Mosses are classified as bryophytes. Which best describes mosses?

Mosses are classified as bryophytes. Which best describes mosses?

A: Mosses are seedless plants.

B: Mosses bear fruit and flowers.

C: Mosses bear flowers, but no fruit.

D: Mosses have one cotyledon in a seed

Answer: A: Mosses are seedless plants.

It is indeed correct to describe mosses as seedless plants and these belong to the bryophytes. They differ in this aspect from other groups of plants and are somewhat more primitive in their phylogenetic development. Mosses are non-vascular plants and, thus do not contain the advanced tissues good for transporting water and nutrients as found in the higher plants. Contrary to the other plants, mosses do not reproduce through seeds, but through spores that are found in capsules that grow from slender stalks. This reproductive method also helps mosses spread and establish themselves in various environments, from the ground of tropical forests to rocks and concrete pavements of large cities. Such as the hair-cap moss or Polytrichum commune, which can be identified almost all over the Northern Hemisphere growing in close stands, and forming carpets. One more characteristic feature is the rather primitive system of organization about the body structure, the flattened, man-like structures are provided with small leaves at the upper part of their body and have a thin stem at the lower part; however, they do not have true roots at all. It, however, possesses rhizoids which are filamentous like roots which hold the plant to the ground. This is due in part to the fact that mosses do not have a vascular system and produce seeds and hence do not grow very tall and can only grow to a few centimeters at most. This adaptation enables them to live in landscapes where there is availability of water at the surface of moist soil or rocks. I must also say that this same characteristic, which allows mosses to take up water directly through their leaves, makes them a very important ecological factor of ecosystems in many biomes providing leadership for pioneer processes and taking part in essential processes of water retention and soil stabilization.