bryophyte

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.