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The gametophyte of ferns is a free-living organism, whereas the gametophyte of the gymnosperms and angiosperms is dependent on the sporophyte. The life cycle of a typical fern proceeds as follows: A diploid sporophyte phase produces haploid spores by meiosis (a process of cell division which reduces the number of chromosomes by a half).
Molecular evidence suggests that the ancestors of angiosperms diverged from the gymnosperms during the late Devonian, about 365 million years ago. [51] The origin time of the crown group of flowering plants remains contentious. [52] By the Late Cretaceous, angiosperms appear to have dominated environments formerly occupied by ferns and gymnosperms.
Vascular plants include the clubmosses, horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms (including conifers), and angiosperms (flowering plants). They are contrasted with nonvascular plants such as mosses and green algae. Scientific names for the vascular plants group include Tracheophyta, [11] [4]: 251 Tracheobionta [12] and Equisetopsida sensu lato.
Seed plants include two clades with living members, the gymnosperms and the angiosperms or flowering plants. In gymnosperms, the ovules or seeds are not further enclosed. In angiosperms, they are enclosed within the carpel. Angiosperms typically also have other, secondary structures, such as petals, which together form a flower.
Gymnosperms and angiosperms both have seeds, but the flowering plants have enclosed seeds that protect them from dehydration and enable them to prosper in a wider range of environments, from ...
In ferns, gymnosperms, and flowering plants (angiosperms), the gametophytes are relatively small and the sporophyte is much larger. In gymnosperms and flowering plants the megagametophyte is contained within the ovule (that may develop into a seed) and the microgametophyte is contained within a pollen grain.
The euphyllophytes consist of two lineages, the spermatophytes or seed plants such as flowering plants (angiosperms) and gymnosperms (conifers and related groups), and the Polypodiophytes or ferns, as well as a number of extinct fossil groups.
Angiosperms are dealt with in more detail here; these structures are very different in gymnosperms. [7] In angiosperms, the specialised leaves that play a part in reproduction are arranged around the stem in an ordered fashion, from the base to the apex of the flower. The floral parts are arranged at the end of a stem without any internodes.