A land plant that produces embryos, including all mosses, ferns, conifers, and flowering plants; distinguished from algae by having protected embryos.
From embryon plus Greek phyta 'plants,' with -phyte being a common botanical suffix. Used since the 1800s to classify true plants.
Embryophytes are essentially plants that took evolution's parental leave—they protected their baby embryos inside spores and seeds, while aquatic algae let water babysit.
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