Pterophyta



**What is Pterophyta?**  An example of a plant under the Pterophyta would be a fern. Under the fern family, there are about 12,000 species. These ferns range from a Christmas fern to a Staghorn fern. Some other species of ferns are Boston Ferns, Japanese Ferns, Sensitive Ferns, Cinnamon Ferns, Lady Ferns, Dividing Ferns and, Maidenhair Fern. There are many different kinds of ferns that live all over the world and in many kinds of climates. For example, some species of ferns can live in the dry desert and other kinds of species can live in the rainforest. Most species of ferns like to be in areas that are shaded and that have moist soil. The shade can be provided by a tree, big bush or, under a hanger of a house. The fern plant is one of the largest species that is a living seedless vascular plant. A vascular plant plant is a plant that has a chemical compound that is brought from the cell wall of the plant that allow water and minerals to pass through the plant. Ferns are a very short and wide plant. A fern's leaf is very big and the color of the fern plant is a dark forest green. The leaf starts out from being very wide into being very thin almost resembling like the shape of a funnel.

In the human culture, plants are often given as present at some type of celebrations. It could be a birthday, Christmas, Easter, Hanuka, anniversary, birth or a house-warming present. People will bring plant as a symbol of well wishes or good look on the receiver's future. Most ferns are given around or during Christmas time and these ferns are called Christmas ferns. Some people believe that ferns represents the meaning of fascination. Fascination means someone or something has the state of being in awe of an object of someone. For example, the little girl is fascinated by the puppy. Ferns also provide shelter and food for small critters and insects. These critters and insects will hide under the ferns from the predictors that might attack them. The fern plants are used as decorative garden plants. Most families like to plant a garden with many different kinds of plants that make the back or front yard look more presentable to visitors. Home buyers might also put plants that have beautiful flower plants and trees which as a fern.
 * Pterophyta and Humans**

**Popular Classes** The phylum Pterophyta contains many classes; two well known classes are Polypodiopsida and Marattiaceae. Polypodiopsida contains plants such as ferns that develop from a single cell. Members of this class are found in biomes from tropical rainforests to temperate cold. Marattiaceae are fond typically in tropical forests.

**Vascular Systems **  Plants have vascular systems that help them function. The role of these systems is to carry nutrients, organic compounds, water, and carbon dioxide through the plant. The phloem vascular system helps transport materials made during the process of photosynthesis. It moves sugars and other nutrients through the plant. This liquid is called sap, you may know it as the sticky stuff that comes out of an injured tree.

If you were to slice into the stem of a plant, you would see rings. The outside rings are composed of bark, what used to be the outside of the plant. The ring on the inside of those is the phloem ring, where the transportation takes place. The ring inside the phloem ring is the xylem ring. The xylem vascular system transports mostly water, but some nutrients. Pterophyta does not contain a xylem ring, because it is not a “woody” plant.

** Plant Hormones **  Phytohormones are the hormones found in plants. These hormones regulate plant growth, gender, fruit growth, and many other aspects of the plant. In animals, hormones are produced in glands, but in plants don’t have glands, each cell is capable of producing phytohormones.

The phylum pterophyta is so evolutionarily successful because they use photosynthesis to produce energy for themselves. Because there is a sun in the sky every day, there is no way that plants could not produce food or energy for themselves. Some species of ferns can live in very dry places of the earth such as the desert while others can live in rainforests where it is humid and rainy all day, every day. Ferns are very adaptive to their environment. This is also another great reason why they are so evolutionary successful. Ferns are included in the pterophyta phylum. Ferns have a unique vascular system that allows them to transport water and other materials throughout the plant via stems and roots. Because of this special way of transportation, ferns are able to get resources and distribute them throughout the plant easier. This is one way ferns and other vascular plants have been very evolutionary successful. Roots are very important in ferns because although they are not photosynthetic structures, they are placed underground and they take up all the water and nutrients from the soil that helps the plant to live.
 * Evolutionary Success**

**Let's Compare!** Roots would be like the digestive system of a human. Stems also play a big role in the life of a plant. Stems are basically the support system of the plant. You can compare stems to the backbone of a human body. The can support the leaves and or flowers of plants. Leaves are the photosynthetic parts of the plant that either does or does not produce spores depending on the plant. Leaves could be compared to the cardiovascular system of a human. There is also the dermal system which can be compared to the skin of a human because it covers and protects the plant from the outside. Bugs would be a great example of something the plant would need to protect itself from.

**Helpful Sources** @http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/Phylum-Pterophyta-Ferns.topicArticleId-23791,articleId-23768.html @http://www.aboutferns.com/types_of_ferns.shtml @http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034666701001270 @http://mansfield.osu.edu/~sabedon/biol3060.htm @http://sci.waikato.ac.nz/evolution/plantEvolution.shtml @http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/F/Ferns.html @http://www.anbg.gov.au/fern/structure.html @http://www.radfordpl.org/wildwood/today/Plant_Spp_pp/Images/Christmas%20Fern.JPG @http://cache2.allpostersimages.com/p/LRG/15/1559/TU4DD00Z/posters/meyers-steven-n-ferns-i.jpg @http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/513981072_a38749e410.jpg