Ferns & fern allies

1. PRIMITIVE VASCULAR
PLANTS
Ferns and Fern Allies

2. Adaptations to life on land
vascular tissue – specialized tissues for
transport
xylem – e.g. tracheid  Tracheophyta
phloem
complex organization – possess true plant organs
(basic structure and function)

3. root
stem
leaf (cuticle)
alternation of generations – sporophyte dominant
(gametophyte independent in primitive forms,
dependent on s’phyte in advanced forms)
embryophyte condition – gametes and
embryo protected (no need for env’l
water)

4. Psilophytes (Whisk Ferns)

5. whisk ferns
first vascular plants (earliest to evolve accdg to
the fossil record  extinct or not extinct)
no specialized organs  no differentiation
between root and shoot
small and creeping
sporophyll  specialized leaves containing
sporangia
motile sperm swims in water
e.g. Psilotum

6. Lycophytes (Club Mosses)

7. club mosses
true roots, stems and leaves (small and scale-
like, arranged spirally)
sporophyll  specialized leaves containing
sporangia
water required for reproduction
e.g. Lycopodium (ground pine)
 Selaginella

8. Sphenophytes (Horse Tails)

9. horsetails
leaves arranged in whorls (small & simple) on
the stem (siliceous)
motile sperm must swim in water
e.g. Equisetum (scouring rush)

10. Pterophytes (Ferns)

11. vascular tissue well-developed  w/ xylem &
phloem
thrive in predominantly damp or seasonally wet
habitats
sporophyte dominant, gametophyte
inconspicuous
structure of the sporophyte:
leafy frond bearing sori (sorus) ctg.
spores
fiddlehead with circinate vernation

12. rhizome (underground stem)
structure of the gametophyte
heart-shaped prothallus
rhizoids
antheridia & archegonia  reproduction
requires water
e.g. Pteris, Adiantum, Christella