NonNon-seed vascular Plants
Divisions
of nonnon-seed
vascular plants
Psilophyta – whisk ferns
Lycophyta - club mosses
Arthrophyta - horse tails
Pterophyta - ferns
Psilophyta – Whisk Ferns
•Thought to be the first of the
vascular plants
•Only vascular plants without
leaves or roots
•Found in tropical and subtropical climates
•Very little economic importance
– a few uses in Hawaii
Lycophyta – Club Mosses
Leafy
stems resemble moss
gametophyte
Reproductive
structure resembles a
club
All
have roots, stems, and small leaflike
structures
A
single vein of vascular tissue in each
leaf-like structure
NonNon-seed vascular plants
The sporophyte generation is
dominant
Antheridia - structure that produces
sperm
Archegonia – structure that produces
eggs
Arthrophyta - Horsetails
Only about 15 species
Contain
silica and were once used to
scour cooking utensils
Found
in marshes, shallow ponds,
stream banks and other damp soils
Stems
are ribbed, jointed and hollow
Spores
are produced at the tip of the
stems.
Pterophyta - Ferns
More
dominant than club mosses and
horsetails
Can
be found in many places
Some
species become dormant when
water is scarce, and resume growth
and reproduction when water is
available
Fern structures
Rhizome is a thick underground
stem.
Leaves are called fronds
Spores are produced in sporangia
(sorus, sori)
Ferns are the first vascular plants
to evolve leaves with branched
vascular tissue
Origins of nonnon-seed vascular plants
• Vascular plants could live on land and
grow much larger.
• First appeared during the Devonian
Period.
• Tree sized non-seed vascular plants
dominated during the Carboniferous
period – these plants (the lycophytes)
became today’s coal and oil deposits.