These nonvascular plants show three features that were adaptive during the transition to land:
Mosses are the most common bryophytes. Eggs and sperm develop in jacketed vessels (gametangia) at the shoot tips of moss plants. After fertilization, the zygote develops into a mature sporophyte, which consists of a special structure (sporangium) in which the spores develop.
You have probably heard of peat moss and may have used it in gardening or in potting plants. There are actually 350 species of peat moss. Sphagnum is an example. Peat mosses grow in acidic bogs and are important ecosystems of cold and temperate regions. Peat can also be harvested and burned as fuel.
This animation (Audio - Important) describes the moss life cycle.
REVIEW: All are Bryophytes EXCEPT
a. hornworts.
b. liverworts.
c. lycopods.
d. mosses.
REVIEW: Of all land plants, bryophytes alone have independent _____ and attached, dependent _____ .
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