bryophyte

Etymology

From Bryophyta, from Ancient Greek βρύον (brúon, “moss”) + φυτόν (phutón, “plant”) ( + -phyte).

noun

1. (botany) Any plant of the division Bryophyta, defined sensu lato to comprise the mosses, liverworts and hornworts and corresponding to all embryophytes that are not vascular plants.
   Without going into their reasons, Bold, Alexopoulos, & DelBevoryas (1980) and Crandall-Stotler (1980) believe that there are at least three independent lines of bryophytes and that this is best reflected by establishing three divisions - the Bryophyta (mosses), Hepatophyta (liverworts), and Anthocerotophyta (hornworts). 1993, Wilson Nichols Stewart, Paleobotany and the Evolution of Plants, page 77
   2002, William R. Buck, Bryophytes, entry in Niles Eldredge (editor), Life on Earth, page 202, Because of their small size and often delicate structure, bryophytes have a poor fossil record, dating back only about 290 million years.
   And so it was that I was introduced to Len Ellis and the quiet world of bryophytes – mosses to the rest of us. 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, published 2003, page 312