Bryophytes are among the oldest land plants but very few people know about their uses. These are usually not thought of as economically important plants although they possess many interesting properties. Bryophytes are used in medicines, for household purposes, in horticulture and they also play an important role in ecology. Here we will briefly summarize the uses of these bryophytes.

Medicinal Uses

The Chinese, Europeans, and North Americans have used bryophytes as medicines since long ago. More than 400 years ago, the Chinese used some Fissidens and Polytrichum species as diuretics and hair growth stimulation tonics. Traditional cultures in India and North America used Bryum, Mnium, Philonotis spp. and Poltrichum juniperinum for healing burns, bruises and wounds. Marchantia polymorpha was used as a diuretic in France. In many of these cases, a scientific basis has been identified to justify use of plants. Several liverwort and moss extracts have antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activity. Similarly, Conocephalum conicum, Mnium undulatum, and Leptodictyum riparium have strong antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacterial species. Rhynchostegium riparioides extract has good antibacterial activity against gram negative bacteria, in particular Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter cloacae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Peat is any partially decayed plant matter, but it most commonly consists of Sphagnum because this species grows in anaerobic bogs over vast areas and is resistant to decay. Peat water possesses astringent and antiseptic properties. ‘Sphagnol’, a distillate of Peat Tar, is useful in eczema, psoriasis, pruritus, hemorrhoids, chilblains, scabies, acne, and other skin ailments, and is also beneficial for alleviating irritation from insect bites. Liverworts have fungicide, bactericide and weak biocide (stomach poison) activity against animal pests. The antimicrobial activity of liverworts, seen in extracts of Lunularia, Reboulia and Pallavicinia, is possibly due to lunularic acid. Similarly, petroleum-ether extracts of Barbula and Timmiella species have antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The active ingredients responsible for antimicrobial effects have been isolated and identified from several bryophytes, such as Polygodial from Porella, Norpiguisone from Conocephalum conicum, and Lunularin from Lunularia cruciata. Some liverworts also have some anti-leukemia activity. Diplophyllin was isolated from Diplophyllum albicans and D. taxifolium, which have significant activity against human epidermoid carcinoma. During the First World War, the Germans used Sphagnum extensively for dressing wounds. Sphagnum pads are better than cotton for dressing wounds as they absorb liquids 3-4 times as much as cotton, have anti-microbial properties, and do not require as frequent changes of dressing.

Uses in Horticulture and Agriculture

Bryophytes are used in horticulture as soil additives, ornamental material for cultivation and for beautification of gardens. Peat is one of the most important soil conditioners and is commonly used in agriculture throughout the world. In Japan, mosses are used as ornamental plants in gardens, to give beauty and an ancient look to gardens by clothing tree trunks, rocks and stone. Tray landscapes are a horticultural art in Japan in which several mosses like Polytrichum commune, Leucobryum neilgherrense and Bartramia pomiformis are used. Mosses are also helpful in soil stabilization and in retaining moisture. Some bryophytes are used in treatment of plant diseases such as Phytophthora infestans or Alternaria solani. In Bolivia and Peru, the alcoholic extracts from local rainforest liverwort species are used by farmers for plant protection. They are also used to cure fungal skin diseases of horses.

Bryophytes as Fuel

Liverworts and mosses were used as fuel long ago in developed countries like Finland, Ireland, Germany, Poland, and Russia. Sphagnum is good for production of methane and is likely to become an important source of fuel for production of electricity and heat in the future. Sphagnum grows rapidly after peat harvesting, has low sulfur content, and is better than wood for heating.

House Construction

Bryophytes are used in construction and furnishing of houses in some parts of the world, especially in areas where woody pants are not available or very expensive. In some villages in the Himalayas, moss mats with shrubs, grasses and bamboo are used to make pharki, a kind of door placed at the opening of temporary huts. Sphagnum peat is combined with a binding matrix and to make “peatcrete” and “peatwood” used in construction. Peatcrete is a new, low cost construction product whose benefits are that it is easy to saw, nail into, mould into any shape, or carry to building areas that may be difficult to access.

Household Uses

In Japan, England, France, Finland, and the US, mosses have been used for decoration. In Japan, ornamental water flowers are made from dried Climacium japonicum and sold in markets. In India, mosses are used to make mattresses, cushions and pillows. In the Himalayas, people dry mosses and liverworts and make coarse powder from them to use as insect repellents in stored grains and other stored goods. In Germany, Sphagnum in combination with wool has been used for preparation of cheap cloth. In India, Sphagnum species, Hypnum cupressiforme, Macrothamnium submacrocarpum, Neckera crenulata, Trachypodopsis crispatula and Thuidium tamariscellum are used as packing material for transportation of apples and plums. Wet Sphagnum species and other mosses are used to pack around the roots of live plants for transportation from one place to another or as a mounting medium for epiphytic plants such as bromeliads and orchids.

Industrial Uses

Sphagnum is used as a filtering and absorption agent for treatment of wastewater effluent of factories with acid and toxic discharge containing heavy metals such as Ag, Cu, Cd, Hg, Fe, Sb and Pb due to its absorbing qualities. It is also used for the same purpose to filter organic substances such as oil, detergents, dyes and microorganisms. Peat can also be used as an effective adsorption agent for oil spills. Some bryophyte products can absorb about twelve times their weight, require less storage space, and are more economical than other adsorbing agents.

Ecological Uses

Mosses and liverworts serve as good indicators for environmental conditions. Certain aquatic mosses can be used as indicators of calcium and other nutrients in water. Bryophytes are also good indicators of soil pH because some of these require very narrow ranges of soil pH to grow. They play an important role in soil conservation in the tropics by covering soil to protect it from erosion and leaching of minerals that would otherwise happen quickly in very rainy climates. Some liverworts and mosses provide suitable substrates for biological nitrogen fixation by association with cyanobacteria and thus play an important role in nutrient cycling.

References and Further Reading

Ando, H., and Matsuo, A. 1984. Applied bryology. In advances in Bryology 2. J. Cramer, ed. Vaduz, West Germany.

Asakawa, Y. 1990. Biologically active substances from bryophytes. In Bryophyte Development - Physiology and Biochemistry. R. N. Chopra and S. C. Bhatla, eds. CRC Press, Boston.

Basile, A., Vuotto, M. L., Ielpo, M. T. L., Moscatiello, V., Ricciardi, L., Giordano, S., and Cobianchi, C. 1998. Antibacterial activity in Rhynchostegium riparioides (Hedw.) card. extract (Bryophyta). Phyto. Resea. 12: S146-S148.

Castaldo Cobianchi, R., Giordano, S., Basile, A., and Violante, U. 1988. Occurence of antibiotic activitity in Concocephalum conicum, Mnium undulatum and Leptodictyum riparium (Bryophyta). Giorn. Bot Ital. 122: 303-311.

Frahm, J.-P. Bryophtes as antibiotics and antifeedent agent - the uses of mosses and liverworts. General article at http://www.epopt.de/igv/Frahm.pdf.

Garnier, G., Bezanger-Beauquesne, L., and Debraux, G. 1961. Resources Medicinales de la Flora Francaise. Vigot Freres, Paris.

McCleary, J. A., Sypherd, P. S., and Walkington, D. L. 1960. Mosses as a possible source of antibiotics. Science 131: 108.

McCleary and Walkington, D. L. 1966. Mosses and antibiotics. Lichenol. Rev. Bryol. 34: 309-341.

Saxena, D. K., and Harinder. 2004. Uses of Bryophytes. Resonance June 2004.

Van Hoof, L., Vanden, Berghe, D. A., Petit, E., and Vlietinck A. J. 1981. Antibacterial and antiviral screening of Bryophyta. Phytoterapia 5: 223-229.

By Shawkat Ali Yousafzai

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