Hornwort

This is an article about the nonvascular plants known as hornworts. The name Hornwort is also often applied to the aquatic flowering plant Ceratophyllum demersum'' in the family Ceratophyllaceae

Bryophyta
A hornwort thallus close up (enlarge)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Plantae Division: Bryophyta Class: Anthocerotae
Orders
Anthocerotales Nothothylales

Hornworts or horned liverworts are a group of nonvascular plants comprising the Class Anthocerotae. Some botanists classify these plants in the Division Anthocerophyta. The common name refers to the elongated capsules (sporangia) that resemble horns.

Hornworts possess a basal meristem, and contain just one chloroplast per cell. Unlike other bryophytes, the hornworts have true stomata. The green plant body of a hornwort is the gamatophyte plant. The horn-like capsule is the sporophyte, growing from an archegonium embedded deep in the gamatophyte thallus.

External link

• Hornwort Homepage