Practice question

Pteridophytes, encompassing lycophytes and monilophytes including ferns and horsetails, exhibit diplobiontic haplodiplontic life cycle where diploid sporophyte forms conspicuous vegetative plant body with true roots, stems, leaves, vascular tissues, cuticle and stomata, undergoing meiosis in sporangia to produce haploid spores. Haploid gametophyte is typically small heart-shaped thalloid prothallus, short-lived, semi-independent, photosynthetic, requiring moist microhabitats for flagellated sperm dispersal. Dominant diploid phase allows accumulation of sporophytic adaptations like lignin, branching, and secondary growth. This structural framework illustrates phylogenetic relationships and adaptive significance highlighted in competitive examinations focusing on comparative plant morphology and systematics.