A comprehensive guide to ferns and their relatives, detailing their life cycles, characteristics, and significance in nature. Paprotniki (pteridophytes) are vascular plants that reproduce through spores and require water for fertilization, distinguishing themselves from bryophytes through their more complex tissue structure.
- These plants include ferns (Budowa paproci), horsetails, and clubmosses
- Unlike bryophytes, pteridophytes have a dominant sporophyte generation
- They play crucial ecological roles and have various human applications
- Their life cycle involves alternation between gametophyte and sporophyte phases
- Many species have significant medicinal properties