PLANT DIVERSITY AND LIFE CYCLES
Embryophytes Bryophytes
Tracheophyt
es
Spermatophy
tes
Changes with increased adaption to terrestrial
conditions:
Characteristic expansion and diversification of the sporophyte generation
Diminution of the gametophyte generation
ROLE REVERSAL between BRYOPHYTES and the TRACHEOPHYTES:
Evolutionary trend
, Sporophyte
Moss Life Cycle (Bryophyte) – Homosporous (have one type of
dependent
sporangium that produces one type of spore)
On gametophyte
Unlike vascular plants, in all 3 bryophyte phyla the haploid gametophytes are the dominant
stage of the life cycle: they are usually larger and longer-living than the sporophytes.
When bryophyte spores are dispersed, they may germinate and grow into gametophytes.
Germinating moss spores characteristically produce a mass of green, branched one-cell-thick
Embryophytes Bryophytes
Tracheophyt
es
Spermatophy
tes
Changes with increased adaption to terrestrial
conditions:
Characteristic expansion and diversification of the sporophyte generation
Diminution of the gametophyte generation
ROLE REVERSAL between BRYOPHYTES and the TRACHEOPHYTES:
Evolutionary trend
, Sporophyte
Moss Life Cycle (Bryophyte) – Homosporous (have one type of
dependent
sporangium that produces one type of spore)
On gametophyte
Unlike vascular plants, in all 3 bryophyte phyla the haploid gametophytes are the dominant
stage of the life cycle: they are usually larger and longer-living than the sporophytes.
When bryophyte spores are dispersed, they may germinate and grow into gametophytes.
Germinating moss spores characteristically produce a mass of green, branched one-cell-thick
