Embryophytes
Sign in to saveThe embryophytes () are plants of the clade Embryophyta, also known as 'Plantae sensu strictissimo (, "plant in the strictest sense") or land plants'. They are complex multicellular eukaryotes with haplodiplontic life cycles, all have specialized reproductive organs called sporangia, and reproduce sexually via alternation of generations using spores or seeds. The name "embryophyte" derives from their innovative characteristic of nurturing the embryonic sporophytes within the tissues of the parent gametophytes during the early stages of multicellular development. They are the dominant group of
AI overview
Embryophytes are land plants that represent a major group of complex organisms characterized by their unique ability to protect developing embryos within parent plant tissues and reproduce through spores or seeds via an alternating life cycle. This innovation of internal embryo protection was a crucial adaptation that allowed plants to thrive on land and become the dominant vegetation we see in most terrestrial ecosystems today.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Subclass of
- plant
- Parent taxon
- Phragmoplastophyta
- Named after
- embryo
- Image
- Plants.jpg
Show 2 more facts
- P105
- infrakingdom
via Wikidata · CC0
Article
10 sectionsContents
- Description
- Evolution
- Diversity
- Non-vascular land plants
- Rise of vascular plants
- Lycophytes and euphyllophytes
- Ferns and horsetails
- Seed plants
- References
- Bibliography
The embryophytes () are plants of the clade Embryophyta, also known as 'Plantae sensu strictissimo (, "plant in the strictest sense") or land plants'. They are complex multicellular eukaryotes with haplodiplontic life cycles, all have specialized reproductive organs called sporangia, and reproduce sexually via alternation of generations using spores or seeds. The name "embryophyte" derives from their innovative characteristic of nurturing the embryonic sporophytes within the tissues of the parent gametophytes during the early stages of multicellular development. They are the dominant group of autotrophs that make up the vegetation on Earth's terrestrial and wetland ecosystems, and represent the quintessential concept of "plants" most familiar to the common knowledge. The study of embryophytes is called phytology.
Embryophytes consist of the more basal non-vascular plants and the much more advanced and proliferative vascular plants (tracheophytes). The former are soft-bodied groundcovers that include three divisions of bryophytes, namely Bryophyta (mosses), Marchantiophyta (liverworts) and Anthocerotophyta (hornworts); while the latter are vertical-growing "higher plants" with lignified stem, absorptive roots and stomatous leaves, which include all extant polysporangiates such as lycophytes (clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts), polypodiophytes (ferns), gymnosperms (conifers, cycads, gnetophytes and gingko) and angiosperms (flowering plants). Since their boom during the mid/late Cretaceous, angiosperms have been the dominant group of embryophytes.