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Phylum Bryophyta -- mosses or "true mosses" Bryophyta, along with Hepatophyta and Anthocerotophyta are sometimes jointly called "bryophytes" since earlier classification systems placed them in a single phylum. All three of these phyla are said to have the gametophyte generation as the "dominant" generation.

In central Texas, true mosses are very often found in a wide variety of habitats, including soil, rocks and trees.
Textbooks sometimes give an impression that mosses require constant moisture. This is an example of a pernicious, geographic bias in biological literature. Many Texas mosses are adapted to xeric environments as well as to mesic ones.

Genus Polytrichum


   

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