Features of Seedless plants

Plants had evolved vascular tissue, well-defined leaves, and root systems by the Late Devonian period (385 million years ago). Plants grew in height and size as a result of these advantages. During the Carboniferous period (359–299 million years ago), swamp forests of club mosses and horsetails covered most of the land, with some specimens reaching more than 30 metres in height. These forests gave rise to the vast coal deposits that gave rise to the Carboniferous period’s name. The sporophyte became the dominant phase of the life cycle in seedless vascular plants.

Water is still required for seedless vascular plant fertilisation, and most prefer a moist environment. Club mosses, horsetails, ferns, and whisk ferns are examples of modern seedless vascular plants.

What are seedless plants?

The terrestrial landscape is teeming with a dizzying array of seedless plants. Mosses can grow on tree trunks, and horsetails can be found all over the forest floor with their jointed stems and spindly leaves. Seedless plants make up only a small percentage of the plants in our environment today, but three hundred million years ago, they dominated the landscape and thrived in the massive swampy forests of the Carboniferous period. Their decomposition resulted in large deposits of coal, which we now mine.

According to current evolutionary theory, all plants—green algae and land dwellers alike—are monophyletic, or descended from a single common ancestor. Plants faced severe constraints during their evolutionary transition from water to land.  disperse reproductive cells in the air, provide structural support, and capture and filter sunlight. While seed plants evolved adaptations that allowed them to populate even the most arid environments on the planet, not all plants achieved complete independence from water. Most seedless plants still need to be kept moist.

What are the characteristics of a good seed?

• Mosses provide food and shelter to many species, from small insects to musk oxen and reindeer, in harsh environments such as the tundra, where the soil remains frozen for almost the entire year.
• Mosses absorb pollutants from the air, so the number of mosses in a given area can be used to estimate the level of pollution.
• Dried peat moss is a renewable energy source.
• Ferns aid in the weathering of rocks and the formation of soil.
• Ferns’ roots contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which enrich the soil with nutrients.
• Coal is mostly composed of seedless vascular plants.

Examples of seedless plants

Both living and extinct species are examples of seedless vascular plants. Extant – or living – species in this group are divided into two phyla: Lycopodiophyta and Monilophyta.

The phylum Lycopodiophyta is also known as the club moss. The club mosses, which are small in size like true mosses, are thought to be some of the oldest seedless vascular plants. There are approximately 1,200 species of club moss.

Other seedless vascular plants are classified as Monilophyta. 

There are two types of seedless vascular plants in this phylum: Equisetopsida and Psilotopsida.

Horsetails are classified as Equisetopsida. 

While there are numerous examples of this class in the fossil record, the only extant species belong to one genus, Equisetum.

Psilotopsida is divided into two groups: ferns and whisk ferns. Ferns have large leaves, or fronds, whereas whisk ferns do not. Ferns have over 10,000 species, but only two are native to the United States.

Examples of vascular seedless plants

Ferns are among the most common plants in our homes. You may have seen these plants at a florist or even used for landscaping in large hotels, shopping malls, and airports. On the underside of their leaves, ferns produce spores. Fern leaves, known as fronds, have small brown spots on the underside. These small brown spots are spores, and you can feel them with your hands as well. Ferns are thought to be the first plant species to develop a water transportation system that allowed them to grow larger.

Because they have a vascular system, horsetails and ferns are the closest living relatives to seed plants. Because the majority of these plants have become extinct.

Examples of non-vascular Seedless plants

Plants that do not have seeds but are non-vascular are examples of non-vascular seedless plants.

1. Mosses: Mosses are small, soft, spongy plants that grow to only a few inches in height. They grow in clumps and form a carpet-like covering on the ground. Mosses use short growths called rhizoids to attach themselves to rocks and soil.
2. Liverworts: The worts are thought to be the simplest of all plants and to have been among the first to colonise the Earth. They are small, flat, and grow in large leaf-like structures along the ground. Instead of roots, they have small hairs known as rhizoids that absorb moisture. They, like mosses, thrive in moist environments, and some species spend their entire lives in water.

Conclusion

The sporophyte became the dominant phase of the life cycle in seedless vascular plants. Club mosses, horsetails, ferns, and whisk ferns are examples of modern seedless vascular plants. Seedless plants make up only a small percentage of the plants in our environment today, but three hundred million years ago, they dominated the landscape and thrived in the massive swampy forests of the Carboniferous period. The club mosses, which are small in size like true mosses, are thought to be some of the oldest seedless vascular plants. There are two types of seedless vascular plants in this phylum: Equisetopsida and Psilotopsida.