lower vascular plant: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	seedless vascular plant • Pteridophyta • vascular cryptogam • cryptogam • pteridophyte

Photos and Videos

Aleutian maidenhair fern

xylem tracheids

A detailed botanical illustration of a generalized fern sporophyte labeled with key parts: roots, rhizome, crosier, petiole, blade, midrib, and leaflet.

fern life cycle

Green stems of interrupted club moss, Lycopodium annotinum, growing upright among forest floor debris and pine cones.

Diagram of the tree of life based on the three-domain system, showing Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukaryota branching into four kingdoms: Plants, Animals, Fungi, and Protista, with illustrations of representative organisms for each group.

Observe a shield fern (Dryopteris) growing over two months

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

fern lycophyte Psilophytopsida plant vascular plant bryophyte gymnosperm weed parasitic plant carnivorous plant Heirloom plant Vegetable herbaceous plant oil plant everlasting

Key People

Hooker, Sir William Jackson

Sir William Jackson Hooker

British botanist

Venus's-flytrap. Venus's-flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) one of the best known of the meat-eating plants. Carnivorous plant, Venus flytrap, Venus fly trap

Plants: From Cute to Carnivorous