AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Bryophytes is the informal group name for mosses, liverworts and hornworts. They are non-vascular plants, which means they have no roots or vascular tissue, but instead absorb water and nutrients from the air through their surface (e.g., their leaves).

Detailed explanation-2: -Nonvascular plants like mosses, lichens, and liverworts are the opposite of vascular plants. They do not have vascular tubes to carry nutrients and water from the soil. Instead, they act like sponges soaking up any water that forms on their surfaces.

Detailed explanation-3: -Mosses and liverworts are small, primitive, non-vascular plants. They lack the conductive tissue most plants use to transport water and nutrients. Instead, moisture is absorbed directly into cells by osmosis.

Detailed explanation-4: -Nonvascular plants (often referred to collectively as the bryophytes) include three groups: the mosses (Bryophyta), approximately 15, 000 species; liverworts (Hepaticophyta), approximately 7500 species; and hornworts (Anthocerophyta), approximately 250 species (Table 1).

Detailed explanation-5: -Non-vascular plants such as liverworts and mosses move water and nutrients by osmosis and diffusion. Because non-vascular plants are small (typically one cell thick) they do not need conducting tissues and a complex system to move water; whereas vascular plants are large, and need a more complex system.