Chapter 9

Section 2

Seedless Nonvascular Plants

When I ask you to list parts of a plant what would you say?RootsStemLeavesFlowers

Seedless Nonvascular Plants

What if I asked you how plants grow?From a seed!

What if I tell you that some plants don’t have the basic parts to a plant or grow from a seed?

Seedless Nonvascular Plants

When you hear the words seedless nonvascular what does that make you think about this type of plant?They don’t grow from a seed They are not vascular

Seedless Nonvascular Plants

Characteristics of a seedless nonvascular plantFew cells thick2 – 5 cm tallMost have a stalkGreen, leaf-like growthsRhizoids instead of rootsGrow where it is damp

Seedless Nonvascular Plant

Rhizoid:Threadlike

structure that anchors a seedless, nonvascular plant

Seedless Nonvascular Plants

Where can you find these type of plants? Places that are damp

Why do they need to live in this type of environment? To absorb water directly

through the cell wall and membrane

Seedless Nonvascular Plants

How do they reproduce?By spores

ExamplesMossesLiverwortsHornworts

Mosses

Mosses

Most nonvascular plants are mosses

Have green, leaf-like growths arranged around a central stalk

Sometimes the stalk has a capSpores are produced in the caps of the

stalks

Mosses

Mosses

Where can you often find mosses?Growing on tree trunksRocksThe ground

Where are some adapted to liveThe desert

Liverworts

What does a liverwort look like?RootlessFlatLeaf-like body

Hornworts

What is different about hornworts?Only 1 chloroplast in each of their cells

Their spore-producing structures look like tiny horns of cattle

Importance

1st to grow in a new or undisturbed area

This is important after a forest fire or lava flow

What is a pioneer species?Organisms that are the first to grow in a new

or undisturbed area

Importance

What happens as a pioneer species grows and dies over time?Decaying material builds up

This helps build soil

When enough soil is formed, other organisms move into the area

Seedless Vascular

When you hear the words seedless vascular plant what do you think of?No seeds

Have tube-like structures to carry water, minerals, and food throughout the plant

Seedless Vascular

Why is having vascular tissue an advantage?They can grow biggerCan grow thickerThey don’t have to live in an environment

with constant waterWater and nutrients are distributed to all

plant cells

Types of Seedless Vascular

Examples:Ferns – more than 12,000 speciesGround pinesSpike mossesHorsetails

Flourished 360 – 286 million years ago

Ferns

Ferns

Largest group

Have stems, leaves, and roots

What are their leaves called?Fronds

Ferns

How do ferns reproduce? Spores which are

under the frond

Ferns were even more abundant 360 million years ago when most of the Earth was tropical

Club Mosses

What groups of plants are called club mosses?Ground PinesSpike mosses

Club Mosses

Why don’t we classify them with the mosses?Closely related to ferns

Ground pines are found in arctic regions and even the tropicsEndangered in some areas because they

are collected to make wreaths

Club Mosses

Spike Mosses: 1 species is adapted to desert conditions Water is limited it curls up and appears dead Water available it uncurls and greens back up

Horsetails

Has a jointed stem with a hollow center

The hollow center is surrounded by a ring of vascular tissue

Leaves grow out of each joint

Horsetail

Importance of Seedless Plants

When ancient seedless plants died they became submerged in water and mud

Decomposed, compacted, and compressed

Over a million years coal was made

Importance

Peat

Bog plants die and decay slowly

Decaying plants are compressed into peat

Peat is used as a low-cost fuel in Ireland and Russia

We use it in gardens

Eventually there is a possibility it could become coal

Peat

Uses of Seedless Vascular Plants

Ferns: Landscape plants in shady areas

Peat: Soil conditioner and to line hanging baskets

Ferns: Rhizomes and young fronds are edible Treat bee stings, burns, fevers, and dandruff

Horsetail: 1 type has stems that can be made into flour

Plant Kingdom