Angiosperm

A flower plant, which forms seeds inside a protective chamber called an ovary.

Bryophyte

An informal name for a moss, liverwort, or hornwort; a nonvascular plant that lives on land but lack some of the terrestrial adaptations of vascular plants.

Cuticle

A waxy covering on the surface of stems and leaves that prevents desiccation in terrestrial plants.

Foot

The portion of bryophyte sporophyte that gathers sugars, amino acids, water, and minerals form the parent gametophyte via transfer cells.

Gametophore

The mature gamete-producing structure of a moss gametophyte.

Grade

A group of organisms that share the same level of organizational complexity or share a key adaption.

Gynmosperm

A vascular plant that bears naked seeds-seeds not enclosed in protective chambers.

Heterosporous

Referring to a plant species that has 2 kinds of spores: microspores, which develop into gametophytes, and megaspores, which develop into female gametophytes.

Homosporous

Referring to a plant species that has a single kind of spore, which typically develops into a bisexual gametophyte.

Hornwort

A small, herbaceous, nonvascular plant that is a member of the phylum Anthocerophyta.

Lignin

A hard material embedded in the cellulose matrix of vascular plant cell walls that provides structural support in terrestrial species.

Liverwort

A small, herbaceous, nonvascular plant that is a member of the phylum Hepatophyta.

Lycophyte

An informal name for a member of the phylum Lycophyta, which includes club mosses, spike mosses, and quillworts.

Megaspore

A spore from a heterosporous plant species that develops into a female gametophyte.

Microspore

A spore from a heterosporous plant species that develops into a male gametophyte.

Phloem

Vascular plant tissue consisting of living cells arranged into elongated tubes that transport sugar and other organic nutrients throughout the plant.

Rhizoids

Along tubular single cell or filament of cells that anchors bryophytes to the ground. Unlike roots, rhizoids are not composed of tissues, lack specialized conducting cells, and do not play a primary role in water and mineral absorption.

Root

An organ in vascular plants that anchors the plant and enables in to absorb the plant and enables it to absorb water and minerals from the soil.

Stoma

A microscopic pore surrounded by guard cells in the epidermis of leaves and stems that allows gas exchange between the environment and the interior of the plant.

Tracheid

A long, tapered water-conducting cell found in the xylem of nearly all vascular plants. Functioning tracheids are no longer living.

Vascular plant

A plant with vascular tissue. Vascular plants include all living plant species except liverworts, mosses, and hornworts.

Vascular Tissue

Plant tissue consisting of cells joined into tubes that transport water and nutrients throughout the plant body.

Xylem

Vascular plant tissue consisting mainly of tubular dead cells that conduct most of the water and minerals upward from the roots to the rest of the plant.