A division of plants including mosses, liverworts, and hornworts that lack true roots and vascular tissues.
From Greek 'bryo-' (moss or to grow) plus '-phyta' (plants). The term was formally established in botanical taxonomy to group these ancient plant types that appeared over 450 million years ago.
Bryophyta are Earth's original plants—they were the first to leave the oceans about 450 million years ago, and everything else evolved from them, yet they're often overlooked because they're small and seem insignificant compared to ferns and flowers.
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