Seedless Vascular Plants

Seedless Vascular Plants

Most homosporous and dispersal agent are windblown spores

Vascular Plants with Seeds*

Heterosporous with male/female gametophytes and seeds disperse offspring

Lycophytes - Club Mosses

Branching rhizome sends up short aerial stem, leaves are microphylls, and sporangia occur on surface of sporophylls

Pteriodphytes - Horsetails

Rhizome produces tall aerial stem, contains whorls of slender green branches, small/scale-like leaves, and tough rigid stem with silica

Megaphylls

Possess multiple veins arranged in a complex network, enabling larger blade sizes

Pteridophytes - Ferns

Whisk ferns (branched rhizome with rhizoids) and mutualistic mycorrhizal fungus helps gather nutrients; dominant sporophyte = windblown spores (fronds and leaflets)

Rhizome

Horizontal, underground plant stems that function as storage organs and mechanisms for asexual reproduction

2 Kinds of Vascular Tissue

Xylem and phloem

Xylem

Transports water and minerals upward from roots, providing structural support to the plant due to the presence of lignin (dead hollow tubes)

Phloem

Transports sugars, proteins, and other solutes throughout the plant

Lignin

Polymer to strengthen xylem cell walls