Bryophyta

Bryophytes are amphibians of the plant kingdom. They occur in damp, shady places.

• Have a haplodiplontic life cycle.
• Plant body is the gametophyte.
• Sporophyte is parasitic on the gametophyte.
• Plant body is a thallus i.e., not differentiated into root, stem & leaf.
• Vegetative reproduction is by fragmentation, gemmae & tubers.
• Highly specialized oogamous, sexual reproduction.
• Male sex organ is antheridium which produces biflagellate antherozoids.
• Archegonium (flask-shaped) is the female sex organ, which produces an egg.
• Fertilization occurs with the help of water and movement of antherozoids towards the archegonia is chemotactic.
• The zygote divides immediately to form the sporophyte that grows on the gametophyte.
• Sporophyte is differentiated into foot, seta & capsule.
• Capsule produces haploid spores.
• Spores on dispersal germinate to form the new gametophytic plant.