What is unique about the lycophytes?
Lycophytes have unique leaves that separate them from all other plant groups. Their leaves, known as microphylls, have only one vein that runs down the length of the leaf. All lycophyte plants are herbaceous so no species grow wood. The above ground portion of lycophytes is almost entirely green, including the stems.
What type of leaves do Lycopodiophyta have?
Leaves. Lycophytes are distinct from most other plants, by having microphylls, a primitive form of leaf.
What are the characteristics of Pterophyta?
Primary characteristics of Pteridophytes are as follows: They are seedless, vascular plants that show true alternation of generations. Furthermore, the sporophyte has true roots, stems and leaves. They reproduce by spores, which are developed in sporangia. They may be homosporous or heterosporous.
What can lycophytes teach us about plant evolution and development?
As such, lycophytes are well placed to elucidate innovations in the ancestors of vascular plants, and answer evolutionary questions about the conservation, convergence, and divergence of developmental processes in plant diversification.
What does a fern look like?
Some look like tiny bunches of grapes, some look like a little brown purse, and others like a dome. Often the sporangium starts out light green and as it ripens, turns dark brown. Ferns spores develop into what scientists call “gametophytes”, which usually look flat, green and spongy.
Do Pterophyta have roots?
General characteristics of Pterophyta Pterophyta may also develop stems, often as rhizomes, true leaves, called frond, and -simple- roots. There are, however, no flowers in their life cycle, and thus they also lack fruits and seeds. Their sexual reproduction is done through spores.
What is the common name for Pterophyta?
Phylum Pterophyta (ferns)
Why do we refer to the leaf as a Microphyll when discussing lycophytes?
The leaves of lycophytes are microphylls. This morphology, having only one vein which does not branch, is unique to the lycophytes, and these leaves are given the name microphylls. The leaves of other plants are called megaphylls, and they will have multiple or branching veins.
How would you describe a fern?
Ferns are plants that do not have flowers. Ferns generally reproduce by producing spores. Similar to flowering plants, ferns have roots, stems and leaves.
Do ferns like sun?
Ferns are a natural inhabitant of shady areas, most commonly found where they will get at least some sun during part of the day or where they will receive dappled sunlight most of the day. In fact most ferns will not grow that well in real dense shade, they need a bit of sun to grow their best.
Do ferns need sun?
Most ferns prefer indirect light, which means you should avoid placing them where sunlight will hit them. In direct sun, fern fronds can get burned, resulting in a dry, crispy plant. Usually, a north- or east-facing window provides the right amount of light for ferns.
Is lycophyte photosynthetic?
In the lycophytes, some leaves do more than merely photosynthesize. Special leaves called sporophylls produce a sporangium on top, near the point where they attach to the stem.
What is Lycopodiophyta?
Lycophyte, (division Lycopodiophyta or Lycophyta), any spore-bearing vascular plant that is one of the club mosses and their allies, living and fossil.
How many species of lycophyte are there?
(Show more) lycophyte, (class Lycopodiopsida), class of spore -bearing vascular plants comprising more than 1,200 extant species. Three lycophyte orders are recognized: the club mosses ( Lycopodiales), the quillworts and their allies ( Isoetales), and the spike mosses ( Selaginellales).
What is the oldest plant in the phylum Lycophyta?
Phylum Lycophyta: Club Mosses and More The lycophytes are the oldest of the seedless vascular plants that have living representatives. They constitute one of the two major lines (clades) of vascular plants, which split probably in the Silurian Age, but at least by the Devonian.
Are lycophytes homosporous or sporophytes?
In the lycophytes, as in other vascular plants, there is an alternation of generations between a small, sex-cell-producing phase (gametophyte) and a conspicuous, spore-producing phase (sporophyte). The members of one of the chief living families, Lycopodiaceae, are homosporous (with just one kind of spore).