lycophyte

lycophyte

▪ plant division
Introduction

      (division Lycopodiophyta or Lycophyta), any spore-bearing vascular plant that is one of the club mosses (club moss) and their allies, living and fossil. Present-day lycophytes are grouped in 6 genera (some botanists divide them into 15 or more): Huperzia, Lycopodiella, and Lycopodium, the club mosses or “ground pines”; Selaginella, the spike mosses; the unique tuberous plant Phylloglossum; and Isoetes, the quillworts. There are more than 1,200 species, widely distributed but especially numerous in the tropics. Representative extinct genera are Lepidodendron and Sigillaria, which were tree lycophytes, and Protolepidodendron, a herbaceous Lycopodium-like plant. Lycophytes are known from rocks of the Devonian Period (beginning 416 million years ago) and perhaps of the Silurian (as many as 444 million years ago). The remains of Lepidodendron and other extinct lycophytes form most of the great coal beds of the world.

General features
      Many of the ancient lycophytes, such as Lepidodendron, were trees that often exceeded 30 metres (100 feet) in height. The living genera are all small plants, some erect and others low creepers. Regardless of their size or geologic age, all share certain group features. Branching is usually dichotomous; that is, the shoot tip forks repeatedly. The two branches that result may be equal in length or may be of different lengths. The leaves are generally small, although they sometimes achieved a length of one metre (three feet) in the gigantic Lepidodendron. Generally each leaf, or microphyll, is narrow and has an unbranched midvein, in contrast to the leaves of the ferns and seed plants, which generally have branched venation. The sporangia (spore cases) occur singly on the adaxial side (the upper side facing the stem) of the leaf. The lycophytes generally bear conelike (cone) structures called strobili, which are tight aggregations of sporophylls (sporangium-bearing leaves).

Life cycle
      In the lycophytes, as in other vascular plants, there is an alternation of generations between a small, sex-cell-producing phase (gametophyte) and a conspicuous, spore-producing phase ( sporophyte). The members of one of the chief living families, Lycopodiaceae, are homosporous (with just one kind of spore). They have terrestrial or subterranean gametophytes that vary in size and shape depending on the genera.

      Although Lycopodium gametophytes are rarely found in nature, enough is known about them to recognize two fundamental types, based principally upon their mode of growth and nutrition. In some species the gametophyte becomes a small, green plant with numerous lobes, growing on the surface of the soil; the time interval between spore germination and sexual maturity of the gametophyte may be eight months to a year. In other species, including nearly all those of the north temperate zone, the gametophyte is subterranean, slower growing, and dependent upon an associated fungus for continued growth. The yellow to brown underground plant may become carrot-shaped, rod-shaped, or disk-shaped and 1 to 2 centimetres (0.4 to 0.8 inch) in length or width. Generally, a gametophyte of this type remains subterranean, and five or more years are required before it becomes sexually mature.

      Gametophytes are bisexual; i.e., the sperm-producing antheridia and the egg-producing archegonia occur on the same plant. Fertilization takes place after a flagellated sperm swims to the archegonium. The embryo, or young sporophyte, consists of a shoot, a root, and a food-absorbing outgrowth called a haustorial foot. Ultimately the sporophyte becomes physiologically independent of the gametophyte, and the latter dies.

      The other main extant genera—Selaginella (spike moss) (the only genus of the family Selaginellaceae) and Isoetes (quillwort) (the only genus of Isoetaceae)—are heterosporous (having two kinds of spores). Their gametophytes are microscopic and undergo most of their development while still within the spore wall (endosporic development). Definite strobili are formed in Selaginella, and the sporophylls generally differ from the vegetative leaves, although not as much as in the species of Lycopodium that form strobili. In Isoetes, sporangia are produced at the expanded concave bases of the quill-like leaves. There are two types of sporangia, called microsporangia and megasporangia; the sporophylls associated with them are termed microsporophylls and megasporophylls.

      Numerous microspores are produced in the microsporangium, and cell division within the microspore wall initiates male gametophyte development. These divisions may occur before the spores are shed from the microsporangium. Final development of the male gametophyte, or microgametophyte, usually occurs on the soil prior to the release of biflagellate sperm.

      In Selaginella, usually only four large megaspores are produced in a megasporangium. Development of the female gametophyte, or megagametophyte, also may begin while the megaspore is still within the megasporangium. Free nuclear divisions (without wall formation) occur for a time, but ultimately walls appear and the megagametophyte ruptures the megaspore wall. These final stages in development usually occur on the soil after the megaspore with the enclosed female gametophyte is shed from the megasporangium. Fertilization occurs when a sperm swims to an archegonium. The young sporophyte remains in physical contact with the megaspore and the enclosed female gametophyte tissue for some time.

      The processes of sexual reproduction of Isoetes are very similar to those of Selaginella, except that the sperm are multiflagellate and many more spores are formed per sporangium. In fact, the microsporangia of some species are the largest among vascular plants and produce several thousand spores.

Form and function
      In growth habit, the aerial portions of sporophytes of Lycopodium species may rise erectly from a system of rhizomes (rhizome) (underground stems), or they may creep. Many are epiphytes; i.e., they grow attached to tree branches or other supports. Branching is usually dichotomous, but in species with well-developed rhizomes one branch of a dichotomy usually becomes much longer and larger than the other and remains close to the surface. The shorter one may undergo several limited dichotomies, the ultimate upright branches terminating in strobili. The leaves may be spirally arranged or grouped in four vertical rows along the shoot. Each leaf has one unbranched midvein. Adventitious roots, initiated near the shoot tip, may grow within the stem cortex for some distance before emerging. The roots branch dichotomously, but no extensive root system is formed.

      The stem is protostelic (without a central pith), but there is great variety in the disposition of xylem and phloem in the central vascular cylinder. Sporophylls may be aggregated into definite strobili, or there simply may be fertile and sterile regions along a stem, the sporophylls resembling vegetative leaves. Often the sporophylls of compact strobili differ from the vegetative leaves of the same plant.

      Selaginella species have foliage leaves only a few millimetres long; they may be dark green or bluish and in some species are iridescent. As in Lycopodium, branching is usually dichotomous. The sporophyte may consist of several upright branches from a rhizome, prostrate branches creeping along the surface of the soil, or large, flat, erect, frondlike side branches from strong rhizome systems. The entire branch system often resembles a fern leaf. One distinctive feature of Selaginella is the rhizophore, a proplike structure that originates at a point of branching and that forks dichotomously after making contact with the soil or a hard surface. Rhizophores are most readily seen in clambering species. Morphologically, the rhizophore is considered to be a root, although on occasion it can give rise to leafy branches if the normally leafy branches are cut off. Anisophylly (the occurrence of two sizes of leaves) occurs in most species of Selaginella, especially those of the wet tropics.

      Another distinctive feature in Selaginella is the presence of an unusual structure on the adaxial side of a leaf; this is the ligule, a peculiar tonguelike outgrowth from the leaf surface near the leaf base. Leaves of Lycopodium and Selaginella can be differentiated on this basis. The ligule, which appears very early in the development of a leaf, is a surprisingly complex structure at maturity. Its evolutionary origin is obscure. Functionally, ligules are believed to be secretory organs that, by exuding water and possibly mucilage, serve to keep young leaves and sporangia moist. Short-lived structures, they become shrunken and inconspicuous in older leaves. The ligule was a characteristic feature of the extinct giant lycophytes such as Lepidodendron.

      Isoetes species have a plant body that is relatively small, consisting of a short compact axis (corm) and tufts of leaves and roots. Many species are similar in appearance to certain aquatic grasses and other aquatic flowering plants. The majority of species occur in the cooler regions of the world and are often immersed continuously in water. Each leaf is actually a sporophyll, bearing either a microsporangium or a megasporangium which is embedded in its base on the adaxial side. Each leaf also has a ligule, similar to that of Selaginella. Isoetes differs from both Selaginella and Lycopodium in the occurrence of secondary growth in the stem and the possession of a definite root-producing meristem. The sets of roots arise in a definite sequence, in contrast to the more or less irregularly produced roots of all other extant lower vascular plants. This sequence resembles that of its presumed ancestors Lepidodendron and Pleuromeia.

Cytogenetics
      As in the ferns, the heterosporous representatives have much lower chromosome numbers than do the homosporous groups. Thus, Selaginella and Isoetes have x = 9 or 10 (Selaginella) and 11 (Isoetes), whereas Lycopodium and Phylloglossum have a wide range of higher numbers, which are correlated with subgenera or genera: x = 23 (Diphasiastrum), 34 (Lycopodium in the strict sense), 35 (Pseudolycopodiella), 39 (Lycopodiella), 67 to 68 (Huperzia and Phlegmariurus), and 104 to 156 (Palhinhaea). Phylloglossum has x = about 250. Hybridization is rare in Selaginella but common in Isoetes and the terrestrial species of Lycopodium.

Evolution and classification

Fossil forms
      The lycophytes represent a wide range of extinct and living plants that have contributed important data on evolutionary trends in primitive vascular plants. The earliest lycophytes included Baragwanathia and Protolepidodendron, dating from the early Devonian Period. Both were small herbaceous plants. During the Carboniferous Period, which followed (beginning about 360 million years ago), the treelike forms of the Lepidodendrales appeared.

      Over the years, fossil parts of lepidodendronic plants have been discovered and assigned by taxonomists to so-called form genera, or organ genera: Lepidophyllum for detached leaf fossils, Lepidostrobus for fossil strobili. These form genera are now recognized as portions of one main fossil genus designated Lepidodendron. Some other lycophytes coexisting with the tree lycophytes were small herbaceous plants that resembled modern Lycopodium and Selaginella species.

Annotated classification
      Groups marked with a dagger (†) in the listing below are extinct and known only from fossils.

Division Lycopodiophyta or Lycophyta (lycophytes (lycophyte); club mosses and allies)
 Primitive, seedless vascular plants with true roots, stems, and leaves; sporangia associated with leaf bases, the fertile leaves often aggregated to form cones; distributed worldwide but concentrated in the tropics.
      †Order Protolepidodendrales
 Extinct herbaceous (rarely woody), homosporous lycophytes; about 8 genera, including Baragwanathia and Protolepidodendron.

      †Order Lepidodendrales
 Extinct tree lycophytes, therefore capable of secondary growth; heterosporous, with some strobili (cones) forming seedlike structures; about 6 genera, including Lepidodendron and Sigillaria.

      Order Lycopodiales (club mosses)
 Living and extinct plants with primary growth only; homosporous; 4 living genera, mostly tropical: Huperzia (300 species), Lycopodium (club moss) (40 species), Lycopodiella (40 species), and Phylloglossum (1 species), the latter of which is restricted to Australia and New Zealand; includes the extinct Lycopodites.

      Order Selaginellales (spike mosses (spike moss))
 Living and extinct plants with primary growth only; heterosporous; the sole living genus is Selaginella, with nearly 800 species, widely distributed around the world; Selaginellites is an extinct genus.

      Order Isoetales (quillworts)
 Living and extinct plants with secondary growth; heterosporous, with endosporic gametophytes; Isoetites is an extinct genus; a specialized group of species from the high Andes Mountains is sometimes segregated as a distinct genus, Stylites; for many years the species of Isoetes (quillwort) were difficult to distinguish, but, since the discovery that frequent hybridization was obscuring the differences between species, they are more clearly understood; Isoetes includes about 150 species in swampy, cooler parts of the world.

      †Order Pleuromeiales
 Extinct unbranched plants, with subterranean, rootlike rhizophores; heterosporous; a single fossil genus, Pleuromeia.

Critical appraisal
      This group is treated as a separate division, Lycopodiophyta, in recognition of its distinctive reproductive structures and long fossil history. Students of the group are finding increasing evidence to support the division of Lycopodium into 3 or more genera. The traditional Lycopodium has 3 major groups now recognized as distinct genera (with nearly a dozen genera recognized by some botanists), based on different chromosome numbers, spore sculpturing, and gametophyte morphology. Similarly, Selaginella has been divided into 2–4 groups on the basis of differences in spores and leaves. These groupings appear to be natural, but it is too soon to say whether these subdivisions will receive general acceptance as genera among botanists.

Ernest M. Gifford John T. Mickel

Additional Reading
A comprehensive summary of paleobotanical knowledge is provided in Thomas N. Taylor and Edith L. Taylor, The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants (1993). Current research in the field is assembled by the American Fern Society in its publications American Fern Journal (quarterly) and Fiddlehead Forum (bimonthly); and by the British Pteridological Society in The Fern Gazette (annual) and Pteridologist (annual).John T. Mickel, How to Know the Ferns and Fern Allies (1979), with keys, brief descriptions, and illustrations, is the first manual to cover all of North America. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.), Flora of North America, North of Mexico, vol. 2, Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms (1993), treats the diversity of lycophytes in the United States, Canada, and Greenland with keys, descriptions, maps, and drawings. Rolla M. Tryon, Alice F. Tryon, and Walter H. Hodge, Ferns and Allied Plants (1982), summarizes the genera of tropical American pteridophytes with descriptions, maps, discussions, and many illustrations. John T. Mickel and Joseph M. Beitel, Pteridophyte Flora of Oaxaca, Mexico (1988), provides a well-illustrated and informative pteridophyte manual for a Latin American region.Life cycle and habitats are discussed in A.F. Dyer and Christopher N. Page (eds.), Biology of Pteridophytes (1985), a collection of symposium papers on a broad range of topics; Barbara Joe Hoshizaki, Fern Growers Manual, rev. and expanded ed. (2001), a good introduction to horticulture with encyclopaedic information on the species in cultivation; and Christopher N. Page, Ferns: Their Habitats in the British and Irish Landscape (1988), with excellent illustrations of habitats and ecology.Studies of form and function include K.R. Sporne, The Morphology of Pteridophytes: The Structure of Ferns and Allied Plants, 4th ed. (1975), a concise summary of ideas on fern structure; John T. Mickel, Ferns for American Gardens (1994, reissued 2003), a useful compilation of information on fern morphology, diversity, and cultivation; and Lenore W. May, “The Economic Uses and Associated Folklore of Ferns and Fern Allies,” The Botanical Review 44(4):491–528 (October 1978), a summary of the diverse uses to which ferns have been put.The origin and evolution of ferns and fern allies is detailed in I. Manton, Problems of Cytology and Evolution in the Pteridophyta (1950), a milestone in the biology of ferns containing, for the first time, accurate data on chromosomes in relation to evolution and systematics; and J.D. Lovis, “Evolutionary Patterns and Processes in Ferns,” Advances in Botanical Research, 4:229–439 (1977), an outstanding summary of the knowledge of fern phylogeny and classification. Also useful are appropriate sections of Robert F. Scagel et al., An Evolutionary Survey of the Plant Kingdom (1965); Ernest M. Gifford and Adriance S. Foster, Morphology and Evolution of Vascular Plants, 3rd ed. (1989); and David W. Bierhorst, Morphology of Vascular Plants (1971), which provides detailed treatments of vascular plants together with theory and interpretation. Paul Kenrick and Peter R. Crane, The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants (1997), summarizes modern views on the evolution of the major lineages of land plants.Benjamin Øllgaard, Index of the Lycopodiaceae (1989), contains a clear, detailed discussion of the taxonomic characters, genera, and species groups of the family Lycopodiaceae. Other more general works on classification include J.A. Crabbe, A.C. Jermy, and John T. Mickel, “A New Generic Sequence for the Pteridophyte Herbarium,” The Fern Gazette, 11(2/3):141–162 (1975), a list of pteridophyte genera in a phylogenetic sequence. The most recent comprehensive summary of the class is K.U. Kramer and P.S. Green, Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms (1990).Warren H. Wagner, Jr. Ernest M. Gifford John T. Mickel

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