5 Types of Plants With Spores (With Photos)

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Spores are usually present in some plants and are reproductive cells capable of developing into another new plant without fusion. Spores multiply through asexual reproduction before they can give rise to a new organism, and algae, bacteria, fungi, and certain plants produce these spores.

Some popular types of plants with spores include liverworts, ferns, mosses, hornworts, and several other examples we would know about later on.

So we hope you stick with us as we get to show you some of these plants that come with spores. 

Types of Plants With Spores 

There are several plants with the ability to produce spores, but some of the common plants with the ability to produce spores include; 

1. Ferns 

Ferns are plants that do not have flowers; their primary reproducing form is spore formation. Ferns do not look too different from flowering plants; they have roots, stems, and even leaves, but the significant difference is that they cannot produce seeds and even flowers. 

Since ferns cannot reproduce asexually like other plants, they produce sexually by tiny spores.,people usually group ferns used to be grouped with some other spore-bearing vascular plants known as the fern allies.

Still, as evolution took place, it was discovered that ferns are more closely related to the “horsetails,” Now, you can group horse tails with ferns.

See Also: Best Potted Plants For Pool Area

2. Liverworts 

Liverworts are classified chiefly as non-vascular terrestrial plants, and their name is not just random. The name “liverwort” was used because, in ancient times, people believed that these liverworts could cure certain liver diseases. Liverworts belong to the kingdom Plantae and division marchantiophyta. 

These liverworts are overlooked most times because of their minor nature, but you can technically find liverworts wherever you find plants growing.

The reason is that liverworts carry out the alternation of the generation where you can display a single species of plant in various forms. There is also a sporophyte that can produce haploid spores, and these spores cannot be able to fuse like gametes, so they grow as a new organism instead. 

3. Mosses 

Mosses are tiny plants that produce stems, leaves, and spores, except that, like the ferns, they do not have true roots.

Mosses are classified under Bryophyta under the kingdom Plantae and are very ancient plants that can date back to 450 million years. Mosses have survived drastic climate changes, so they can be said to be hardy plants. 

Mosses may not have a callous look, but they are more challenging than they look. Mosses can grow appropriately in any climate conditions like cold snows and hot desserts, and because of this, they can occupy areas like mountainsides and hard rocks. 

Mosses also function like sponges and can hold on to whatever little water they get from rainfall or watering. As a result, mosses are essential plants because they play a vital role in the development of the ecosystem.

So, if wildfire and deforestation attacked the land with wildfire or deforestation, they were among the first plant colonizers that helped stabilize the surface of the earth and retain water. 

4. Hornworts 

Hornworts, like other plants, are flowerless and also produce spores. Hornworts are bryophytes that belong to the division antherocerotophyta and have horn-like structures that you can widely find in humid or damp areas. Some notable characteristics of hornworts include:

  • They lack true roots, stems, and leaves, and their main body is flattened like a thallus. Since they produce gametes, you can classify these hornworts as gametophytes
  • Each thallus of this plant consists of a chloroplast that is useful in aiding photosynthesis
  • Many of these hornworts have a unique feature known as the pyrenoids, and what these pyrenoids do is that they help fix photosynthesis carbon in the plant
  • Hornworts can produce multicellular structures called sporophytes, which are the ones to get attached to the photosynthetic gametophytes and derive nutrients from them
  • Most of these hornworts have a true stoma on their sporophyte

5. Green Algae

Green algae belong to the division Chlorophyta and have about 9,000-12,000 species. The photosynthesis pigments; carotene and chlorophyll) in this plant is the same as those in the higher plants.

A typical green alga, motile or non-motile, consists of a central vacuole pigment that is contained in plastids that varies and a pectin wall and two-layered celluloses.

Green algae have a variable shape and size, and their food is stored in starch in pyrenoids. Most of these green algae occur in freshwater habitats and usually attach themselves to rocks and decayed wood as scum. However, terrestrial species also do not occur in water bodies.

See Also: Trees That Don’t Lose Their Leaves

Frequently Asked Questions 

What Are the Types of Spores?

Various types of spores are produced in various organisms. Some of these types include; exospores, sexual spores, asexual spores, endospores, megaspores, microspores, and vegetative spores. 

What Is the Use of Green Algae?

Green spores are helpful in medical lines for treating high blood pressure and are also a protein supplement. Although green algae have also been said to be a cure for high cholesterol levels, diabetes in the blood and obesity, and several other health conditions, there is no scientific backing to prove this. 

Is There a Simpler Definition for Ferns?

Ferns are simply plants that do not have flowers. They resemble all other plants with roots, stems, and leaves, but they don’t have flowers and reproduce with spores. 

What Are Some Essential Features of Ferns?

Some features characteristic of ferns are that ferns are seedless, vascular, and humid tropics. These ferns constitute a good number of primitive vascular plants with over 10,000 species as they also have a saprophytic plant body. 

What Grows from A Spore?

Plants without seeds like ferns are mosses that develop from the spores, and when these plants grow, they begin to produce other spores. The primary phase of this plant life cycle for non-vascular plants is the gametophyte generation, which is the sexual phase. 

Do Fungi Have Spores?

The spores on fungi are microscopic, meaning you won’t be able to see them with your ordinary eyes. In addition, most fungi require warmth and humidity for them to be able to grow normally and also to produce and release their spores to the environment. 

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