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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).
The life cycle of a dioecious flowering plant (angiosperm), the willow, has been outlined in some detail in an earlier section (A complex life cycle). The life cycle of a gymnosperm is similar. However, flowering plants have in addition a phenomenon called ' double fertilization '.
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.
A proposed phylogeny of the vascular plants after Kenrick and Crane 1997 [16] is as follows, with modification to the gymnosperms from Christenhusz et al. (2011a), [17] Pteridophyta from Smith et al. [18] and lycophytes and ferns by Christenhusz et al. (2011b) [19] The cladogram distinguishes the rhyniophytes from the "true" tracheophytes, the ...
Structures such as flowers and fruits are only found in the angiosperms; sori are only found in ferns; and seed cones are only found in conifers and other gymnosperms. Reproductive characters are therefore regarded as more useful for the classification of plants than vegetative characters.
These groups are sometimes called "lower plants", referring to their status as the earliest plant groups to evolve, but the usage is imprecise since both groups are polyphyletic and may be used to include vascular cryptogams, such as the ferns and fern allies that reproduce using spores.
In gymnosperms, the megagametophyte consists of several thousand cells and produces one to several archegonia, each with a single egg cell. The gametophyte becomes a food storage tissue in the seed. [27] In angiosperms, the megagametophyte is reduced to only a few cells, and is sometimes called the embryo sac. A typical embryo sac contains ...
The term "fern ally" included under Pteridophyta generally refers to vascular spore-bearing plants that are not ferns, including lycopods, horsetails, whisk ferns and water ferns (Marsileaceae, Salviniaceae and Ceratopteris). This is not a natural grouping but rather a convenient term for non-fern, and is also discouraged, as is eusporangiate ...