A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) that

reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. "Cryptogamae" (Greek kryptos,

"hidden" + , gameein, "to marry") means hidden reproduction, referring to the fact
that no seed is produced, thus cryptogams represent the non-seed bearing plants. Other
names, such as "thallophytes", "lower plants", and "spore plants" are also occasionally used. As
a group, Cryptogamae are the opposite of the Phanerogamae (Greek , phaneros =
"visible") or Spermatophyta (Greek, sperma = "seed" and , phyton = "plant"),
the seed plants. The best known groups of cryptogams are algae,lichens, mosses and ferns,[1] but
it also includes non-photosynthetic organisms traditionally classified as plants, such
asfungi, slime molds, and bacteria.[2] The classification is now deprecated in Linnaean
taxonomy.
At one time, the cryptogams were formally recognised as a group within the plant
kingdom. In his system for classification of all known plants and animals, Carl
Linnaeus (17071778) divided the plant kingdom into 24 classes,[3] one of which was the
"Cryptogamia". This included all plants with concealed reproductive organs. He divided
Cryptogamia into four orders: Algae, Musci (bryophytes), Filices (ferns), and Fungi.
Not all cryptogams are treated as part of the plant kingdom; the fungi, in particular, are
regarded as a separate kingdom, more closely related to animals than plants, while blue-green
algae are now regarded as a phylum of bacteria. Therefore, in contemporary plant systematics,
"Cryptogamae" is not a taxonomically coherent group, but is cladistically polyphyletic.
However, all organisms known as cryptogams belong to the field traditionally studied by
botanists and the names of all cryptogams are regulated by the International Code of
Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.