The document discusses the phylum Lycophyta. It describes Lycophyta as the oldest living lineage of vascular plants, with three orders: club mosses, spike mosses, and quillworts. The dominant generation in Lycophyta is the sporophyte, which reproduces through spores. Club mosses, spike mosses, and quillworts each have unique characteristics and life cycles. Lycophytes also have economic and ecological importance.

1. Phylum Lycophyta
May 6, 2019Group Six (6)

2. Presentation Outline
 Overview of the Phylum
Lycophyta
 General characteristics
Reproduction in Lycophyta
 Overview and life cycles of;
 Club mosses
 Spike mosses
 Quillworts
 Reproduction in Whisk Ferns
 Economic and Ecological
importance of Lycophytes
 Conclusion

3. • Lycophytes are believed to be the oldest living lineage of vascular plants.
• Ancient Lycophytes were the most diverse and prevalent species of the time,
ranging from to trees with trunks upto a third of a meter ( about 1 foot) or more
in diameter.
• The period of seedless vascular plants (Lycophytes) is divided into three periods.
 Silurian Period
 Carboniferous Period
 Devonia Period
Overview of Phylum Lycophyta Evolution

4. Silurian Period
 Occurred around 400 million
years
 The continental Landmass were
low and sea level were rising
 The climate condition was warm

5. Carboniferous Period
 Dominated moist tropical and
semitropical forests
 Atmosphere was warm
 Carbon was in abundance
 Range from 280 – 385 million years

6. Devonian Period
 Occur between 358-419 million
years
 Algae that live in fresh water
began to evolved
 Roots and root-like structures
became increasingly common and
deeper penetrating during the
Devonian.

7.  Lycophytes , also known as ‘ferns allies’, are a clade of vascular plants similar to
ferns, but have unique leaves called microphylls.
 Come from Greek words ‘lykos’ meaning ‘wolf’ and ‘phyton’ meaning plant.
 The current name of the phylum, Lycophyta is a contraction of the earlier phylum
name Lycopodophyta, which is a tracheophyte subgroup of kingdom plantae.
 The derivation of Lycopodophyta is from the Greek words ‘lykos’ which means
‘wolf’ and ‘podo’ meaning ‘foot’ based on the resemblance between the pattern
of a wolf foot and the branching form of Lycophytes
Phylum Lycophyta

8.  All living genera are herbaceous.
 Lycophytes have three orders;
 Order Lycopodium (Club mosses)
 Order Selaginella (Spike mosses)
 Order Isoetales (Quillworts)
Phylum Lycophyta Cont'd…

9.  Lycohpytes are found almost everywhere on Earth, excluding
Antarctica
 In growth habit, the aerial portions of sporophytes of Lycopodium
species may arise erectly from a system of rhizomes (underground
stems), or they may creep.
General Characteristics: Habitat & Habit

10. General Characteristic: Morphology
 The leaves of the Lycophyta
each have a single unbranched
vein, or strand of vascular
tissues.
 A cross section of the member
of the order Lycopodiales is
shown.

11.  In the Lycophytes, some leaves do more than merely
photosynthesize.
 The leaves of the Lycophyta each have a single unbranched vein, or
strand of vascular tissues, which supplies the leaf with water and
distributes manufactured nutrients to other portions of the plant.
General Characteristic: Mode of Nutrition

12. General Characteristics Cont'd…
 Lycophyta have rhizomes
from which arise
adventitious root; the
stem are clothed in
microphylls

13.  As with all plants, lycophytes have two alternations of generation
 The dominant generation in lycophytes is the sporophyte
generation which produces spores for reproduction.
 Multiple spores are developed in sporangia and dispersed by wind
and water
Reproduction In Lycophytes

14.  All up there is around 1,250 species of lycophytes currently living on Earth
 The majority of these species belong to the single genus of spike moss,
selaginella which includes approximately 700 species. There is also around 400
club mosses species and 150 quillworts species
 The lycophytes form the division of plants known as Lycopodiophyta
 Lycopodiophyta is separated into two classes: Lycopodiopsida and Isotopsida
Diversity and Taxonomy of Lycophytes

15.  Club Mosses, also called
ground pine, common name
for plants in the family
Lycopodiaceae.
 The sporophytes consist of
true roots, aerial stem and
scale-like leaves which are
microphylls
 The club shape appearance of
these fertile stems gives the
club mosses their common
name.
Order Lycopodium (Club Mosses)

16. General Characteristics of Lycopodim
• Habitat and Habit
 Club mosses are small, creeping,
terrestrial, epiphytic vascular plants and
often inhabit moist places and shaded
woodlands.
 In arctic and temperate regions, club
mosses are terrestrial; in the tropics they
are mostly epiphytes near the tops of
trees and seldom seen.

17. • Morphology
 The sporophyte of a club moss consists of true roots an
aerial stem and scale-like leaves which are microphylls.
 These are small and spirally arrange on an elongated
stem.
 The spore of club mosses are generally borne into singly
in the axle of specialized leaves (sporophylls), and these
are often aggregated into cone-like strobili
(strobilus).Club mosses have branching stems both
under the ground and above.
General Characteristics Cont'd

18. Structural components of Club mosses

19.  Club mosses, have a primitive reproductive strategy
 In many species of club mosses, club-like projections or “candles” held above the small
leave are known as strobili and have structures called sporangia. Each sporangia
produces numerous minute spores (lycopodium powder), which will germinate to form
a small, thin leafy stage of the plants life cycle known as the gametophyte.
 In many species of club mosses, the gametophyte stage develops underground
 Many species of club mosses also reproduce asexually by underground horizontal
stems (rhizomes or runners) or by special structures called gemmae that are groups of
cells on the tips of the stems that detach and form new plants.
Reproduction In Lycopodium

20. Life Cycle Of Club
Mosses

21.  The spike mosses are the most
diverse group of lycophytes.
• They often resemble club mosses
although they have two distinct
types of spores and a small scale-
like growth at the base of the
leaves.
• They include just a single genus,
Selaginella, which has a total of
around 700 species.
Order Selaginalles (Spike mosses)

22. General Characteristics of Spike mosses
• Habitat
 Most of the species inhabit damp
and shaded forests of tropics, but
some (e.g S. densa, S. rupestris,
S. lepidophylla) grow in
xerophytic habitats, such as
exposed rock surfaces.

23. • Morphology
 The sporophytic plant body of
Selaginella is differentiated into roots,
stems and leaves. Besides
 some species also have rhizophores.
General Characteristics Cont'd

24.  The sporophyte of Selaginella reproduces vegetatively and by spores
 Vegetative propagation in Selaginella takes place by tubers, bulbils,
dormant buds and by fragmentation.
 Selaginella produces two types of spores;
 Megaspores and Microspores
 The megaspores form female gametophytes on germination and the
microspore give rise to male gametophytes
Reproduction In Selaginella

25. Life Cycle of Selaginella (Spike mosses)

26.  Isoetales is an order of plants in the class Lycopodiopsida
 There are a about 140-150 living species, all of which are classified in the genus
Isoetes or Quillworts with a cosmopolitan distribution, but often scarce to rare
 Quillworts species are very difficult to distinguish by general appearance. The
best ways to identify them is by examining the megaspores under a microscope
 All quillworts and their extinct relatives are heterosporous.
Order Isoetales (Quillworts)

27. IMAGES OF QUILLWORTS

28. • Habitat and Habit
 Living species are mostly found in aquatic and
semi-aquatic environments, and are found in clear
ponds and slowly moving stream.
 Isoetales often form dense mats in Oligotrophic
(nutrients-poor), spring-fed lakes.
 Water colour in these lakes is usually clear but
occasionally can be tannin-stained (tea-colored).
General Characteristic of Isoetales

30. • Morphology
 Isoetes species are typically small plants with long, narrow leaves that grow
from the base of the plant.
 Quillworts leaves are hollow and quill-like, with a minute ligule at the base of
the upper surface arising from a central corm
 A quillwort leaf contains a single vein and four air chambers that run the length
of the leaf. It is the presence of a single veined leaf known as a ‘microphyll,
that distinguish the quillworts and other lycophytes from all other vascular
plants. .
General Characteristics Cont'd

32.  Isotales reproduce through a cycle of alternating generations between a
sporophyte and a gametophyte generation.
 In quillworts the sporophyte is the dominant generation and the
gametophyte requires the support of the sporophyte in order to survive.
 The sacs at the bottom of leaves create two types of spores, female
(megaspore, about 0.5 mm diameter) and male (microspores, a few
micrometers in diameter). These spores represent the gametophyte phase
of the life cycle.
Reproduction In Quillworts

33. Life Cycle of
Isotales
(Quillworts)

34.  Whisk Ferns either of two species of primitive ferns genus Psilotum in the
family Psilotaceae and the class Psilotopsida of the division Pteridophyta
(the lower vascular plants).
 There are two phases in the life cycle of a whisk fern.
 The large asexual plants (sporophytes) produce spores that develop into
very small colorless sexual plants (gametophytes), which are similar to
rhizomes in overall appearance. Eggs and sperm are produce in special
structures on their surfaces. Union of these gametes initiates the second
sporophyte phase.
Reproduction In Whisk Ferns

35. Life cycle of Whisk Ferns

36.  Mosses are economically important because they may be grown and sold as
food for other organisms.
 Large numbers of club moss spores produce a flash of light when ignited. This
characteristics was exploited at one time in the manufacture of theatrical
explosives and photographic flashlight powders.
 Club mosses is used as medicine to treat urinary and stomach disorder, reduce
fever.
 Club mosses have been used as ornamental plants.
Economic Importance of Lycophytes

37.  Many species of Selaginella have been used as traditional medicines. In India, S.
bryopteris is referred to as Sanjeevani—one that infuses life—for its medicinal
properties. In Columbia, S. articulata is used to treat snakebites and neutralize
Bothrops atrox venom.
 Throughout southern China, Selaginella is used as a popular herb for the
treatment of various ailments.
 Quillworts are used as a dye and give a soft green color.
They are used for polishing brass and hardwood.
Economic Importance Cont'd…

38.  Farmers add club mosses to their organic fertilizers because they provide
important good nutrient for crops such as corn and potatoes.
 Another importance of the two plants is that they provide shelter for other
organisms such as small insects.
 Quillworts serve as stabilizers in an ecosystem.
 Quillworts also enhance biodiversity.
 Quillworts occupy important ecological niches.
Ecological Importance Of Lycophytes

39. • Lycophytes are believed to be the oldest living lineage of vascular plants.
Lycophytes , also known as ‘ferns allies’, are a clade of vascular plants similar to
ferns, but have unique leaves called microphylls.
• The current name of the phylum, Lycophyta is a contraction of the earlier phylum
name Lycopodophyta, which is a tracheophyte subgroup of kingdom plantae.
 Lycophytes have three orders;
o Order Lycopodium (Club mosses)
o Order Selaginella (Spike mosses)
o Order Isoetales (Quillworts)
In Conclusion:

40.  Nabors, Murray W., INTRODUCTION TO BOTANY, Copyright 2004 Pearson
Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings, 1301 Sansome St., San
Francisco, CA 94111. www.aw-bc.com
 https://en.m.wikipedia.org
 https://basicbiology.net
 https://www.quora.com
Reference