Non-Flowering Plants: Types and Characteristics

Study Notes

Ferns are green plants that grow in damp places and don't have flowers.
Non-flowering plants have been around for millions of years and are some of the most ancient plants on Earth.

Ferns, liverworts, mosses, hornworts, whisk ferns, club mosses, horsetails, conifers, cycads, and ginkgo are types of non-flowering plants.

Ferns grow from spores instead of seeds.
Spores are tiny cells created by the plant, released into the air or water, and travel away from the original plant.
Ferns, whisk ferns, mosses, liverworts, and hornworts grow in damp areas.
Whisk ferns don't have real roots or leaves.
There are over 12,000 different kinds of moss, which often covers the ground like a velvety rug in shady and moist areas.
Club mosses have leaves shaped like needles and small leaves that make clusters in the shape of a cone, found mostly in tropical mountain areas.

Liverworts and hornworts are spore-producing plants that grow on top of damp rocks and soil, and sometimes on tree trunks in damp areas.
Hornworts are one of the oldest plants on Earth.

Conifers, cycads, and ginkgo are gymnosperms, meaning 'naked seed', as their seeds aren't developed inside parts of flowers.
Conifers have cones instead of flowers and needles instead of leaves, including pine, redwood, and hemlock trees.
Cycads have very thick stems and large, divided leaves, and have been around over 200 million years.
Gingko, also called the maidenhair tree, is a non-flowering plant that reproduces with seeds, with fossils of gingko leaves found to be over 270 million years old.