Ferns are an ancient type of plant, so old in fact that they pre-date the seed (they have spores instead).
![](https://i0.wp.com/needlemind.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/needle_fern_fronds_dark.jpg?resize=1024%2C736)
What did this image teach me?
The life cycle of a fern, everybody…
The life cycle of a typical fern proceeds as follows:
- A diploid sporophyte phase produces haploid spores by meiosis (a process of cell division which reduces the number of chromosomes by a half).
- A spore grows into a free-living haploid gametophyte by mitosis (a process of cell division which maintains the number of chromosomes). The gametophyte typically consists of a photosynthetic prothallus.
- The gametophyte produces gametes by mitosis.
- A mobile, flagellate sperm fertilizes an egg that remains attached to the prothallus.
- The fertilized egg is now a diploid zygote and grows by mitosis into a diploid sporophyte (the typical fern plant).
Simple, huh?
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