Question

Answer the following question in your own words.

Write the characteristics of the plants belonging to the division Bryophyta.

Answer 1

The characteristics of bryophytes are:

• They are the first plants to live on land but require moist conditions to survive. For this reason, they are called ‘the amphibians of the plant kingdom’.
• They are non-vascular, i.e., they do not have specialized vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) for the conduction of water and food.
• They lack true roots, stems and leaves. However, they show more body differentiation than thallophytes.
• They have rhizoids instead of tree roots.
• They do not bear flowers and seeds.
• They reproduce both sexually as well as asexually.
• Bryophytes exhibit an 'alternation of generations' in which the gametophytic phase (haploid) alternates with the sporophytic phase (diploid).
• Examples of bryophytes are Riccia, Marchantia, and Funaria.