryophytes (nonvascular land plants) and tracheophytes (
vascular
land plants). Bryophytes are small, herbaceous plants that grow closely packed together in mats or cushions on rocks or soil or as
epiphytes
on the trunks and leaves of forest trees.
Bryophytes are distinguished from tracheophytes by two important characteristics. First, in all bryophytes the ecologically persistent, photosynthetic phase of the life cycle is the
haploid
,
gametophyte
generation rather than the
diploid sporophyte
; bryophyte sporophytes are very short-lived, are attached to and nutritionally dependent on their gametophytes, and consist ...