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Article: Pteridophytes
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- Biology
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Pteridophytes
Pteridophtyes are a
phylum
of plants. They are the vascular plants (those having
xylem
and
phloem
tissues) that reproduce by releasing spores rather than seeds, and they include the highly diverse true ferns and other graceful, primarily forest-dwelling plants. There are about eleven thousand different species of pteridophytes, making them the most diverse land plants after the flowering plants (angiosperms). Pteridophytes may represent the closest living relatives (sister group) to the seed plants. (Seed plants include the angiosperms, the conifers, and a smaller assortment of other plants.)
As in seed plants, the greatest diversity of pteridophytes is found in the ...