How do fern and mold increase in number?

Essentailly they both reproduce in the same way, using spores, but the mechanics are very different.



Ferns are seedless vascular plants and members of the phyllm Pteridophyta. They differ from seed plants by the way they produce, in that they produce no flowers or seeds.



The typical life cycle of a fern is:



1. A sporophyte phase which produces the spores

2. A spore grows by cell division into a gametophyte.

3. The gametophyte produces gametes (often both sperm and eggs on the same prothallus) by mitosis.

4. A mobile, flagellate sperm fertilizes an egg that remains attached to the prothallus

5. The fertilized egg is now a diploid zygote and grows by mitosis into a sporophyte (the typical "fern" plant).



Mould is a generic term that include all species of microscopic fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments, called hyphae. There are 1000's of known species. Mould like all fungi get there energy from the organic matter on which they live, not by photosynthesis.



A connected network of these tubular branching hyphae has the same DNA and is considered a single organism, referred to as a colony or in more technical terms a mycelium.



Molds reproduce through small spores. Mold spores can be asexual (the products of mitosis) or sexual (the products of meiosis), and many species can produce both types. They may contain a single nucleus or many. Some can remain airborne indefinitely, and many are able to survive extremes of temperature and pressure.

How do fern and mold increase in number?
It's all about the spores - talk to the mushrooms - they'll back me up
Reply:spores