CHAPTER VI 
MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS (BRYOPHYTA) 
Tue 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 Algez, and the forms among these which show 
the most evident relationship with the lower terrestrial 
green plants are the Green Alge, or Chlorophycee. 
While the Algze 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 
Hepatic, and the true Mosses, Musci. Of these the 
former show the most evident resemblances to the Alge, 
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 alge, such as 
Coleochete. However, when the reproductive parts 
101 
