Class: Psilotopsida Order: Psilotales Family: Psilotaceae Genus: Psilotum

1. PSILOTUM

2. SYSTEMATIC POSITION
• Class: Psilotopsida
• Order: Psilotales
• Family: Psilotaceae
• Genus: Psilotum

3. DISTRIBUTION
• Commonly known as Whisk fern.
• Represented by only two species P.nudum and P.flaccidum.
• P.nudum is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics. It is found in
Florida,Hawaii,New Zealand etc and in India it is found in Assam,Bengal,Kulu
etc.
• P.nudum is an erect,slender,shrubby plant found in the crevices of rocks but
sometimes it occur as epiphyte also. Attains to a height of 25cm. It is
cultivated in green houses and Botanical gardens.
• P.flaccidum is found in Mexico, Jamaica and some pacific islands.It is a rare
species and a pendulous epiphyte which can grow up to 90cm in length.
• Psilotum species occur as epiphytes generally on trees,on the trunks of
coconut trees or at the vase of trees. P.flaccidum differs from P.nudum in
possessing flattened stem.

4. EXTERNAL MORPHOLOGY

5. • Plant body is sporophytic and consists of subterranean rhizome and
an erect aerial shoot.
RHIZOME
• Rhizome is cylindrical , irregularly, extensively and dichotomously
branched,prostrate.
• It is brown in colour and lack roots.
• Rhizoids are present instead of roots which helps in absorption and
anchorage.
• Often associated with the rhizome,there will be an intracellular
mycorrhizal fungus whose hyphae enter through the rhizoids and
reach the cortex.
• Sometimes the tips of immature rhizoids give rise to gemmae which
helps in vegetative propagation.
• The branches of rhizome, which are near the surface and also
exposed to light ,ultimately turn into aerial shoots.

6. AERIAL SHOOT
• Aerial shoots are slender,green,upright, ridged
and dichotomously branched.
• In terrestrial forms, they grow upright and in
epiphytes, the hangs down from the host plant.
• The basal part of aerial shoot is usually smooth
and cylindrical. But their distal part is
longitudinally ribbed in P.nudum and flat in
P.flaccidum.
• The aerial shoots of P.nudum are short (15-
20cm) while those of P.flaccidum are long (upto
90cm) .
• In the absence of true leaves, green aerial
shoots function as photosynthetic organs.

7. APPENDAGES
• Aerial shoots are devoid of true leaves. They bear
small,scale like appendages which are devoid of
vascular traces and stomata.
• In P.nudum ,they are arranged spirally or maybe
irregularly distributed.
• In P.flaccidum they are arranged in subopposite pairs.
• The appendages are absent on rhizome and at the
extreme basal part of the aerial shoots.
• In the terminal part of the shoots,fertile appendages
can be seen. In the axils of these fertile appendages,
trilobite sporangia called synangia can be seen.

8. ANATOMY

9. I. AERIAL SHOOT
Transverse section of the aerial shoot is irregular in outline due to the
presence of ridges and grooves. It consist of three parts namely Epidermis,
Cortex and Stele.
1.EPIDERMIS
• well developed single layered epidermis.
• Cells are elongated and protected by thick cuticle.
• Sunken stomata present. It shows the xerophytic feature.
• The stomata are without subsidiary cells ,a situation comparable to
gymnosperms.

10. 2. CORTEX
A well developed cortex is present which is differentiated into
three zones.
OUTER CORTEX:
• Made up of 2 to 5 layers of thin walled,elongated, chlorophyll
containing cells.
• Intercellular spaces present.
• This zone is photosynthetic.
MIDDLE CORTEX
• Made up of 4 to 5 layers of closely packed,thick walled,
sclerenchymatous cells.
• Provides mechanical support.
INNER CORTEX
• Broadest zone.
• Consist of thin walled parenchymatous cells with no
intercellular spaces.
• Cells rich in starch reserves.
Endodermis: Well developed with casparian strips.

11. 3. STELE
• In the rhizome,it is a protostele with central
core of xylem completely surrounded by
phloem.The xylem core is not starshaped or
lobed.There is no pith.
• In the transit zone between rhizome and aerial
shoot,the xylem becomes lobed and as many as
ten lobes can be counted.The protoxylem
occupies the tips of the lobes.The phloem
occurs in between the lobes and forms irregular
patches. Here the stele is actinostelic
protostele. There is no pith.
• In the middle of aerial shoot,the number of
xylem lobes are reduced to 5 or 7 and pith
appears in the centre. Here it changes from
protostele to siphonostele.

12. • In all these cases the xylem is exarch and consist of only tracheids.
• The protoxylem has spiral tracheids whereas the metaxylem has
scalariform or pitted tracheids.
• The phloem consist of sieve tubes and phloem parenchyma.The
sieve tubes are vertically elongated with slight lignification and have
sieve plates.

13. C.S

14. III. RHIZOME
The anatomy of rhizome is somewhat similar to aerial shoot.
very small rhizomes of less than 1mm diameter is without
any vascular tissues and is uniformly parenchymatous. The
stele gets differentiated in some larger rhizomes.
The following structures can be observed in rhizomes with a
diameter of more than 2mm.
★ Epidermis:single layered,uninterrupted,made up of thin
walled cells.
★ Cortex:well developed and differentiated into three
regions.
★ Outer cortex:contain many hyphae of endophytic
mycorrhizal fungus.
★ Middle cortex:consist of parenchymatous cells storing
starch.
★ Inner cortex:two to four layered,cells are brown in colour
due to deposition of phlobaphene which is compound
formed as result of oxidation and condensation of tannins.
★ Endodermis: distinct with casparian strips.
★ Pericycle:single layered and parenchymatous.
★ Stele: protostele,xylem surrounded by phloem, xylem not
differentiated into metaxylem and protoxylem.Pith absent.

15. III. APPENDAGES
The anatomy of appendage is simple .It
consist of Epidermis and Mesophyll.
❖ Epidermis: single layered,cutinized,stomata
absent.
❖ Mesophyll: consist of chlorophyll
containing parenchymatous cells
• No differentiation into palisade and spongy
tissues.
• More intercellular spaces in Psilotum
nudum than Psilotum flaccidum.
In the absence of stomata and vascular
traces,the leaves are not photosynthetic in
function.

16. REPRODUCTION

17. The sporophytic plant reproduces vegetatively and also by spores.
VEGETATIVE REPRODUCTION
• Vegetative reproduction takesplace by means of ovoid,minute,one cell
thick,multicellular outgrowths developing on the rhizome. These
outgrowths are called gemmae.Gemmae cells contain starch.
• They undergo germination and produce new sporophytes which in turn
produce new gemmae and repeat the cycle.
• Germination of sporophytic gemmae occur when they remain attached
to the parent plant and also after falling to an ideal substratum.
• Gemmae like structures also develop on the gametophyte also. They are
structurally similar to those occuring on the sporophyte. They germinate
and produce new prothalli to repeat the cycle.
• Vegetative reproduction also takesplace by the death of the older parts
of the rhizome. The younger parts of rhizome separate from the dead
rhizome and grow as independent plants.

18. REPRODUCTION BY SPORES
• Reproduction by spores occur when the sporophytic plant
attains maturity.
• Spores are produced within the trilobite sporangia called
synangia which is formed by the fusion of 2 or more sporangia.
• A synangium develop on a small fertile appendage, subtended
by a forked bract.
• They together constitute of sporangium complex.

19. STRUCTURE OF SYNANGIUM
• Synangium is a trilocular (three chambered) spore
bearing structure in Psilotum.
• It is considered as a fusion product of three sporangia.
• Location: axils of fertile appendages on the aerial shoot.
• Wall is 3 to 4 layered.
• Thick outer wall forms the epidermis.
• Inner wall separates the three chambers.
• Each locule is filled with large numbers of bean shaped
spores and they are of homosporous type.
• Synangium splits along the three longitudinal lines of
dehiscence thereby releasing spores.

20. DEVELOPMENT OF SPORANGIUM
• Development of sporangium is of eusporangiate type.
• Early stages of the sporangial development indicate that each of the
three sporangia of a group develops from a single epidermal cell of the
sporangiophore.
• This initial cell divides periclinally to form outer primary jacket cell and
an inner primary archesporial cell.
• The jacket cell undergoes repeated anticlinal and periclinal divisions to
form 4 to 5 cells thick jacket layer. The outermost layer becomes the
epidermis.
• The primary archesporial cell divides repeatedly to form sporogenous
cells which differentiate into sporogenous tissue.
• Psilotum differ from most of the other pteridophytes because neither
its outermost sporogenous cells nor innermost jacket cells develop into
tapetum.

21. • Some of the cells of the sporogenous tissue divide and redivide and
give rise to spore mother cells (SMC) while the remaining cells of
the sporogenous tissue develop into a plasmodial mass of spores. It
provides nourishment to the sporocytes at the same time.
• Spore mother cells undergo meiosis to form large number of spore
tetrads within the Sporangium.The spores formed in the tetrads are
colorless and kidney shaped and they are homosporous.
• The spores are dispersed along the line of dehiscence.

23. SPORES IN PSILOTUM
• Spores are homosporus.
• Mature spores are kidney
shaped.(average 0.065-0.032mm)
• The two curved ends of the mature
spores are joined by a narrow slit.
• On either side of the
slit,thick,Smooth, border called lip is
present.
• Outer coat of the spore is exine and
inner coat is called the intine.

24. DEVELOPMENT & STRUCTURE OF GAMETOPHYTE
• The spore germination is a slow process which takes 3-4months .
• The germinating spore absorbs water and swells.as a result, the turgor
pressure inside increases, the exine opens along the median slit. All the
inner contents, covered by the thin membrane of intine,project out in
the form of a conical mound.
• With the formation of transverse wall,a basal large spherical cell is
separated from the upper extruded cell. The basal cell remains covered
by the portions of the ruptured outer wall.
• The upper cell divides by two intersecting oblique divisions to form and
apical cell.
• This apical cell leads to the formation of the prothallus

26. • This results in the formation of prothallus provided with rhizoids.
Prothallus represents the gametophyte.
• The prothallus is simple,irregularly dichotomising,cylindrical,
subterraneous measuring 0.5 to 2mm in diameter and upto 18mm
in length. It is pale yellow to dark brown in color and covered with
hair like rhizoids. Over the entire surface of the prothallus,
antheridia and archegonia are scattered without any definite
arrangement.
• The prothalli are penetrated by an endophytic fungus in their early
stages of development, which provides nutrients to the prothallus.
Thus the prothallus is saprophytic. It usually lacks vascular tissue.

28. SEX ORGANS
The gametophyte is monoecious with male and
female sex organs,they are scattered over the
surface of the gametophyte.
ANTHERIDIUM
• It is the male sex organ.
• In Psilotum it is projected out or emergent.
• Mature antheridium is a semi spherical structure.
• It is surrounded by a well defined jacket which is
single layered and one cell thick.

29. • The jacket encloses a mass of spirally coiled and multiflagellate
antherozoids which are unicellular, uninucleate and mutlciliate
in Psilotum.
The jacket contains only one opercular cell.
• They are liberated through a passage formed by the
disintegration of the opercular cell.

30. ARCHEGONIUM
• It is the female sex organ.
• It is usually embedded in the prothallus and consist of
projecting neck .
• The neck consist of generally six tiers of four cells
each,2 neck canal nuclei and venter region encloses
one venter canal cell and an egg cell.
• 2 cover cells are present at the tip of the neck region.

31. FERTILIZATION
• Fertilization takes place with the help of water.
• Antherozoids are attracted chemotactically towards the archegonium.
• A chemical substance comes out from the open archegonium, it
functions as a sperm attractor, contains large amount of organic and
inorganic compounds, especially malic acid and fumaric acid.
• The neck canal nuclei and venter canal nuclei disintegrate to form a
free passage for the entry of antherozoids.
• During fertilization antherozoids swim down along this canal and fuses
with the egg to form a diploid zygote.

32. DEVELOPMENT OF SPOROPHYTE
• Zygote is the first cell of sporophytic
generation.
• It enlarges in size and completely fills the
venter cavity.
• It divides to form an outer epibasal cell and an
inner hypobasal cell.
• The epibasal cell undergo repeated division to
form shoot and hypobasal cell form the foot.
• This type of embryogeny in which the shoot
forming cell is directed towards the neck of the
archegonium is called exoscopic embryogeny.

33. • After the formation of epibasal and hypobasal cells, both of them undergo
longitudinal division to form four cells.
• Further divisions are irregular (Holloway,1939)
• Some of the cells of the foot undergo transverse division to form finger like
rows of cells.
• These finger like structures penetrate into the gametophytic tissue.
• With the help of some regular divisions of the epibasal cell, a three sided apical
cell is formed.
• A typical rhizome is soon formed which is infected by an endophytic
mycorrhizal fungus.
• Then the rhizome branches dichotomously. Some of these branches turn
upward and develop to aerial shoots and thus a new sporophytic plant is
formed.

34. LIFE CYCLE
• The plant body of Psilotum is a diploid sporophyte.
• Synangium is the trilobite sporangia which bears the spores.
• Inside the Synangium, the diploid SMC undergo meiosis to form
haploid spores.
• They germinate to form the haploid prothallus(monoecious ).
• Antheridium produces antherozoids and archegonium
produces egg
• Fertilization occurs and a diploid zygote is formed.
• The zygote develop into embryo which later form the mature
plant body ,diploid sporophyte and the cycle is repeated.

36. Thank you
Submitted to ,
Dr. Liza Jacob
Head of the department
Department of Botany
St Teresa’s college
Ernakulam
Submitted by,
Silpa Selvaraj
Roll no: 13
I Msc Botany
St Teresa’s college
Ernakulam