Hornwort

This is an article about the non-vascular 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
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Plantae Division: Bryophyta Class: Anthocerotae
Orders
Anthocerotales Nothothylales

Hornworts or horned liverworts are a group of non-vascular 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 gametophyte plant. The horn-like capsule is the sporophyte, growing from an archegonium embedded deep in the gametophyte thallus.

External links

• Hornwort Homepage