Seedless Plants

Nonvascular Seedless Plants Mosses, liverworts, hornworts Grow on soil, bark of trees, rocks Usually live in places that are damp Are very small Each cell of the plant must get water from the environment Some have a rhizoid, a rootlike structure that helps the plant hold itself in place

Life Cycle of Nonvascular Seedless Plants Sporophytes release spores into air Spores grow into male and female gametophytes Sperm from male plants swim through water and fertilize eggs in female plant Fertilized eggs grow into sporophytes Water is necessary in the lifecycle of this type of plant

Seedless Vascular Plants Ferns, horsetails, club mosses These plants have vascular tissues that specialize in moving nutrients around the plant Some of these plants have a rhizome, an underground stem from which new leaves and roots grow

Life cycle of seedless vascular plants Sporophytes release spores into air Spores grow into male and female gametophytes Sperm from male plants swims through water to fertilize eggs Eggs grow into sporophyte Water is necessary in the lifecycle of this type of plant

Seed Plants The two groups of vascular seed plants are the gymnosperms and the angiosperms Gymnosperms do not have flowers or fruit Angiosperms have flowers and seeds that are protected by fruit

Characteristics of Seed Plants Produce seeds. Seeds nourish and protect young sporophytes Gametophytes and sporophytes do not live independently of each other. Gametophytes from within the reproductive structures of the sporophyte Sperm from seed plants is protected and forms inside pollen. Pollen can be carried by animals or the wind Seed plants can live just about anywhere and are the most common plants on Earth today

Structure of Seeds Seeds form after fertilization Seed has three parts, sporophyte, stored food or cotyledons, seed coat that surrounds and protects young plant

Gymnosperms Life Cycle Evergreens or cone bearing plants and trees Seed contains a young sporophyte which grows into an adult sporophyte Spores are produced and they grow into gametophytes Females gametophytes produced eggs and male gametophytes produce sperm in pollen Wind or insects carry pollen to eggs. Fertilized egg develop into a seed that contains a sporophyte

Angiosperms Vascular flowering plants that produce flowers and fruit Angiosperms use flowers and fruit to attract insects and animals to help spread pollen to eggs