Equisetophyta: Equisetophyta (Ĕk Wəsətŏf ƏTƏ)

Equisetophyta
Equisetophyta (kwstft) [key], small division of the plant kingdom consisting of the plants
commonly called horsetails and scouring rushes. Equisetum, the only living genus in this division, is
descended evolutionarily from tree-sized fossil plants. There are about 30 species, distributed in every
continent except Australia and Antarctica and in every climate from the tropics to the arctic. The plants,
which generally grow in moist places, have roots and ribbed green stems, the surface of which is
impregnated with silica crystals. Their abrasive texture made them useful in former times for scouring,
hence their common name. Most species have numerous whorled branches that lend the plant a plumed
or feathery appearance, thus giving rise to their other common name, horsetail. The scalelike
nonphotosynthetic leaves are joined together to form a fringed whorl that encircles the stem at regular
intervals; the green stems and branches are the photosynthetic organs. The stem has no cambium or
secondary growth. It consists of a silica-impregnated epidermis, a cortex, and a central structure called a
stele that contains a ring of vascular bundles, consisting of xylem and phloem. The conspicuous plant
form of Equisetum, which may be more than 3 ft (1 m) high in some species, represents the diploid
sporophyte generation. A cone, or strobilus, at the apex of the sporophyte stem bears spore-producing
structures. Upon germination, the spores produce a green, frilled, thumbnail-sized haploid plant form, the
gametophyte; specialized structures on the mature gametophyte, the archegonia and antheridia,
produce, respectively, eggs and sperms. As in mosses, the sperm swims to the egg through a film of
water, attracted by specific chemical substances. A zygote, formed as the result of fertilization, develops
into green sporophytes to complete the life cycle. The order Calamitales contains plants known only from
fossil remains so abundant in coals and associated shales from the Carboniferous period that it is
assumed that they formed a major part of the vegetation that later became compressed into coal. The
plants of the genus Calamites may have reached a height of 100 ft (30 m).
Reproduction
Asexual reproduction in Equisetum can take place through fragmentation of the

stems, although sexual reproduction is the more common process. In the spring,
some species produce, from the rhizomes, special cream- to buff-colored,
nonphotosynthetic stems. Small, conelike strobili develop at the tips of these special
stems or, in other species, at the tips of regular photosynthetic stems.
The strobili are usually about 2 to 4 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) long and look
somewhat like little cones on top of the stems, with each conelike tip covered with
hexagon-shaped plates. Each hexagon marks the top of a sporangiophore,which has
five to ten elongate sporangia connected to the rim. When the sporangiophores
separate slightly at maturity, the spores are released.
When the spore mother cells in the sporangia undergo meiosis, distinctive green
spores are produced. The outer spore wall differentiates from the inside of the
spore, forming coiled bands called elaters.
Elaters uncoil when they dry out, functioning like wings to carry the spore along in
the wind. If the spores are blown into amoist habitat, the elaters coil up, allowing
the spore to drop and land in habitat suitable for germination.
After germination, spores produce lobed, cushion-like, photosynthetic green

gametophytes that are seldom more than 8 millimeters in diameter but may range
in size from a few millimeters up to 3.5 centimeters (about 1.5 inches) in diameter.
Rhizoids anchor the gametophytes to the surface of the earth. The optimum
habitats for gametophyte germination are recently flooded, nutrient-rich mudflats.
At first, about half of the gametophytes are male,with antheridia, and the other half
are female, with archegonia. After a month or two, however, the female
gametophytes of most species become bisexual, producing only antheridia.
When water contacts mature antheridia, sudden changes in water pressure cause
the sperm cells produced within the antheridia to be explosively ejected. Sperm
have several flagella, which aid themin swimming to the archegonia to fertilize the
eggs. Several eggs on a female or bisexual gametophyte may be fertilized, and the
development of more than one sporophyte is common.

Equisetophyta: Equisetophyta (Ĕk Wəsətŏf ƏTƏ)

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Equisetophyta

Asexual reproduction in Equisetum can take place through fragmentation of the

After germination, spores produce lobed, cushion-like, photosynthetic green

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