Hornwort
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
- 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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 A hornwort thallus close up | ||||||
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Anthocerotales |
Hornworts (or horned liverworts) are a group of non-vascular plants comprising the class Anthocerotae. In this classification scheme, there are two orders of hornworts. The common name refers to the elongated capsules (sporangia) that resemble horns.
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 Anthocertopsida.
Hornworts possess a basal meristem and contain just one chloroplast per cell. Unlike other bryophytes, the hornworts have true stomata. The green plant body of a hornwort is the gametophyte plant. The horn-like capsule is the sporophyte, growing from an archegonium embedded deep in the gametophyte thallus.
Families within Class Anthoceratopsida
- Anthocerotaceae
- Dendrocerotaceae
- Notothylaceae
External links
- Hornwort Homepage (http://www3.uakron.edu/biology/hornworts/hornworts.html)
- Anthocerotophyta (http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/speciesIndex/Class_Anthocerotopsida_106589_1.htm)
- Description and pictures (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/plants/anthocerotophyta.html)
- Hornwort information (http://koning.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/Plant_Biology/hornwort.html)
eo:Antocerotoj es:Anthocerotopsida fr:Anthocérote lt:Ylvaisainiai
