8.2 Mosses, Hornworts, and Liverworts

8.3 Ferns and their Relatives

Nonvascular Plants • All nonvascular plants

are low-growing plants that lack vascular tissue.

• Vascular tissue is a system of tube like structures that transport water and other materials.

Nonvascular Plants • These plants cannot grow very wide or

tall; nonvascular plants are small and grow low to the ground.

Moss Gametophyte Moss Sporophyte

Nonvascular Plants • lack roots, must obtain

water and minerals directly from surroundings

• live where water is plentiful

• even nonvascular plants that live in drier areas need enough water for reproduction.

Mosses• most diverse group

of nonvascular plants

• Have structures that LOOK like leaves and stems (but they aren’t!)

Mosses• Don’t have

roots, but thin root-like structures called rhizoids anchor the moss and absorb water and nutrients from the soil.

Liverworts and Hornworts • Liverworts are named for

the shape of the plant’s body, which looks somewhat like a human liver.

Liverworts and Hornworts • found growing on moist rocks or soil

along the sides of a stream. Most grow flat along the ground

Liverworts and Hornworts • The hornlike

sporophytes give these plants their names.

• live in moist soil, often mixed in with grass plants.

Characteristics of Seedless Vascular Plants

• Ferns and their relatives have vascular tissue and use spores to reproduce.

• Vascular plants are better suited to life on land than are nonvascular plants.

Characteristics of Seedless Vascular Plants

• Vascular tissue transports water and food quickly and efficiently throughout the plant’s body.

• strengthens the plant’s body

Characteristics of Seedless Vascular Plants

•Ferns, club mosses, and horsetails still need to grow in moist surroundings because they use spores for reproduction.

Ferns

•Ferns have true stems, roots, and leaves.

•Roots are structures that anchor the fern to the ground and absorb water and nutrients from the soil.

Ferns

•The fern’s leaves are called fronds.

•developing leaves are coiled at first and they resemble the top of a violin, so they are often called fiddleheads.

                                     

Ferns•On the underside

of mature fronds, spores develop in tiny spore cases called sori.

Club Mosses and Horsetails

• Club mosses and horsetails have true leaves, stems, and roots.

• few species survive today

Club Mosses and Horsetails

• The stems of horsetails are jointed. Long, coarse, needlelike branches grow in a circle around each joint.