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Pteridophytes - Ferns and Fern Allies |
Pteridophytes are vascular plants and have leaves (known as fronds), roots and sometimes true stems, and tree ferns have full trunks. Examples include ferns, horsetails and club-mosses. Fronds in the largest species of ferns can reach some six metres in length! Many ferns from tropical rain forests are epiphytes, which means they only grow on other plant species; their water comes from the damp air or from rainfall running down branches and tree trunks. There are also some purely aquatic ferns such as water fern or water velvet (Salvinia molesta) and mosquito ferns (Azolla species). Pteridophytes do not have seeds or flowers either, instead they also reproduce via spores. There are around 13,000 species of Pteridophytes. The Plant List
Lygodiaceae |
Marsileaceae |
Polypodiaceae |
Pteridaceae |
Salviniaceae |
Selaginellaceae |
Thelypteridaceae |