Campbell Biology Chapter 29: Plant Diversity - How Plants Colonized Land

Vocabulary practice flashcards generated from Campbell Biology Chapter 29 covering terrestrial plant adaptations, alternation of generations, nonvascular bryophytes, and seedless vascular lineages.

Charophytes

The group of green algae that represents the closest living relatives of land plants.

Sporopollenin

A durable polymer that coats charophyte zygotes and strengthens plant spore walls to prevent them from drying out.

Alternation of Generations

A plant life cycle that alternates between a haploid gametophyte ($n$), which produces gametes by mitosis, and a diploid sporophyte ($2n$), which produces haploid spores by meiosis.

Embryophytes

Another name for land plants, derived from their key evolutionary trait of retaining multicellular, dependent embryos within female gametophyte tissues.

Sporangia

Multicellular sporangial organs on the sporophyte in which diploid cells undergo meiosis to produce walled haploid spores.

Apical Meristems

Localized regions of cell division at the tips of roots and shoots that allow land plants to extend continuously throughout their lives.

Cuticle

A waxy covering on the plant epidermis that acts as waterproofing to reduce water loss from exposed surfaces.

Stomata

Specialized pores in plant leaves and photosynthetic stems that open and close to regulate gas exchange and water transpiration.

Mycorrhizal Fungi

Symbiotic fungal associations that helped early rootless land plants absorb essential minerals and water from the soil.

Bryophytes

An informal group name for nonvascular land plants—liverworts, mosses, and hornworts—in which the haploid gametophyte stage is dominant.

Protonema

A mass of green, branched filaments produced by a germinating moss spore that develops buds which grow into leafy gametophytes.

Rhizoids

Long, tubular structures that anchor bryophyte gametophytes to the substrate without taking part in long-distance nutrient or water transport.

Archegonia

Female gametangia in plants that produce and retain a single non-motile egg cell.

Antheridia

Male gametangia in plants that produce and release flagellated sperm cells requiring liquid water to reach the egg.

Foot (Bryophyte Sporophyte)

The embedded portion of a bryophyte sporophyte that absorbs nutrients from the parent gametophyte.

Seta

The elongated stalk of a bryophyte sporophyte that elevates the sporangium capsule for spore dispersal.

Capsule (Sporangium)

The terminal organ of a bryophyte sporophyte where haploid spores are generated by meiosis.

Peristome

A ring of tooth-like structures at the top of a moss capsule that regulates spore release by opening under dry conditions.

Liverworts (Phylum Hepatophyta)

Nonvascular land plants with thalloid or leafy gametophytes and reduced sporophytes attached to the parent plant.

Hornworts (Phylum Anthocerophyta)

Nonvascular land plants named for their elongated horn-like sporophytes that split open to release spores.

Mosses (Phylum Bryophyta)

Nonvascular plants possessing leafy gametophytes attached to stalked sporophytes capped with spore-producing capsules.

Peat

Extensive organic deposits of partially decayed plant material, mainly composed of Sphagnum moss, which act as a major global soil carbon store.

Xylem

Vascular plant tissue that conducts water and dissolved minerals upward from roots, containing tube-like dead cells called tracheids strengthened by lignin.

Phloem

Vascular plant tissue composed of living cells arranged into tubes that transport organic nutrients, such as sugars, throughout the plant.

Microphylls

Small, unbranched leaves with a single vein, unique to the lycophyte lineage of vascular plants.

Megaphylls

Leaves with a highly branched vascular network, characteristic of monilophytes and seed plants.

Sporophylls

Modified leaves that bear sporangia and are specialized for reproduction.

Sori

Clusters of sporangia located on the undersides of fern sporophyll fronds.

Strobili

Cone-like structures composed of tightly clustered sporophylls, found in lycophytes and gymnosperms.

Homosporous

Describing plant species that produce a single type of spore, which typically develops into a bisexual gametophyte producing both eggs and sperm.

Heterosporous

Describing plant species that produce two morphologically distinct types of spores: megaspores and microspores.

Megaspore

A spore produced by a megasporangium on a megasporophyll that develops into a female gametophyte.

Microspore

A spore produced by a microsporangium on a microsporophyll that develops into a male gametophyte.

Lycophytes (Phylum Lycophyta)

A phylum of seedless vascular plants possessing microphylls and true roots, including club mosses, spike mosses, and quillworts.

Monilophytes (Phylum Monilophyta)

A phylum of seedless vascular plants with megaphylls or reduced leaves, including ferns, horsetails, and whisk ferns.

Horsetails

Monilophytes characterized by jointed, silica-rich photosynthetic stems with rings of small leaves and terminal strobili.

Whisk Ferns

Seedless vascular monilophytes featuring green dichotomously branching stems that lack true roots and bear three fused yellow sporangia.