University Press, Cambridge, Mehra PN, Verna SC (1957) The cytology of some Athyrium species from northern India. How was apical growth regulated in the ancestral land plant? families Ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and whisk ferns are seedless vascular plants that reproduce with spores and are found in moist environments. By continuing to use our website or clicking Continue, you are agreeing to accept our cookies. families Microphylls and megaphylls. Furthermore, the life cycles of seedless vascular plants are dominated by diploid spore-producing sporophytes, rather than gametophytes. Devonian Times - More about Ferns Horsetails, whisk ferns, and ferns belong to the phylum Monilophyta, with horsetails placed in the Class Equisetopsida. Today, seedless vascular plants are represented by monilophytes and lycophytes. 2013. Plant Cell Environ. This is in contrast to the condition in the zosterophylls, the closest relatives of the Lycophyta; in these other plants, the sporangia are terminal on branches of the stem. Bookshelf The Life Cycle of Seedless Vascular Plants. [19], Some extinct orders of lycophytes fall into the same group as the extant orders. et al. Pteridopsida (true ferns) have more than 10,000 species and make up the majority of living monilophytes (all classes of Pteridophyta except lycophytes). Monilophytes include ferns, horsetails, and whisk ferns and their relatives. The gametophytes do not depend on the sporophyte for nutrients. In some species the gametophyte becomes a small, green plant with numerous lobes, growing on the surface of the soil; the time interval between spore germination and sexual maturity of the gametophyte may be eight months to a year. Confusing common names. Genome 50:351356, Loureiro J, Rodriguez E, Doleel J, Santos C (2006) Comparison of four nuclear isolation buffers for plant DNA flow cytometry. The dominant stage of the life cycle of a fern is the sporophyte, which typically consists of large compound leaves called fronds. Simplified phylogenetic tree of the animal kingdom, Nobel prizewinning contributions to biology. Upper left: This page was last edited on 9 April 2023, at 08:14. A. Frontiers in Plant Science 4. Plant Mol Biol 33:1121, Article Ferns and Lycophytes | Basic Biology families BioScience 21:313316, Des Marais D, Smith AR, Britton DM, Pryer KM (2003) Phylogenetic relationships and evolution of extant horsetails, Equisetum, based on chloroplast DNA sequence data (rbcL and trnL-F). Lycophytes are widely distributed but are especially numerous in the tropics. Numerous microspores are produced in the microsporangium, and cell division within the microspore wall initiates male gametophyte development. Copyright 2023 MyJoVE Corporation. Evolution & Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Epub 2016 Nov 25. Have independent gametophyte and sporophyte generations; the long-lived sporophyte grows from the small, short-lived gametophute. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. BMC Plant Biol 5:10, Wikstrm N (2001) Diversification and relationships of extant homosporous lycopods. Their leaves are called fronds because of apical growth; young leaves are coiled into fiddleheads (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)). Can J Bot 42:13491356, Bure P, Tich L, Wang Y, Baro J (2003) Occurrence of Polypodium x mantoniae and new localities for P. interjectum in the Czech Republic confirmed using flow cytometry. Any member of a clade of vascular plants (sometimes called Monilophyta) based on molecular genetic analysis, comprising the whisk ferns, horsetails, ferns, and their allies such as adders tongues (Ophioglossaceae), moonworts, and grape ferns. Phytotaxa 19:754, DAmato F, Avanzi S (1965) DNA content, DNA synthesis, and mitosis in the root apical cell of Marsilea strigosa. Plants, however, alternate between haploid and diploid stages that are both multicellular; this is called alternation of generations. These groups include the Rhyniopsida, Zosterophyllopsida, Trimerophytopsida, the Lepidodendrales and the Progymnospermopsida. [citation needed], Within the broadly defined lycophyte group, species placed in the class Lycopodiopsida are distinguished from species placed in the Zosterophyllopsida by the possession of microphylls.