Seedless VASCULAR Plants Ch – Dec 5, 2014

Vascular Plants  Vascular plants have true…  roots, stems and leaves  Vascular plants have roots  Anchors the plants  Absorbs water and nutrients from the soil  Vascular plants have stems  Conducts water to the leaves  Vascular plants have leaves  Increase the surface area - more solar energy for photosynthesis  Covered by waxy cuticle  Regulated pores called stomata

Vascular Plants  Vascular plants have two types of vascular tissue  Xylem  Conducts water and minerals  Includes dead cells called tracheids  Strong walled cells support body of plant  Phloem  Distributes sugars, amino acids, and organic products throughout the plant  Consists of living cells

Vascular Plants  Sporophyte is the dominant generation in vascular plants  Advantageous?  Sporophyte is the generation with vascular tissue  Sporophyte is diploid  Two types of vascular plants: seedless and seeded

Seedless Vascular Plants  Seedless vascular plants form two phyla:  Lycophyta  Ex. club mosses  Pterophyta  Ex. ferns, horsetails, and whisk ferns  Both disperse their offspring by producing wind-blown spores  When spores germinate, they produce a small gametophyte that is independent of the sporophyte for its nutrition  Antheridia release flagellated sperm which swim in a film of external water to the archegonia, where fertilization occurs

Seedless Vascular Plants LYCOPHYTES (PHYLUM LYCOPHYTA) PTEROPHYTES (PHYLUM PTEROPHYTA) WHISK FERNS AND RELATIVES HORSETAILS FERNS Isoetes gunnii, a quillwort Selaginella apoda, a spike moss Diphasiastrum tristachyum, a club moss Strobili (clusters of sporophylls) Psilotum nudum, a whisk fern Equisetum arvense, field horsetail Vegetative stem Strobilus on fertile stem Athyrium filix-femina, lady fern

Lycophytes  Also known as club mosses  Among the first land plants to have vascular tissue  What group do mosses belong to?  Sporangia are born on terminal clusters of leaves, called strobili, which are club shaped  Spores can be harvested + sold as lycopodium powder, or vegetable sulfur - used in pharmaceuticals and fireworks

Lycophytes  Structure  Fleshy underground and horizontal stem – rhizome  Sends up upright aerial stems  Tightly packed, scale like leaves cover the stems and braches  Small leaves – microphylls each have a single vein composed of xylem and phloem

Ferns  Phylum Polypodiophyta  Seedless vascular plants  Largest group of plants other than flowering plants  Great diversity in form and habitat  Fronds (leaves) can vary

Ferns - Lifecycle  Dominant sporophyte produces windblown spores  Spores germinate - tiny green and independent gametophyte develops  Gametophyte is water dependent  Flagellated sperm produced within antheridia require outside sources of moisture to swim to the eggs in archegonia  Upon fertilization, zygote develops into the sporophyte

Ferns – Adaptations + Uses  Leaves of the sporophyte first appear as a fiddlehead, unrolls as it grows  Ferns can spread to drier areas with their rhizomes and produce fiddleheads (asexual) Uses  Decorative bouquets and ornamental plants  Building materials – resist decay  Some are eaten…but some are also carcinogenic

 Complete “Check Your Progress”  pg. 609 #1-3  Handouts  Whisk ferns and Horsetails  Fern diagram  Questions

Review  Dominant generation in vascular plants?  Why?  Fern versus Moss life cycle  Differences?  Similarities?  What are the three aspects of vascular plants?