Name: ___________________________

Nonvascular Plants Activity Sheet

Purpose: Fill in the blank spots in the sheet with information you gather during class.

Three types of nonvascular plants:

• Mosses
• ________________
• Hornworts

Why are they nonvascular?

• Nonvascular plants do not have vascular tissue.
• Nonvascular plants _____ _______ grow from seeds and they do not have _______, leaves and _________ you would see on most plants.
• Instead of roots they have rhizoids – these are threadlike structures that anchor the plants.
• They do not have flowers or cones that produce seeds.
• They reproduce using ____________ that are carried by the wind and will grow into a plant if the growing conditions are right.
• Nonvascular plants are often the first species to grow in new or disturbed areas. Organisms that do this are called ____________ __________.

Habitats of nonvascular plants:

• Nonvascular plants are almost always found in _______, ________ places.
• The plants have little or no resistance to drying.
• Since they do not have vascular tissue to carry water, they must take up water like a sponge. They absorb the water lying on their surfaces and distribute it through their cells using osmosis.

Energy attainment:

• Like most plants, nonvascular plants acquire energy through ________________. 
• Photosynthesis usually occurs in the upper parts of nonvascular plants.

Characteristics of Mosses:

• Most nonvascular plants are classified as mosses.
• Mosses often grow on ________ _______ and rocks or the ground.
• While most grow in dark, damp spaces, some have adapted to living in _________.
• There are about 14,000 living species of mosses, most living in tropical forest.
• One of the best known mosses is peat moss
• We have many uses for Peat Moss: it has been used as ___________ in some parts of the world, good cushion material for shipping plants and has been used in __________ and bandages.

Characteristics of Liverworts:

• The name Liverworts dates from medieval times when people believed that the plant's liver-like shape meant that the liverworts could cure liver disease. (UNTRUE). So the word means “herb for the liver.”
• Liverworts grow on rock or soil where _____________ is abundant.
• They are rootless plants with flattened, leaflike bodies.
• Their rhizoids are ________-_________.

Liverworts

Characteristics of Hornworts:

· Most hornworts are less than 2.5cm and they have a flattened body.

· Unlike the other nonvascular plants, hornworts only have _______ chloroplast in their cells.

· They get their name from their spore-producing structures that look like tiny horns of cattle.

Hornworts