Bryophytes and Pteridophytes Lecture Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the characteristics, life cycles, and classifications of Bryophytes and Pteridophytes based on the provided lecture notes.

Bryophyte

A Greek-derived term meaning 'moss plant' that refers to non-vascular land plants which are embryophytes lacking true vascular tissue like lignin.

Amphibians of the plant kingdom

A nickname for bryophytes because they are terrestrial plants that require water to complete their life cycle during sexual reproduction.

Thallus

The plant body of a bryophyte which is prostrate or erect and lacks true vegetative structures such as roots, stems, or leaves.

Rhizoids

Unicellular or multicellular hair-like structures that attach the bryophyte thallus to the substratum and provide anchorage.

Gametophyte

The dominant, haploid ($n$) phase of the bryophyte life cycle that is nutritionally independent and bears sex organs.

Cryptogamic

Plants that lack seeds, flowers, and fruits, such as bryophytes.

Gemmae

Green, multicellular asexual buds produced inside gemma cups that can develop into a new plant after detaching from the parent.

Antheridium

The male reproductive organ in bryophytes and pteridophytes which consists of a sterile jacket enclosing androcytes that produce biflagellated spermatozoids.

Archegonium

The multicellular flask-shaped female reproductive organ consisting of an elongated neck, a swollen basal venter, a ventral canal cell, and a single egg cell.

Sporophyte

The diploid ($2n$) phase in a plant's life cycle; in bryophytes, it is semi-parasitic and differentiated into a foot, seta, and capsule.

Protonema

The juvenile stage of a gametophyte in the bryophyte life cycle.

Homosporous

Plants that produce spores of the same kind, which is typical for most bryophytes and certain pteridophytes like Lycopodium.

Heterosporous

Plants that produce two different sizes of spores: large megaspores (female) and small microspores (male), such as Selaginella and Marsilea.

Hepaticopsida

The class of bryophytes commonly known as liverworts, which may have a thalloid or foliose gametophyte plant body.

Anthocerotopsida

The class of bryophytes commonly known as hornworts, characterized by a flat dorsiventral thalloid body and capsules containing pseudoelaters.

Bryopsida

The largest class of Bryophyta, commonly known as mosses, containing around $1400$ species including Funaria and Sphagnum.

Peat

A dark-coloured substance formed by the compression and carbonization of partially decomposed vegetative matter, primarily Sphagnum, in bogs.

Pteridophytes

Spore-bearing vascular plants that differ from bryophytes by having xylem and phloem, with the sporophyte as the dominant phase.

Epiphytes

Plants that grow upon another plant or object merely for physical support, a habit found in some pteridophytes.

Megaphyllous

A leaf type where the leaves are large compared to the stem, typified by ferns.

Microphyllous

A leaf type where the leaves are small compared to the stems, such as in Lycopods and horsetails.

Sporophylls

Specialized leaves that bear sporangia; they can cluster to form cones or stobili.

Prothallus

The photosynthetic, usually heart-shaped gametophyte of a pteridophyte that develops from a germinating spore.

Exosporic gametophytes

Gametophytes that develop from homospores and grow on the soil as independent plants.

Endosporic gametophytes

Gametophytes that develop within the spore wall of heterospores, obtaining nourishment from food deposited in the spores.

Oogamous

A type of sexual reproduction shared by bryophytes and pteridophytes where a non-motile female gamete is fertilized by a flagellated male gamete.