Kingdom: Plantae
REPRODUCTION
Subkingdom: Embryophyta
Division: Byrophyta
Classes: Hepaticae, Musci, Anthoceratae
Class Musci (Mosses)
Mosses are a large group of small, spore-bearing plants that grow in damp, shady places.
There are more than 12,000 species of mosses. They grow throughout the world in almost
every type of habitat, from swamps to high mountains (though not in salt water). They are
best known for those species that carpet woodland and forest floors.
I. STRUCTURE
 Usually grow vertically
 Have distinct stem-like structure, with small, green, leaf-like appendages
not considered true stems and leaves because they lack the characteristic vascular
tissues of the stems and leaves of higher plants
 The “leaves” of the mosses have midribs which distinguish them from those of
leafy liverworts
 From the base of the stem portion grow rhizoids
Anchor of the moss plant; absorb water & minerals
Mosses have several characteristics that distinguish them from other bryophytes.
Only mosses have a multicellular rhizoid, a root-like subterranean tissue that
absorbs water and nutrients from the soil. Liverworts and hornworts have single
celled rhizoids.
II.
 Archegonia (eggs) and antheridia (sperms) are borne at the tips of the leafy shoots
in some species, at the same tip; in others on different plants
 Antherozoids (sperm equivalent) are produced in tiny sacs,
called antheridia. On their release from the antheridia, the
antherozoids must then swim through surface water to fertilize
neighbouring egg cells.
When mature antheridia are wet, the sperms emerge and
move to the archegonia by swimming through water
 One sperm fertilizes the egg, which then, by growth develops
into the young sporophyte within the archegonium
 The foot of the sporophyte becomes embedded at the apex of
the leafy shoot;
the stalk (seta) of the sporophyte elongates;
at the tip of the seta is the capsule, within which the spores are
formed
On the capsule, there is usually a lid (operculum) that when
removed, there is (in most mosses) a peristome or a ring of
teeth which bend outward when they are dry (scattering the
spores), and bend inward when they are moist (preventing
spore dispersal)
The calyptra is the remnant of the old archegonium which
covers the upper part of the capsule.
 Meiosis occurs in the capsule when the spores are formed.
 When the spores are expose to the proper environmental
conditions, they germinate and form alga-like filaments of cells.
Each filament is called protonema.
 After a time, a protonema develops buds, from which the leafy
shoots grow. These then produce archegonia and antheridia
(and so the life cycle is repeated)
 Alteration of Generation:
Gametophyte generation – spores, protonemata, and leafy
shoots (with their sex organs and gametes)
Sporophyte generation – zygote, foot, seta and capsule
 Asexual reproduction may occur in mosses by growth of new
shoots from old shoots

III. HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION
 Mosses require water for fertilization and are poorly equipped for conserving
water; thus, they are limited to moist habitats
 A few species grow in arid locations
 World-wide in distribution. Many of them grow on damp rocks, on the barks of the
trees, and in dense stands on the soil, producing familiar carpets of vegetation
IV. IMPORTANCE TO MAN
 They are of some value in reducing soil erosion, and they furnish food for certain
kinds of animals
 Peat-moss (Sphagnum) “leaves” have many large cells with circular openings; as a
result, it absorbs liquids greedily and holds them tenaciously. This property makes
it valuable as an absorbing medium used for preserving cut flowers, etc.
 Ground peat-moss is used as lawn dressing; compressed, dried peat is used as fuel
in many parts of the world
 Mosses are of some value in filling in lakes and in aiding in the formation of the soil.
Class Anthoceratae (Hornworts)
 Hornwort refers to the elongated horn-like structure, which is the sporophyte.
 As in mosses and liverworts, the flattened, green plant body of a hornwort is the
gametophyte plant. The plant body of a hornwort is a haploid gametophyte stage.
This stage usually grows as a thin rosette or ribbon-like thallus between one and five
centimeters in diameter.
 Hornworts may be found worldwide, though they tend to grow only in places that
are damp or humid. Some species grow in large numbers as tiny weeds in the soil of
gardens and cultivated fields.
 The total number of species is still uncertain. While there are more than 300
published species names, the actual number could be as low as 100-150 species.
STRUCTURE, LIFE CYCLE & REPRODUCTION
 The life of a hornwort starts from a haploid spore. In most species, there is a
single cell inside the spore, and a slender extension of this cell called the germ
tube germinates from the proximal side of the spore.
 The tip of the germ tube divides to form an octant (solid geometry) of cells, and
the first rhizoid grows as an extension of the original germ cell
 The tip continues to divide new cells, which produces a thalloid protonema.
 From the protonema grows the adult gametophyte, which is the persistent and
independent stage in the life cycle. It is green or yellow-green from the
chlorophyll in its cells, or bluish-green when colonies of cyanobacteria grow
inside the plant.
 When the gametophyte has grown to its adult size, it produces the sex organs of
the hornwort. Most plants are monoecious, with both sex organs on the same
plant, but some plants (even within the same species) are dioecious, with
separate male and female gametophytes.
 The biflagellate sperm must swim from the antheridia, or else be splashed to
the archegonia. When this happens, the sperm and egg cell fuse to form a
zygote, the cell from which the sporophyte stage of the life cycle will develop.
 Unlike all other bryophytes, the first cell division of the zygote is longitudinal.
 At the bottom of the sporophyte (closest to the interior of the gametophyte), is
a foot. This is a globular group of cells that receives nutrients from the parent
gametophyte, on which the sporophyte will spend its entire existence.
 In the middle of the sporophyte (just above the foot), is a meristem that will
continue to divide and produce new cells for the third region. This third region is
the capsule.
 Both the central and surface cells of the capsule are sterile, but between them is
a layer of cells that will divide to produce pseudo-elaters and spores. These are
released from the capsule when it splits lengthwise from the tip.
REFERENCES