A Textbook of Bryophyta

The roughly 18000 species of bryophytes are generally classified into three coordinate phyla, the Marchantiophyta, Bryophyta and Anthocerotophyta. Phylogenetic analyses such as those of Mishler and Qiu suggest that these phyla do not form a monphyletic group, but rather represent a grade in embryophyte evolution. In most recent analyses liverworts are resolved as the first divergence of land plants. The classification of bryophytes has been controversial among botanists. Traditionally, the division Bryophyta has included the true mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. However, some scientist consider each of these groups sufficiently distinct to deserve their own division. Bryophyta for the mosses, Hepatophyta for the liverworts, and Anthocertatophyta for the hornworts. The latter view is followed here, although the bryophyta for the hornworts. The latter view is followed here, although the bryophyte is used as a collective term for all of these. The book is a standard book and embodies a fairly comprehensive treatment of the fundamental of the subject. The book is intended for the undergraduate students of botany, the students of higher classes and those are preparing for various competitive examinations.