Classification of Bryophytes

 General characters and Classification of Bryophytes

Bryophytes are the most primitive group of land plants

Morphologically they are small in size and have no vascular tissues.

Habitat: Bryophytes are Perennial and lives in humid areas.

They are called as Amphibians of Plant kingdom. They lives in humid areas and need water for fertilization.

Bryophytes have two generations-Gametophytic generation and Sporophytic generation.

Gametophytic generation: It is the dominant generation in bryophytes. The gametophytic plant develops from haploid spore and produces sperms and eggs in male and female gametophyte respectively. Gametophytic generation is haploid in nature.

Sporophyte generation: This is the smallest phase in bryophytes. It is developed from fertilized egg produces haploid spores by meiosis that are dispersed and develop into gametophytes. Sporophytic generation is diploid in nature.

CLASSIFICATION OF BRYOPHYTES

Braun was the first person who introduce the term Bryophyta.

Bryophyta along with Algae, Fungi, Lichen and Mosses were placed under Acotyledonae means that lacks cotyledons.

Later on Schimper (1879) gave Bryophyta as the rank of a division.

Eichler (1883) divided Bryophyta into two groups Hepaticae and Musci.

Engler (1892) divided the division Bryophyta into two classes- Hepaticae and Musci, and further divided each of the two classes into 3 orders.

Engler Classification of Bryophytes

Further on various scientist modified the above classification.

Cavers (1911) omitted the words Hepaticae and Musci and divided Bryophyta into 10 order : Sphaerocarpales, Marchantiales, Jungermanniales, Anthocerotales, Sphagnales, Andreaeales, Tetraphidales, Polytrichales, Buxbaumiales, and Eubryales.

Rothmaler (1951) changed the nomenclature of the two classes to three classes of Bryophyta to Hepaticopsida (= Hepaticae), Anthoceropsida (= Anthocerotae) and Bryopsida (= Musci) which are in accordance with the latest recommendations of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.

The modern bryologists, thus classify Bryophyta into the following three classes

Class 1. Hepaticapsida (Hepaticae)

Class 2. Anthocerotopsida (Anthocerotae)

Class 3. Bryopsida (Musci)

Modern Classification of Bryophytes

The Order jungermanniales consists of two sub-orders Metzgeranea which includes about 9 families. Family: Pelliaceae inculding Pellia

Sub- order : jungermanniales include family Porellaceae having genus Porella.

Campbell (1940) divided the order Marchantialesinto 5 families (i) Ricciaceae (ii) Corsiniaceae (iii) Marchantiaceae (iv) Targioniaceae and (v) Monocleacea

Order Sphaerocarpales include two Family: (1) Sphaerocarpaceae (2) Riellaceae