Biology / Unit 10 Bio 2179 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Lycophytes versus Monilophytes
Captions available
The idea
Lycophytes bear small, single-veined leaves called microphylls; monilophytes — ferns, horsetails, and whisk ferns, also called pterophytes — bear larger, branch-veined leaves called megaphylls.
In practice
A club moss's tiny scale-like microphylls contrast with a fern frond's broad, multiply-veined megaphyll blade.
Where people slip
A club moss is a lycophyte, unrelated closely to true mosses, despite the shared common name.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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