Pteridophyte plants: what they are, types and examples

Pteridophytes are perennial vascular plants , without secondary growth and that do not generate seeds during their life cycles, but reproduce by means of spores . Spores are defined as unicellular or multicellular microscopic bodies formed with the objective of allowing long-term dispersal and survival. The spores manage to germinate and develop very well in climates with high humidity.

They are also known as vascular cryptogams or ferns and are quite primitive plants. They grow and develop in tropical climates (where they reach palm tree growth ), temperate (with more herbaceous growth), humid or even some in arid areas. In addition, there are some aquatic or semi-aquatic subspecies, although none develop in salty waters.

By having conductive fabrics, which also serve as support, they manage to rise several meters above the ground. These tissues also help it to better capture light and therefore can photosynthesize very completely. Ferns are believed to have been the first plants to adapt to living outside of water, although their life cycles are highly dependent on water.

The greatest importance of this group of plants is that they are often used both for human consumption and for their decorative and ornamental effects, such as ferns and young plants; If you have these plants at home, you may be interested in learning about the cultivation and care of ferns at home . In addition, some specimens are used for medicinal or therapeutic purposes, such as horsetail.

The vast majority of the public only knows ferns, but there are many more types. The most important types of pteridophyte plants are:

Horsetails

They are popularly known by the name of horsetail. They have an underground rhizome from which a large number of aerial clippings emerge. The leaves and stems of horsetails are hollow and easy to determine with respect to their fossil relatives, since they have characteristic ridges that differentiate them from other subspecies.

Club mosses and Selaginellas

This variety of pteridophytes has branched stems with simple leaves and is characterized by producing two types of spores: microspores and megaspores.

Psilophytes

This type of pteridophytes is somewhat different from other types, since it has an underground stem, but the plant does not generate roots. Another characteristic of these pteridophytes is that their leaves are so small that one might think that they do not have them. Psilophytes are closely related to a type of fossil plant of vascular origin, called Rhynia .

Isoetes

It is a genus of pteridophyte plants that are aquatic or semi-aquatic. The Isoetes have leaves with a hole in the middle and that are quite narrow. They usually grow and develop on wet land, streams, lakes or rivers, but never in salty sea water. For this reason, they live mainly in jungles and forests.

Ferns

Ferns are the best known and most widely used type of pteridophyte plants. More than 12,000 species of ferns are known in the world. These inhabit humid ecosystems and feed on humid air and the water that runs down their stem. Ferns are the pteridophytes that thrive the fastest and even develop above other plants, being able to grow up to 5 meters in length.

Learn more about them in this other AgroCorrn article about Ferns are plants without flowers or seeds .

Some examples of pteridophyte plants are:

Horsetails

• Horsetail or common horsetail ( Equisetum arvense ): the most common horsetail of all. Widely used for its medicinal properties.
• Horsetail ( Equisetum palustre ): it often causes poisoning, given its palustrin content, and it can be confused with the common horsetail.
• Greater horsetail ( Equisetum telmateia ): sometimes used instead of the common horsetail, for its diuretic properties.
• Equisetum hyemale: toxic species up to 1.5 m. and very little branched.
• Equisetum ramossimum: toxic species due to palustrin. It does not have leaves.
• Equisetum giganteum : horsetail up to 5 m tall. It is used in the southern hemisphere.

Club mosses and Selaginellas

• Lycopodium clavatum : a very cosmopolitan and common species, also in Spain.
• Lycopodium obscurum: species native to the United States. Common in temperate coniferous and deciduous forests.
• Lycopodium annotinum: common herbaceous species in coniferous forests in the Northern Hemisphere.
• Selaginella nickname : lycophyte native to the eastern United States and northwestern Mexico

Psilophytes

In this case there are few species and the following stand out:

• Psilotum complanatum.
• Psilotum naked.

Isoetes

• Isoetes lacustris : it is distributed in northern regions of America and Europe.
• Isoetes durieui: perennial plant with a short underground stem. It can be found in the Mediterranean, as in Andalusia, where it is declared a vulnerable species.

Ferns

• Blecno ( Blechnum humps).
• Elk horn ( Platycerium bifurcatum).
• Deer tongue ( Phyllintis scolopendrium ).
• Culantrillo ( Agropyron ).
• The bird’s nest ( Begonia nests ).

If you want to read more articles similar to Pteridophytes plants: what they are, types and examples , we recommend that you enter our Biology category .