Top 10 facts about Bryophytes! NEET | NTA NEET | NEET UG EXAM | BioLogical

 NEET | NTA NEET | NEET UG EXAM | BioLogical 

• Bryophytes include the various mosses and liverworts that are found commonly growing in moist shaded areas in the hills.

• Bryophytes are also called amphibians of the plant kingdom because these plants can live in soil but are dependent on water for sexual reproduction. 

•  Bryophytes in general are of little economic importance but some mosses provide food for herbaceous mammals, birds and other animals. 

• The main plant body of the bryophyte is haploid. It produces gametes, hence is called a gametophyte. 

• The male sex organ is called antheridium. They produce biflagellate antherozoids. The female sex organ called archegonium is flask-shaped and produces a single egg. 

• Species of Sphagnum, a moss, provide peat that have long been used as fuel, and as packing material for trans-shipment of living material because of their capacity to hold water. 

• Mosses along with lichens are the first organisms to colonise rocks and hence, are of great ecological importance. 

• They decompose rocks making the substrate suitable for the growth of higher plants. 

• Since mosses form dense mats on the soil, they reduce the impact of falling rain and prevent soil erosion. 

• The bryophytes are divided into liverworts and mosses.