Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The spores are dispersed through a catapult-like system, flinging the spores out briefly at up to 10m/s. This is caused by the gradual build up of a high negative pressure (200-300 atmospheres) within annulus cells from water loss. [1] As these cells lose water, they shrink, and are designed to inwardly bend on the outer face of the annulus.
At that time, the elaters uncoil to extend out from the spore and will catch air currents. The fact that they are extended only when conditions are dry means that successful spore dispersal is more likely. The mature strobili of a horsetail (Equisetum arvense). A cross section through a horsetail strobilus, showing spores with elaters.
Sporophytes are raised on stalks to facilitate spore dispersal, but unlike other mosses, Sphagnum stalks are produced by the maternal gametophyte. Tetrahedral haploid spores are produced in the sporophyte by meiosis, which are then dispersed when the capsule explosively discharges its cap, called an operculum , and shoots the spores some distance.
Dispersal is also used to describe the movement of propagules such as seeds and spores. Technically, dispersal is defined as any movement that has the potential to lead to gene flow. [1] The act of dispersal involves three phases: departure, transfer, and settlement. There are different fitness costs and benefits associated with each of these ...
In leptosporangiate ferns, the fern catapults its spores 1-2 cm so they can be picked up by a second dispersal vector, often the wind. [4]Autochory is the dispersal of diaspores, which are dispersal units consisting of seeds or spores, using only the energy provided by the diaspore or the parent plant. [5]
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. [1] Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants , algae , fungi and protozoa . [ 2 ]
This rapid plant movement can achieve limited dispersal without the assistance of animals. A notable example is the sandbox tree ( Hura crepitans ), which can fling seeds 100 meters (300 ft) and has been called the "boomer plant" due to the loud sound it generates.
Bryophytes (/ ˈ b r aɪ. ə ˌ f aɪ t s /) [2] are a group of land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic division, that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants: the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses (Bryophyta sensu lato). [3]