EXPERIMENT 5: BRYOPHYTES AND SEEDLESS VASCUL AR PLANTS: FERN ALLIES AND FERN Bryophytes (Seedless Non Vascular Plant) Characteristics: 1) Lack of lignified vascular tissue. 2) Have no flower and seed; reproduce via spores. 3) Require moist condition for at least part of their life cycle. 4) Generally divided into three groups: (i) Bryophyta (Mosses) (ii) Hepatophyta (Liverworts) (iii) Anthocerotophyta (Hornworts) (i) Mosses Mosses reprod uce asexua lly and sex uall y . Ase xua l reprod uct ion is achieved by prod ucing diploid sporophyte.The sporo phyte is an elongated str uct ure elevated above the gametophyte. When it becomes sexually mature, the sporangium releases the spores that germinate into filamentous structures, called protonema, which will develop into gametophyte. The male sex organ is known as antheridium (plural: antheridia) whilst the female sex organ is called archegonium (plural: archegonia). After fertilization, the sporophyte will grow out of the archegonium. Figure 1: The general life cycle of a moss. 1
