Question

Are Bryophytes Tall?

Answer 1

Hint: Bryophytes are non-vascular, small plants, which include hornworts, liverwort, and mosses. These are the tallest self-supporting Moss in the world developing generally to 60 centimetres in height. These are present all over the earth except inside saltwater environments.

Complete answer:
Bryophytes include around 20000 species of plants. They are non-vascular (without vascular bundle) and prefer to live in a moist environment. The plant body is like a thallus. They have rhizoids which can attach to the substrate. They possess stem like, root like and leaf like structure.

The size of the bryophytes is limited. They can grow upto size of 3 to 6 cm. The reclining form are less than 2 cm. The largest bryophyte can grow up to a height of 2 feet. The size of the bryophytes are small because they lack vascular systems. In order to keep their photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic tissues closer, they do not grow taller.

So, Bryophytes are not really tall.

Additional Information: The largest bryophyte Dawsonia is categorized in mosses and is kept in the family polytrichaceae. These are all usually acknowledged to grow taller and have thicker leaves than different common mosses. They are acrocarpous which means they have vertical stems which are the reproductive units that exist at the top of the axis, this property helps them to develop taller.

Note: There are three classes of bryophytes- mosses, liverworts and ferns. Bryophytes are really important to humans. They have a wide role in erosion control. They are used as indicators for heavy metals, radioactive substances. It is also used in waste management and nitrogen fixation.