22-3 Seedless Vascular Plants

Chapter 22 Plant Diversity

Vascular Tissue

• Type of plant tissue specialized to conduct water and nutrients throughout a plant.

Tracheid

• Hollow plant cell in xylem tissue with thick cell walls that resist pressure.

Xylem

• Vascular tissue that carries water upward from the roots to every part of a plant.

Phloem

• Vascular tissue responsible for the transport of nutrients and the carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis.

Lignin

• Substance in vascular plants that makes cell walls rigid.

Root

• Underground organ in plants that absorbs water and minerals.

Leaf

• Photosynthetic organ that contains one or more bundles of vascular tissue

Vein

• In plants, a cluster of vascular tissue in leaves; in animals, a blood vessel that returns blood to the heart

Stem

• Supporting structure that connects roots and leaves and carries water and nutrients between them

Rhizome

• Creeping or underground stem in ferns

Frond

• Large leaf of a fern

Sporangium

• Structure in ferns and some fungi that contains spores

Sorus

• Cluster of sporangia on the underside of a fern frond

Key Concept

• Both forms of vascular tissue—xylem and phloem—can move fluids through the plant body, even against the force of gravity.

Key Concept

• Seedless vascular plants include club mosses, horsetails, and ferns.

Key Concept

• Ferns and other vascular plants have a life cycle in which the diploid sporophyte is the dominant stage.