Club mosses, horsetails, ferns, and whisk ferns are examples of what type of plants?
angiosperms
cycads
gymnosperms
seedless vascular plants
Seedless Vascular Plants By the Late Devonian period (385 million years ago), plants had evolved vascular tissue, well-defined leaves, and root systems. With these advantages, plants increased in height and size. During the Carboniferous period (359–299 million years ago), swamp forests of club mosses and horsetails, with some specimens reaching more than 30 meters tall, covered most of the land. These forests gave rise to the extensive coal deposits that gave the Carboniferous its name. In seedless vascular plants, the sporophyte became the dominant phase of the lifecycle. Water is still required for fertilization of seedless vascular plants, and most favor a moist environment. Modern-day seedless vascular plants include club mosses, horsetails, ferns, and whisk ferns. Club Mosses The club mosses, or Lycophyta, are the earliest group of seedless vascular plants. They dominated the landscape of the Carboniferous period, growing into tall trees and forming large swamp forests. Today’s club mosses are diminutive, evergreen plants consisting of a stem (which may be branched) and small leaves called microphylls (Figure 14.13). The division Lycophyta consists of close to 1,000 species, including quillworts (Isoetales), club mosses (Lycopodiales), and spike mosses (Selaginellales): none of which is a true moss.