Author:
Jan Scholten
Book:
Wonderful Plants
Type:
Class
Chapter:
311.10.00
311.10.00 Anthocerophyta
English: Hornworts
Botany: 14 genera; ± 100 species; elongated horn-like structure, the sporophyte; flattened, green plant body; worldwide; damp or humid regions; helical thickenings, twist and thereby help to disperse the spores; relatively large for bryophytes, measuring between 30 and 80 µm in diameter or more; spores are polar, usually with a distinctive Y-shaped tri-radiate ridge on the proximal surface and with a distal surface ornamented with bumps or spines.