Bryology

Bryologists are people who have an active interest in observing, recording, classifying or researching bryophytes.

[1] The field is often studied along with lichenology due to the similar appearance and ecological niche of the two organisms, even though bryophytes and lichens are not classified in the same kingdom.

In 1717 the German botanist Johann Jacob Dillenius (1687–1747), later Sherardian Professor of Botany at Oxford from 1734 to 1747, produced the work "Reproduction of the ferns and mosses".

[citation needed] The beginning of bryology really belongs to the work of Transylvanian-born Johannes Hedwig (1730-1799), sometimes called the "father of bryology",[2] who clarified the reproductive system of mosses in 1782 in his Fundamentum historiae naturalis muscorum frondosorum[3] and arranged a taxonomy.

The Bryologist a scientific journal began publication in 1898, and includes articles on all aspects of the biology of mosses, hornworts, liverworts and lichens and also book reviews.