kingdom plantae nonvascular and seedless vascular plants

Kingdom Plantae• Nonvascular and

Seedless Vascular Plants

Plants: General Features• Sporic

meiosis

• General Life Cycle.

Fig.37.3

Plants: Where from?• Green algae: One line of green algae

gave rise to all plants

Fig.32.12

Plants: Where from?• Green algae. One line of green algae

gave rise to all plants

• Plantae is monophyletic kingdom.

Fig.37.2

Kingdom Plantae• Today we focus on phyla grouped into:• Nonvascular plants

– Plants, but lack true (lignified) vascular tissue

• Seedless vascular plants– Plants that have true vascular tissue (phloem and xylem),

but reproduce only by spores (no seeds made)

• Note that all the plants discussed today make swimming sperm (they must swim through a film of water to reach an egg). Sexual reproduction requires moist conditions!

Kingdom Plantae• Nonvascular plants

– Phylum Bryophyta (mosses)– Phylum Hepaticophyta (liverworts)– Phylum Anthocerophyta (hornworts)

Moss

Liverwort

Hornwort

Nonvascular plants: general features• Lack true (lignified) vascular tissues

– Leaf: flat structure containing vascular tissue– So, mosses lack true leaves. Make “leaf”– Stems: requires vascular tissue too– So, mosses lack stems. Make “stem”.

Nonvascular plants: general features• Gametophyte dominant (photosynthetic)

– Most of life spent here!– Sporophyte partially dependent on gametophyte

during development.

Phylum Bryophyta (mosses)• Largest group of nonvascular plants (10,000

species)

• Gametophytes have “leaves” and “stems” (lack vascular tissue)

• Make multicellular rhizoids that anchor plant to ground (these NOT roots: lack vascular tissue, don’t absorb much water).

Phylum Bryophyta (mosses)

• Life cycle: the movie!

• Starring:– Breye O’Fyte as

the gametophyte

– Spoh Rangium as the capsule

QuickTime™ and aCinepak decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Gametophyte/sporophyte relations• So, vertical stalked

structures on gametophytes are the second generation in life cycle (sporophytes)

• Note sporophytes grow on and are at least partly dependent upon gametophyte

• “Deadbeat sporophytes”, unable to live independent lives.

Fig. 37.4

Moss importance• Can be important producers in some habitats• Economic importance: peat moss!.

Peat moss• Dried or partially decomposed gametophytes of

Sphagnum.

Sphagnum gametophytes

Peat moss• Sphagnum grows in wet areas called bogs (very

acid soil, water-logged, little decomposition).

Aerial (left) and ground (above)views of bogs

Peat moss• Dead Sphagnum builds up as peat

• Abundant: about 1 billion acres of peat bogs in world (northern hemisphere mostly)

• 1% of Earth’s land surface!.

Peat moss• Peat moss used as soil

amendment or potting mix (good water-holding capability)

• Harvesting peat is important industry in northern temperate zone (Canada, Denmark, Sweden, etc.)

• Industry worth many millions of dollars a year.

Harvesting peat moss

Step 2: drying top layer

Step1: Bogs are wet: must ditch them to drain them

Step 3: Vacuum upthe dried moss

Peat bogs as archeological sites• Bodies buried in bogs are often well-

preserved (“Bog people”).• Allow archeologists to study vanished

societies.

Grabaulle man (Denmark):Dated to around 300 AD

Tollund man (Denmark):Dated to around 0 AD

A Book aboutBog People

Wooden wheel from a bog dated 2700 BC

Phylum Hepaticophyta (liverworts)• Fairly large (6,000 species)

• Two groups:– 1) Leafy liverworts (look like mosses, but have

unicellular rhizoids). Most of these tropical, many are epiphytes (grow on other plants).

Leafy liverwort

Leafy liverworts on tropical treeleaf

Phylum Hepaticophyta (liverworts)• Two groups:

– 2) Thallose liverworts. Simple flattened bodies. Occur locally (emphasized in lab).

Thallose liverworts

Phylum Hepaticophyta (liverworts)• Thallose liverwort life cycle: similar to moss, in that

gametophyte is major phase• Sporophyte smaller and dependent on gametophyte.

Phylum Hepaticophyta (liverworts)• But two small differences from

moss:– antheridia on stalked structure

called antheridiophore– archegonia on stalked structure

called archegoniophore.

Phylum Hepaticophyta (liverworts)• Note that asexual production

can also occur via gemmae (made in gemma cups)

• When splashed out by rain drop, can grow by mitosis to new gametophyte.

Low powerview

Close-up of gemmae in cup

Phylum Anthocerophyta (hornworts)• Small group (100 species)• Gametophytes look like thallose liverworts, but

sporophytes larger, photosynthetic, and less dependent on gametophyte

• Green vertical structures below are sporophytes growing out of gametophytes.

Kingdom Plantae• Seedless vascular plants

– Phylum Psilophyta (whisk ferns)– Phylum Lycophyta (club mosses)– Phylum Sphenophyta (horsetails)– Phylum Pterophyta (ferns)– Several other phyla that are now extinct (but

had glorious fossil past)

Seedless Vascular Plants (SVPs)• General features:• Sporophyte is dominant generation and can

grow independent of gametophyte (no more “deadbeat sporophytes”!)

• Gametophytes small, reduced• As with nonvascular plants, SVP

gametophytes can grow independent of sporophyte.

Seedless Vascular Plants (SVPs)• General features:

• Have cuticle, stomata

• Have vascular tissue (phloem and xylem)

• Thus, can make true leaves, stems, and roots.

Seedless Vascular Plants (SVPs)• 2 kinds of leaves

– 1) microphyll: an epidermal outgrowth supplied by a vein of vascular tissue

– 2) megaphyll: a reduced branch system that has become flattened with photosynthetic tissue between branches.

Evolution of microphyll(simple leaf)

Evolution of megaphyll(complex leaf)

Phylum Psilophyta (whisk ferns)• Small group (about 6 species)• In lab, will see Psilotum• Simple sporophyte bodies: just

stems. No leaves or roots• Stems with dichotomous

branching (evenly split into two smaller stems).

Psilotum branchesdichotomously (lumpsare sporangia)

Psilotumgrowing in crack of rock

Phylum Psilophyta (whisk ferns)• Sporangia on aerial stems• Underground stems called

rhizomes: have filamentous rhizoids.

Closed (top) and split (bottom) sporangia on stem

Phylum Lycophyta (club mosses)• Second largest SVP group (1,100 species)

• Sporophytes with true leaves (microphylls), roots, stems.

Lycopodium

Isoetes

Selaginella

Phylum Lycophyta (club mosses)• Sporangia produced on

leaves called sporophylls• Sometimes sporophylls

clustered into a group called strobilus.

Phylum Lycophyta (club mosses)• Interesting genera:

– Lycopodium– Some native to

pitcher plant bogs in Southeast U.S.

Pitcher plant bog

Lycopodium in bog


– Selaginella– One desert species called

resurrection plant– Rolls into ball as it dries,

when moistened unfurls and can grow again.

Resurrection plant,Selaginella lepidophylla


– Isoetes– Small genus. Some

southeastern species are endangered

– Grow in pools of water on granite outcrops (like Stone Mtn GA).


– Granite outcrops as scattered habitat “islands”

– Two Isoetes species found only in granite outcrop pools, vulnerable to human disturbance.

Isoetesmelanospora, anendangeredspecies

Phylum Sphenophyta (horsetailsand scouring rushes)

• Small group: 1 genus (Equisetum) with 15 species

• Make true stem (hollow), roots, leaves (small, may be reduced megaphylls) on sporophyte.


• Gametophytes small (several mm long), green, independent of sporophyte.


• Horsetails with whorls of side branches

• Scouring rushes lack side branches.

HorsetailScouring rush

Phylum Sphenophyta• Sporangia on underside of stalked structures called

sporangiophores

• Clustered in strobilus at stem tip.

Phylum Pterophyta (ferns)• Largest SVP group (11,000 species)

• Mainly tropical, but many in temperate zone

• Make true leaves (megaphylls), stems, roots on sporophyte

• Gametophytes small, delicate, independent of sporophyte.

Fern gametophytes

Phylum Pterophyta (ferns)• Sporangia often on underside of leaves

• If in patch, patch called sorus (plural: sori)

• Some patches covered with tissue (indusium).

Each sorus here covered by indusium

These sori are uncovered (naked)

Phylum Pterophyta (ferns)• Closeup of sorus with indusium (rounded

structures are sporangia).

Phylum Pterophyta (ferns)• Life Cycle Movie:

QuickTime™ and aCinepak decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Phylum Pterophyta (ferns)• Fern Importance:

– Ornamental plants (indoor and outdoor).

Frilly boston fern

Birdnest fern

Maidenhair fern

Lady fern


– Primary producers (important part of biomass of some habitats).

Fern forest in Tasmania, Australia


– Some are invasive exotics (non-natives that become weeds): example, Japanese climbing fern in SE U.S.

– Like kudzu, climbs on and shades other plants.

Extinct SVPs and Their Importance Today• Dominated land during Carboniferous

Period (354-290 million years ago)– Coal swamps full of extinct plants– Reconstructions below based on fossils

from coal.

Fossil Seedless Vascular Plants (SVPs)

• Coal is incompletely decomposed carbon from ancient plants (burns!).

Fossil SVPs• Coal:

– Vital source of energy today!.

Coal seamin westernU.S. desert

Fossil SVPs• Coal:– Vital source of energy today! (“Fossil fuel”)– >50% of U.S. electricity.

Mining coal for power

Fossil SVPs• Most important economically of all

Nonvascular Plants and SVPs– Vital source of energy today!

Setting the stage for pollen/seeds• Land plants have

specialized gametes (egg, sperm). Sperm must swim in water to reach egg.

• Land plants have specialized gametangia (antheridia and archegonia).

Setting the stage for pollen/seeds• Most of plants

discussed so far do not have specialized gametophytes

• They are homosporous plants: make one kind of meiospore.

Setting the stage for pollen/seeds• Heterosporous plants: make 2 types of

meiospores. – One becomes male gametophyte and makes sperm– One becomes female gametophyte and makes eggs

• Thus, make specialized spores and specialized gametophytes.

kingdom plantae nonvascular and seedless vascular plants

Documents

nonvascular plants plants

peat moss peat moss

dried moss slide

plants plantae

capsule slide

peat moss sphagnum

lack vascular tissue

peat moss dead sphagnum