lower plantsfungi, algae, mosses, liverworts and lichens

Collective term which includes mosses, algae, lichen and liverworts.

The name cryptogams (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a term fairly widely in use as a phrase of convenience, although regarded as an obsolete taxonomic term. A similar case is "lichens".

plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds; in this report the term is used for non-marine organisms and excludes pteridophytes; see Introduction