Bryophyta (bryophytes) A division of plants which for some authors includes the mosses (Musci) and liverworts (Hepaticae), but is now often taken to include only the mosses; liverworts having been assigned divisional status as Hepatophyta. Bryophytes differ from algae in that the multicellular gametangium is surrounded by a protective jacket of sterile cells; gametangia of algae are usually unicellular and never have a protective jacket of sterile cells. Although bryophytes lack differentiated water-conducting vessels, and rely largely or entirely on water absorbed from rain falling on the plants, or from a moist atmosphere, some larger species may have simple water-conducting cells. They lack true roots, but possess root-like rhizoids which anchor them to a substrate and which can absorb water and minerals. The plants all show a heteromorphic alternation of generations, with a green vegetative gametophyte (the familiar moss or liverwort plant) and a sporophyte which typically takes the form of a (usually stalked) capsule and which is partially or wholly parasitic on the gametophyte. Most bryophytes are land plants and are found worldwide in a range of habitats. They are known from Devonian rocks, but there is no evidence to link them with either the green algae or the more advanced pteridophytes.
(1) A characteristic feature of bryophytes is:
(a) a dominant and parasitic sporophyte
(b) a dominant and spore-producing gametophyte
(c) a small sporophyte phase, which is dependent on the gametophyte
(d) sporophytes stay for a longer duration.
(2) Find the true statement about bryophytes:
(a) they have chloroplasts
(b) they have archegonia
(c) they are thalloid
(d) all of the above.
(3) Among the following which is not characteristics feature of bryophyte:
(a) Motile sperms
(b) Presence of archegonium
(c) Water essential for fertilization
(d) Independent sporophyte
(4) Bryophytes differ from pteridophytes in:
(a) Swimming antherozoids
(b) An independent gametophyte
(c) Archegonia
(d) Lack of vascular tissue
(5) In bryophytes, antherozoids are-
(a) Biflagellate
(b) Multiflagellate
(c) Sometimes biflagellate and sometimes multiflagellate.
(d) Biflagellate in a few species and multiflagellate in the rest.
