Plantae-Vascular Ferns and Cycads The One And Only: Brandon “Bubba” Stebbins

Vascular Plants Vascular plants, known as tracheophytes or higher plants, have special tissues for transferring water This includes Whisk Ferns, Club Mosses, Ferns, Horsetails, Cycads, Ginkgos, and more. Horsetails, club mosses, ginkgos

Vascular Plants Cont. Vascular plants have three systems Root System Absorb water and minerals from the soil Shoot System The stems and leaves Vascular System Transfers water and photosynthetic products in the plant

CYCADS

Cycads Often confused with ferns or palms Central Trunk with leaves on top and no side branches Stout trunk Rows of leaflets on both sides Flat leaves Grow mainly around the equator Also warm and wet areas

Where Do Babies Come From The Cycad has a cone (similar to a large pine cone) located in the middle of the plant All species of cycads are dioecious Male= Androstrobilus Female= Gynostrobilus The male produces pollen grains and are carried to the female When the grains land they produce a pollen tube that connects deep into the females cone Dioecious-male and female reproductive structures are born on separate plants. Carried by wind or insects

Where Do Babies Come From (Cont.) The grains release sperm Meets the females egg and fertilizes it Produces a seed Delicious Birds eat them Zygote turns into embryo which turns into a seed

Cycads-A.K.A. The Living Fossils More common in the Triassic and Jurassic periods About 245 to 140 million years ago Flowering plants took over

Relatives? The closest living relatives are evergreen coniferous Pine, Spruces, and Firs Pine, spruces, firs

FERNS

Ferns Over 10,000 species Most are found in tropics Tree ferns may grow as high as 40 feet In some regions rhizomes grow underground Fronds grow up from the rhizome each spring Tree ferns have above ground stems, rhizomes-stems of ferns, fronds-the leaves

I Want One! Many ferns grow in the Midwest region Grow in rich-nutrient soil Grow in shady areas Found in the undergrowth of forests

Where Do Babies Come From Again (Stage 1) The first stage is gametophyte Spores are produced underneath a leaf of a maturing plant They germinate and grow into a heart-shaped plant called gametophyte It will then produce sperm and eggs and fertilize itself Once the fertilization occurs, the adult fern starts growing

Where Do Babies Come From Again (Stage 2) The second stage is the adult stage The adolescent starts looking like a mossy growth Young fronds start to appear If the fronds get to much sunlight the plant could die Once the fronds get larger the plant has a better chance for survival The fern will grow large and mature then grow spores and start the cycle again

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