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BRYOPHYTES

Introduction

Bryophytes are thought to have evolved from freshwater green algae about 470 million years ago. The development of a number of adaptations, such as water loss prevention, has allowed them to survive the terrestrial habitat.

As bryophytes are rather small and sometimes slippery, many people do not realize their role in environment. Some bryophytes are pioneer plants, growing on bare rock and contributing to soil development. Bryophytes can form a thick carpet and reduce erosion. In forest ecosystems they act like a sponge retaining and slowly releasing water. Bryophytes provide habitats for other plants and small animals as well as microorganisms like N2-fixing blue-green bacteria. They also absorb whatever is around them and can serve as bioindicators of pollution and environmental degradation.

Kebun Cina Forest Reserve is considered a lowland area with the highest elevation of 105 m above sea level. Bryophytes in this area are rather small in size and not so diverse in terms of species. But don't be surprised, we might find one species of bryophyte covering the whole log. They also vary in habitat although they are usually found in moist, damp and shaded areas.

Bryophytes are a simple type of green land plant. They have existed on the earth for millions of years. They do not have the true roots, stems with xylem and phloem and leaves of the more developed plants. They do have a simple form of roots called rhizomes and simple structures similar to leaves.

Bryophytes are classified into three divisions: Bryophyta (Mosses), Hepaticophyta (Liverworts) and Anthocerotophyta (Hornworts).

Various Habitats of Bryophytes
 
On rotting logs
On tree trunks and roots
On leaves
Hanging from branches
On rocks
On concrete drain
On soil

 

Mosses (Bryophyta)
 

Mosses do not grow vertically much but can spread out to be a meter long. In many mosses, the leaves are only one cell thick, except for the midribs, which are sometimes present. Mosses reproduce or make more of themselves by branching and breaking up into pieces. They also regenerate from parts of the leaves or stems, and by spores. Here are some pictures of mosses that are usually found in lowland area like Kebun Cina Forest Reserve:

 
Leucobryum bowringii
Phyrobryum sp.
Sematophyllaceae
Arthrocormus schimperi
Calymperes sp. (Family Calymperaceae)

 

Liverworts (Hepaticophyta)
 

Like other bryophytes, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which the cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information. There are two types of liverworts, viz, thalloid liverworts and leafy liverworts. Some species grow as a flattened leafless thallus, but most species are leafy with a form very much like a flattened moss. Leafy species can most reliably be distinguished from the apparently similar mosses by their single-celled rhizoids. Other differences are not universal for all mosses and all liverworts, but the occurrence of leaves arranged in three ranks, the presence of deep lobes or segmented leaves, or a lack of clearly differentiated stem and leaves all point to the plant being a liverwort.

Liverworts are typically small, usually 2-20 mm wide with individual plants less than 10 cm long. In addition, 90% of liverworts contain oil bodies in at least some of their cells, and these cellular structures are absent from most other bryophytes and all vascular plants.

 

Leafy liverworts
   
Leafy liverworts
Leafy liverwort specimen under light-microscope 40X10
 

Hornworts (Anthocerotophyta)
 

 

“Hornwort" refers to the tall narrow sporophytes which are embedded in the plant. As in other bryophytes, the sporophyte remains attached to its parent gametophyte throughout its life, but unlike these other plants, the sporophyte continues to grow throughout its life; this happens as a group of cells at the base of the horn divide repeatedly. This continuous growth from a near-basal meristem is unique among plants to hornworts. Hornworts may be found world-wide, though they tend to grow only in places that are damp or humid.

 

 

The information provided above is based on the poster(s) displayed at Kebun Cina Gallery.

Click the following link(s) to view the poster(s).

Hornworts

 

  
     
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