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

耐阴喜湿的苔藓植物在这里找到适合的长环境。

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——稀有的苔藓植物，只有几百种，活在热带地区。

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，苔藓仍是个兴旺的王国，大约有700个属，1万多个种。

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

我并不根据低等植物的繁殖方式将分 “苔藓植物门” 这样的类别。

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

让我从苔藓植物开始，占据了低的树枝。

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

而植物王国中难道还有比藓类及其亲族苔藓植物更能体现触碰的存在吗？

The ancestors of today's bryophytes were here before the flowers, but the bryophytes and flowers alive right now have been evolving for the same amount of time since they went their separate evolutionary ways at that bottom branch point.

今天苔藓植物的祖先在花出现之前就已经存在了，但现在活着的苔藓植物和花已经进化了同样长的时间，因在底部的分支点上分道扬镳。

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，都会产孢子，单细胞被一层超级坚硬的盔甲状分子包裹，这是苔藓植物命周期中不可或缺的一部分。

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

过孢子繁殖，就像苔藓植物一样，而不是更晚才发展起来的种子。

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

我从孢子化石中得知苔藓植物已经存在了大约 5 亿年。

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藓植物比开花植物“进化得更慢”，开花植物是高的分支。

So moist surfaces are prime real estate for bryophytes — you'll find them clinging to the ground, rocks, and larger plants to absorb water and nutrients directly through the surfaces of their phyllids.

所以潮湿的表面是苔藓植物的主要栖息地——你会发现附着在地面、岩石和较大的植物上，直接过的叶根表面吸收水分和营养。

What bryophyte can be used to dress wounds?

什么苔藓植物可以用来包扎伤口？

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

虽然苔藓植物种类繁多，但确实有一些共同点。

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

尽管没有接受过植物学方面的正式培训，但霍夫迈斯特过他信赖的显微镜进行的观察使他发现了苔藓植物的整个命周期。

Well, the bryophytes and seedless vascular plants were some of the first plants to arise from that event — and many of them still exist today!

苔藓植物和无籽维管植物是第一批从那次事件中产的植物，其中许多今天仍然存在！

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

苔藓植物见的类型是苔藓，大约有 12000 种。

Having a dominant sporophyte introduced lots of advantages — like, while the spore-making generation of a bryophyte couldn't grow very far off the ground; the sporophytes of seedless vascular plants could grow much taller and larger, with more room for spore-producing organs.

拥有一个优势孢子体带来了很多好处——比如，苔藓植物的产孢体不能长得离地面很远；而无籽维管植物的孢子体可以长得更高更大，有更多的空间容纳产孢器官。

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

所以进化出了像根一样的结构，被称类根，和像叶一样的结构，被称 phyllids，苔藓植物至今仍有这种结构。

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，我可以在讲苔藓上花上一整天，但只是我苔藓植物之旅的第一站。