Bryophytes (Non-vascular Plants)

• Include mosses, liverworts, and hornworts.
• Lack true vascular tissues (xylem and phloem).
• Small in size and typically found in moist environments.
• Dominant gametophyte generation (the main plant body is haploid).
• Water is essential for fertilization (motile sperm).
• Examples: Funaria (moss), Marchantia (liverwort).

Pteridophytes (Vascular Seedless Plants)

• Include ferns, horsetails, and whisk ferns.
• Possess true vascular tissues (xylem and phloem).
• Have true roots, stems, and leaves.
• Dominant sporophyte generation (the main plant body is diploid).
• Reproduce via spores produced in sporangia.
• Water is still required for fertilization.
• Examples: Dryopteris (fern), Equisetum (horsetail).

Gymnosperms (Vascular Seed Plants - Naked Seeds)

• Include conifers (pines, firs, spruces), cycads, ginkgoes, and gnetophytes.
• Possess well-developed vascular tissues.
• Produce seeds that are not enclosed within a fruit ("naked seeds").
• Pollination occurs directly by wind (anemophily).
• Dominant sporophyte generation.
• Examples: Pinus (pine), Cycas.

Angiosperms (Vascular Seed Plants - Flowering Plants)

• The most diverse and dominant group of plants.
• Possess well-developed vascular tissues.
• Produce flowers, which are the reproductive structures.
• Seeds are enclosed within fruits, which develop from the ovary.
• Double fertilization is a unique characteristic (one sperm fertilizes the egg to form the zygote, and another sperm fuses with the polar nuclei in the central cell to form the endosperm - food supply for seed).
• Pollination can occur by wind, water, insects, birds, and other animals.
• Dominant sporophyte generation.
• Performs alternation of generations - featuring a diploid sporophyte generation and haploid gametophyte generation - alternating between the two generations in a cyclical manner.
• Divided into two main classes:
• Dicotyledonae (Dicots): Two cotyledons (seed leaves), net-like venation in leaves, taproot system, floral parts usually in multiples of four or five. Examples: Hibiscus, Mango, Bean.
• Monocotyledonae (Monocots): One cotyledon, parallel venation in leaves, fibrous root system, floral parts usually in multiples of three. Examples: Rice, Wheat, Maize, Lily.l.

Important Terms to Know:

• Vascular tissue: Xylem (transports water and minerals) and phloem (transports food).
• Spores: Haploid reproductive cells that can develop into a new organism without fertilization.
• Seeds: Mature ovules containing an embryo and stored food, enclosed by a protective coat.
• Fruit: Mature ovary containing seeds.
• Cotyledon: An embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first leaves to appear from a germinating seed.
• Pollination: Transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma.
• Fertilization: Fusion of the male and female gametes.
• Gametophyte: Haploid generation in the plant life cycle that produces gametes.
• Sporophyte: Diploid generation in the plant life cycle that produces spores.
• Alternation of Generations: The life cycle of plants that involves both haploid and diploid multicellular stages.

Written by Kasiban Parthipan