Be sure to use your handouts AND your text (pg. 393) as additional references!

An embryo begins to grow from the fertilized egg.

A young sporophyte fern soon develops.

The prothallus (gametophyte) will shrink. The mature fern plant is called the sporophyte because it will produce the spores.

On the underside of some fronds are rows of small dots called sori (sor -ee).

Within the sori, haploid spores are produced by meiosis. The spores are eventually released into the air & dispersed by the wind.

Under favorable conditions of moisture, light, temperature the spores germinate. The germinating spore forms a small, heart- shaped structure called a prothallus (fern gametophyte)

Each prothallus contains male (antheridium) & female (archegonium) structures. Sperm from the antheridium swim through water to find mature eggs. Ferns are dependent on water being present for sexual reproduction!

Provide the details for each step in the Life Cycle of Ferns...