Seedless Reproduction
-Compare and contrast the fundamental features of sexual
and asexual reproduction.
-Classify methods of reproduction as sexual or asexual.
SEEDLESS
REPRODUCTION
 http://www.brainpop.com/science/diversityoflife
/seedlessplants/
Vascular v. Nonvascular
Vascular
Nonvascular
Vascular v. Nonvascular
Vascular
Nonvascular
 Has roots
 No roots
 Has stems
 No stems
 Has leaves
 No leaves
 Has vascular bundles that
can transport water
 No vascular bundles, which
means not able to transport
water
 Larger in side
 Smaller in size
 Is better able to store water
in cells
 Must live in damp
conditions
SPORES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xF83pHEx6Q
The Importance of Spores
 If you want to grow ferns and moss plants, you
can’t buy seeds. They don’t produce seeds.
 You can grow them from _____.
 The ______ stage of these plants produces haploid
spores in structures called spore cases.
 When the spore case breaks open, the spores are
released and spread by wind and water.
 The spores can grow in plants that will produce sex
cells.
Seedless Plants
 Seedless plants include ALL nonvascular plants and
SOME vascular plants.
 Nonvascular plants do not have structures that
transport water and substances throughout the
plant. Instead, water and substances simply move
from cell to cell.
 Vascular plants have tubelike cells that transport
water and substances throughout the plant.
Moss
Nonvascular
Seedless Plants
Mosses, liverworts, and
hornworts are all nonvascular
plants.
The sporophyte stage of most
nonvascular plants is so small
it can be easily overlooked.
Moss plants have a life cycle
typical of how sexual
reproduction occurs in this
plant group.
The Moss Life Cycle
 Mosses that are green and low-growing masses are in the
gametophyte stage. This stage produces the sex cells.
 Mosses that are brownnish stalks growing from the tip of the
gametophyte plants are in the sporophyte stage. This stage
does not carry out photosynthesis.
 It relies on the gametophyte for nutrients and water.
 On the tip of the stalk is a tiny capsule.
 Inside the capsule is millions of spores that have been
produced.
 If conditions are right, the capsule opens. The spores either fall
to the ground or are blown away by the wind.
 New moss gametophytes can grown from each spore and the
cycle begins again.
Nonvascular Plants and
Asexual Reproduction
 Nonvascular plants also can reproduce asexually.
 If a piece of moss gametophyte breaks off, it can
grow into a new plant.
 Liverworts can form small balls of cells on the
surface of the gametophyte plant.
 These are carried away by water and grow into new
gametophyte plants if they settle in a damp
environment.
Vascular Seedless Plants
 Most vascular seedless plants are ferns.
 Horsetails and club mosses are also included in this
group.
 All of these plants have avascular tissue or transport
water from their roots to the rest of the plant.
 Unlike the nonvascular plants, the gametophyte of
vascular seedless plants is the part that is small and
often overlooked.
The Fern Life Cycle
• Fern leaves are called _____.
• They grow from an underground stem called a
_____.
• Roots that anchor the plant and absorb water and
nutrients also grow from the rhizome.
• Fern sporophytes make their own food by
photosynthesis.
• Fern spores are produced in structures called
____.
The Fern Life Cycle
 If a fern spore lands on damp soil or rocks, in can grow into a
small, green, heartshaped gametophyte plant called a ____.
 This contains chlorophyll and can make its own food.
 It absorbs water and nutrients from the solid.
 Ferns may reproduce asexually, also. Fern rhizomes grow
and form branches.
 New fronds and roots develop from each branch.
 The new rhizome branch can be separated from the main
plant.
 It can grow on its own and form more fern plants.