What is pteridophyta in biology?

Aug 09, 2022, 16:45 IST

PTERIDOPHYTA

The pteridophytes (Gk. pteron = feather, phyton = plant, Haeckel, 1866) are the spore bearing most primitive vascular plants. They are commonly called vascular cryptogams.

Oswald Tippo (1942) has placed them in tracheophyta. The pteridophytes are an assemblage of flowerless, seedless, spore bearing plants that have successfully invaded the land. They were perhaps the first land plants to evolve during ordovician (425-450 million years back) age. For More Biology Doubts visit main page of Physics Wallah. 

Today the group is represented by about 11,000 living species.

THE SALIENT FEATURES OF PTERIDOPHYTES

Occurrence

The pteridophytes grow under varied habitats, most of them are terrestrial plants and thrive well under damp and shady conditions while some flourish well in open grasslands or even under xeric conditions (e.g., Selaginella lepidophylla). A few pteridophytes grow as aquatic or semi aquatic (e.g., Marsilea. Azolla and Salvinia) while still others are epiphytes (e.g., Lycopodium phlegmaria).

Related Link

Talk to Our counsellor