In this article we will discuss about the morphology of selaginella with the help of diagrams. Selaginella with about 700 species is worldwide (tropics to subarctic) in distribution. It is abundant in tropics, with a wide range in growth habits and habitats. Many species are flat creepers (Fig. 8.1 A) on the ground (S. kraussiana). In some species the plants [...]
The production of two kinds of spores differing in structure and function, the smaller one producing the male gametophyte and larger one producing the female gametophyte, is termed heterospory. For the first time distinct heterospory (structural as well as functional) is evident in pteridophytes; but out of several hundred forms in the group, only 9 genera (Selaginella, Isoetes, Stylites, Marsilea, [...]
The shoots in Selaginella are characterized by the possession of meristems (dorsal and ventral) at each branching. These angle-meristems produce roots. In contemporary literature these outgrowths are designated as 'rhizophore'. However, studies of auxin transport in these structures have conclusively proved their nature as root. Employing labelled auxin (C IAA), it is shown that auxin transport in rhizophores of S. [...]