1. Seedless Plant Reproduction
Chapter 7: Section 2

2. Seedless Plants How do seedless plants reproduce?
Include all nonvascular plants and some vascular plants
Vascular vs. nonvascular
Nonvascular plants do not have structures that transport substances through the plant
Substances move from cell to cell
Vascular plants have tube-like cells that transport water & substances throughout the plant

3. Nonvascular Plants

4. Importance of Spores
If you want to grow plants (mosses or ferns) that reproduce by spores, can you buy a packet of seeds?
These plants do not reproduce by seeds
Mosses and ferns contain parts called spore cases
Spore cases contain spores; when they break open spores are released – how are they spread?

5. Nonvascular Seedless Plants
Mosses are an example of nonvascular plants
Sporophyte stage of these plants is small and is easily overlooked
Mosses are green, low-growing masses of plants
This is the gametophyte stage (which produces sex cells)

6. Nonvascular Seedless Plants
If you were to look closely at the moss, you might see brown stalks growing up from the tip of the plant
This is the Sporophyte stage
Brown capsules are on tips of plants
Contain millions of spores
When conditions are right, capsule opens and spores fall to ground or are carried by wind
New mosses can grow from each spore & cycle begins again
Figure 6: page 209

7. Nonvascular Plants Nonvascular plants can also reproduce asexually
If a piece of moss gametophyte breaks off, it can grow into a new plant
Liverworts: form small balls of cells on surface of gametophyte plant; then carried away by water and grow into a new gametophyte plant if they settle in the right environment

8. Vascular Seedless Plants
Millions of years ago most plants were vascular seedless plants
Most are ferns but others include horsetails and club mosses
All of these plants have structures to transport water and nutrients in the plant
The gametophyte stage is small and often over-looked

9. Ferns Fern plants seen in nature and houses are fern sporophyte plants
Fern leaves are called fronds
Fronds grow from underground stem called rhizomes
Roots that anchor plant also grow from rhizomes
Fern sporophytes make food by photosynthesis

10. Ferns
Fern spores produced in structures called sori (sorus) usually on underside of fronds
Sori look like crusty, rust-brown bumps
If a fern spore lands on damp soil it can grow into a small, green, heart-shaped gametophyte called a prothallus
Very hard to see because they are very small (5mm-6mm)
Prothallus contains chlorophyll

11. Ferns Ferns can reproduce asexually, also
Fern rhizomes grow and form branches
New fronds and roots develop from each branch
The new rhizome branch can be separated from the main plant
It can then grow on its own and form more fern plants

12. Section 2: Summary Seedless plants reproduce by forming _______.
Seedless plants include all nonvascular plants and some vascular plants.
Spores are produced by the sporophyte stage and can grow into gametophyte plants
The sporophyte ________ photosynthesize.
Fern sporophytes have green fronds that grow from underground rhizomes.

13. Review Questions Describe the life cycle of mosses.
Explain the stages of the life cycle of a fern.
Compare and contrast the gametophyte plant of a moss and the gametophyte plant of a fern.
Describe asexual reproduction in seedless plants.
Why do some seedless plants reproduce only asexually during dry times of the year?