Taxonomy: Bryophytes and Ferns Flashcards
1
Q
When did land plants start to appear?
A
400 million years ago
2
Q
What features help suggest that green algae and land plants came from the same ancestor?
A
Cartenoids, starch, cellulose, and cholorphyll a and b (photosynthetic pigments)
3
Q
What differs land plants from algae?
A
Presence of a cuticle, sexual organs with sterile cells, and multicellular embryos that stay within parental tissue
4
Q
Explain bryophytes
A
- seedless non-vascular plants
- around 23,000 species
- need external water to reproduce sexually
- gametophyte dominant
- no true xylem or phloem
- no roots ; water is absorbed through the surface
- some have tolerance to desiccation (Tortula ruralis)
5
Q
Bryophytes: explain peat moss
A
- acidify the water around them and slows down decomposition - large accumulation of C
- have anti-microbial properties
6
Q
Bryophytes: explain gemmae
A
Small discs of tissue growing into new gametophytes that aid in sexual reproduction
7
Q
Bryophytes: Marchantia
A
Considered a gametophyte with chlorenchyma cells
8
Q
Explain ferns
A
- seedless vascular plants
- sporophyte dominant
- contain rhizomes (underground stems)
9
Q
Ferns: Lycopodiums
A
- ground pine
- on forest floor
- mostly < 30 cm tall
- have true roots and stems
10
Q
Lycopodiums: Selaginella
A
Contain 2 types of spores
11
Q
Ferns: Horsetails
A
- scale-like leaves
- stems are able to photosynthesize
- sporangia are at the tip of the stem
- can sometimes be considered a weed
