The story of plant evolution could be described as a story of how plants broke their dependence on aquatic existence. Explain how you could support this statement

What will be an ideal response?


Although the cells of mosses and other bryophytes do indeed live out of water, these most primitive land plants still require moist environments. Without true roots to dig deep to find water, and with sperm that must swim to the egg for reproduction, bryophytes need to be in contact with water for most of their life span. Seedless vascular plants have roots and can better rise out of watery environments, but water is still needed for reproduction. Similar to the story of reptiles, gymnosperm seeds, like amniotic eggs in animals, protect the embryo from harsh conditions. Airborne pollen also makes water unnecessary for fertilization in most gymnosperms. Similarly, the seeds and animal-assisted pollination of angiosperms make for independence from an aquatic environment, even though some angiosperms have evolved back into water plants.

Biology & Microbiology

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