Microspore | plant anatomy | Britannica (original) (raw)
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characteristics
In spore …form two kinds of spores: microspores, which give rise to male gametophytes, and megaspores, which produce female gametophytes. Read More
function
In plant development: Preparatory events …gametophyte, the smaller spore (microspore) to the male. This condition is referred to as heterospory. The gametophytes, or prothalli, of other club mosses and most horsetails and ferns are sexually undifferentiated and arise from one kind of spore, a condition termed homospory. Read More
In plant: Heterosporous life histories …from two types of sporangia: microspores, or male spores, and megaspores (macrospores), or female spores. In pteridophytes, megaspores are typically larger than microspores, but the opposite is true in most seed plants. Read More
In plant reproductive system: Lycopsids …megaspores and the smaller as microspores. The megaspores develop into female gametophytes and the microspores into male gametophytes. Accordingly, strobili bear megasporophylls that contain megasporangia, which will produce megaspores, and microsporophylls that contain microsporangia, which will yield microspores. Although the evolutionary origin of two kinds of spores (dimorphism) is unknown,… Read More
flowers
In flower: Pollination …in which are developed numerous microspores (potential pollen grains); the pistil bears ovules, each enclosing an egg cell. When a microspore germinates, it is known as a pollen grain. When the pollen sacs in a stamen’s anther are ripe, the anther releases them and the pollen is shed. Fertilization can… Read More
In lower vascular plant: Reproduction …the other producing many small microspores. The microspore divides to form a reduced gametophyte, merely a jacket of cells and a few sperm cells; the megaspore divides to form a mass of tissue and archegonia, each enclosing an egg. Read More
spike moss
In spike moss: Physical description …megaspores and the smaller as microspores. The megaspores develop into female gametophytes and the microspores into male gametophytes. Both types of spores are thick-walled, and both have prominent three-part (triradiate) ridges. Read More
