International Journal of Horticulture, 2015, Vol.5, No.19, 1
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9
1
Review Article Open Access
Horticultural Importance of Bryophytes
——
A Review
Afroz Alam, Vinay Sharma
Department of Bioscience and biotechnology, Banasthali University, Rajasthan, India
Corresponding author Email
International Journal of Horticulture, 2015, Vol.5, No.19 doi: 10.5376/ijh.2015.05.0019
Received: 10 Sep, 2015
Accepted: 20 Oct, 2015
Published: 04 Dec., 2015
Copyright © 2015
Alam and Sharma, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Afroz Alam, and Vinay Sharma, 2015, Horticultural importance of bryophytes-a review, International Journal of Horticulture, 2015, Vol.5, No.19 1-9 (doi:
Abstract
Bryophytes, the first land plants hold an indispensable place in the plant kingdom as they have similarities with algae on
one hand and pteridophytes on the other. Beside this they also have unique characteristics of their own. Nature makes them an
imperative component of the ecosystem. All three classes of bryophytes have been used for various purposes since time immemorial.
In this review their potential uses in horticultural industry have been discussed.
Keywords
Bryophyta; Horticulture; Moss; Peat;
Sphagnum
Introduction
Bryophytes (liverworts, hornworts, and mosses) can
be found in every ecosystem in the world. They are
also recognized as a group of non-vascular plants.
They are called atracheate as they lack xylem and
phloem, the conductive tissues of vascular plants.
However, bryophytes and tracheophytes are
monophyletic and together called embryophytes. As
the name entails, there is an embryonic phase in these
organisms as compared with their closest relative of
green algae. All embryophytes have an alternation
between sporophyte and gametophyte generations in
the life cycle. Unlike vascular plants where the
sporophyte is the dominant, obvious stage, bryophytes,
on the other hand, have a conspicuous gametophyte
stage (in most cases) that forms the green mats and
tufts we see. The leaves of bryophytes are structurally
very unusual from those of tracheophytes; they are
generally one cell layer thick. Bryophytes show an
immense diversity in growth form and habitat. There
are bryophytes that can withstand extended periods of
desiccation and others that are aquatic. They are one
of the pioneers in ecological succession and one can
find them on virtually every substrate including soil,
leaves and bark of trees, rocks, decaying wood, and
even cars and other man-made materials. Owing to
their miniature size and little human uses they have
remained a basically ignored group of plants.
On the basis of recent studies, there are 960 genera
and 24,000 species of bryophytes exist in the world
(Starr et al., 2009). In spite of the huge diversity of
these plants, very few economic uses have been
known. Even though bryophytes are considered first
land plants, their importance is relatively unfamiliar.
Bryophytes are used in the pharma industry, in
horticulture, for domestic purposes, and are also
environmentally imperative. The miscellaneous uses
and applications of this miniature plant group are
being progressively more recognized around the
humankind. Their prospective in the horticulture is
also colossal. In this article, the various uses of
bryophytes in gardening or horticulture have been
examined and discussed.
Various uses of Bryophytes in Horticulture
In horticulture, position of mosses is almost
incomparable in any other existing bryophyte industry
(Nelson and Carpenter, 1965) Peat mosses have
played a foremost task in horticulture for centuries
(Perin, 1962; Arzeni, 1963; Adderley, 1965). Even if
their application as part of the background
beautification has conventionally been used by
Asian, they have frequently been utilized as soil
additives and bedding for hothouse crops, potted
decorative plants, and seedling beds (Cox and
Westing, 1963; Sjors, 1980).
