PLANTAE KINGDOM

Salient features of Bryophytes:

1. Their plant body is not well differentiated into true roots, stem and leaves and is called
thallus.
2. They possess hair like rhizoids which fix them into substratum.
3. They lack vascular tissues and so conduction of food and water occurs by cell to cell
diffusion
4. Vegetative reproduction is common through fragmentation, tubers, gemmae and
adventitious buds.
5. The sex organs are multicellular and jacketed called antheridia(male sex organ) and
archegonia (female sex organ). Antheridium produces sperms or antherozoids and
archegonium produces egg.
6. Fertilization produces a diploid zygote inside archegonium. The zygote develops into
embryo that grows into sporophyte.
7. The capsule part of the sporophyte produces haploid spores through meiosis which on
germination produce a juvenile filamentous stage called protonema.
8. As they lack cuticle covering, they grow in moist habitat to prevent desiccation. They
even require external supply of water for the movement of the sperms by swimming to
reach the archegonia for fertilization. So they are also called amphibious plants.

Differences between Mosses and Liverworts:

Liverworts Mosses

1. Their thallus is like dorsoventrally They are differentiated into stem-like and
Flattened body. Leaf-like structures.

2. Rhizoids are unicellular Rhizoids are multicellular and branched

3. Scales are present Scales are absent
4. Sporogonium may lack foot and Sporogonium bears foot, seta and capsule
Seta in some cases
5. The sporogonium does not synthesize The sporogonium synthesizes its food
its food
6. Protonema is absent Protonema is present.
7. Spores germinate to grow into a Protonema bears lateral buds that give rise
New plant to leafy gametophyte.

8. They lack columella They bear columella.

SALIENT FEATURES OF PTERIDOPHYTES OR VASCULAR PLANTS

1. The plant body is well differentiated into root, stem and leaf showing distinct division
of labour for leading photoautotrophic life on land.
2. They are the first terrestrial plants and vascular plants as they bear vascular tissues
i.e xylem and phloem for transporting water, minerals and food respectively.
3. They have a dominant sporophytic phase and a reduced gametophytic phase.
4. They reproduce by vegetative reproduction by the formation of meiospores by
meiosis during spore formation inside sporangia borne on leaves called sporophylls.
5. They reproduce sexually by formation of flagellate sperms in antheridia and egg cell
in the archegonium.
6. The sperms require external supply of water for swimming to reach the archegonia.
7. Embryo stage is present.
Egs. Lycopodium, Selaginella, Equisetum

SALIENT FEATURES OF GYMNOSPERMS

1. They are medium sized to tall trees, or bushy shrubs.

2. Vascular tissues are arranged into vascular bundles.
3. They are heterosporous i.e they produce two types of spores - microspores on
microsporangia and megaspores on megasporangia. The megasporangia are
integumented.
4. Flowers are absent. The microsporophylls and megasporophylls are spirally
arranged to form strobili or male and female cones respectively.
5. Ovules are borne on megasporophyll and have 3-layered integument with an
opening called micropyle.
6. Fertilization is followed by wind pollination
7. Endosperm is formed in the seed . Seeds are naked i.e without seed coat.

Eg. Cycas, Pinus, Ginkgo

SALIENT FEATURES OF ANGIOSPERMS

1They are herbs, shrubs or medium sized to tall trees.

2.Vascular tissues are arranged into vascular bundles.

3. Flowers are present with both accessory(calyx ,corolla) and essential whorls
(stamens and carpels).
4. These plants are unisexual or bisexual.
5. Pollination is carried out by insects, wind, water etc.
6. These plants show double fertilization and triple fusion.
7. The ovary of the carpel of flower develops into fruit and the ovule develops into
seed after fertilization.
8. The seeds are either endospermic or non-endospermic. Seeds with one cotyledon
are monocotyledonous and those with two cotyledons are called dicotyledonous.

Eg. Maize, Peas, Mango, Apple etc

ALTERNATION OF GENERATION

The life cycle of any sexually reproducing plant is completed by the haploid
gametophytic phase and diploid sporophytic phase occurring alternately. This is
called alternation of generation.
There are 3 types of life cycles:

1. Haplontic - The dominant phase is haploid gametophytic whereas

sporophytic diploid phase is represented only by unicellular zygote or
zygospores. The haploid spores divide mitotically to form gametophyte.
Egs. Chlamydomonas, Volvox, Spirogyra

2. Diplontic - The dominant phase is diploid sporophyte whereas

gametophytic haploid phase is represented only by unicellular or few celled
haploid gametophyte. The gametes are produced by meiosis.
Egs. Anigiosperms and gymnosperms

3. Haplo-diplontic – In this life cycle, both haploid and diploid phases are
dominant, well developed and multicellular. The haploid gametophytes
produce haploid gametes which fuse to form diploid zygote. The diploid
zygote grows into diploid sporophyte which again produces haploid spores by
meiosis.
(Draw diagrams beside each type from fig 3.7 from text book Pg 42)