Bryophyta is the collective name for a group of amphibious plants that includes liverworts, hornworts and mosses. In Nepal about 180 genera and 853 species of bryophytes are reported.
Types
Bryophyta is divided into three classes:
- Hepaticopsida (liverworts)
- Anthocerotopsida (hornworts)
- Bryopsida (mosses)
General characteristics of Bryophyta
- They generally grow in moist and shady places.
- The plant body is a gametophyte.
- The gametophytes are thalloid or foliose.
- The vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) are absent.
- They are called amphibian plants because they need water during fertilization to complete their life cycle.
- The haploid gametophytic generation is dominant in the entire life cycle.
- The sexual reproduction is highly advanced, of the oogamous type.
- They show distinct alternation of a haploid gametophytic and a diploid sporophytic generation.
Marchantia
Classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Division: Bryophyta
- Class: Hepaticopsida
- Order: Marchantiales
- Family: Marchantiaceae
- Genus: Marchantia
Occurrence
Marchantia includes about 65 species distributed all over the world. It is commonly known as liverwort. The plants grow in moist and shady places such as on rocks, soil, logs of wood, banks of streams and on walls. Three species of Marchantia are reported in Nepal, including Marchantia polymorpha and Marchantia nepalensis.