Chapter 10 Section 3

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Chapter 10 Section 3

• Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts

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OBJECTIVES

• 2a 3a 5a 7c
• Name some nonvascular plants and list the
  characteristics that they all share
• Describe the structure of a moss plant.

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Key Terms

• Nonvascular plant
• Rhizoid
• Bog
• Peat

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Nonvascular Plants

• Low growing plants that lack vascular tissue a
  system of tubelike structures that transport
  water and other materials.
• They can only pass materials from one cell to the
  next.
• They only have their rigid cell walls to provide
  support.

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Nonvascular Plants

• They cannot grow very wide or tall.
• They lack roots, so they obtain water and
  minerals from their surroundings.
• Many of these plants live where water is
  plentiful.

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Types of Nonvascular Plants

• Mosses
• Liverworts
• Hornworts

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Mosses

• The familiar green fuzzy part of the moss is the
  gametophyte.
• The sporophyte generation grows out of the
  gametophyte. It is made up of a slender stalk
  with a capsule at the end. The capsule contains
  spores.
• Thin rootlike structures called rhizoids anchor
  the moss and absorb water and nutrients from the
  soil.

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The Importance of Mosses

• Sphagnum moss grows on a type of wetland called a
  bog.
• The bog water is so acidic that plants dont
  decompose when they die.
• Instead layers of moss pile up at the bottom of
  the bog.
• Over time, the mosses become compresssed into
  layers and form a blackish-brown material called
  peat.
• In Europe and Asia, people use peat as a fuel to
  heat homes and to cook food.

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• Many mosses are pioneer plants. They are among
  the first organisms to grow in areas destroyed by
  volcanoes or in burnt-out forests.

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Liverworts and Hornworts

• Two other kinds of nonvascular plants are
  liverworts and hornworts.
• The body of a liverwort looks somewhat like a
  human liver.
• Liverworts grow flat along the ground on moist
  soils and rocks.

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• Hornworts grow hornlike structures which are the
  sporophytes.
• Hornworts grow in moist soil.