Kingdom Plantae
Bryophyta: Nonvascular Plants
Lycophyta, Sphenophyta, Pterophyta:
Seedless Vascular Plants
Gymnosperms: Coniferophyta
Setting the Stage for Plants
• Earth’s atmosphere was originally oxygen
free
• Ultraviolet radiation bombarded the
surface
• Photosynthetic cells produced oxygen and
allowed formation of a protective ozone
layer
Invading the Land
• Cyanobacteria were probably the first to
spread into and up freshwater streams
• Later, green algae and fungi made the
journey together
• Every plant is descended from species of
green algae
The Plant Kingdom
• Nearly all are multicelled
• Vast majority are photoautotrophs
– Energy from sun
– Carbon dioxide from air
– Minerals dissolved in water
Evolutionary Tree for Plants
flowering
green zygophytes, charophytes bryophytes lycophytes horsetails ferns cycads ginkgos conifers gnetophytes plants
algae related
groups
seed plants
euphyllophytes
embryophytes (land plants)
vascular plants
(closely related groups)
Figure 23.3
Page 387
Nonvascular Plants
• Bryophytes
• Fewer than 19,000 species
• Three groups
Liverworts
Hornworts
Mosses
Vascular Plants
• Majority of plants
• Have internal tissues that carry water
and solutes
• Two groups
– Seedless vascular plants
– Seed-bearing vascular plants
Seedless Vascular Plants
• Arose during the Devonian
• Produce spores but no seeds
• Four main groups
Whisk ferns
Lycophytes
Horsetails
Ferns
Seed-Bearing Vascular Plants
• Gymnosperms arose first
– Cycads
– Ginkgos
– Gnetophytes
– Conifers
• Angiosperms arose later
– Monocots
– Dicots
Evolutionary Trend
zygote
SP
GA ORO
ME P H
TO YTE
PH
YT (2n)
E(
n)
GREEN ALGA BRYOPHYTE FERN GYMNOSPERM ANGIOSPERM
Adaptations to Land
• Root systems
• Shoot systems
• Vascular tissues
• Waxy cuticle
Traits of
Seed-Bearing Plants
• Pollen grains
– Arise from megaspores
– Develop into male gametophytes
– Can be transported without water
• Seeds
– Embryo sporophyte inside nutritive tissues
and a protective coat
– Can withstand hostile conditions
Bryophytes
• Small, nonvascular, nonwooody
• Gametophyte dominates life cycle;
has leaflike, stemlike, and rootlike
parts
• Usually live in wet habitats
• Flagellated sperm require water to
reach eggs
Moss Life Cycle
Zygote grows, mature
develops into a sporophyte
sporophyte while
still attached to
gametophyte.
zygote
Diploid Stage
Fertilization Meiosis
Haploid Stage
Spores
germinate.
sperm-
producing
structure male
gametophyte
egg-
producing female
Figure 23.5 structure gametophyte
Page 388
Phylum Bryophyta
“Mosses”
The gametophyte of
mosses consists of a
leafy shoot that is
anchored to the
substrate by branched
multicellular rhizoids.
http://www.science.siu.edu/landplants/Bryophyta/MossDesc.html
Leaf arrangement is normally spiralled.
The initial stage of gametophyte development, resulting
from germination of the spore,
is a filamentous branched structure known as the
protonema.
Moss, highly branched with sporophytes terminating lateral
branches.
Antheridia are
equally elongated
with a long narrow
stalk
General
morphology are
seen in Sphagnum
Sporophyte
Habit shot of
female shoots
with terminal
sporophytes and
male shoots with
clusters of
orange antheridia
surrounded by
leaves. Copyright
by Alan Heilman
(Univ. Tenn.).
Close-up of
gametophyte with
orange antheridia
(right) and
sporophyte (left).
Marchantia: A Liverwort
Do not
post on
• Reproduces Internet
asexually by
gemmae
• Gametophytes are
male or female
Female gametophyte
Figure 23.7
Page 389
Seedless Vascular Plants
Lycophytes (Lycophyta)
Whisk ferns (Psilophyta)
Horsetails (Sphenophyta)
Ferns (Pterophyta)
Ferns (Pterophyta)
• 12,000 species, mostly tropical
• Most common sporophyte structure
– Perennial underground stem (rhizome)
– Roots and fronds arise from rhizome
– Young fronds are coiled “fiddleheads”
– Mature fronds divided into leaflets
– Spores form on lower surface of some
fronds
Phylum Pterophyta
“ferns”
Pattern of uncoiling “fiddle heads”.
young “Fronds”
Fern Life Cycle
Sporophyte still attached
to gametophyte
sorus
zygote rhizome
Diploid Stage
fertilization meiosis
Haploid Stage Spores
Spores develop are
egg
released
sperm
mature
gametophyte Spore germinates
On the back (abaxial) side of the frond occur
the spore-producing structures called sori
(singular sorus).
The sori are covered by a thin structure called
an indusium.
Male (left) Bisexual (Right)
Prothallus (gametophyte)
On the underside (ventral) of the prothallus, archegonia are
frequently clustered around the apical notch as evidenced by the
protruding archegonial necks seen in this SEM photo (by Joan
Nester-Hudson).
Biflagellated sperm
At the moment of fertilization, the nuclei of sperm and egg fuse
and a diploid zygote is formed. This begins the sporophytic
generation again. The zygote divides mitotically to form and
embryo and eventually a tiny sporophytic plant. These can often
be seen still attached to the notch area of the prothallus.
Division Lycophyta
“Club Mosses”
The sporophyte is relatively simple with dichotomously to
pseudomonopodally branched green stems and
spirally arranged microphylls (simple leaves with single veins).
Typically, the shoot system is separated into upright
aerial shoots and morphologically distinct
creeping rhizomes from which adventitious roots
arise.
Sporangia are positioned on the adaxial side of specialized leaves
that in turn are arranged in zones along the stem or in a terminal
series, known as strobili
Division Sphenophyta
“Horsetails or Scouring Rushes”
The sporophyte of Equisetum is differentiated into an underground
rhizome that bears adventitious roots and an upright,
photosynthetic stem with whorls of microphylls. The stem is
jointed, i.e., the nodes are clearly defined by whorls of leaves.
Species in the subgenus Equisetum
produce abundant branches that arise in whorls at the
nodes.
The eusporangia of
Equisetum
are aggregated in te
rminal branched unit
s known as strobili
.
Strobili
Thousands of rounded spores are produced in each
sporangium
Antheridia and biflagellated spermatozoids
Division Coniferophyta
“Conifers”
Cluster of microsporangiate strobili of Pinus resinosa
Longitudinal section through a
microsporangiate cone of pine consisting of
microsporophylls spirally arranged around the
central axis bearing microsporophylls.
Male gametophyte: pollen grain
Cross section of a pine needle
