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Bryophyte Photos
| Major Botanical Divisions |
Bryophyte Photos
Bryophytes (Nonvascular Embryophytes)
Division Bryophyta
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A liverwort (probably Asterella) in southern California. The lobed, dorsi-ventrally flattened thallus (nonvascular plant body) grows flat on moist soil. The upright, palm-like stalks are archegoniophores (female reproductive structures) and bear young spore-bearing capsules on their undersides.
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A small mushroom emerging from a clump of mosses and liverworts (probably Asterella) on a shady, moist bank in the chaparral of southern California. The upright structures on the liverworts are archegoniophores (female reproductive structures) bearing young spore-bearing capsules on their undersides.
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Left: A liverwort (Marchantia) growing in a wet meadow on Palomar Mountain. The upper surface of the gametophyte thallus bears small cups containing asexual buds called gemmae. Right: A magnified view of a gemmae cup showing numerous lens-shaped gemmae inside. Raindrops may splash the gemmae up to three feet (1 meter) away. Each gemma is capable of growing into a new thallus. Note the conspicuous rimmed pores on the upper side of the thallus. Each pore leads into an air chamber containing columns of photosynthetic cells and facilitates in gas exchange. Unlike the stomata of vascular plants which close in dry weather, the air pores of liverworts remain open all the time. Liverworts cannot control their water loss (transpiration) through the pores. They must live in shady, moist areas where they can imbibe water, and where there is sufficient water for their swimming sperm to reach the egg.
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Close-up view of limestone block at the Maya pyramid of Tikal in Guatemala showing bright green patch of liverworts surrounded by a dark mass of cyanobacteria (Scytonema). The miniature, palm-like stalks on the liverworts are female reproductive structures called archegoniophores. There are probably some male antheridiophores mixed in with this dense population.
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An aquatic liverwort (Ricciocarpus natans). The lobed, dorsi-ventrally flattened thallus (nonvascular plant body) floats on the surface of quiet streams and ponds. The numerous smaller plants are duckweeds (Lemna minuta), a flowering plant.
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The duckweed (Lemna turionifera) and two nonvascular aquatic liverworts (Ricciocarpus natans & Riccia fluitans) in Flat Creek, Wyoming. Ricciocarpus natans has a lobed, dorsi-ventrally flattened thallus bearing numerous elongate scales on the underside. This liverwort floats on the surface of quiet streams and ponds. Riccia fluitans has a dichotomously branched thallus forming interconnected chains. The elongated lobes are only about one millimeter wide. Massive submersed colonies of this minute plant are a haven for small aquatic insect larvae.
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The duckweed (Lemna turionifera) and two nonvascular aquatic liverworts (Ricciocarpus natans & Riccia fluitans) in Flat Creek, Wyoming. Ricciocarpus natans has a lobed, dorsi-ventrally flattened thallus bearing numerous elongate scales on the underside. This liverwort floats on the surface of quiet streams and ponds. Riccia fluitans has a dichotomously branched thallus forming interconnected chains. The elongated lobes are only about one millimeter wide. Massive submersed colonies of this minute plant are a haven for small aquatic insect larvae.
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Moss covered tree trunks in the Coast Range of central Oregon.
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A true moss showing the leafy, haploid gametophytes (lower portion) and upright stalks with spore-bearing sporangia (capsules) at their tips. The stalks and sporangia constitute the diploid sporophyte.
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An aquatic moss (Fontinalis) growing in Santa Ysabel Creek in San Diego County, California. This unusual moss grows completely submersed in fresh water. The photo also shows the water fern (Azolla filiculoides) at the lower left and several small duckweeds (Lemna minuta). There is also an aquatic liverwort (Ricciocarpus natans) floating at the lower middle of photo.
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Left: A white fungus colony resembling a Greek letter growing on wet green moss. The colony is about one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Right: Magnified view of the fungus (200x) showing silvery-white hyphae bearing stalked mitosporangia. Each mitosporangium bears many mitospores. These fungi are sometimes called "pin molds" because of the resemblance of the stalked mitosporangia to round-headed pins. They belong to the family Mucoraceae in the fungal division Zygomycota.
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