1. Nonvascular Plants
(Bryophytes)

2. Bryophytes

3. Seedless Nonvascular Plants
Spore Capsules
Simplest land plants
Evolved from green algae
Can grow in a wide range of
Environments
When environment dries so does the
plant
Moss

4. General Characteristics
Lack vascular tissue (xylem & phloem) to carry water and food
Water and food move in the plant by diffusion
No strengthening tissue (xylem) so they cannot grow tall
Most are between 2 and 20 cm high

5. General Characteristics
Have no true leaves or roots
Have rhizoids – fine outgrowths of the stem to anchor the plant
Have simple ‘leaf like structures’ that contain chlorophyll for photosynthesis
Can absorb water through the surface of the plant
Have no cuticle

6. General Characteristics
Reproduce by means of spores produced in sporangia of the sporophyte
Which grows out of the visible plant
Are homosporous = spores are all the same size
Germinate immediately and grow into the green plant we can see (gametophyte)
That produces male and female gametes

7. General Characteristics
Depend on water for fertilisation
Male gametes have to swim in a film of water to reach the female gamete (egg)

8. General Characteristics
Two gametes fuse to form a zygote
That develops into an embryo
Which grows into the sporophyte
Go through Alternation of generations (sporophyte & gametophyte stage)
Gametophyte is dominant stage
Reproduce by spores

10. Division - Bryophyta
Sporophytes
Gametophytes

11. Mosses Division Bryophyta Small, nonvascular plants
NO true roots, stems, or leaves
Grow in moist areas (brick walls, as thick mats on the forest floor, on the sides of trees)
Moss gametophytes

12. Moss growing on Moist tree trunk
Mosses
Some can survive short dry spells
Must grow close together for their life cycle
H2O moves by diffusion from cell to cell
Sperm must swim to egg through drops of water
Moss growing on Moist tree trunk

13. Mosses Have a outer waxy Cuticle to prevent water loss
Have root like Rhizoids to anchor the plant, but NOT absorb water
Leaf like gametophyte supports sporophyte with spore capsule

14. Sphagnum Moss Known for its moisture holding capacity
Absorbs 20 times its weight in water
Used by florists to keep plant roots moist

15. Uses for Moss Plants Help decompose dead wood
EXTRA STUFF
Uses for Moss Plants
Help decompose dead wood
Serve as pioneer plants on bare rock or ground
Help prevent erosion
Provide shelter for insects & small animals
Used as nesting material by birds
Peat moss is burned as fuel

16. Asexual Reproduction in Moss
The spore capsule is full of spores that must mature
Once mature, the spore cap (operculum) comes off releasing spores
Spores germinate (grow) when they land on moist soil

17. Sexual Reproduction in Moss
Moss alternate between a dominant haploid (1n) Gametophyte and a diploid (2n) Sporophyte
Gametophytes produce gametes (eggs & sperm) containing half the chromosome number
Sporophytes have a complete set of chromosomes & produces spores by meiosis

18. Sexual Reproduction in Moss
The sporophyte is smaller & attached to the gametophyte
Sporophyte lacks chlorophyll & gets food from the gametophyte
Sporophyte has a long, slender stalk (setae) topped with a spore producing capsule
Spore Capsule
setae

19. Sexual Reproduction in Moss
Eggs are large & immobile
Produced in structures called archegonia

20. Sexual Reproduction in Moss
Antheridia forms many sperm cells
Sperm cells capable of swimming to egg
Sperm follow a chemical trail released by the egg

21. Sexual Reproduction in Moss
Fertilized egg (zygote) undergoes mitosis to develop Sporophyte
Spore capsule of sporophyte makes haploid spores by meiosis
Spores germinate into juvenile plants called protonema
Protonema becomes the gametophyte

23. Division - Hepatophyta
Not in the syllabus
Division - Hepatophyta

24. Liverworts Nonvascular Reproduce by spores
Alternation of generations with sporophyte attached to gametophyte
Green, leafy Gametophyte dominant

25. Liverworts Need abundant water for fertilization
Grow on moist soil, rocks, or other moist surfaces
Reproduce asexually by gemmae or by growing new branches
Reproduce sexually by haploid spores
Gemmae Cups
Capsule

26. Division Anthocerophyta
Not in the syllabus
Division Anthocerophyta

27. Hornworts Small, nonvascular bryophytes
Sporophytes
Small, nonvascular bryophytes
Gametophyte leafy and dominant like liverworts
Archegonia & antheridia form inside the plant
Zygotes develop into long, horn-shaped Sporophytes
Gametophytes

28. Hornworts Horn-shaped Sporophyte capable of photosynthesis
Sporophyte attached to, but NOT as dependent on Gametophyte
Sporophyte
Gametophyte

29. The End