Biology

Tracheophytes Characteristics and Importance (Division Tracheophyta)

Tracheophytes are vascular plants. They have vascular tissues i.e. xylem and phloem(vessels inside that carry nutrients). These are the most successful groups of land plants.Tracheophytes They are adapted successfully to rough land habitats. Flowering plants are also tracheophytes. They have dominated the land habitat. The vascular plants show the evolution of following complex vegetative and reproductive characteristics. These characteristics have made them the predominant plants of land:

tracheophytes characteristics

tracheophytes characteristics
tracheophytes characteristics
  1. They have root, stem, and leaves.
  2. They have vascular systems in stems, roots, and leaves.
  3. Tracheophytes have protected sporangia, leading to the evolution of the seed.
  4. They develop a pollen tube. So, they do not require water for the transmission of male gametes to female gametes.
  5. They develop flowers and fruits.
  6. The show heteromorphic alternation of generation.

Sub-divisions/Classification of Tracheophytes

The tracheophytes are further sub-divided into five sub-divisions:

  • Sub-division Psilopsida (Psilopsids)
  • Sub-division Lycopsida (Club Mosses)
  • Sub-division Sphenopsida (Horse Tail)
  • Sub-division Pteropsida (Ferns)
  • Sub-division Spermopsida (Seed Plant)

Psilopsida (Psilophyta)Tracheophytes

They show the following characteristics:

  1. Psilopsida has rootless sporophyte.
  2. The stem is divided into an underground part rhizome and an aerial part.
  3. The stem is branched dichotomously.
  4. The rhizome develops rhizoids. Both rhizome and rhizoid perform the function of roots.
  5. The aerial branches are green, leafless. They have small vein fewer outgrowths. These branches carry out photosynthesis.
  6. The reproductive organs of sporophyte are sporangia. These sporangia develop at tips of branches or at the lateral side of branches.
  7. The internal structure of the stem is simple. They have narrow, central, and solid vascular tissues. They are without pith. Their cortex is wide.
  8. Their gametophyte is thalloid. It is colorless and underground. Its cells contain a fungus. This fungus provides food to the gametophyte and gametophyte provides its protection. Such a beneficial symbiotic relationship among the two members (fungus and plants) is called mycorrhizal association.
  9. Classification Psilopsida is the earliest group of vascular plants. Most of the representative of this group has become extinct, for example, Rhynia, Horneophyton, Psilophyton, and Cooksonia.

Psilopsida has two living genera:

  • Psilotum
  • Tmesipeteris

Types of Tissues

Tracheophytes have autotrophic nutrition by the process of photosynthesis and are reproduced by seeds. they develop three types of tissues i.e.,

  • Conductors
  • Mechanics
  • Teguments

Evolution of Leaf in Tracheophytes

Early vascular land plants did not have true leaves or roots. These plants had a small size. They had dichotomously branched erect smooth aerial parts. They have subterranean (underground) rhizome. It was used for anchoring and absorption. Later, the evolution of the leaf took place.

Evolution of Microphyll (Small Leaf) in Tracheophytes

A leaf with a small size and with a single undivided vein (vascular supply) is called microphyll. E.g. Leaves of Lycopods (Lycopodium). Rhynia was a primitive vascular plant. It had a naked stem with leaves.

Such plants started forming leaves as small outgrowths. These outgrowths were not supplied with vascular bundles. Therefore, they were not regarded as true leaves. Lycopods were the first plants that formed the true leaves and roots.

Evolution of Megaphyll (Large Leaves)Megaphyll (Large Leaves)

Large leaves with divided veins and veinlets and with expanded leaf blade or lamina are known as megaphylls. Such leaves are characteristics of ferns and seed plants.

It is suggested that the evolution of megaphylls started from a dichotomous branching system. This evolution took place in some primitive fern-like plants approximately 350 million years ago. The evolution of the megaphyll took place in the following steps:

1. Overtopping

There were some unequal branches on the dichotomously branched aerial, portion. Some branches remained short, while other branches grew and expanded at a much faster pace. All these branches grew in different planes. Such an unequal development of various branches is called overtopping.

2. Planation

In this step, the dichotomous branches were arranged in one plane. This process is called planation.

3. Fusion or Webbing

In this step, the space between dichotomous branches was filled by a sheet of parenchyma cells. Parenchyma connected these branches and formed a flat lamina or leaf blade structure. This structure has many dichotomously branched veins.

After some time, the vascular strands fused to form a network or reticulation pattern. The process of evolution was very slow and gradual. It was completed in more than 15—20 million years.

Lycopsida in Tracheophytes

Lycopsida

  1. The plant body of Lycopsida is the sporophyte. It is differentiated into roots, stem, and true leaves.
  2. The leaves are small and single veined. They are also called microphylls. The arrangement of leaves is spiral or opposite.
  3. There are certain reproductive leaves called sporophylls. The sporangia develop singly on the upper side of the sporophylls. These sporophylls may arrange to form srobili.
  4. The leaves and sporophylls of certain Lycopsida like Lycopodiurn have small outgrowth called ligules. In certain other Lycopods like Selaginella, ligules are present near the base of the upper side of the leaves.
  5. The sporophytes of some Lycopods have one kind of sporangia like Lycopodium. They produce a single type of spore. Such sporophytes are called homosporous. This condition ¡s called homospory. Some have two types of sporangia microsporangia and megasporangia as in Selaginella. They produce two types of spores. Such sporophyte is called heterosporous. This condition is called heterospory. Selaginella is a heterosporous plant and so it resembles the seed-producing plants (spermatophytes).
  6. Lycopsids are not mosses. Their srobili are club-shaped or spike-shaped. They have small leaves, resembling leaves of mosses (bryophytes). So they are called club mosses or spike mosses. They also show resemblances with the evergreen plants. So they are, sometimes, called ground pries.
  7. The gametophyte of Lycopsida is mainly underground.

Sphenopsida (Horsetail)Sphenopsida (Horsetail)

  1. The sporophyte of Sphenopsida is differentiated into roots, stem, and leaves,
  2. The leaves may be expanded or scale-like and are always arranged in whorls.
  3. Their whole plant body is composed of a large number of joints. So these plants are also called arthrophytes.
  4. The main stem is not smooth. It has a large number of ridges and furrows. It has nodes and internodes. Each node has a whorl of branches.
  5. The sporangia are borne on structures called sporangiophores. The sporangia aggregate on sporangiophores to form cones or strobilus. Each sporangiophore has a slender stalk and an expanded disc at its free end. The sporangia are present on the underside of the disc.
  6. Their gametophyte is thalloid. It grows on clayey soil or on mud.
  7. Example: Equisetum.

PteropsidaPteropsida

  1. Pteropsida evolved from Psilopsida, which appeared in the Devonian period live in the Carboniferous period decline in the late Paleozoic era.
  2. They have true roots, stem, and leave with all developed vascular systems.
  3. Leaves of fern are some simple but more often they are compound.
  4. Stem are prostrate on or in the soil and large leaves are the only part normally seen.
  5. Large leafy fern is diploid sporophyte spore is produced in sporangia, located in a cluster on the underside of see leave. A number of sporangia develop inside a single sorus.

Pteropsida is divided into three classes:

  • Class Filicineae
  • Class Gymnospermae
  • Angiospermae

Spermopsida (Seed Plant)

  1. They are the most successful group of the plant that appeared in the late Devonian period live in the carboniferous period and replaced the Sphenosida and Lycopsodia.
  2. The gametophyte is reduced and not photosynthetic.
  3. Sperm are not independent free-swimming flagellated cells. Seed plants can be further divided into gymnosperms (naked seed plant) and angiosperm (covered seed plant).

20 Examples of tracheophyte plants

AvocadoAlgae
PumpkinsConfieras
BeansBracken
fernsHydras
HiguerasMagueyes
CornMamey
MelonNopales
CucumberPirulo
BananaWatermelon
GrapesFresno

Conclusion

the majority of plants in our world belong to the tracheophytes. except, they can be distinguished from ferns. they are intact from millions of years. these plants can only exist in warm and humid environments, for example, tropical forests. such plants are distinguished with the help of veins into their daughter plants. their stems have a very acceptable adaptation.

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