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The Seedless Vascular Plants II: The Ferns

(Note: this is a long lab, so work efficiently -- about 10 minutes max. per drawing)
Division Pterophyta: Ferns
Genera: Adiantum, Cyrtomium, Polypodium, Asplenium, Pteridium,
Botrichium, Ophioglossum, Azolla, Salvinia, Marsilea
Key features of the division:
Heteromorphic alternation-of-generations life cycle, sporophyte dominant.
Have true xylem and phloem, so have true vascularized stems
Have true roots and true leaves (megaphylls)
Chlorophyll a, b, carotenoids, starch, cellulose, phragmoplast, oogamy,
multicellular gametangia
Reproduction and growth less dependent upon water than Bryophytes
Primitive groups (Botrychium, Ophioglossum) are eusporangiate, advanced
groups are leptosporangiate.
Most homosporous, except for heterosporous water ferns (Marselia, Salvinia)
Key Features and Terms (prepare a labeled drawing for each numbered item):
Eusporangiate ferns (homosporous)
Botrychium (Grape or Red Fern) living specimen
1) Vascularized sporophyte with one or a few megaphyllous leaves.
Eusporangia in specialized fertile frond.
Leptosporangiate ferns (homosporous):
Most terrestrial ferns (many examples, including Adiantum, Cyrtomium,
Polypodium, Asplenium, Pteridium) living specimens and herbarium specimens
1) Vascularized sporophyte with megaphyllous leaves, sori (with or without
indusia) containing groups of sporangia, rhizomes (subterranean stems) bearing roots.
Living specimen.
2) Leptosporangium with stalk, annulus, and lip cells, bearing (meio)spores
(haploid) which were produced by meiosis. Spores dispersed by wind. Slide.
3) Rhizome cross section showing siphonostele with leaf gaps, epidermis,
cortex, endodermis, vascular cylinder, pericycle, phloem (sieve elements and
albuminous cells), xylem (tracheids), and pith. Slide.
4) Heart-shaped bisexual gametophyte (haploid) bearing both antheridia
(sperm) and archegonia (egg). May be fertilized, thus bearing a young sporophyte.
Slide.
Water ferns (heterosporous) photos in text book
1) Marsilea rhizomes, aquatic, cloverlike leaves, sporocarps (bean-like
resistant 2n structures), germinate in water to form chains of sori, each sorus contains
rows of microsporangia and megasporangia

2) Azolla float on surface, micro- and mega-sporangia in sporocarp, leaf


pouch contains cyanobacteria (nitrogenfixing)
3) Salvinia float on surface, micro- and mega-sporangia in sporocarp, two
leaves green and photosynthetic, one fertile leaf (sporocarp) dissected and bearing
sporangia, hangs down into the water.

The Gymnosperms:
Division Cycadophyta
Genus: Zamia (Sago-Palm)
Division Ginkgophyta:
Genus Ginkgo (Ginkgo Tree)
Division Coniferophyta:
Genera: Pines (Pinus), firs (Abies), spruce (Picea), hemlocks (Tsuga), Douglas
firs (Pseudotsuga), bald cypresses (Taxodium, Sequoia, Sequoiadendron,
Metasequoia), cypresses (Cupressus), yews (Taxus), junipers (Juniperus), and
Norfolk Island pine and MonkeyPuzzle (Araucaria).
Division Gnetophyta
Genera Gnetum, Ephedra, Welwitschia
Key features of the group:
Heteromorphic alternation-of-generations life cycle, sporophyte dominant.
Have true xylem and phloem, so have true vascularized stems
Have woody or semi-woody growth.
Produce sporangia in cones (strobili or modified branch complexes)
Heterosporous.
Have true roots and true leaves (megaphylls)
Chlorophyll a, b, carotenoids, starch, cellulose, phragmoplast, oogamy,
multicellular gametangia
Polyembryony female (megagametophyte) produces several archegonia.
Several eggs may be fertilized and several embryos may begin development.
Microgametophytes (pollen) transport sperm to eggs. When contacting the
megagametophyte, the microgametophyte germinates to produce a pollen tube.
Sperm move down pollen tube, and are flagellated only in cycads and Ginkgo.
Reproduction and growth less dependent on water than Seedless Vasc. Plants
Most advanced group is the Gnetophytes, which share characteristics with
the Angiosperms: strobili similar to angiosperm flowers, doublefertilization, xylem
structure similar, insect pollination common.
Key Features and Terms (prepare a labeled drawing for each numbered item):
Cycadophyta: Zamia (Sago-Palm)
1) Sporophyte with palmlike leaves, pollen and ovules in conelike strobili,
dioecious, scant secondary growth. Living specimens.
Ginkgophyta: Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo Tree)
2) Woody sporophyte with fanshaped leaves, deciduous, dioecious, paired
ovules at branch tips, ovules may not be fertilized by microgametophyte until after
dispersal, fleshy seeds. Herbarium specimen and photos in text book.

Gnetophyta - photos in text book


1) Gnetum - sporophytes are tropical trees and vines with large leaves
2) Ephedra (Mormon Tea, Ma Huang) sporophytes are profusely branched
shrubs with reduced scalelike leaves, jointed stems like Equisetum, arid areas
(ephedrine)
3) Welwitschia - sporophyte with massive central disk, two huge longlived
straplike leaves, desert plants, conebearing branches at margin of central disk.
Coniferophyta: Pinus (Pines)
1) Sporophyte with needlelike leaves bundled into small groups (fascicles).
Leaves with central vein (two vascular bundles), endodermis, transfusion tissue,
mesophyll, hypodermis, epidermis, stoma and resin ducts. Slide.
2) Microsporangia and megasporangia in separate strobili on same tree
(monoecious).
i) Microsporangium Produce microspores which develop into winged pollen
grain (2 prothallial cells, generative cell and tube cell). Tube cell forms a pollen tube
after pollination, while generative cell forms two sperm cells. Slide.
ii) Megasporangium within seed/scale complexes, ovuliferous or fertile
scales each with two ovules and subtending sterile bracts. Ovules have multicellular
nucellus surrounded by an integument with a micropyle. Meiosis produces 4
megaspores, 3 of which die. Slide.
4) Megaspore grows to form the megagametophyte within nucellus, but is not
ready for fertilization until 12 months after pollination. Polyembryony may result if
multiple archegonia are present. Diagram in text book.
5) Seed 3layered seed coat (2N protective maternal sporophyte [nucellus +
integuments] tissue), embryo (2N offspring or new sporophyte tissue), remaining
megagametophyte tissue (1N nutrient source). Generally wind dispersal. Some dispersed
by fire (explosive) or animals (Clark's Nutcrackers, for example). Slide.
6) Embryo hypocotylroot axis, root cap, apical meristems at both ends,
multiple cotyledons (seed leaves). Living specimen or diagram in text book.

Review Questions (for Lab Report)


1) Compare the key characteristics of the Ferns with those of the Gymnosperms.
2) What extinct groups seem to link the seedless vascular plants to the
gymnosperms, and what evidence supports this hypothesis?
3) Describe the two pathways to polyembryony in gymnosperms.
4) How can you tell that pine needles are megaphylls?
5) Which of the gymnosperm groups has flagellated sperm? What might that tell
you about their relative state of advancement?

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