bryophyte

American  

[brahy-uh-fahyt] / ˈbraɪ əˌfaɪt /

noun

Botany.

1. any of the Bryophyta, a phylum of nonvascular plants comprising the true mosses and liverworts.

---

bryophyte British  

/ ˈbraɪəˌfaɪt, ˌbraɪəˈfɪtɪk /

noun

1. any plant of the phyla Bryophyta (mosses), Hepatophyta (liverworts), or Anthocerophyta (hornworts), having stems and leaves but lacking true vascular tissue and roots and reproducing by spores

---

bryophyte Scientific  

/ brī′ə-fīt′ /

1. A member of a large group of seedless green plants including the mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. Bryophytes lack the specialized tissues xylem and phloem that circulate water and dissolved nutrients in the vascular plants. Bryophytes generally live on land but are mostly found in moist environments, for they reproduce by spores that require water for transport. In contrast to the vascular plants, the gametophyte (haploid) generation of bryophytes constitutes the larger plant form, while the small sporophyte (diploid) generation grows on or within the gametophyte and depends upon it for nutrition.

---

Other Word Forms

• bryophytic adjective

Etymology

Origin of bryophyte

1875–80; < New Latin Bryophyta name of the group; bryo-, -phyte

Example Sentences

Certain bryophyte species are especially sensitive to their environment, and each tends to thrive under very specific conditions.

From Science Daily • Jan. 1, 2026

The bryophyte embryo also remains attached to the parent plant, which protects and nourishes it.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

In a bryophyte, all the conspicuous vegetative organs—including the photosynthetic leaf-like structures, the thallus, stem, and the rhizoid that anchors the plant to its substrate—belong to the haploid organism or gametophyte.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

The completion of the bryophyte and pterophyte life cycle requires water because the male gametophyte releases sperm, which must swim—propelled by their flagella—to reach and fertilize the female gamete or egg.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

In a bryophyte, all the conspicuous vegetative organs belong to the haploid organism, or gametophyte.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013