Hornwort

:This is an article about the non-vascular plants. The name Hornwort is also often applied to the aquatic plant Ceratophyllum demersum in the family Ceratophyllaceae

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• Anthoceros
• Dendroceros
• Folioceros
• Megaceros
• Notothylas
• Phaeoceros

Hornworts (or horned liverworts) are a group of non-vascular plants comprising the class Anthocerotae. The common name refers to the elongated horn-like structure, which is the sporophyte, growing from an archegonium embedded deep in the gametophyte thallus. The green plant body of a hornwort is the gametophyte plant.

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Hornworts possess a basal meristem and contain just one chloroplast per cell. Unlike other bryophytes, the hornworts have true stomata.

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In this classification scheme, there are two orders of hornworts. Hornworts were traditionally considered a class within the Division Bryophyta, (bryophytes). However, it now appears that this group is paraphyletic, so they tend to be given their own division, called Anthocerotophyta. There is a single class, called Anthocerotopsida.

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Hornwort: Families within Class Anthocerotopsida ►



 

Non-vascular plant: Simple nonvascular plants...

Sporophyte: A sporophyte is the diploid structure or phase of life of a sexually reproducing plant. Each living cell of the sporophyte contains two complete sets of chromosomes. The sporophyte is the dominant life form in ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms (flowering plants)....

Archegonium: An archegonium (pl: archegonia) (from the Greek arche = beginning and gonos = born) is a multicellular structure or organ of the gametophyte phase of certain plants producing and containing the ovum or female gamete....