Plant Diversity & Life Cycles Lab

25 question-and-answer flashcards reviewing key reproductive structures, life-cycle phases, and adaptations across Bryophyta, Monilophyta, Lycophyta, Coniferophyta, and Anthophyta.

What is the role of a sporangium in plants?

A sporangium is the protective structure that produces and houses spores.

Which gametangium produces sperm cells?

The antheridium produces sperm cells.

Which highly resistant biopolymer is found in plant spore walls?

Sporopollenin.

In Bryophyta (mosses), which generation is dominant?

The haploid gametophyte generation.

What structure in mosses grows out of the gametophyte and bears the capsule?

The sporophyte stalk (seta) with its sporangium (capsule).

How does fertilization occur in mosses and ferns?

Water is required so motile sperm can swim to the egg in the archegonium.

What are sori on a fern frond?

Clusters of sporangia located on the underside of a fern frond.

Which generation is dominant in Monilophyta (ferns)?

The diploid sporophyte generation.

What is the heart-shaped fern gametophyte called?

A prothallus.

What does it mean for a plant to be heterosporous?

It produces two distinct spore types—megaspores (female) and microspores (male).

Which lycophyte studied has a heterosporous life cycle with both mega- and microspores?

Selaginella (Phylum Lycophyta).

Why are megaspores advantageous in Selaginella?

They contain stored nutrients that accelerate sporophyte development after fertilization.

Despite heterospory, what does fertilization in Selaginella still require?

Free water for swimming sperm.

In conifers, where does pollen (the male gametophyte) develop?

Inside microsporangia of male (pollen) cones.

What delivers sperm to the egg in conifers?

A pollen tube that grows from the pollen grain to the ovule.

After fertilization in a conifer, what does the ovule become?

A seed containing the embryo, nutritive tissue, and seed coat.

How is pollination typically achieved in Coniferophyta?

By wind, which is relatively inefficient.

In angiosperms, where is pollen produced?

Inside the anther of a stamen.

After fertilization in angiosperms, what does the ovary develop into?

A fruit that encloses the seeds.

What agents usually carry out pollination in angiosperms?

Animals (e.g., insects, birds), making the process efficient and precise.

Give two differences between gymnosperm and angiosperm pollen grains.

Gymnosperm pollen often has air sacs and is wind-dispersed; angiosperm pollen is sticky or spiky and adapted for animal transport.

Which two phyla in this lab disperse spores rather than seeds?

Bryophyta (mosses) and Monilophyta (ferns).

In the moss life cycle, where does the zygote grow into the sporophyte?

Inside the archegonium on the gametophyte tip.

What fern structure releases spores into the air when mature?

The sporangia located within the sori.

Name the four main floral organs of an angiosperm flower.

Sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels (pistil).