Mosses of the Philippines

Bryophytes include about 20,000 species worldwide. This plant group is divided into three divisions. Division Anthocerotophyta or the hornworts, Division Marchantiophyta or the liverworts, and Division Bryophyta or the mosses. Bryophytes are non-vascular plants that evolved from their aquatic green algae ancestors. Bryophytes lack seed and reproduce through the dispersal of spores. In the Philippine National Herbarium (PNH), about 6,000 specimens of bryophytes are deposited. 

The oldest bryophyte collection in PNH is Papillaria crocea from the family Metioriaceae. It was collected in 1870. The genus Acroporium from the family Sematophyllaceae accounts for the most number of collected specimens in the PNH. It is the largest moss family in the country and has around 24 endemic species recorded.