What can you tell me about Bryophyta?

Question

Without all the big scientific words please? lol :] I am in sixth grade. Thanks so much!

Answer 1

Bryophytes are plants that lack veins and require environmental water to reproduce. General characteristics of this group include: a waxy cuticle to slow down water loss and special structures that protect developing gametes. The male structure is called the antheridium which produces flagellated sperm. The female archegonium produces a single egg. Bryophytes need water to reproduce. They do not contain any tissue for up right support. These plants usually form mats of horizontally growing tissue.

Answer 2

Well, mosses can grow in very tough places that other plants can't, as long as there's periodic water for them to reproduce. They don't need much soil, they don't need particularly good soil, and many of them can do quite well even in areas that get pretty dry and cold - they can dry up and still recover whenever water is available. These are mosses that live on land, of course - there are mosses and other bryophytes like liverworts that live in water and can't take that kind of drying out. Mosses are one of the earliest types of plant to colonize barren areas, and they help prepare the way for 'needier' plants by breaking down rock into mineral fragments and adding organic material (both from themselves and from small animals that may live and die in the moss) to it to make good soil. Some mosses produce spore capsules on stalks to disperse their spores on the winds, while other mosses and other bryophytes may use water to spread their spores to new locations. Theres lots more, but that's a start. Just for fun, you might want to look up 'Tardigrada', too. If you're small enough, a moss patch is like a forest..

Answer 3

hope this helps http://www.answers.com/topic/bryophyta-1?cat=technology