Title: Bryophyte - Wikipedia
Headings: Bryophyte
Bryophyte
Contents
Terminology
Features
Habitat
Life cycle
Sexuality
Classification and phylogeny
Paraphyletic view
Other views
Evolution
Similarities to algae and vascular plants
Comparative morphology
Uses
Environmental
Commercial
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

Content: Bryophytes can survive on rocks and bare soil. Life cycle
See also: Alternation of generations
The life cycle of a dioicous bryophyte. The gametophyte (haploid) structures are shown in green, the sporophyte (diploid) in brown. Like all land plants (embryophytes), bryophytes have life cycles with alternation of generations. In each cycle, a haploid gametophyte, each of whose cells contains a fixed number of unpaired chromosomes, alternates with a diploid sporophyte, whose cell contain two sets of paired chromosomes. Gametophytes produce haploid sperm and eggs which fuse to form diploid zygotes that grow into sporophytes. Sporophytes produce haploid spores by meiosis, that grow into gametophytes. Bryophytes are gametophyte dominant, meaning that the more prominent, longer-lived plant is the haploid gametophyte. The diploid sporophytes appear only occasionally and remain attached to and nutritionally dependent on the gametophyte.