PLANTS WITHOUT
SEEDS
CHAPTER 8 SECTION 2
NONVASCULAR PLANTS
• Three major groups of nonvascular plants
• Mosses
• Liverworts
• Hornworts
CHARACTERISTICS OF
NONVASCULAR PLANTS
• Low-growing
• Live in moist environments
• Absorb water and other nutrients directly
• Watery surroundings enable sperm cells to swim to
egg cells
MOSSES
10,000 species
• Green, fuzzy moss is the gametophyte generation of
the plant
• Rhizoids: thin, rootlike structures that anchor the
moss and absorb water and nutrients from the soil
• The sporophyte generation grows out of the
gametophyte
• The sporophyte consists of a slender stalk with a capsule at
the end
• The capsule contains spores
A MOSS PLANT
LIVERWORTS
8,000 species
• Often found growing as a thick crust on moist rocks
or soil along the sides of a stream
HORNWORTS
• Fewer than 100 species
• Live in moist soil, often mixed in with grass plants
SEEDLESS VASCULAR PLANTS
• Characteristics
• Ferns, club mosses and horsetails have true vascular tissue
• Do not produce seeds, these plants reproduce by releasing
spores
• Can grow tall because vascular tissues effectively transport
materials
• Provide strength and stability
• Grow in moist environments
• There must be enough water for the
sperm to swim to the eggs
FERNS
• Stems of most ferns grow
underground
• Fronds
• Fern leaves, divided into many
smaller parts that look like small
leaves
• The cuticle is found on the
upper surface of each frond,
helps retain plant water
• Tiny spore cases are found on
the underside of the fronds
HORSETAILS
• Seedless, vascular plant
• Stems are jointed
• Long, coarse, needle-like
branches
• Resemble a horse’s tail
• Silica
• Stem contains a gritty
substance also found in
sand
CLUB MOSSES
• Seedless, vascular plant
• Not to be confused with moss
• Grow in moist woodlands and near streams