Abstract
The importance of a cladistic approach in reconstructing the phylogeny of bryophytes is discussed and illustrated by an analysis of the major groups of bryophytes with respect to the tracheophytes and the green algae. The cladistic analysis, using 51 characters taken from the literature, gives the following tentative results: (1) the embryophytes as a whole are monophyletic; (2) the bryophytes (sensu lato) are paraphyletic; (3) the mosses share a more recent common ancestor with the tracheophytes than do the liverworts or hornworts; (4) the hornworts appear to share a more recent common ancestor with the moss-tracheophyte lineage than with the liverworts; however, the existence of several homoplasies makes this placement more problematical; (5) the origin of alternation of generations in the embryophytes, based on out-group comparison with their oogamous, haplontic, algal sister groups, was by progressive elaboration of the primitively epiphytic sporophyte generation; and (6) the presence of vascular tissue (xylem and phloem) can best be interpreted as a synapomorphy of the moss-tracheophyte clade, and tracheids (xylem with ornamented walls) as a synapomorphy of the tracheophytes; therefore, the prevailing designation of “vascular plants” for the tracheophytes alone is inaccurate.
Literature Cited
Basile, D. V. & M. R. Basile. 1983. Desuppression of leaf primordia ofPlagiochila arctica (Hepaticae) by ethylene antagonist. Science 220: 1051–1053.
—. 1984. Probing the evolutionary history of bryophytes experimentally. J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 55: 173–185.
Bold, H. C., C. J. Alexopoulos & T. Delevoryas. 1980. Morphology of plants and fungi. Ed. 4. Harper & Row. New York.
Bower, F. O. 1908. The origin of a land flora. Macmillan & Co., London.
— 1935. Primitive land plants. Macmillan & Co., London.
Bremer, B. 1981. A taxonomic revision ofSchistidium (Grimmiaceae, Bryophyta) 3. Lindbergia 7: 73–90.
Bremer, K. & H.-E. Wanntorp. 1978. Phylogenetic systematics in botany. Taxon 27: 317–329.
— &-—. 1981a. The cladistic approach to plant classification. Pages 87–94.In: V. A. Funk & D. R. Brooks, editors. Advances in cladistics, Vol. 1. New York Botanical Garden, New York.
— &-—. 1981b. A cladistic classification of green plants. Nord. J. Bot. 1: 1–3.
Buck, W. R. 1980. A generic revision of the Entodontaceae. J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 48: 71–159.
Churchill, S. P. 1981. A phylogenetic analysis, classification and synopsis of the genera of the Grimmiaceae (Musci). Pages 127–144.In: V. A. Funk & D. R. Brooks, editors. Advances in cladistics, Vol. 1, New York Botanical Garden, New York.
—, E. O. Wiley & L. Hauser. 1984. A critique of Wagner groundplan-divergent studies and a comparison with other methods of phylogenetic analysis. Taxon 33: 212–232.
Clarke, G. C. S. & J. G. Duckett, editors. 1979. Bryophyte systematics. Systematics Association Special Volume no. 14. Academic Press, London.
Crandall-Stotler, B. 1980. Morphogenetic designs and a theory of bryophyte origins and divergence. BioScience 30: 580–585.
Crosby, M. R. 1980. The diversity and relationships of mosses. Pages 115–129.In: R. J. Taylor & A. E. Leviton, editors. The mosses of North America. Pacific Division, AAAS, San Francisco.
Crum, H. 1976. Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest. Univ. of Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor.
— & L. E. Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America. 2 vols. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.
Donoghue, M. J. 1983. The phylogenetic relationships ofViburnum. Pages 143–166.In: N. I. Platnick & V. A. Funk, editors. Advances in cladistics, Vol. 2. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.
Duckett, J. D., Z. B. Carothers & C. C. J. Miller. 1982. Comparative spermatology and bryophyte phylogeny. J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 53: 107–125.
Farris, J. S. 1983. The logical basis of phylogenetic analysis. Pages 7–36.In: N. I. Platnick & V. A. Funk, editors. Advances in cladistics, Vol. 2. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.
Frederick, S. E., P. J. Gruber & N. E. Tolbert. 1973. The occurrence of glycolate dehydrogenase and glycolate oxidase in green plants: an evolutionary survey. Pl. Physiol. 52: 318–323.
Funk, V. A. & W. H. Wagner, Jr. 1982. A bibliography of botanical cladistics: 1. 1981. Brittonia 34: 118–124.
Geissler, P. & S. W. Greene, editors. 1982. Bryophyte taxonomy. Beih. Nova Hedwigia 71: 1–558.
Gorham, J. 1977. Lunularic acid and related compounds in liverworts, algae andHydrangea. Phytochemistry 16: 249–253.
Graham, L. E. 1982. The occurrence, evolution, and phylogenetic significance of parenchyma inColeochaete Breb. Amer. J. Bot. 69: 447–454.
— 1983.Coleochaete: advanced green alga or primitive embryophyte? (Abstract) Amer. J. Bot. 70 (5, Part 2): 5.
— 1984.Coleochaete and the origin of land plants. Amer. J. Bot. 71: 603–608.
— & G. E. McBride. 1979. The occurrence and phylogenetic significance of a multilayered structure inColeochaete spermatozoids. Amer. J. Bot. 66: 887–894.
— & L. W. Wilcox. 1983. The occurrence and phylogenetic significance of putative placental transfer cells in the green algaColeochaete. Amer. J. Bot. 70: 113–120.
Hébant, C. 1977. The conducting tissues of bryophytes. Bryophytorum Bibliotheca. Vol. 10. J. Cramer, Vaduz.
Hennig, W. 1966. Phylogenetic systematics. Univ. Illinois Press, Urbana.
Jeffrey, C. 1962. The origin and differentiation of the archegoniate land-plants. Bot. Not. 115: 446–454.
Koponen, T. 1968. Generic revision of Mniaceae Mitt. (Bryophyta). Ann. Bot. Fenn. 5: 117–151.
— 1973.Rhizomnium (Mniaceae) in North America. Ann. Bot. Fenn. 10: 1–26.
— 1982. Generic and family concepts in the Mniaceae. Beih. Nova Hedwigia 71: 249–259.
Lovejoy, A. O. 1936. The great chain of being. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Lugardon, B. 1978. Comparison between pollen and pteridophyte spore walls. IV Int. Palynol. Conf. Lucknow (1976–77) 1: 199–206.
Maddison, W. P., M. J. Donoghue & D. R. Maddison. 1984. Outgroup analysis and parsimony. Syst. Zool. 33: 83–103.
Markham, K. R. & L. J. Porter. 1978. Chemical constituents of the bryophytes. Progr. in Phytochem. 5: 181–272.
Melkonian, M. 1982. Structural and evolutionary aspects of the flagellar apparatus in green algae and land plants. Taxon 31: 255–265.
Miller, H. A. 1982. Bryophyte evoluton and geography. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 18: 145–196.
Mishler, B. D. & S. P. Churchill. 1983. On the application of Hennigian cladistics to the phylogeny of the bryophytes. (Abstract) Amer. J. Bot. 70 (5, Part 2): 6.
Mueller, D. M. J. 1974. Spore wall formation and chloroplast development during sporogenesis in the mossFissidens limbatus. Amer. J. Bot. 61: 525–534.
Neidhart, H. V. 1979. Comparative studies of sporogenesis in bryophytes. Pages 251–280.In: G. C. S. Clarke & J. G. Duckett, editors. Bryophyte systematics, Academic Press, London.
Nishida, Y. 1978. Studies on the sporeling types in mosses. J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 44: 371–454.
Paolillo, D. J. 1981. The swimming sperms of land plants. Bio Science 31: 367–373.
Parenti, L. R. 1980. A phylogenetic analysis of the land plants. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 13: 225–242.
— 1982. Cladistics and conventions. Taxon 31: 96–101.
Patterson, C. 1981. Significance of fossils in determining evolutionary relationships. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 12: 195–223.
— 1982. Morphological characters and homology. Pages 21–74.In: K. A. Joysey & A. E. Friday, editors. Problems of phylogenetic reconstruction. Academic Press, New York.
Pickett-Heaps, J. D. 1976. Cell division in eukaryotic algae. BioScience 26: 445–450.
— 1979. Electron microscopy and the phylogeny of green algae and land plants. Amer. Zool. 19: 545–554.
— 1982. New light on the green algae. Carolina Biology Reader 115. Carolina Biological Supply Company. Burlington, North Carolina.
Proskauer, J. 1960. Studies on Anthocerotales VI. Phytomorphology 10: 1–19.
Renzaglia, K. S. 1978. A comparative morphology and developmental anatomy of the Anthocerophyta. J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 44: 31–90.
Richardson, P. M. & D. A. Young. 1982. The phylogenetic content of flavonoid point scores. Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 10: 251–255.
Scagel, R. T., R. J. Bandoni, J. R. Maze, C. E. Rouse, W. B. Schofield & J. R. Stein. 1982. Nonvascular plants: an evolutionary survey. Wadsworth, Belmont, Calif.
Scheirer, D. C. 1980. Differentiation of bryophyte conducting tissues: structure and histo-chemistry. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 107: 298–307.
Schuster, R. M. 1966. The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America. Vol. 1. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.
— 1979. The phylogeny of the Hepaticae. Pages 41–82.In: G. C. S. Clarke & J. G. Duckett, editors. Bryophyte systematics. Academic Press, London.
Smith, G. L. 1971. A conspectus of the genera of Polytrichaceae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 21: 1–83.
Smoot, E. L., R. K. Jansen & T. N. Taylor. 1981. A phylogenetic analysis of the land plants: a botanical commentary. Taxon 30: 65–67.
Stevens, P. F. 1980. Evolutionary polarity of character states. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 11: 333–358.
Stevens, P. F. In press. Homology and phylogeny: morphology and systematics. Syst. Bot.
Stewart, K. D. & K. R. Mattox. 1975. Comparative cytology, evolution and classification of the green algae with some consideration of the origin of other organisms with chlorophylls a and b. Bot. Rev. 41: 104–135.
Suire, C. & Y. Asakawa. 1979. Chemotaxonomy of bryophytes: a survey. Pages 447–477.In: G. C. S. Clarke & J. G. Duckett, editors. Bryophyte systematics. Academic Press, London.
Swain, T. & G. Cooper-Driver. 1981. Biochemical evolution in early land plants. Pages 103–134.In: K. Niklas, editor. Paleobotany, paleoecology, and evolution, Vol. 1, Praeger, New York.
Taylor, T. N. 1982. The origin of land plants: a paleobotanical perspective. Taxon 31: 155–177.
Vitt, D. H. 1971. The infrageneric evolution, phylogeny, and taxonomy of the genusOrthotrichum (Musci) in North America. Nova Hedwigia 21: 683–711.
— 1983. The New Zealand species of the pantropical genusMacromitrium (Orthotrichaceae: Musci): taxonomy, phylogeny and phytogeography. J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 54: 1–94.
Wagner, W. H., Jr. 1980. Origin and philosophy of the ground plan-divergence method of cladistics. Syst. Bot. 5: 173–193.
Watson, E. V. 1971. The structure and life of bryophytes. Ed. 3. Hutchinson & Co., London.
Wiley, E. O. 1980. Phylogenetic systematics and vicariance biogeography. Syst. Bot. 5: 194–220.
— 1981. Phylogenetics: the theory and practice of phylogenetic systematics. J. Wiley, New York.
Young, D. A. & P. M. Richardson. 1982. A phylogenetic analysis of extant seed plants: the need to utilize homologous characters. Taxon 31: 250–254.
Zimmermann, W. 1932. Phylogenie. Pages 433–464.In: F. Verdoorn, editor. Manual of bryology. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mishler, B.D., Churchill, S.P. A cladistic approach to the phylogeny of the “Bryophytes”. Brittonia 36, 406–424 (1984). https://doi.org/10.2307/2806602
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2806602