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Seedless Vascular Plant Traits: Vascular Tissue, Sporophyte Dominance

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State

Seedless vascular plants evolved xylem and phloem for water and sugar transport, letting the sporophyte generation grow larger and dominate the visible plant.

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A fern's leafy fronds are its sporophyte; its gametophyte grows as a small, separate, short-lived structure on the ground.

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Vascular tissue, not seeds, is this group's defining trait — seedless vascular plants still reproduce by releasing spores.