CHAPTER VI 



MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS (BETOPHTTA} 



THE Fungi form, as we have seen, an aberrant as- 

 semblage of plants, probably derived from green ances- 

 tors, but not giving rise to any higher forms. In 

 seeking for the point of connection between the higher 

 green plants and the Thallophytes, we must look then 

 to the Algae, and the forms among these which show 

 the most evident relationship with the lower terrestrial 

 green plants are the Green Algae, or Chlorophyceae. 



While the Algae are practically all aquatics, the 

 plants we are now to consider are for the most part 

 terrestrial. The lowest of these are the Bryophytes or 

 Mosses, using this term in its broadest sense. These 

 are readily divisible into two classes, the Liverworts, or 

 Hepaticae, and the true Mosses, Musci. Of these the 

 former show the most evident resemblances to the Algae, 

 and will be considered first. 



These plants are usually moisture-loving forms, a few 

 being actually aquatic, but many of them are so con- 

 stituted that they may be completely dried up without 

 injury, quickly reviving when supplied with moisture. 



The lowest liverworts (Fig. 27, A, C) are little flat 

 green plants of very simple structure, and may be 

 readily compared to some of the green algae, such as 

 Coleochaete. However, when the reproductive parts 



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