This division includes club mosses, horsetails and ferns.

The oldest known pteridophytes are fossils from the end

of the silurian period, 380 million years ago.Pteridophyta
constitutes the earliest known vascular plants. Vascular
plants are those plants that contain the vascular tissue
that is the conducting tissues of xylem and phloem.
Sometimes all vascular plants are included in one division
the Tracheophyta . This is to emphasis the advance
nature of vascular tissue over the simple conducting cells
of some Bryophytes and Algae. Tracheophyta includes
pteridophytes and the more advanced spermatophytes
(seed bearing plants)as two subdivisions. Presence of
vascular tissue is a feature of the sporophyte generation,
which in the bryophytes is small and dependent on the
gametophyte. The occurrence of vascular tissue in the

the sporophyte is one reason why sporophyte generation

has become the dominant one in all vascular plants. The
vascular tissue of pteridophytes
shows certain primitive features compared with
flowering plants. The xylem of pteridophytes contains
only tracheids rather than vessels and the phloem
contains sieve cells rather than sieve tubes. Vascular
tissue has two important roles to perform. Firstly it forms
a transport system, conducting water and food around
the multi- cellular body, thus leading to the development
of large, complex bodies. Secondly, xylem, one of the
vascular tissues, supports these large bodies since xylem
contains lignified cells of great

:- Pteridophytes occur in both hills as well as in plains in

cold, moist and shady places. They also occur in humid
and tropical climates and usually grow on soil, rocks, in
ponds and as epiphytes on other plants. Many ferns rely
on the associations of the mycorrhizal fungi. The ferns
grown in specific pH ranges with higher levels of acid
such as the bulblet bladder fern are only found on
limestone
Pteriodophtes in water
tolerates different exposures of

in semi-aquatic habitats, where it

.

sunlight (full sun to full shade). It cannot tolerate freezing tem

The shoots are characterized by presence of apical

meristem at their tip which are respioncible for branching
and organ formation
The shoots exhibit two types of branching

.
The roots and shoot apex divides into two sister apices
each developing in to branch of equal size, for example in

Psilotum

In this type the branches develop literally some distance

behind main shoot apex from oxillary buds. It is

dominant type of branching in seed plants and found in

few vascular cryptogams.

The most primitive fossil pteriodophytes rhynia was

leafless .the axis of living genus psilotum also bear small
appendages without vascular supply . in lycopodium and
selaginella these appendages are small but leaf like. But
in isoetes the appendages have attained a considerable
length.
Two morphologically different types of
leaves are found in pteridophytes.These are;

It is small leaf with simple vascular system . A single

leaf trace diverges from the edge of stele and extend as
an unbranched midvein from the base to the apex of the
leaf. The microphyll occur in all lycopodes and Equisetum.

It is large leaf characterized by presence of two or more

veins. The leaf traces are accompanied with leaf gaps.
The venation is open dichotomous (the veinlets are
dichotomously branched and terminate freely)the
megaphylls are characteristics leaves of ferns.

In certain genera of lycopsids for example selaginella and

isoetes small scale like outgrouth called ligules is present
near the adaxial base of microphyll.the ligule is
considered to be a secretary organ which exudes water
and mucilage that protect the young leave and sporangia
from desiccation. Transfusion tissue consisting of
tracheid-like cells is present between ligule sheath and
adjacent vein of microphyll.
On the bases of presence and absence of ligule, the
lycopsids are arranged into two series
1- Ligulates (in which ligule is present)
2- Aligulates (in which ligule is not present)
Showing ligule