What is a pteridophyte?
A pteridophyte is a vascular plant with xylem and phloem that reproduces by spores rather than flowers or seeds. Ferns, horsetails, and lycophytes such as clubmosses, spikemosses, and quillworts are all pteridophytes.
Questions about Pteridophyte
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why are pteridophytes called cryptogams?
Pteridophytes are sometimes called cryptogams because the word means that their means of reproduction is hidden. They produce neither flowers nor seeds, reproducing instead by spores.
Are pteridophytes a monophyletic group?
No, pteridophytes do not form a monophyletic group and instead constitute a paraphyletic grade. Ferns and horsetails are more closely related to seed plants than to lycophytes, so Pteridophyta is no longer a widely accepted taxon.
How does the pteridophyte life cycle work?
The pteridophyte life cycle involves alternation of generations between a diploid sporophyte that produces spores and a haploid gametophyte, or prothallus, that produces gametes. Both generations are independent and free-living, unlike in seed plants.
How many species of ferns and lycophytes are there?
Christenhusz and Chase in 2014 counted about 10,535 fern species across about 212 genera and roughly 1,300 lycopod species across 5 genera. Ferns account for nearly 90% of living pteridophyte diversity.
Where does the name pteridophyte come from?
The name pteridophyte is a Neo-Latin compound created by English speakers around 1880. It joins the prefix pterido-, meaning fern and derived from the Greek pterón for feather, with the suffix -phyte, meaning plant from the Greek phyton.
What is the PPG I classification of pteridophytes?
PPG I, put forward by the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group in 2016, divides living pteridophytes into the class Lycopodiopsida with three extant orders and the class Polypodiopsida, the ferns, with 11 extant orders. Its largest fern order, Polypodiales, includes 26 extant families.