First described for their role in arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, Vapyrin (VPY) genes are absent in non-symbiotic vascular plants, indicative of a specific function in symbiosis. Now, Didier Reinhardt, Ursina Rathgeb and colleagues reveal that closely related VPY-like (VPYL) genes are present in non-vascular, non-symbiotic land plants. Using the moss Physcomitrella patens as a model, the authors show that PpVPYL is highly expressed in filamentous cell types (protonema and rhizoids), with lower expression in gametophores, particularly mature leaves (phyllids). By creating a Citrine-VPYL fusion construct, they reveal that VPYL localises to cytoplasmic compartments in protonemal and phyllid cells, dubbed ‘VPYL-bodies’. In loss-of-function PpVPYL mutants, the protonemata produce more branches than the wild type, with defects in positioning, length and size distribution of branches. In addition, gametophores are formed earlier in the mutants, with the cells of the mature phyllids having approximately half the length of wild-type cells. By assessing the effects of strigolactone and auxin, which prevent protonemal branching in both mutants and wild types, the researchers show that insensitivity to these negative regulators of protonemal branching is not the cause of the PpVPYL phenotype. Together, these data provide the first evidence for a non-symbiotic role of VPYL homologues in plant development.