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PTERIDOPHYTA (Gr. 1ripts, fern, and d...

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 609 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PTERIDOPHYTA (Gr. 1ripts, See also:fern, and d,vrde plant) , or as they are frequently called, the Vascular Cryptogams, the third of the large subdivisions of the See also:vegetable See also:kingdom. The Ferns See also:form the See also:great See also:majority of existing Pteridophytes; the importance and See also:interest of the other See also:groups, of which the See also:Club-mosses and Horsetails are the most See also:familiar examples, depend largely on the fact that they are the surviving representatives of large families of See also:plants which flourished in earlier See also:geological periods. (See See also:PALAEOBOTANY.) The relation which exists between the two alternating stagesor generations, which together constitute the e'oniplete See also:life-See also:cycle of all plants higher than the Thallophyta, is perhaps the most natural characteristic of the Pteridophyta. From theGttehlsto,y. germinated spore of a fern plant, which must not be confused with the " See also:seed " of seed-bearing plants, a small, See also:flat, See also:green organism is See also:developed; this is the prothallus (gametophyte, sexual See also:generation; fig. 7). As the result of fertilization of an ovum produced by this, the fern plant (sporophyte, asexual generation) originates; from it spores are ultimately set See also:free, with the germination of which the life-See also:history again commences. The point See also:common to all Pteridophyta is that from the first the gamptophyte is an See also:independent organism, while the sporophyte, though in the first stages of its development it obtains nutriment from the prothallus, becomes physiologically independent when its See also:root develops. This See also:independence of the two generations for the greater See also:part of their lives distinguishes this See also:group Flo. 1.—Diagrammatic sketches of prothalli of a, Equisetum. e, Selaginella. b, See also:Lycopodium cernuum. f, Botrychium virginianum. c, L. phlegmaria. g, Helminthostachys.

d, L. clavatum. h, A Fern. i, Salvinia. on the one See also:

hand from the See also:Bryophyta (in which the sporophyte is throughout its life attached to the gametophyte), and on the other hand from the See also:Gymnosperms and See also:Angiosperms (in which the more or less reduced gametophyte remains enclosed within the tissues of the sporophyte). The gametophyte, which is usually See also:dorsiventral, though in some cases radially symmetrical (fig. 1, b), is a small thallus attached to the See also:soil by rhizoids. In structure it is equally See also:simple, being composed of parenchymatous See also:tissue without any clearly marked conducting See also:system. Usually it grows exposed to the See also:light and contains See also:chlorophyll, but subterranean saprophytic prothalli also occur in the Lycopodiaceae and Ophioglossaceae (fig. 1, c, d, f, g). In the heterosporous forms the gametophyte is more or less reduced (fig. 1, e, i). The reproductive See also:organs ultimately produced on the same or on different individuals are of two kinds, the antheridia and archegonia; the origin of both is from single superficial cells of the prothallus. The antheridium (fig. 8) at maturity consists of a layer of cells forming the See also:wall which encloses a group of small cells; from each of the latter a single motile spermatozoid originates.

The archegonium (fig. 9) consists of a more or less projecting See also:

neck and the venter, which is usually enclosed by the tissue of the prothallus. A central See also:series of cells can be distinguished in it, the lowest of which is the ovum; above this come the ventral See also:canal See also:cell and one or more canal cells. When the archegonium has opened by the separation of the terminal cells of the neck, the disintegration of the canal cells leaves a tubular passage, at the See also:base of which is the ovum (fig. 9, b). Down this a, Equisetum. d, Ophioglossum. g, Nephrodium. h, Lycopodium. e, Kaulfussia. h, Salvinia. c, Psilotum. f, Angiopteris. (All except d represent See also:vertical sections of sporangiophore or sorus.) canal the spermatozoid, which in the Ferns has been shown to be attracted by See also:reason of its See also:positive irritability to malic See also:acid, passes and fuses with the ovum. After fertilization the latter surrounds itself with a cell-wall and develops into the sporophyte. The See also:early segmentation of the embryo differs in the several groups, but usually the first See also:leaf or leaves, the See also:apex of the See also:stem and the first root are differentiated early, while a See also:special absorbent See also:organ (the See also:foot) maintains for some See also:time the physiological connexion between the sporophyte and the prothallus. The sporophyte is always highly organized both as regards form and structure.

Root, stem and leaf can be distinguished even in the simplest forms, and the plant is traversed by a well-developed vascular system. The reproductive organs of the sporophyte are the sporangia, within which the spores are produced; the sporangia are often See also:

borne on or in relation to leaves, which may be more or less distinct from the foliage leaves in form and structure (cf. fig. 2). The cells of the wall of the sporangium are usually so constructed as to determine the dehiscence of the sporangium and the liberation of its spores. The spores produced in each sporangium vary from very many to a single one in the See also:case of some heterosporous forms. These latter See also:bear spores of two kinds, microspores and megaspores, in See also:separate sporangia. From the microspore an extremely reduced male prothallus and from the megaspore the See also:female prothallus, develops (cf. fig. I, e). The spores of the homosporous Vascular Cryptogams are usually of small See also:size; the prothalli produced from them usually bear both antheridia and archegonia, though under special conditions an imperfect sexual differentiation may result. The See also:complete life-history, with its See also:regular See also:alternation of gametophyte and sporophyte, is now known in all except a few rare genera of See also:recent Pteridophyta, and will be described in connexion with the several groups. A cytological difference of great importance between the two generations can only be mentioned in passing. The nuclei of the cells of the sexual generation possess a definite number of chromosomes and this number is also characteristic of the sexual cells.

On fertilization the number is doubled and all the cells of the spore-bearing generation have the See also:

double number. On the formation of the spores a reduction to the number characteristic of the gametophyte takes See also:place. The systematic arrangement of the Vascular Cryptogams for the purposes of See also:identification and description necessarily remains unchanged, while the See also:comparative See also:morphology is being more fully worked out. But modifications in the See also:order of placing the natural groups are of importance in expressing the results of such investigations. Such a See also:scheme may be placed here in a See also:tabular form before entering on the See also:consideration of the life-history, natural history, morphology, and See also:classification of the several groups:—Pteridophyta. S Equiselaceae. t Calamariaceae. S Sphenophyllaceae. j Cheirostrobaceae. Psilotaceae. Lycopodiaceae. Selaginellaceae.

Lepidodendraceae. Isoetaceae. Ophioglossaceae. Marattiaceae. Osmundaceae. Schizaeaceae. Gleicheniaceae. Filicaceae ; Matoniaceae. Loxsomaceae. Ilymenophyllaceae. Cyatheaceae. Polypodiaceae.

See also:

Hydropterideae Salviniaceae. l Marsiliaceae. These See also:main subdivisions are of unequal size and importance. The Sphenophyllales are only known in a fossil See also:state, while the Equisetales, Lycopodiales and Filicales include both living and See also:extinct representatives. The small groups of recent plants forming the Psilotales and Ophioglossales are given independence in this scheme of classification owing to their exact See also:affinities with the other phyla being at See also:present doubtful. I. EQUISETALES.—The plants of the single living genus Equisetum, which vary in height from a few inches to 40 ft., have subterranean rhizomes, from which the erect shoots arise. The See also:habit of the plant depends on the degree of branching rather than upon the foliage. The internodes are elongated and hollow. The leaves are borne in whorls, those of each whorl cohering, except at their extreme tips, to form a sheath. The leaves of successive whorls alternate with one another, and this applies also to the branches which arise in the axil of the leaf sheath. In most See also:species many of these buds, which alternate with the leaves, remain dormant, but in others the aerial shoots are copiously and repeatedly branched. In some species branches of the rhizome with tuberous internodes are formed, which serve as a means of vegetative See also:reproduction.

The roots which arise from the base of the lateral buds remain undeveloped on the aerial stem. The vascular bundles equal in number the leaf-See also:

teeth from which they enter the stem and form a single See also:ring. Each bundle runs downwards through one internode and then divides into two branches which insert themselves on the alternating bundles entering at this See also:node. The See also:young stems, and the older stems of certain species, are clearly monostelic; but in other species an inner and See also:outer endodermis may be present, or an endodermal layer surrounds each bundle. The vascular bundles themselves are See also:collateral, the xylem consisting of the protoxylem, towards the centre of the stem, and two groups of xylem, between which the phloem is situated; the protoxylem elements soon break down, giving rise to the carinal canal. Only the median or carinal strand of xylem is common to stem and leaf; the lateral cauline strands possibly represent the remains of a centripetally developed See also:mass of See also:primary xylem. There is no secondary thickening except at the node in E. maximum, where some See also:short tracheides, arranged in radial rows, arise from a cambium. The stems, the See also:surface of which exhibits a number of ridges with intervening furrows, perform the greater part of the See also:work of assimilation. The chlorophyll-containing tissue reaches the surface at the sides and base of the furrows, Classification. I. EQUISETALES . . II.

SPHENOPHYLLALES IV. LYCOPODIALES V. OPHIOGLOSSALES . VI. FILICALES . where stomata of See also:

peculiar form occur in the epidermis, while subepidermal strands of sclerenchyma occupy the ridges. In the cortical tissue beneath each furrow a wide intercellular space is present See also:running the length of the internode, and called the (C, D, E from Strasburger's Lehrbuch der Botanik, by permission of Gustav See also:Fischer.) FIG. 3.-Equisetum maximum. A, See also:Longitudinal See also:section of the rhizome, including a node and portions of the adjoining internodes; k, septum between the two internodal cavities, hh; gg, vascular bundles; 1, vallecular canal; s, leaf-sheath. B, Transverse section of the rhizome; g, vascular bundle; 1, vallecular canal. C, Fertile shoot showing two leaf-sheaths and the terminal strobilus. D, E, Sporophylls bearing sporangia, which in E have opened.

vallecular canal. The central See also:

cylinder of the root, in which there are several xylem and phloem strands, has around it a two-layered endodermis, the inner layer of which appears to take the place of a pericycle. The sporangia are borne upon lateral outgrowths of the See also:axis (the sporangiophores), which arise in whorls and are associated in definite strobili or cones (fig. 3, C) ; at the base of the See also:cone an outgrowth of the axis like a rudimentary leaf sheath (the annulus) is present. Each sporangiophore (fig. 3 D) consists of a stalk expanding into a peltate disk of hexagonal outline; from the inner surface of the latter six to nine large sporangia hang parallel with the stalk. The single vascular bundle supplies a See also:branch to the base of each sporangium. The latter arises from a number of superficial cells, the cells destined to form the spores being derived from a single one of these. A tapetal layer is derived from the cells surrounding the sporogenous group, and the See also:arrest of a number of the spore-See also:mother-cells further contributes to the nourishment of the See also:remainder, each of which gives rise to four spores. The outermost layer of the cell-wall of the ripe spore splits along See also:spiral lines, giving rise to the elaters; these two See also:long strips of wall, attached by their See also:middle points to the spore, tend to straighten out in dry, and See also:close See also:round the spore in See also:damp See also:air. They thus assist in the opening of the sporangium, which takes place by a slit on its inner See also:face. Further, several spores will be likely to germinate together owing to their elaters becoming entangled; a fact of some importance, since the antheridia and archegonia, though occurring sometimes on the same prothallus, are more often borne on separate individuals.

The prothalli contain abundant chlorophyll, and are dorsiventral. Those that bear the antheridia are the smaller, and are either filamentous, or flattened, and irregularly lobed. The antheridia are deeply sunk in the tissue; the spermatozoids consist of a spiral of two or three coils, the numerous See also:

cilia being attached to the pointed anterior end. The female prothalli, which are sometimes branched, consist of a thick See also:cushion bearing thin, erect lobes, at the base of which the archegonia are situated. The necks of the latter are short, the central series of cells consisting of ovum, ventral canal cell and one or two canal cells. The See also:half of the embryo directed towards the archegonial neck gives rise to the apex of the stem and a sheath of three leaves, the other half to the small foot and the primary root. The first shoots are of limited growth, being replaced by lateral branches, which gradually acquire the number of leaf-teeth characteristic of the species. Fossil species, some of which attained a great size, are known, to which the name Equisetites is given, since they appear to be closely allied to the existing forms. Two other extinct genera, Phyllotheca and Schizoneura, may be mentioned here. Abnormal specimens of Equisetum in which the strobilus is interrupted by whorls of leaves are of interest for comparison with the fructification of Phyllotheca. The most important and best known of the extinct Equisetales are, however, the Calamites (see PALAEOBOTANY: Palaeozoic). In the primary structure of the stem the Calamites present many points of resemblance to Equisetum, but secondary thickening went on in both stem and root.

These plants, which appear to have grown in swampy soil, thus attained the dimensions of considerable trees. The leaves, which were of simple form (except in Archaeocalamites, where they forked), were inserted in whorls at the nodes; they were either free from one another or cohered by their bases into a sheath. Thw branches alternated in position with the leaves, and sprang from just above the insertion of the latter. Some of the branches terminated in cones, which present a See also:

general similarity to those of Equisetum. This similarity is closest in Archaeocalamites, an See also:ancient type found in Upper Devonian rocks; in this the strobilus consists of peltate sporangiophores inserted in whorls on the axis. In the other Calamarian strobili known the whorls of sporangiophores are separated by whorls of bracts. In some the sporangiophores stood midway between the sterile whorls, while in others they approached the whorl above or below. There is a close resemblance between these sporangiophores and those of Equisetum, but as a See also:rule only four sporangia were borne on each. Some Calamites were heterosporous, sporangia with microspores and megaspores being found in the same cone. Our knowledge of the extinct Equisetales, full as it is with respect to certain types, does not suffice for a strictly phylogenetic classification of the group. The usual subdivision is into Equisetaceae including Equisetum and Equisetites (with which Phyllotheca and Schizoneura may be provisionally associated), and Calamariaceae, including Calamites and Archaeocalamites. II.

SPHENOPHYLLALES.—The tWO very distinct genera Sphenophyllum and Cheirostrobus, included in this group, are known only from the Palaeozoic rocks. Though the high specialization of this ancient group of plants renders the determination of their natural affinities difficult, indications are afforded by See also:

anatomy and the morphology of the strobilus. In general See also:appearance the species of Sphenophylllum (the remains of Cheirostrobus known do not allow of any See also:idea of its habit being formed) present some resemblances to the Equisetales. The long, sparingly branched stem See also:bore at the somewhat swollen nodes whorls of six to eighteen See also:wedge-shaped or linear leaves, which did not alternate in successive whorls. Both the broader and narrower leaves may be more or less deeply divided, and both forms may occur on the same shoot. From the relation of the thickness of the stem to its length it may be inferred that the shoots of Sphenophyllum derived support from adjoining plants. Without entering into detail regarding the anatomy, it may be stated that secondary thickening took place in both genera. The single See also:stele in the stem consisted of the phloem surrounding a solid central strand of xylem, the groups of protoxylem being situated at the projecting angles. In Sphenophyllum, in which the transverse section of the xylem is triangular, there were three or six protoxylem groups; in Cheirostrobus they were more numerous. The anatomy of the stem is thus very unlike that characteristic of the Equisetales, and presents essential points of resemblance to the Lycopodiales and especially to the Psilotales. The general morphology of the cones, on the other hand, suggests some See also:affinity with the Equisetales. The cone of Sphenophyllum consisted of an axis bearing at the nodes whorls of bracts, See also:united below into a sheath.

The overlapping bracts afforded See also:

protection to the sporangia, which were borne on sporangiophores springing from the upper surface of the coherent bracts near their origin from the axis; two sporangiophores usually arose from each bract, and sometimes adhered to its upper surface for some distance. Each See also:bent round at the upper end, and bore one or two sporangia on the See also:side turned towards the axis. The mature sporangium had a wall of a single layer of cells, which were larger towards the B C A base, where they continued into the epidermis of the sporangiophore. In Sphenophyllum fertile both the ventral lobes of the sporophyll (corresponding to the sporangiophores in other species) and the dorsal lobes, which in other species are sterile, were developed as peltate sporangiophores. In other species of Sphenophyllum, which are known only as impressions, single sporangia, or groups of four, appear to have been inserted directly on the upper surface of the bracts. In Cheirostrobus a similar relation of sporangiophores to bracts existed, but here each bract was divided into three segments. From each segment, near its base, a stalked peltate sporangiophore arose; this bore four sporangia, which hung parallel to the stalk. That these three sterile segments, with their sporangiophores, are together comparable to one of the bracts of Sphenophyllum, with its sporangiophores, is shown by the vascular See also:supply in each case being derived from a single leaf-trace. So far as is at present known, the Sphenophyllales were homosporous. The See also:differences between the two genera described above are sufficiently marked to justify the See also:division of the Sphenophyllales into the two orders Sphenophyllaceae and Cheirostrobaceae_ A consideration of the characters of both shows that the Psilotales are the nearest living representatives of the Sphenophyllales, while resemblances suggesting actual relation-See also:ship exist between this group and the Equisetales and Lycopodiales. It has been suggested that the Sphenophyllales may have sprung from a very old stock which existed See also:prior to the divergence of the latter groups. So long, however, as our knowledge of these phyla is confined, as at present, to specialized forms, the nature of the relationship between them must remain to some extent hypothetical.

IV. LvcoroDTALES.—The living representatives of this group are of small size compared with the related plants which lived in Palaeozoic times. A large proportion of the living species aretropical, though others' have a wide See also:

distribution. As general characteristics of the Lycopodiales, the simple form of the leaves, which are generally of small size, and the situation of the sporangia on the upper surface of the sporophylls, which are often associated in cones, close to their insertion on the axis, may be mentioned; there are both homosporous and heterosporous forms, the prothalli exhibiting corresponding differences. A number of species of Lycopodium are epiphytic and those of Isoetes live submerged in See also:water. Vegetative reproduction is effected in various ways: by the separation of the branches of a creeping stem in some Lycopodia, the persistence through the See also:winter of the apex of the shoot in L. inundatum, and by the formation of leafy bulbils on the aerial stem of L. Selago and others. A highly specialized means of vegetative reproduction is seen in the tubers of Phylloglossum and the embryos of some Lycopods. The modifications shown by the gametophyte of Lycopodium will be described below. All such special relations of the plant to its environment, which might be expected in the few forms of a large group which has persisted beyond the others, are less marked in the genus Selaginella. It would appear as if the latter was more suited to the conditions of the existing See also:flora, and many of the specific forms within it may rather be regarded as recently evolved than as simply persistent. Lycopodiaceae.—This order contains the two genera Phylloglossum and Lycopodium ; the former has a single species, confined to See also:Australia, See also:Tasmania and New See also:Zealand, while nearly one See also:hundred species of Lycopodium are known.

Erect and creeping terrestrial plants and (From Strasburger's Lehrbuch der Botanik.) A, Old prothallus. B, Prothallus bearing young sporophyte. G, Portion of a mature plant showing the creeping habit, the See also:

adventitious roots and the specialized erect branches bearing the strobili or cones. H, Sporophyll bearing the single sporangium on its upper surface. I, Spore, highly magnified. pendulous epiphytes occur in the latter genus. The simple leaves, which are of small size and do not possess a ligule, are arranged spirally around the branched stem in the majority of the species. The roots of the erect forms often grow downwards in the cortex of the stem to reach the soil. The anatomy of Lycopodium presents considerable variety in detail, but the stem is always monostelic and the development of the xylem centripetal, the protoxylems being situated at the periphery of the stele; pericycle and endodermis surround the stele, and the wide cortex may be more or less sclerenchymatous. The central cylinder of the root often shows a striking resemblance to that of the stem. The Lycopodiaceae are homosporous. The spores are formed in sporangia of considerable size, situated on the upper surface and near the base of the sporophylls.

The latter may differ from the foliage leaves and be arranged in definite cones, or the two may be similar and occupy alternate zones of a shoot with.continued growth; sometimes rudiments of sporangia are found at the bases of the leaves (fig. 4). In the development of the sporangium the sporogenous tissue is derived from a number of superficial cells by divisions parallel to the surface. The tapetum is derived from the layer of cells surrounding the sporogenous group. Short trabeculae of sterile tissue have been found to project into the cavity of the sporangium of some species. The spores, when liberated by the dehiscence of the sporangium, give rise to the prothallus, which is now, owing mainly to the investigations of Treub and Bruchmann, known in a number of tropical and temperate species. In habit and mode of life of the prothallus these present striking differences, which may be correlated with the situations inhabited by the sporophyte, and are perhaps to be regarded as adaptations which have enabled the species to survive. Thus in L. cernuum and others the prothallus is green and grows on the surface of the soil (fig. I, b) ; in the species living on the See also:

moors it is subterranean and saprophytic, though sometimes capable of developing chlorophyll when exposed to light (fig. I, d) ; while in L. Phlegmaria and other epiphytic forms the prothallus consists of See also:fine branches growing saprophytically in rotting See also:wood (fig. I, c).

A comparison of these various types would appear to indicate that the See also:

primitive form of prothallus in the genus was radially symmetrical and contained chlorophyll. The prothalli of L. cernuum come nearest to this; in them the See also:meristem forms a See also:zone slightly below the See also:summit, which may bear a number of green lobes. The different forms of the prothallus found in L. Selago give an idea of how the more extremely modified types could be derived from such a prothallus as that of L. cernuum. All the saprophytic prothalli contain an endophytic fungus in definite layers of their tissue. The antheridia and archegonia are produced above the meristematic zone, and are more or less sunk in the tissues of the prothallus. The most important difference in the sexual organs concerns the length of the archegonial neck; this is shortest and has only a single canal cell in L. cernuum, while in L. complanatum it is longer than in any other Vascular Cryptogam, and contains a number of canal cells. The spermatozoids are biciliate. The embryo in L. cernuum and other forms with superficial green prothalli is attached to the prothallus by a small foot, and develops at first as a tuberous See also:body (the protocorm) bearing'rhizoids; this forms a number of simple leaves, and upon it the apex of the shoot arises later. In the saprophytic forms the protocorm is absent, and in some of them the foot is of large size (fig. 4, B). When new individuals of species which possess a protocorm arise vegetatively from the leaves or roots of young plants, the protocorm appears in the young sporophyte.

This fact leads to the consideration of Phylloglossum, which resembles the embryo of Lycopodium cernuum in so many respects that it has been spoken of as a permanently embryonic form of Lycopod: it is in some respects the simplest existing Pteridophyte. Its prothallus resembles that of L. cernuum, but wants the See also:

crown of assimilating lobes. The plant is reproduced by tubers, which resemble the protocorm in bearing first a number of protophylls and later the upright shoot with its single terminal strobilus. The sporangia agree with those of Lycopodium in structure and position. Selaginellaceae.—The single genus of this order (Selaginella) contains between three and four hundred species. There is considerable diversity among them as regards See also:external form, the majority having dorsiventral aerial shoots with dimorphic leaves (fig. 5, A), while in others the shoots are radially symmetrical and the leaves alike. The stem contains one, two or several steles; in one species the stele is tubular. The phloem completely surrounds the xylem, which usually develops from two (From Strasburger's Lehrbuch protroxylem groups.

End of Article: PTERIDOPHYTA (Gr. 1ripts, fern, and d,vrde plant)

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