Title: Welcome to CK-12 Foundation | CK-12 Foundation
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Content: The gametophyte has male or female reproductive organs that undergo mitosis to form haploid gametes (sperm or eggs). Fertilization of gametes produces a diploid zygote. The zygote grows and develops into a mature sporophyte, and the cycle repeats. This diagram represents the life cycle that generally characterizes plants. One of the two generations of a plant’s life cycle is typically dominant to the other generation. Whether it’s the sporophyte or gametophyte generation, individuals in the dominant generation live longer and grow larger. They are the green, photosynthetic structures that you would recognize as a fern, tree, or other plant (see Figure below ). Individuals in the nondominant generation, in contrast, may be very small and rarely seen. They may live in or on the dominant plant. The dominant generation in nonvascular plants is the gametophyte;