About us

What are the cryptogams? Certainly we see them all the time, but generally ignored. Remember slip on a green stone that took you around some waterfall? Of a whitish patches on the trunks of trees? Ferns that adorn the ceilings and walls of several houses? And that thing dark green is shrouded in the Japanese dish Sushi? Yes, all of these examples illustrate the cryptogams.

In short, cryptogams is an old term to describe plants that do not produce seeds, in fact the translation of the word means something like "reproductive parts not visible" in opposition to the other major group of plants, phanerogams, which means "reproductive parts visible ", ie plants that produce seeds and flowers.

At the University of Brasília exist the Cryptogamic Laboratory, part of the Department of Botany, which in turn is within the Institute of Biology.

This lab is not just a place of education, but also research, at both the undergraduate and graduate. Just one example of the importance of this place and without wanting to sound dramatic, but this lab is responsible for all the Brazilian Midwest when it comes to a group of plants called Bryophytes, the well-known "moss", a group that is within the cryptogams.

In order to better disseminate the work of teachers and students of this lab was created this site, which is also used to disseminate information about this enigmatic group of plants that have a large biotechnological potential and ecological, but because they are often small and hidden (the word "crypto" in cryptogam) did not arouse our interest when we look at the world without the eyes of an initiate into the mysteries of nature. 

Ronaldo Viveiros de Sousa

Master's degree in Botany


The Cryptogamic Laboratory of UNB is the site dedicated to the University of Brasilia study of cryptogams, a group that includes the following groups: Algae, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes and Lichens.

Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Botânica.
Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro
Asa Norte
70919-910 - Brasília, DF - Brazil
Phone: 55 (61) 3107-2955
Branch number: 24 

Contact the webmaster: acroporium@gmail.com or by comments below