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The
Diversity of The World of Life
Green
Plants (Viridaeplantae)
"Seed Ferns"
etc.
(Lyginopteridaceae
etc.)
Representatives
(Extinct)
"Seed
Ferns"
Biology
ENVIRONMENTS
Seed ferns lived on land during the Coal Age.
OVERALL STRUCTURE
Cell walls, presumably composed primarily of cellulose, gave shape to individual cells.
Seed "ferns" indeed resembled modern (seedless) ferns.
ENERGY CAPTURE
Light-energy was captured, for photosynthesis, by
chloroplasts, especially within the cells in the leaves.
EXCHANGE
OF MATERIALS WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
Water vapor and gases presumably passed especially through
"stomata" pores (each regulated by a pair of "guard
cells") in the leaves. A
waxy "cuticle" presumably covered the shoots and helped prevent
them from drying out.
Water with dissolved substances was absorbed by the true roots.
INTERNAL TRANSPORT
The
stem of seed ferns, like other "vascular" plants, was composed
of different layers, probably like those of ferns
or cycads.
DEVELOPMENTAL CONTROL
The growth and development of seed ferns was under genetic
and undoubtedly hormonal control.
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION
Seed ferns could presumably reproduce asexually, probably via body parts.
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
The fossil record shows that seed "ferns", unlike
true ferns, bore grains of pollen and, on the fronds, true seeds:
Please see the discussions of pollen and seeds with cycads
or conifers.
Green
Plants (Viridaeplantae)
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