Video narration
How can a plant live without true roots or tubes to carry water? On a damp wall, that small green patch may look like a plant-but bryophytes are different. Bryophyta are small, seedless plants that reproduce with spores. The green part you see is the gametophyte, the main plant stage. It is not a miniature plant hiding true roots, stems, and leaves. Bryophytes lack vascular tissue, so they stay small and need water for fertilization because male cells must reach the egg. Rhizoids attach them, but they are not true roots. A liverwort is often flat or lobed, with simple rhizoids. A moss is typically an upright, leafy shoot, with branched rhizoids. These are typical clues, not absolute rules. So, how can it live without roots or tubes? Because a bryophyte is a small, nonvascular, spore-forming plant: flat and simple suggests liverwort; leafy and upright suggests moss.