Knowra Fern Fern A fern is a seedless vascular plant that reproduces by spores and typically bears divided leaves called fronds. Its life cycle includes a small, independent gametophyte stage.
Fern life cycle : The alternating stages of a fern, from spore-producing sporophyte to gametophyte and back. It connects the familiar leafy plant to the smaller reproductive stage.
Vascular plant : A plant with specialized tissues that transport water, minerals, and sugars. Ferns have vascular tissue despite reproducing without seeds.
Seed plant : A vascular plant that reproduces using seeds, including gymnosperms and flowering plants. Ferns disperse spores instead of forming seeds.
Pteridology : The branch of botany concerned with ferns and their close relatives. It studies fern classification, structure, reproduction, and evolutionary relationships.
Fern ecology : The study of how ferns interact with organisms and their environments. Fern abundance can influence forest-floor light, moisture, and regeneration.
Sporangium : A capsule or structure in which spores are produced and released. Fern sporangia cluster in sori on the undersides or margins of many fronds.
Xylem : Plant tissue that transports water and minerals and helps support the plant. Xylem lets many ferns grow larger than nonvascular plants.
Moss : A small nonvascular plant whose dominant life stage produces spores in capsules. Unlike mosses, ferns have vascular tissue and a dominant leafy sporophyte.
Fern ally : A traditional name for a seedless vascular plant resembling ferns but belonging to another lineage. The term helps distinguish true ferns from plants such as lycophytes and horsetails.
Carboniferous : A geological period from about 359 to 299 million years ago, known for extensive coal-forming wetlands. Fern relatives flourished among the vascular plants that formed many Carboniferous forests.
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