Plants Without Seeds

1. Plants Without Seeds Chapter 8 Section 2

2. Nonvascular Plants • Three major groups of nonvascular plants • Mosses • Liverworts • Hornworts

3. 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

4. Mosses 10,000 species • Green, fuzzy moss is the gametophyte generation of the plant • Rhizods: 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

5. A moss Plant

6. Liverworts 8,000 species • Often found growing as a thick crust on moist rocks or soil along the sides of a stream

7. Hornworts • Fewer than 100 species • Live in moist soil, often mixed in with grass plants

8. 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 spermto swim to the eggs

9. 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

11. 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

12. Club Mosses • Seedless, vascular plant • Not to be confused with moss • Grow in moist woodlands and near streams