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| alternation of generations |
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| A life cycle in which there is both a multicellular diploid form, the sporophyte, and a multicellular haploid form, the gametophyte; characteristic of plants. |
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| A flowering plant, which forms seeds inside a protective chamber called an ovary. |
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| (plural, antheridia) In plants, the male gametangium, a moist chamber in which gametes develop. |
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| Embryonic plant tissue in the tips of roots and in the buds of shoots that supplies cells for the plant to grow in length. |
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| (plural, archegonia) In plants, the female gametangium, a moist chamber in which gametes develop. |
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| A moss, liverwort, or hornwort; a non-vascular plant that inhabits the land but lacks many of the terrestrial adaptations of vascular plants. |
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| (1) A waxy covering on the surface of stems and leaves that acts as an adaptation to prevent desiccation in terrestrial plants. (2) The exoskeleton of an arthropod, consisting of layers of protein and chitin that are variously modified for different functions. (3) A tough coat that covers the body of a nematode. |
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| Another name for land plants, recognizing that land plants share the common derived trait of multicellular, dependent embryos. |
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| (singular, gametangium) Multicular plant structures in which gametes are formed. Female gametangia are called archegonia, and male gametangia are called antheridia. |
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| In organisms undergoing alternation of generations, the multicellular haploid form that mitotically produces haploid gametes that unite and grow into the sporophyte generation. |
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| A vascular plant that bears naked seeds--seeds not enclosed in specialized chambers. |
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| A term referring to a plant species that has two kinds of spores: microspores that develop into male gametophytes and megaspores that develop into female gametophytes. |
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| A term referring to a plant species that has a single kind of spore, which typically develops into a bisexual gametophyte. |
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| A spore from a heterosporous plant species that develops into a female gametophyte. |
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| A spore from a heterosporous plant species that develops into a male gametophyte. |
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| Extensive deposits of undecayed organic material formed primarily from the wetland moss Sphagnum. |
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| Vascular plant tissue consisting of living cells arranged into elongated tubes that transport sugar and other organic nutrients throughout the plant. |
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| A mass of green, branched, one-cell-thick filaments produced by germinating moss spores. |
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| An informal name for any member of the phylum Pterophyta, which includes ferns, horsetails, whisk ferns, and the genus Tmesipteris. |
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| Long tubular single cell or filament of cells that anchors bryophytes to the ground. Rhizoids are not composed of tissues, lack specialized conducting cells, and do not play a primary role in water and mineral absorption. |
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| An adaptation for terrestrial plants consisting of an embryo packaged along with a store of food within a resistant coat. |
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| The informal collective name for the phyla Lycophyta (club mosses and their relatives) and Pteridophyta (ferns and their relatives). |
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| (plural, sori) A cluster of sporangia on a fern sporophyll. Sori may be arranged in various patterns, such as parallel lines or dots, that are useful in fern identification. |
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| (plural, sporangia) A capsule in fungi and plants in which meiosis occurs and haploid spores develop. |
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| In the life cycle of a plant or alga undergoing alternation of generations, a meiotically produced haploid cell that divides mitotically, generating a multicellular individual, the gametophyte, without fusing with another cell. |
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| In organisms undergoing alternation of generations, the multicellular diploid form that results from a union of gametes and that meiotically produces haploid spores that grow into the gametophyte generation. |
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| A plant with vascular tissue. Vascular plants include all modern species except the mosses and their relatives. |
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| Plant tissue consisting of cells joined into tubes that transport water and nutrients throughout the plant body. |
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| Vascular plant tissue consisting mainly of tubular dead cells that conduct most of the water and minerals upward from roots to the rest of the plant. |
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| In an angiosperm, the terminal pollen sac of a stamen, where pollen grains with male gametes form. |
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| The female reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of the stigma, style, and ovary. |
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| The mutual evolutionary influence between two different species interacting with each other and reciprocally influencing each other’s adaptations. |
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| A gymnosperm whose reproductive structure is the cone. Conifers include pines, firs, redwoods, and other large trees. |
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| A seed leaf of an angiosperm embryo. Some species have one cotyledon, others two. |
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| In angiosperms, the transfer of pollen from an anther of a flower on one plant to the stigma of a flower on another plant of the same species. |
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| A mechanism of fertilization in angiosperms, in which two sperm cells unite with two cells in the embryo sac to form the zygote and endosperm. |
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| The female gametophyte of angiosperms, formed from the growth and division of the megaspore into a multicellular structure with eight haploid nuclei. |
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| A nutrient-rich tissue formed by the union of a sperm cell with two polar nuclei during double fertilization, which provides nourishment to the developing embryo in angiosperm seeds. |
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| In an angiosperm, a short stem with up to four sets of modified leaves, bearing structures that function in sexual reproduction. |
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| A mature ovary of a flower that protects dormant seeds and aids in their dispersal. |
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| (1) In flowers, the portion of a carpel in which the egg-containing ovules develop. (2) In animals, the structure that produces female gametes and reproductive hormones. |
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| A structure that develops within the ovary of a seed plant and contains the female gametophyte. |
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| The thickened wall of a fruit. |
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| A modified leaf of a flowering plant. Petals are the often colorful parts of a flower that advertise it to insects and other pollinators. |
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| The structures that contain the male gametophyte of seed plants. |
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| The transfer of pollen to the part of a seed plant containing the ovules, a process that is a prerequisite for fertilization. |
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| A modified leaf in angiosperms that helps enclose and protect a flower bud before it opens. |
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| The pollen-producing male reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of an anther and filament. |
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| (plural, stigmata) The sticky part of a flower’s carpel, which traps pollen grains. |
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| The stalk of a flower’s carpel, with the ovary at the base and the stigma at the top. |
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