Seedless Vascular
Plants
Plants with a vascular system
but no seeds
Seedless Vascular Plants




Phylum Pterophyta
Phylum Lycophyta
Phylum Sphenophyta
Phylum Psilophyta
Phylum Pterophyta
Ferns
 11,000 species
 habitat = wetlands,
especially in tropics
 dominant generation is
the sporophyte plant
Phylum Pterophyta
Ferns
Structures
 vascular system =xylem and phloem
 tracheids (water conducting cells)
reinforced therefore can grow taller than
non-vascular plants
 roots, stems (rhizomes)
 leaves (fronds)
 fiddleheads= coiled baby fronds
Phylum Pterophyta
Ferns
Reproduction
 Alternation of generations
 Dependent on water for sperm to swim to egg
 use spores to reproduce
 reproductive spores in sporangia, on
undersides of fronds
 Clusters of sporangia = sori (singular = sorus)
Fern Life Cycle
gametophyte
 gametophytes are
small, flat and
independent
(bearded heart)
 gametophyte dies as
sporophyte grows
sporophyte
Fern Reproduction
frond underside with
sori
sporangium
fiddlehead
Phylum Pterophyta
Ferns
Examples:
 leather leaf
 Maidenhair
leatherleaf
Boston
fern
maidenhair
Phylum Pterophyta
Ferns
Phylum Pterophyta
Ferns
Phylum Lycophyta
Club mosses
 have vascular tissue
 roots, stems and leaves
 leafy green stems
branch from
underground rhizome
(stem)
Phylum Lycophyta
Club mosses
Habitat
wetlands
Example : Lycophyta
Dominant generation
sporophyte
★Ancient species
(now extinct) very
successful during
dinosaur days
Phylum Lycophyta
Club mosses
Lepidodendron was a giant
tree-like club moss. It towered
to 45 m in height and flourished
in the swamp forests of the
Carboniferous.
Phylum Lycophyta
Club mosses
Reproduction
 alternation of
generations
 use spores (no
seeds)
 spores develop in
sporangia on
specialized leaves of
sporophyte in cones
(clubs)
Club moss
reproductive
structures
Phylum Sphenophyta
Horsetails / snakegrass
 have vascular tissue =
roots (rhizomes),
leaves, jointed stems
 seedless
 habitat = wetlands
especially common
along
stream banks
Phylum Sphenophyta
Horsetails / snakegrass
 alternation of generations
 spores form in
cones at tips of stems
Phylum Sphenophyta
Horsetails / snakegrass
Example = Equisetum
Phylum Sphenophyta
Horsetails / snakegrass
Dominant generation=
sporophyte
Use
During Colonial & Frontier
times, used to scour, or
scrub, pots and pans.
Nature”s own Brillo Pad.
Phylum Psilophyta
Whisk ferns
•seedless
•habitat= wetlands
•most closely resemble
earliest vascular plants
•vascular tissue= have
branched stems and roots
(no leaves)
Phylum Psilophyta
Whisk ferns
Interesting fact
among the
earliest known
vascular
plants found in
fossil record,
and are the
simplest living
vascular
plants
Cooksonia
Phylum Psilophyta
Whisk ferns
Reproduction
 spores form in sporangia at
tips of short branches
Hawaiians often collect the spores and
Use
use them as talcum powder
Phylum Psilophyta
Whisk ferns
Example:
Psilotum