Nicole B.

Apita
Grade IV Sincerity
A fern is a member of a group of about 10,560 known extant species[3] ofvascular plants that
reproduce via spores and have neither seeds norflowers. They differ frommosses by being vascular
(i.e. having water-conducting vessels). They have branched stems andleaves, like other vascular
plants. These are megaphylls, more complex than the simple microphylls of clubmosses. Most ferns
have what are called fiddleheads that expand into fronds, which are each delicately divided.[4]
Leptosporangiate ferns(sometimes called true ferns) are by far the largest group, but ferns as
defined here (ferns sensu lato) include horsetails,whisk ferns, marattioid ferns, and ophioglossoid
ferns. This group may be referred to asmonilophytes. The termpteridophyte traditionally refers to
ferns plus a few other seedless vascular plants (see the classification section below), although some
recent authors have used the term to refer strictly to the monilophytes.
Ferns first appear in the fossil record 360 million years ago in the lateDevonian period[5] but many of
the current families and species did not appear until roughly 145 million years ago in the
earlyCretaceous, after flowering plants came to dominate many environments. The fern Osmunda
claytoniana is a paramount example of evolutionary stasis. Paleontological evidence indicates it has
remained unchanged, even at the level of fossilized nuclei and chromosomes, for at least 180 million
years.[6]
Ferns are not of major economic importance, but some are grown or gathered for food,
as ornamental plants, for remediating contaminated soils, and have been the subject of research for
their ability to remove some chemical pollutants from the air. Some are significant weeds. They also
play a role in mythology, medicine, and art.

Nicole B. Apita
Grade IV Sincerity

Mosses are small flowerlessplants that typically grow in dense green clumps or mats, often in damp
or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple, one-cell thickleaves,
attached to a stemthat may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting
water and nutrients. Although some species have vascular tissue this is generally poorly developed
and structurally different from similar tissue found in other plants.[3] They do not have seeds and after
fertilisation developsporophytes (unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores).
They are typically 0.210 cm (0.13.9 in) tall, though some species are much larger, likeDawsonia,
the tallest moss in the world, which can grow to 50 cm (20 in) in height.
Mosses are commonly confused with lichens,hornworts, and liverworts.[4]Lichens may superficially
look like mosses, and have common names that include the word "moss" (e.g., "reindeer moss" or
"iceland moss"), but are not related to mosses.[4]:3 Mosses used to be grouped together with the
hornworts and liverworts as "non-vascular" plants in the former division "bryophytes", all of them
having the haploid gametophytegeneration as the dominant phase of the life cycle. This contrasts
with the pattern in all "vascular" plants (seed plants andpteridophytes), where
the diploid sporophyte generation is dominant.

Nicole B. Apita
Grade IV Sincerity
Mosses are now classified on their own as the division Bryophyta. There are approximately 12,000
species.[2]
The main commercial significance of mosses is as the main constituent of peat (mostly the
genus Sphagnum), although they are also used for decorative purposes, such as in gardens and in
theflorist trade. Traditional uses of mosses included as insulation and for the ability to absorb liquids
up to 20 times their weight.