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As in animals, female and male gametes are called, respectively, eggs and sperm. In extant land plants, either the sporophyte or the gametophyte may be reduced (heteromorphic). [2] No extant gametophytes have stomata, but they have been found on fossil species like the early Devonian Aglaophyton from the Rhynie chert. [3]
Megaspores contain the female gametophytes in heterosporic plant species. They develop archegonia that produce egg cells that are fertilized by sperm of the male gametophyte originating from the microspore. This results in the formation of a fertilized diploid zygote, that develops into the sporophyte embryo. While heterosporous plants produce ...
The sporophyte of a flowering plant is often described using sexual terms (e.g. "female" or "male") based on the sexuality of the gametophyte it gives rise to. For example, a sporophyte that produces spores that give rise only to male gametophytes may be described as "male", even though the sporophyte itself is asexual, producing only spores.
Microspores are land plant spores that develop into male gametophytes, whereas megaspores develop into female gametophytes. [1] The male gametophyte gives rise to sperm cells, which are used for fertilization of an egg cell to form a zygote .
The anther produces pollen grains that contain male gametophytes. The pollen grains attach to the stigma on top of a carpel, in which the female gametophytes (inside ovules) are located. Plants may either self-pollinate or cross-pollinate. The transfer of pollen (the male gametophytes) to the female stigmas occurs is called pollination.
The mature gametophyte produces male or female gametes (or both) by mitosis. The fusion of male and female gametes produces a diploid zygote which develops into a new sporophyte. This cycle is known as alternation of generations or alternation of phases.
The male gametophyte is produced inside a pollen grain within the anther and is non-motile, but can be distributed by wind, water or animal vectors. When a pollen grain lands on a mature stigma of a flower it germinates to form a pollen tube that grows down the style into the ovary of the flower and then into the ovule.
Dioicy promotes outcrossing. [3] Sexual dimorphism is commonly found in dioicous species. [4]: 71 [2]: 378 Dioicy is correlated with reduced sporophyte production, [5] due to spatial separation of male and female colonies, scarcity or absence of males.