And while bryophytes are diverse, they do all have some things in common.

虽然苔种类繁多，但它们确实有一些共同点。

Bryophytes that prefer dark and damp places find them suitable for flourishing.

耐阴喜湿苔在这里找到适合生环境。

We don't taxonomise lower plants into one category, like bryophytes, based on their method of reproduction.

我们并不根据低等繁殖方式将它们分为 “苔门” 这样类别。

Even with lichens removed, bryophytes is a busy realm, with over ten thousand species contained within some seven hundred genera.

即使不算地衣，苔仍是个兴旺王国，大约有700个属，1万多个种。

And is there any being in the plant kingdom that embodies touch more than moss and its family, the bryophytes?

而王国中道还有比类及其亲族苔更能体现触碰存在吗？

You see, bryophytes were the first plants to start growing on land instead of in water.

苔是第一批在陆地上而不是水中生。

So they developed root-like structures called rhizoids, and leaf-like structures called phyllids, which bryophytes still have today.

所以它们进化出了像根一样结构，被称为类根，和像叶一样结构，被称为 phyllids，苔至今仍有这种结构。

The most common types of bryophytes are mosses, with about twelve thousand species.

苔最常见类型是苔，大约有 12000 种。

This might make it tempting to say that bryophytes are " less evolved" than the flowering plants, the highest branch.

这可能会让人忍不住说苔比开花“进化得更慢”，开花是最高分支。

As you can tell, bryophytes and seedless vascular plants are not simply low-to-the-ground lurkers.

正如你所知，苔和无籽维管并不是简单地下潜伏者。

What bryophyte can be used to dress wounds?

什么苔可以用来包扎伤口？

And despite having no formal training in botany, Hofmeister's observations through his trusty microscope led him to discover a whole bryophyte life cycle.

尽管没有接受过学方面正式培训，但霍夫迈斯特通过他信赖显微镜进行观察使他发现了苔整个生命周期。

We know from fossilized spores that bryophytes have existed for around 500 million years.

我们从孢子化石中得知苔已经存在了大约 5 亿年。

Like, they all create spores, single cells coated in a super tough, armor-like molecule that are an integral part of the bryophyte life cycle.

比如，它们都会产生孢子，单细胞被一层超级坚硬盔甲状分子包裹，这是苔生命周期中不可或缺一部分。

They reproduce via spores, like the bryophytes, rather than seeds, which developed even later.

它们通过孢子繁殖，就像苔一样，而不是更晚才发展起来种子。

And then there are hornworts, the rarest bryophyte — with only a couple hundred species that typically live in the tropics.

然后是角苔——最稀有苔，只有几百种，通常生活在热带地区。

Let's be real, I could spend all day on mosses — but they are just the first stop on our bryophyte journey.

说实话，我可以在讲苔上花上一整天，但它们只是我们苔之旅第一站。

Let's start with the bryophytes, which occupy the lowest branch.

让我们从苔开始，它们占据了最低树枝。

Next time, we'll be using these tools to uncover the history of plants, starting with bryophytes and seedless vascular plants, some of the earliest plants on Earth.

下节课，我们将用这些工具来揭开历史，从苔和无籽维管开始，它们是地球上最早。

We're talking bryophytes and seedless vascular plants, the categories that include mosses and ferns, liverworts, and more.

我们说是苔和无籽维管，这类包括苔、蕨类、苔类等。