All plants go through a alternation of generations life cycle. This life cycle has 2 main stages the haploid stage and the diploid stage. During the haploid cycle the plant has 1 set of genes. The diploid cycle contains twice as many genes as the diploid cycle meaning it has 2 sets. A haploid plant in the gametophyte stage combines male and female gametes. The newly fertilized zygote rapidly divides via mitosis. The combination of the 2 gametes now creates a diploid cell. If this cell ends up within the correct conditions it will sprout into a diploid plant. the diploid plant mates with itself. The fertilized plant now goes into a sporophyte stage. It creates a capsule filled with haploid spores. Under the correct conditions the spores will release into the open air and float to the ground. if they land in the correct conditions a haploid plant will be made and the cycle repeats.
Sporophyte:
(in the life cycle of plants with alternating generations) the asexual and usually diploid phase, producing spores from which the gametophyte arises. It is the dominant form in vascular plants, e.g., the frond of a fern
Gametophyte:
(in the life cycle of plants with alternating generations) the gamete-producing and usually haploid phase, producing the zygote from which the sporophyte arises. It is the dominant form in bryophytes.
Haploid:
(of a cell or nucleus) having a single set of unpaired chromosomes.
Diploid:
(of a cell or nucleus) having a two sets of paired chromosomes.
Mitosis:
a type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each having the same number and kind of chromosomes as the parent nucleus, typical of ordinary tissue growth.
Meiosis:
a type of cell division that results in four daughter cells each with half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell, as in the production of gametes and plant spores.
Spore:
a minute, typically one-celled, reproductive unit capable of giving rise to a new individual without sexual fusion, characteristic of lower plants, fungi, and protozoans
Fertilization:
the action or process of fertilizing an egg, female animal, or plant, involving the fusion of male and female gametes to form a zygote.
Zygote:
a diploid cell resulting from the fusion of two haploid gametes; a fertilized ovum.
Sporophyte:
(in the life cycle of plants with alternating generations) the asexual and usually diploid phase, producing spores from which the gametophyte arises. It is the dominant form in vascular plants, e.g., the frond of a fern
Gametophyte:
(in the life cycle of plants with alternating generations) the gamete-producing and usually haploid phase, producing the zygote from which the sporophyte arises. It is the dominant form in bryophytes.
Haploid:
(of a cell or nucleus) having a single set of unpaired chromosomes.
Diploid:
(of a cell or nucleus) having a two sets of paired chromosomes.
Mitosis:
a type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each having the same number and kind of chromosomes as the parent nucleus, typical of ordinary tissue growth.
Meiosis:
a type of cell division that results in four daughter cells each with half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell, as in the production of gametes and plant spores.
Spore:
a minute, typically one-celled, reproductive unit capable of giving rise to a new individual without sexual fusion, characteristic of lower plants, fungi, and protozoans
Fertilization:
the action or process of fertilizing an egg, female animal, or plant, involving the fusion of male and female gametes to form a zygote.
Zygote:
a diploid cell resulting from the fusion of two haploid gametes; a fertilized ovum.