Fern ally
Fern ally is a general term covering a somewhat diverse group of
vascular plants that are not
flowering plants and not true
ferns. Like ferns, these plants reproduce by shedding
spores to initiate an
alternation of generations. There are three or four groups of plants considered to be
fern allies. In various classification schemes, these may be grouped as classes or divisions within the plant kingdom. The more traditional classification scheme is as follows (here, the first three classes are the "fern allies"):
*Kingdom:
Plantae
**Division
Tracheophyta (vascular plants)
***Class
Lycopsida, (
fern-allies) the
clubmosses and related plants
***Class
Sphenopsida or Equisetopsida, (
fern-allies) the
horsetails and scouring-rushes
***Class
Psilopsida, (
fern-allies) the
whisk ferns
***Class
Filices, the true ferns
***Class
Spermatopsida (or sometimes as several different classes of seed-bearing plants)
A more modern or newer classification scheme is:
*Kingdom
Plantae
Subkingdom
Tracheobionta**Division
Lycopodiophyta ***Class
Lycopodiopsida, the clubmosses
***Class Selaginellopsida, the
spikemosses***Class Isoetopsida, the
quillworts**Division
Equisetophyta, the
horsetails and scouring-rushes
**Division
Psilotophyta, the
whisk ferns
**Division
Ophioglossophyta, the
adders'-tongues and
moonworts
**Division
Pteridophyta, the ferns
**Division
Spermatophyta (or as several different divisions of seed-bearing plants)
Note that in either scheme, the basic subdivision of the fern allies is preserved, with the exception that the
Ophioglossophyta (Ophioglossopsida), once thought to be true ferns, are now generally regarded by many to be a distinct group of fern allies.
*
Common Ferns and Fern-Ally Species*
A Classification of the Ferns and Fern-Allies (uses frames)
*
Non-seed plant images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
