Plants That Don't Flower
Some plants don’t walk the typical reproductive walk. Instead of conventional life cycles, which include making flowers that produce seeds, non-flowering plants have a different approach to propagation. Many of them produce spores; some can reproduce asexually; and others produce “naked seeds” in the absence of flowers.
The plant Division Bryophyta encompasses approximately 9,500 plant species. This diverse plant group includes mosses, hornworts and liverworts, which are primitive, flowerless plants. Although liverworts and hornworts resemble each other, the latter is more closely related to mosses. In addition to having no flowers, bryophytes also lack roots, stems and leaves. To reproduce sexually, these plants rely on moist environments that enable sperm cells to reach eggs by swimming. Mosses are also capable of asexual reproduction by fragmentation. Gammae, which are small sprouts that form on mosses, can break away from a mossy clump to form new plants.
Ferns are distinctly different among non-flowering plants because of their bi-generational life cycle. Two different plants spanning two generations must complete their maturation for successful sexual propagation. Plants that are recognizable as ferns are the sexless generation. On the back of their fronds, ferns produce spores that disperse by wind. If they lodge in a moist substrate, spores germinate into prothalliums, which are leaflike structures that do not resemble ferns. Sexual organs on the prothallium accomplish fertilization and produce new fronds that may not appear for six months.
Mushrooms, yeasts, molds and mildews are fungi, which do not produce flowers. The spores they manufacturer in lieu of flower seeds cannot germinate without water. Hyphae are thin strands that grow from germinated spores and grow sometimes for several years before producing fruiting bodies. When mushrooms appear in lawns, they are the fruiting bodies of fungi that live underground and feed on dead or decaying plant roots. When you step on them, the resulting “poof” disperses the dustlike spores.
Gymnosperms and Cycads
Gymnosperms do produce seeds, but they are not the result of flower fertilization. “Naked seed” is the definition of gymnosperm and describes seeds that are exposed on other plant structures, such as pine cones, instead of protected inside flowers. Common gymnosperms are evergreen conifers with needlelike leaves, such as pine trees, junipers and arborvitae. Cycads are primitive plants that are virtually unchanged since prehistoric times. They have slower growth rates and smaller mature sizes than gymnosperms.
- Tulane University: Lab 8; Primitive Plants -- Bryophytes, Ferns and Fern Allies
- University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: Growing Ferns
- Iowa Association of Naturalists: Iowa's Mushrooms and Nonflowering Plants
- University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service: Cycads and Gymnosperms
- Clemson Cooperative Extension: Palms & Cycads
Victoria Lee Blackstone is a horticulturist and a professional writer who has authored research-based scientific/technical papers, horticultural articles, and magazine and newspaper articles. After studying botany and microbiology at Clemson University, Blackstone was hired as a University of Georgia Master Gardener Coordinator. She is also a former mortgage acquisition specialist for Freddie Mac in Atlanta, GA.