Biology help please...Primitive and Advanced Features of Seedless plants?

Question

Can someone help me with the Primitive and Advanced Features of Seedless Vascular Plants as They Relate to Adaptation to Land?

Answer 1

Ok this isnt to bad. Lets first break it down to The plant seedless vascular plants. The first thing that you should think about when we talk about "adaption to land" is the scarcity of what used to be abundant. Water! So H2O retention is critical for survival.

Although the embryophytes are seedless vascular we will start with them to bring us up to par.The primitive features (according to some of my old notes), are the cuticle, this is on the epidermis and is very waxy and inhibits H2O loss.

The next is the stomates( stomatal chamber) , which will permit gas exchange and CO2 for photosynthesis

The sporopollenin will inhibit H20 loss with a spore wax and permit wind dispersion

The embryophytes will break into the bryophytes and the tracheophytes. We want to focus on the tracheophytes because this is the seedless vascular plant that You are talking about.

Now back in the embryophytes the sporophyte was initially gametophyte dependant which meant that it thrive on that for nutrients. Well in the vascular seedless we have a gametophyte reduction wich is an evolutionary advancement. It tells us that the nutrients it was abtaining from the adventitious root or the sunlight rather then the gametophyte.

*The more energy that was gathered elsewhere also allowed the plant to diminish its gametophyte and conserve energy to other energy Hot Spots.

An example of a seedless vascular plant is

Aglaophyton

Seedless vascular plants will have vascular tissue which allow them to transport nutrients throughout the plant (talked about below)

Secondary growth which allows more light for obtaining energy.

Reproductive strategy advancement(Pollen)



Inside you will have you collenchyma (tissue) cells (which is parenchyma dervived) and it surrounds the stem periphery this is mainly for structural support for a sort of photosynthetic advancement another. The sclerenchyma have fibers and schlerid cells. The fibers serve for more support and the schlerids inhibits herbivores from killing them off.

The TISSUE of the vascular plant-Xylem and Phloem

XYLEM conducts H20 throughout the plant and Xylem you should know conducts the nutrients (sugars)

The ROOT decends for anchorage, absorption and storage

The STEM acsends elevates the leaves to light energy.

The older terrestrial plants couldn't get high up so they focused on the ground cover. Once the upright growth started, it basically took over. and left the poor guys who could only stay low to get most of the nourishments from the ground. Anyways good luck on everything.

Bryan