The abundance of green ferns is the first thing that strikes our attention. Pteridophytes include ferns like this. Pteridophyta, often known as vascular cryptogams, has around 12000 species on the planet. The only non-flowering seedless plants with circulatory tissues are pteridophytes. Psilophyta, Lycophyta, Arthrophyta, and Filicophyta are the four primary classes of Pteridophyta.
Pteridophyta is known as “cryptogams” because, unlike most other members of the Plant Kingdom, they reproduce through spores rather than seeds. Pteridophyta includes ferns, horsetails, and lycophytes.
“Pteridophytes are vascular cryptogams with no seeds. They reproduce via spores and can grow to tree-like heights of 30 to 40 feet”.
In the year 1866, Ernst Haeckel coined the name “Pteridophyta.” Pteridophytes are the first land plants to have a fully established vascular system. The Greek words “pteron” and “phyton” refer to feathers and plants, respectively.
There are the following Key Characteristics of Pteridophyta:
It is a hypothesis that life began in the seas and evolved to dry land during millions of years of evolution. Pteridophyta, on the other hand, is a primitive terrestrial plant that has evolved.
The fundamental plant body is the sporophyte. It’s broken down further into stems, roots, and leaves.
The majority of the branches are herbaceous, but some are woody. A monopodial stem or a dichotomous branching stem could be used for the branches.
Roots are small and sprout along the rhizomes by mistake.
Leaves come in three varieties: scale, small sessile, and huge petiolate compound.
The vascular tissues have a good amount of development. The xylem is mostly made up of tracheids, and there are no xylem vessels. Sieve cells, phloem parenchyma, and companion cells are all present in the phloem.
Generally, there are the following four types of Classification
Pteridophyta has well-developed circulatory tissues. Tracheids make up the xylem, while sieve cells and phloem parenchyma make up the phloem. The tissue, however, is devoid of xylem vessels and phloem companion cells.
Sporophylls, which are leaf-like structures, look after sporangia in sporophytes. The tip of the leaves curls inwards to protect the fragile growing zones. Furthermore, spores are created within the sporangia. Sporophylls can also form cones or strobili, which are compact structures.
In the sporangia, spores are generated. The spores can be found in a variety of places.
Homosporous refers to the production of only one type of spore.
Heterosporous refers to the fact that two types of spores are formed.
The sex organs of Pteridophyta are multicellular. The male sex organ is antheridia, while the female sex organ is archegonia. The prothallus carries the sexual organs. A prothallus is a tiny gametophyte that emerges from spores after they have germinated.
It can be proven by looking for sporophyte and gametophyte generations in them. The dominant sporophyte uses meiosis to produce spores. In the gametophyte generation, mitosis creates gametes. The life cycle of Pteridophytes and other plants is known as the alternation of generations.
Pteridophyta exhibits generational alternation. Pteridophytes have a life cycle that is similar to that of seed-bearing plants; however, unlike mosses and seed plants, they have distinct and free-living generations of haploid gametophyte and diploid sporophyte. The following is a summary of a Pteridophyta (fern) life cycle:
In a word, we can state that Pteridophyta is one of the oldest plant families on the planet. They can only be found in terrestrial environments. They’re also known as one of the first “real” plants to adapt to land life. They are also the earliest terrestrial plants to have a fully developed vascular system. Ferns are a type of pteridophyte that can be found in abundance all around us. Habitat, plant body, stem, roots, leaves, vascular tissues, and reproduction are all characteristics of Pteridophyta.
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