Tag: pictorial feature of plant kingdom

The sporogonium of Riccia never dehisces. The spores are liberated by the decay or shrivelling of the surrounding outer layer of the calyptra and thallus tissue. The thallus perishes in the dry season. The spores remain behind on the soil. In this condition, they may be dispersed by the wind.

The sporophyte of Riccia is the simplest because as it contains only capsule, both the foot and seta are absent. It consists a peripheral layer of cells constituting the capsule wall and a central mass of spore mother cell which produces spores.

A leptoid is a type of elongated food conducting cell analogous to phloem in vascular plants. It is found in the stem-like structure of certain mosses, like those belonging to family Polytrichaceae. They surround strands of water and mineral conducting elements the hydroids, analogous to trachieds in vascular plants.

Riccia (a bryophyte), Dryopteris (a pteridophyte), and Cycas (a gymnosperm) all produce motile, flagellated male gametes (antherozoids). In contrast, angiosperms like Calotropis and Hydrilla, and certain algae like Spirogyra, do not have flagellated male gametes.

Sphagnum is the scientific name of peat moss. It is also called as bog moss. It has high pH. Hence, it is used for plants growing in acidic condition, such as blueberries. It helps in moisture absorption from soil.

Dichotomous branching, where the growing point divides into two equal branches, is a characteristic feature of the thalloid liverworts (such as Riccia and Marchantia). Mosses like Funaria and higher vascular plants like Pinus show lateral branching instead.

Sphaerocarpos is a genus of liverwort. Division bryophyta is divided into three classes namely, Hepaticopsida (liverwort), Anthoceropsida and Bryopsida. Liverwort is divided into four orders namely, Marchantiales (example: Riccia), Sphaerocarpales (example: Sphaerocarpos), Jungermanniales (example: Pellia) and Calobryales (example: Calobryum).

Archegoniophore is a stalk of a prothallium on which archegonia grows. Marchantia is a genus of liverworts. The thallus of Marchantia is dioecious in nature. It produces either female archegoniophores or male antheridiophores. 

The upper part of the thallus shows well-developed air chambers bounded on all sides by plates of cells, below by the storage tissue and roofed in by an epidermal layer of cells; each chamber is open to the air by a simple pore.