horsetails, in which the leaves are broad with branching veins. Ferns are a large and diverse group, with some 12,000 species. A stereotypical fern has broad, much divided leaves, which grow by unrolling. Seed plants Seed plants, which first appeared in the fossil record towards the end of the Paleozoic era, reproduce using desiccation-resistant capsules called seeds. Starting from a plant which disperses by spores, highly complex changes are needed to produce seeds. The sporophyte has two kinds of spore-forming organs (sporangia). One kind, the megasporangium, produces only a single large spore (a megaspore). This sporangium is surrounded by one or more sheathing layers (integuments) which form the seed coat. Within the seed coat, the megaspore develops into a tiny gametophyte, which in turn produces one or more egg cells. Before fertilization, the sporangium and its contents plus its coat is called an 'ovule'; after fertilization a 'seed'. In parallel to these developments, the other kind of sporangium, the microsporangium, produces microspores. A tiny gametophyte develops inside the wall of a microspore, producing a pollen grain. Pollen grains can be physically transferred between plants by the wind or animals, most commonly insects. Pollen grains can also transfer to an ovule of the same plant, either with the same flower or between two flowers of the same plant (self-fertilization). When a pollen grain reaches an ovule, it enters via a microscopic gap in the coat (the micropyle). The tiny gametophyte inside the pollen grain then produces sperm cells which move to the egg cell and fertilize it. Seed plants include two groups with living members, the gymnosperms and the angiosperms or flowering plants. In gymnosperms, the ovules or seeds are not further enclosed. In angiosperms, they are enclosed in ovaries. A split ovary with a visible seed can be seen in the adjacent image. Angiosperms typically also have other, secondary structures, such as petals, which together form a flower. Extant seed plants are divided into five groups: Gymnosperms Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetophytes Angiosperms Magnoliophyta – flowering plants References Bibliography Plants Dapingian first appearances Extant Ordovician first appearances