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Chapter 23
The Plant Kingdom: Seedless Vascular Plants
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Spore-forming vascular plants
The leaf evolved as the main organ of photosynthesis
Ferns
Ferns have a dominant sporophyte generation
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CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Summarize the features that distinguish seedless vascular plants from bryophytes.
2. Contrast microphylls and megaphylls.
3. Distinguish between the two phyla of seedless vascular plants.
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LECTURE OUTLINE
I. What characteristics separate the vascular plants from the bryophytes?
II. Describe the difference between microphyll and megaphyll.
III. What are the characteristics of ferns?
A. What is the dominant generation?
1. Apply the terms rhizome, root, frond, and fiddlehead to a fern sporophyte.
2. Where are the sporangia located? What are sori?
B. What are the characteristics of a fern gametophyte?
1. How big are they?
D. At what time in Earth’s past were horsetails a significant component of the land
vegetation?
1. Describe the features of horsetail stems.
2. In what organ does photosynthesis take place?
IV. What are lycophytes, and when were they a significant component of the vegetation?
A. When are the characteristics of club mosses?
1. Describe the basic structure of the sporophyte.
2. Where are sporangia borne?
3. Compare the club moss life cycle with the fern life cycle.
4. Describe the gametophyte of club mosses.
B. What are the characteristics of spike mosses.
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C. What kind of gametophytes do microspores produce? Megaspores?
VI. Describe the features of Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii that identify it as one of the oldest known
vascular plants.
VII. What is the ecological and economic importance of seedless vascular plants?
KEY TERMS
apical meristem, p. 461
club moss, p. 456
ligule, p. 458
megaphyll, p. 447
rhizome, p. 448
sorus, p. 449
TEACHING TIPS
1. Spore dispersal in ferns can be demonstrated as described for mosses in the previous
chapter.
4. Fern gametophytes can be grown for lab study if they are not readily available in your local
area or in the school greenhouse as volunteers. Obtain fern spores from native or
cultivated plants. Look for fronds with old sporangia at the base and young ones near the
tip. Young ones will appear greenish, ripe ones are usually golden brown (some species