any of numerous plants of the division Bryophyta.

A lower terrestrial plant (often a moss or liverwort) that lacks a vascular system and is dependent on environmental moisture for reproductive and nutritive functions.

A plant that has stems and leaves without any vascular tissue or roots and reproduces by spores.

A member of the plant order Bryophyta, including the mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. See examples.

Any member of the division of nonvascular plants, including mosses and liverworts.

(bri´ uh fite´) [Gr. bruon: moss + phyton: plant] • A moss. Formerly was often used to refer to all the nontracheophyte plants.

BRI-o-fite Plant that lacks vessels, including the mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. 492

nonvascular, terrestrial green plant, including mosses, hornworts, and liverworts.

Nonflowering plants comprising moses, liverworts, and hornworts [LCOTE

Plants in which the gametophyte generation is the larger, persistent phase; they generally lack conducting tissues. Bryophytes include the Hepaticophyta (liverworts), Anthocerotophyta (hornworts), and Bryophyta (mosses).

The bryophytes are those embryophyte plants ('land plants') that are non-vascular: they have tissues and enclosed reproductive systems, but they lack vascular tissue that circulates liquids. They neither flower nor produce seeds, reproducing via spores.