Difference between Bryophyta and Pteridophytes

Bryophyta

Bryophyte is a term used in the plant kingdom to indicate or subgroup a particular type of plant. A bryophyte is a group of non-vascular plants that do not have xylem and phloem.

These plants are found in the shady and damp areas in which reproduction occurs, but due to dominating gametophyte plants, gametes production takes place but fails to produce flowers and seeds.

Pteridophytes

These are the division of plant, the vascular one differentiated into root, leaves, and stem. Leaves are called fronds. Tree ferns contain full trunks. Pteridophytes grow up to 30 m long, and fronds grow up to 4.5 m long.

In epical rain forests, ferns are epiphytes that grow on the trunks of other trees. Ferns have a highly specialized vascular system (the distinctive gap between xylem and phloem). Simple pteridophytes have single unbranched veins.

After flowering plants, pteridophytes are the most diverse group of land plants as they are close relative to seed plants, angiosperms, and conifers.

Pteridophytes hold an immediate position between phanerogams (seed plants) and bryophytes. Another name for the pteridophytes is cryptogram or vascular cryptogram. They cannot produce seeds, and flowers and vascular tissues are responsible for the supply of food and water throughout the plant. These plants also produce gametes. Therefore, they are called gametophytes, where plants' structures are described on the stem, roots, and leaves.

Pteridophytes classification

Pteridophytes are classified in two types:-

a) Lycophytes (lycopodiopsida)

These include club mosses, quillworts, and spike mosses.

b) Ferns (polypodiopsida)

These include whisk ferns, grape ferns, horsetail, marattiod ferns, and leptosporangiate ferns.

Let's learn about the key points that depict the difference between bryophytes and pteridophytes.

Character	Bryophytes	Pteridophytes
Definition	A subgroup of plant kingdom having leafy or thalloid plant body	Pteridophytes are also part of the plant kingdom, having roots and stems
Examples	Examples of bryophytes are hornworts, mosses, and liverworts	Examples of pteridophytes are ferns, spike mosses, clubmosses, quillworts
Vascular tissue	Absent Present
Vasculature system	Vasculature system means xylem and phloem is absent in bryophytes	Have a proper vasculature system (presence of xylem and phloem)
Roots	Instead of roots, rhizoids are present, which help in anchoring	Presence of roots
Stem or Leaves	Absence of stem and leaves	Presence of leaves or stem
Antheridium	Salked	Sessile
Archegonium	Archegonium is fully exposed, whose neck is formed of six-row of cells	Archegonium is partially embedded whose neck has only four rows of cells
Dominating part	Dominating part is the gametophyte	Dominating part is the sporophyte
Cell type	It has haploid cell type	It has a diploid cell type
Sporophyte	This Phase depends on gametophytic	This Phase is an independent autotrophic
Places	Found at shady and moist places	Found at the terrestrial environment
Highly reduced Phase	Sporophytic	Gametophytic
Stages connected	Both stages, gametophytic and Sporophytic, are physically connected	Both stages, gametophytic and Sporophytic, are not physically connected
Dependency	For nutrition, the Sporophytic plant depends on the gametophytic plant	Here Sporophytic plants are independent as they can perform photosynthesis.
Leaf	Leaves are microphyllous without leaf gap	Leaves are microphyllous or macrophyllous with leaf gaps.

Similarities between both of them:-

Presence of cuticle in both bryophytes and pteridophytes
Both have a heteromorphic alternation of generations.
Both are multicellular sporangia
As per internal requirement, fertilization happens internally (because of the absence of siphanogamy)
Sexual reproduction relies on the presence of monogamous in both types
Both have male and female gametes where males are flagellated, and females are non-motile
Presence of stomata and pores for gaseous exchange
Sterile jacket cells cover the sex organs in both the groups
In both types, antherozoids are present with the two terminal flagella
The structure of antheridium and Archegonium is the same.
For fertilizer, both of them need water.
Both the groups have archegonia that possess neck and venter with neck-canal and venter canal cells.
After the fertilization, the zygote is retained in the Archegonium, and fertilization and embryo development are the same in both groups.
Bryophytes and pteridophytes have multicellular sporangia.