Embryophyte

Land plants; Temporal range: (Spores from Dapingian (early Middle Ordovician))
	Moss Angiosperm Fern Hornwort Gymnosperm Lycophyte
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Streptophyta
Clade:	Embryophytes; Engler, 1892
Divisions
	Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta – liverworts; Bryophyta – mosses; Anthocerotophyta – hornworts; †Horneophytopsida; ; Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta – rhyniophytes; †Zosterophyllophyta – zosterophylls; Lycopodiophyta – clubmosses; †Trimerophytophyta – trimerophytes; Polypodiophyta – ferns and horsetails; Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta – seed ferns; Pinophyta – conifers; Cycadophyta – cycads; Ginkgophyta – ginkgo; Gnetophyta – gnetae; Magnoliophyta – flowering plants; ; ; Traditional groups: Bryophyta; Pteridophyta; Gymnospermae*; Angiospermae;
Synonyms
	Cormophyta Endlicher, 1836; Phyta Barkley, 1939; Cormobionta Rothmaler, 1948; Euplanta Barkley, 1949; Telomobionta Takhtajan, 1964; Embryobionta Cronquist et al. 1966; Metaphyta Whittaker, 1969; Plantae Margulis, 1971;

The embryophytes (/ˈɛmbriəˌfaɪts/) are a clade of plants, also known as Embryophyta (/ˌɛmbriˈɒfətə, -oʊˈfaɪtə/) or land plants. They are the most familiar group of photoautotrophs that make up the vegetation on Earth's dry lands and wetlands. Embryophytes have a common ancestor with green algae, having emerged within the Phragmoplastophyta clade of freshwater charophyte green algae as a sister taxon of Charophyceae, Coleochaetophyceae and Zygnematophyceae.^[12] Embryophytes consist of the bryophytes and the polysporangiophytes.^[13] Living embryophytes include hornworts, liverworts, mosses, lycophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms (flowering plants). Embryophytes have diplobiontic life cycles.^[14]

The embryophytes are informally called "land plants" because they thrive primarily in terrestrial habitats (despite some members having evolved secondarily to live once again in semiaquatic/aquatic habitats), while the related green algae are primarily aquatic. Embryophytes are complex multicellular eukaryotes with specialized reproductive organs. The name derives from their innovative characteristic of nurturing the young embryo sporophyte during the early stages of its multicellular development within the tissues of the parent gametophyte. With very few exceptions, embryophytes obtain biological energy by photosynthesis, using chlorophyll a and b to harvest the light energy in sunlight for carbon fixation from carbon dioxide and water in order to synthesize carbohydrates while releasing oxygen as a byproduct.

^ Gray, J.; Chaloner, W.G. & Westoll, T.S. (1985), "The Microfossil Record of Early Land Plants: Advances in Understanding of Early Terrestrialization, 1970-1984 [and Discussion]", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 309 (1138): 167–195, Bibcode:1985RSPTB.309..167G, doi:10.1098/rstb.1985.0077
^ Rubinstein, C.V.; Gerrienne, P.; De La Puente, G.S.; Astini, R.A. & Steemans, P. (2010), "Early Middle Ordovician evidence for land plants in Argentina (eastern Gondwana)", New Phytologist, 188 (2): 365–9, doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03433.x, hdl:11336/55341, PMID 20731783
^ Engler, A. 1892. Syllabus der Vorlesungen über specielle und medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik: Eine Uebersicht über das ganze Pflanzensystem mit Berücksichtigung der Medicinal- und Nutzpflanzen. Berlin: Gebr. Borntraeger.
^ Pirani, J. R.; Prado, J. (2012). "Embryopsida, a new name for the class of land plants" (PDF). Taxon. 61 (5): 1096–1098. doi:10.1002/tax.615014.
^ Barkley, Fred A. Keys to the phyla of organisms. Missoula, Montana. 1939.
^ Rothmaler, Werner. Über das natürliche System der Organismen. Biologisches Zentralblatt. 67: 242–250. 1948.
^ Barkley, Fred A. "Un esbozo de clasificación de los organismos". Revista de la Facultad Nacional de Agronomia, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín. 10: 83–103. Archived from the original on 2020-04-21. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
^ Takhtajan, A (1964). "The taxa of the higher plants above the rank of order" (PDF). Taxon. 13 (5): 160–164. doi:10.2307/1216134. JSTOR 1216134.
^ Cronquist, A.; Takhtajan, A.; Zimmermann, W. (1966). "On the Higher Taxa of Embryobionta" (PDF). Taxon. 15 (4): 129–134. doi:10.2307/1217531. JSTOR 1217531.
^ Whittaker, R. H. (1969). "New concepts of kingdoms or organisms" (PDF). Science. 163 (3863): 150–160. Bibcode:1969Sci...163..150W. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.403.5430. doi:10.1126/science.163.3863.150. PMID 5762760. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2014-11-28.
^ Margulis, L (1971). "Whittaker's five kingdoms of organisms: minor revisions suggested by considerations of the origin of mitosis". Evolution. 25 (1): 242–245. doi:10.2307/2406516. JSTOR 2406516. PMID 28562945.
^ Delwiche, Charles F.; Timme, Ruth E. (2011-06-07). "Plants". Current Biology. 21 (11): R417–R422. Bibcode:2011CBio...21.R417D. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.04.021. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 21640897. S2CID 235312105.
^ Cite error: The named reference Puttick-2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Gerrienne, Philippe; Gonez, Paul (January 2011). "Early evolution of life cycles in embryophytes: A focus on the fossil evidence of gametophyte/sporophyte size and morphological complexity". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 49 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1111/j.1759-6831.2010.00096.x. hdl:2268/101745. S2CID 29795245.

[Gray1985-1] Gray, J.; Chaloner, W.G. & Westoll, T.S. (1985), "The Microfossil Record of Early Land Plants: Advances in Understanding of Early Terrestrialization, 1970-1984 [and Discussion]", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 309 (1138): 167–195, Bibcode:1985RSPTB.309..167G, doi:10.1098/rstb.1985.0077

[2] Rubinstein, C.V.; Gerrienne, P.; De La Puente, G.S.; Astini, R.A. & Steemans, P. (2010), "Early Middle Ordovician evidence for land plants in Argentina (eastern Gondwana)", New Phytologist, 188 (2): 365–9, doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03433.x, hdl:11336/55341, PMID 20731783

[3] Engler, A. 1892. Syllabus der Vorlesungen über specielle und medicinisch-pharmaceutische Botanik: Eine Uebersicht über das ganze Pflanzensystem mit Berücksichtigung der Medicinal- und Nutzpflanzen. Berlin: Gebr. Borntraeger.

[4] Pirani, J. R.; Prado, J. (2012). "Embryopsida, a new name for the class of land plants" (PDF). Taxon. 61 (5): 1096–1098. doi:10.1002/tax.615014.

[5] Barkley, Fred A. Keys to the phyla of organisms. Missoula, Montana. 1939.

[6] Rothmaler, Werner. Über das natürliche System der Organismen. Biologisches Zentralblatt. 67: 242–250. 1948.

[7] Barkley, Fred A. "Un esbozo de clasificación de los organismos". Revista de la Facultad Nacional de Agronomia, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín. 10: 83–103. Archived from the original on 2020-04-21. Retrieved 2014-11-04.

[8] Takhtajan, A (1964). "The taxa of the higher plants above the rank of order" (PDF). Taxon. 13 (5): 160–164. doi:10.2307/1216134. JSTOR 1216134.

[9] Cronquist, A.; Takhtajan, A.; Zimmermann, W. (1966). "On the Higher Taxa of Embryobionta" (PDF). Taxon. 15 (4): 129–134. doi:10.2307/1217531. JSTOR 1217531.

[10] Whittaker, R. H. (1969). "New concepts of kingdoms or organisms" (PDF). Science. 163 (3863): 150–160. Bibcode:1969Sci...163..150W. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.403.5430. doi:10.1126/science.163.3863.150. PMID 5762760. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-17. Retrieved 2014-11-28.

[11] Margulis, L (1971). "Whittaker's five kingdoms of organisms: minor revisions suggested by considerations of the origin of mitosis". Evolution. 25 (1): 242–245. doi:10.2307/2406516. JSTOR 2406516. PMID 28562945.

[12] Delwiche, Charles F.; Timme, Ruth E. (2011-06-07). "Plants". Current Biology. 21 (11): R417–R422. Bibcode:2011CBio...21.R417D. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.04.021. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 21640897. S2CID 235312105.

[Puttick-2018-13] Cite error: The named reference Puttick-2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[14] Gerrienne, Philippe; Gonez, Paul (January 2011). "Early evolution of life cycles in embryophytes: A focus on the fossil evidence of gametophyte/sporophyte size and morphological complexity". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 49 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1111/j.1759-6831.2010.00096.x. hdl:2268/101745. S2CID 29795245.

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Land plants Temporal range: (Spores from Dapingian (early Middle Ordovician))
Moss Angiosperm Fern Hornwort Gymnosperm Lycophyte
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Streptophyta
Clade:	Embryophytes Engler, 1892^[3]^[4]
Divisions
Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta – liverworts Bryophyta – mosses Anthocerotophyta – hornworts †Horneophytopsida Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta – rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta – zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta – clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta – trimerophytes Polypodiophyta – ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta – seed ferns Pinophyta – conifers Cycadophyta – cycads Ginkgophyta – ginkgo Gnetophyta – gnetae Magnoliophyta – flowering plants Traditional groups: Bryophyta * Pteridophyta * Gymnospermae * Angiospermae
Synonyms
Cormophyta Endlicher, 1836 Phyta Barkley, 1939^[5] Cormobionta Rothmaler, 1948^[6] Euplanta Barkley, 1949^[7] Telomobionta Takhtajan, 1964^[8] Embryobionta Cronquist et al. 1966^[9] Metaphyta Whittaker, 1969^[10] Plantae Margulis, 1971^[11]