Deck 28: Plants Without Seeds: From Water to Land

Question 1

Which of the characteristics below links the "green algae" with land plants?

A) The use of chlorophylls a and b
B) Active stomata
C) Starch as a major storage compound
D) Cellulose in cell walls
E) a, c, and d

Answer 1

a, c, and d

Question 2

Although Earth is estimated to be 5 billion years old, and although life first appeared about 4 billion years ago, land plants did not appear until about _______ years ago.

A) 3-4 billion
B) 400-500 million
C) 40-50 million
D) 3-4 million
E) 400,000-500,000

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Much evidence indicates that _______ are a sister taxon to land plants.

A) mosses
B) liverworts
C) red algae
D) Charales
E) chlorophytes

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Plants invaded the land sometime during the Paleozoic era. In order to evolve and thrive on land, plants had to

A) develop photosynthetic pigments and mechanisms for transporting water and minerals to aerial parts.
B) develop starch for carbohydrate storage and mechanisms for transporting water and minerals to aerial parts.
C) develop physical support structures and mechanisms for gamete dispersal.
D) develop photosynthetic pigments that are not dependent on an aqueous environment and develop starch for carbohydrate storage.
E) alternate generations and develop physical support structures.

Question 5

Which of the following is not a characteristic of land plants?

A) Development from embryos protected by tissues of the parent plant
B) Cell walls containing cellulose
C) Chloroplasts containing chlorophylls a and b
D) Starch as the storage carbohydrate
E) Anaerobic respiration

Question 6

The leptosporangiate ferns

A) are not a monophyletic group.
B) have sporangia with walls more than one cell thick.
C) constitute a minority of all ferns.
D) are monilophytes.
E) produce seeds.

Question 7

The rhyniophytes

A) lacked tracheids.
B) possessed true roots.
C) possessed sporangia at the tips of stems.
D) possessed leaves.
E) lacked branching stems.

Question 8

You find a green "leafy" bryophyte growing on your neighbor's front lawn. It is a

A) liverwort.
B) hornwort.
C) moss.
D) whisk fern.
E) fern.

Question 9

Which statement is not true of the mosses?

A) The sporophyte is dependent on the gametophyte.
B) Sperm are produced in archegonia.
C) There are more species of mosses than of liverworts and hornworts combined.
D) The sporophyte grows by apical cell division.
E) Mosses are probably sister to the vascular plants plus hornworts.

Question 10

Club mosses and horsetails

A) have larger gametophytes than sporophytes.
B) possess small leaves.
C) are represented today primarily by trees.
D) have never been a dominant part of the vegetation.
E) produce fruits.

Question 11

Which statement is not evidence for the origin of land plants from the green algae?

A) Some green algae have multicellular sporophytes and multicellular gametophytes.
B) Both plants and green algae have cellulose in their cell walls.
C) The two groups have the same photosynthetic pigments.
D) Both plants and green algae produce starch as their principal storage carbohydrate.
E) All green algae produce large, stationary eggs.

Question 12

Which statement about ferns is not true?

A) The sporophyte is larger than the gametophyte.
B) Most are heterosporous.
C) The young sporophyte can grow independently of the gametophyte.
D) The leaf is a megaphyll.
E) The gametophytes produce archegonia and antheridia.

Question 13

Which of the following is a synapomorphy of Charales and land plants?

A) Chloroplasts
B) Chlorophyll b
C) Multicellular sporophyte
D) Retention of the egg in the parental organism
E) Branched apical growth

Question 14

Which of the following is a synapomorphy for the plant clade that includes charophytes and glaucophytes?

A) Chloroplasts
B) Chlorophyll b
C) Multicellular sporophyte
D) Retention of the egg in the parental organism
E) Branched apical growth

Question 15

Megaphylls

A) probably evolved only once.
B) are found in all the vascular plant groups.
C) probably arose from sterile sporangia.
D) are the characteristic leaves of club mosses.
E) are the characteristic leaves of horsetails and ferns.

Question 16

Liverworts, mosses, and hornworts

A) lack a sporophyte generation.
B) grow in dense masses, allowing capillary movement of water.
C) possess xylem and phloem.
D) possess true leaves.
E) possess true roots.

Question 17

The plants classified as embryophytes include which of the following?

A) Red algae
B) Chlorophytes
C) Charales
D) Land plants
E) Coleochaetales

Question 18

Land plants differ from photosynthetic protists in that only the plants

A) are photosynthetic.
B) are multicellular.
C) possess chloroplasts.
D) have multicellular embryos protected by the parent.
E) are eukaryotic.

Question 19

The "green algae" include which of the following clades?

A) Embryophytes
B) Lycophytes
C) Chlorophytes
D) Glaucophytes
E) Bryophytes

Question 20

Which statement about alternation of generations in land plants is not true?

A) The gametophyte and sporophyte differ in appearance.
B) Meiosis occurs in sporangia.
C) Gametes are always produced by meiosis.
D) The zygote is the first cell of the sporophyte generation.
E) The gametophyte and sporophyte differ in chromosome number.

Question 21

Several important adaptations evolved in the common ancestor of land plants to allow the successful colonization of land. Which of the following is not one of those changes?

A) Evolution of a water-impermeable cuticle
B) Evolution of a carbohydrate energy-storage molecule
C) Evolution of gametangia
D) Evolution of a mechanism for structural support
E) A mutualistic association with a fungus that promotes nutrient uptake

Question 22

Within vascular plants, the large, prominent plant is the _______; in nonvascular plants it is the _______.

A) gametophyte; sporophyte
B) sporophyte; gametophyte
C) gametophyte; gametophyte
D) sporophyte; sporophyte
E) None of the above

Question 23

The sporophyte of a vascular plant is _______; the sporophyte of a nonvascular plant is _______.

A) dependent; independent
B) independent; independent
C) dependent; dependent
D) independent; dependent
E) haploid; diploid

Question 24

Haploid unicellular spores are produced in the sporangia spores via

A) mitosis.
B) fertilization.
C) conjugation.
D) meiosis.
E) budding.

Question 25

Sporangia can be identified as part of the fossil Rhynia because meiosis produces

A) two haploid cells.
B) four haploid cells.
C) two haploid cells, although only one is functional.
D) four haploid cells, although only one is functional.
E) two diploid cells, although they remain attached.

Question 26

Vascular plants are thought to be the result of a single evolutionary event: the evolution of a wholly new cell type, the tracheid. This cell type

A) provides a mechanism for the storage of a new type of carbohydrate, starch.
B) is the first cell type to contain chloroplasts.
C) permits fertilization in the absence of water, thus permitting plants to invade dry habitats.
D) forms the seed.
E) is the principal water-conducting element of the xylem in all vascular plants except for the angiosperms.

Question 27

All land plants produce _______ by mitosis and _______ by meiosis.

A) spores; gametes
B) gametes; gametes
C) gametes; spores
D) spores; spores
E) spores; gametes and spores

Question 28

Which of the following is not one of the benefits that plants receive from a branching independent sporophyte?

A) Advantages in competition for light for photosynthesis
B) The ability to evolve microphylls
C) The ability to evolve macrophylls, which increase photosynthetic ability
D) The ability of the sporophyte to live in a different environment from that of the gametophyte
E) A capacity for the gametophyte to grow much larger

Question 29

The nonvascular plants are considered to be

A) a monophyletic group.
B) a polyphyletic group.
C) a paraphyletic group.
D) the most highly derived (evolved) of the plants.
E) None of the above

Question 30

The nonvascular plant clades (including moss) require water for fertilization during reproduction because

A) they have no vascular system to transport water to the developing sporophyte.
B) the eggs are fertilized by a flagellated sperm that swims to the egg.
C) the neck of the archegonium has to degrade to allow the sperm to enter.
D) Both a and b
E) Both b and c

Question 31

Which of the following is not a structure or characteristic that enables the nonvascular plants to obtain water and minerals in the absence of a vascular system?

A) Growth in dense masses through which water can move by capillary action
B) Leaflike structures that catch and hold water
C) Small size, which allows minerals to be distributed evenly by diffusion
D) An extensive root system
E) Both c and d

Question 32

Nonvascular land plants have never evolved to the size of vascular plants, most likely because they lack

A) a photosynthetic mechanism.
B) an efficient mode of respiration.
C) an efficient system for conducting water and minerals.
D) nutrient and water absorption mechanisms.
E) All of the above

Question 33

A universal feature of the life cycles of land plants is

A) morphologically identical gametophyte and sporophyte stages.
B) genetically identical gametophyte and sporophyte stages.
C) alteration of generations between haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 34

Which of the following is not one of the evolutionary adaptations to land shared by all land plants?

A) Waxy protective coverings
B) Support against gravity
C) A means of taking up water from the soil
D) Protective structures for the new sporophyte
E) Water transport by xylem

Question 35

One important consequence of the evolution of xylem was the development of a mechanism for

A) sugar transport.
B) sperm transport.
C) preventing water evaporation.
D) rigid structural support.
E) None of the above

Question 36

The first vascular plants were probably

A) rhyniophytes.
B) lycophytes.
C) mosses.
D) monilophytes.
E) liverworts.

Question 37

How can nonvascular plants survive without true leaves, stems, and roots?

A) They are small enough to allow minerals to diffuse throughout their bodies.
B) They live in moist habitats.
C) They have a thick cuticle to prevent water loss.
D) Both a and b
E) Both b and c

Question 38

Which of the following would not have been a feature of the plants whose fossilized remains were found by Kidston and Lang?

A) Roots
B) Xylem
C) Leaves
D) Dichotomous branching
E) Both a and c

Question 39

Fossil vascular plants can be recognized by the presence of

A) tracheids.
B) antheridia.
C) archegonia.
D) protonema.
E) vessels.

Question 40

The evolutionary importance of plant tissue composed of tracheids is that it provides

A) a plant vascular system and structural support.
B) structural support and increased growth.
C) enhanced photosynthesis and structural support.
D) enhanced photosynthesis and a plant vascular system.
E) None of the above

Question 41

In a heterosporous life cycle, the microspore develops into the _______ gametophyte, and the megaspore develops into the _______ gametophyte.

A) female; male
B) male; female
C) diploid; haploid
D) haploid; diploid
E) None of the above

Question 42

Mosses are dependent on water for reproduction because

A) sperm are passively transported to eggs by water.
B) gametogenesis occurs only when the plants are moist.
C) eggs and sperm are released into water and then unite.
D) sperm must swim through water to reach and fertilize eggs.
E) None of the above

Question 43

The evolutionary origin of microphyll is thought by some biologists to be

A) sterile sporangia.
B) rhizoids.
C) specialized xylem.
D) photosynthetic tissue developed between complex branching patterns.
E) None of the above

Question 44

Lycophyte-fern forests arose in the Devonian and persisted for _______ years.

A) 2 million
B) 100,000
C) 200 million
D) 600 million
E) 2 billion

Question 45

Which of the following types of land plants possess the microphyll leaf?

A) Mosses
B) Horsetails
C) Club mosses
D) Ferns
E) Liverworts

Question 46

Use the following to answer questions:
Match the correct group from the list below with the descriptions that follow.


-Gametophyte is a branched, filamentous structure called a protonema; many types contain hydroid cells.

A) Liverworts
B) Hornworts
C) Mosses

Question 47

The cyanobacteria found in the internal mucilage-filled cavities of the hornworts serve to

A) provide structural support for the plant.
B) produce carbohydrates for the plant.
C) convert atmospheric nitrogen gas into a nutrient form usable by the plant.
D) convert atmospheric carbon gas into a nutrient form usable by the plant.
E) Both c and d

Question 48

In some liverworts, there are structures that "throw" _______ from the capsule.

A) moisture particles
B) spores
C) sperm
D) ova
E) rhizoids

Question 49

Which of the following represents the most ancient surviving land plant lineage?

A) Liverworts
B) Hornworts
C) Mosses
D) Ferns
E) None of the above

Question 50

There are approximately _______ living species of horsetails.

A) 9,000
B) 15,000
C) 100
D) 1,200
E) 15

Question 51

Approximately _______ species of moss (Bryophyta) have been described.

A) 9,000
B) 15,000
C) 100
D) 1,200
E) 15

Question 52

The evidence suggesting that heterospory probably affords selective advantages is that it

A) evolved a number of times.
B) is found only in the most advanced land plants.
C) is simpler than homospory.
D) is found in the most primitive land plants.
E) evolved along with swimming sperm.

Question 53

Use the following to answer questions:
Match the correct group from the list below with the descriptions that follow.


-Gametophytes are green, leaflike layers that lie flat on the ground.

A) Liverworts
B) Hornworts
C) Mosses

Question 54

In heterosporous land plants, _______ produce _______.

A) microgametophytes; eggs
B) microgametophytes; sperm
C) microgametophytes; eggs and sperm
D) megagametophytes; sperm
E) megagametophytes; eggs and sperm

Question 55

Stomata appear to have arisen first in the

A) hornworts.
B) mosses.
C) liverworts.
D) club mosses.
E) angiosperms.

Question 56

The megaphyll found in ferns and seed plants is thought to have evolved

A) from sterile sporangia.
B) by the process of meiosis.
C) by the process of heterospory.
D) as a result of overtopping.
E) spontaneously.

Question 57

The moss gametophyte that develops after spore germination is a branched, filamentous structure called

A) an antheridium.
B) a capsule.
C) a protonema.
D) a hydroid.
E) None of the above

Question 58

Use the following to answer questions:
Match the correct group from the list below with the descriptions that follow.


-Sporophytes exhibit indeterminate growth and develop no stalk; a single, large chloroplast in each cell.

A) Liverworts
B) Hornworts
C) Mosses

Question 59

Hornworts are the sister clade to the

A) vascular plants.
B) mosses.
C) liverworts.
D) horsetails and whisk ferns.
E) nonvascular plants.

Question 60

Which of the following statements about the hornworts is true?

A) They possess stomata.
B) Their cells contain many chloroplasts.
C) Their sporophytes exhibit determinate growth.
D) They have tracheids.
E) They evolved the precursor to flowers.

Question 61

The 12,000 species of leptosporangiate ferns

A) are not monophyletic.
B) are sisters to lycophytes.
C) first appeared during the Carboniferous period.
D) constitute a clade.
E) reproduce using seeds known as sori.

Question 62

Most ferns are homosporous. Which of the following ferns are heterosporous?

A) Salviniaceae
B) Rutaceae
C) Marsileaceae
D) Both a and b
E) Both a and c

Question 63

The monophyletic group known as the _______ includes land plants and closely related groups of green algae.

Question 64

In land plants (and some algae such as Ulva), the sporophyte and gametophyte exhibit different levels of ploidy. Sporophytes are _______, whereas gametophytes are _______.

Question 65

Use the following to answer questions:
Match the correct group from the list with the descriptions.


-Typically have large leaves with branching vascular strands; some can reach heights of up to 20 meters; have sporangia usually clustered in groups called sori.

A) Club mosses
B) Horsetails
C) Whisk ferns
D) Ferns

Question 66

The sister group to the hornworts is the _______, or vascular plants.

Question 67

Which of the following characteristics is not shared by the club mosses and the horsetails?

A) Large, independent sporophytes
B) Specialized vascular tissue
C) Apical growth
D) Simple leaves
E) Both b and c

Question 68

Use the following to answer questions:
Match the correct group from the list with the descriptions.


-Exhibit basal growth; sometimes called the scouring rushes because the silica deposits in their cell walls made them useful for cleaning; have simple leaves that form distinct whorls around the stem.

A) Club mosses
B) Horsetails
C) Whisk ferns
D) Ferns

Question 69

The first ferns appeared during the _______ period.

A) Permian
B) Carboniferous
C) Silurian
D) Devonian
E) Triassic

Question 70

Which living group diverged earlier than all other living vascular plants?

A) Rhyniophytes
B) Monilophytes
C) Lycophytes
D) Gymnosperms
E) Angiosperms

Question 71

In which of the following stages does genetic recombination not occur?

A) Moss gametophyte
B) Moss sporophyte
C) Fern sori
D) Club moss strobili
E) Horsetail sporangia

Question 72

The waxy coating on leaves that reduces evaporation of water from the plant body is called the _______.

Question 73

The most prominent resting stage in the life cycle of the seedless vascular plants is the

A) sporangium.
B) spore.
C) spore mother cell.
D) sporophyte.
E) gametophye.

Question 74

Use the following to answer questions:
Match the correct group from the list with the descriptions.


-Originally thought to be evolutionarily ancient descendants of anatomically simple ancestors; have gametophytes that live below the surface of the ground and lack chlorophyll; are now considered to be highly specialized and to have evolved fairly recently.

A) Club mosses
B) Horsetails
C) Whisk ferns
D) Ferns

Question 75

The horsetails, whisk ferns, and ferns are members of a single clade, the

A) lycophytes.
B) hornworts.
C) liverworts.
D) monilophytes.
E) mosses.

Question 76

Land plants that have an internal transport system are called _______ or vascular plants.

Question 77

Use the following to answer questions:
Match the correct group from the list with the descriptions.


-Diverged earlier than all other living vascular plants; bear simple leaves arranged spirally on a stem and exhibit apical growth; sporangia are contained within conelike structures called strobili.

A) Club mosses
B) Horsetails
C) Whisk ferns
D) Ferns

Question 78

The small, closeable openings in leaves and stems that are used to regulate gas exchange are called _______.

Question 79

Land plants, sometimes referred to as _______, may be defined as multicellular, photosynthetic eukaryotes that develop from embryos protected by tissues of the parent.

Question 80

An abundant type of coal, called cannel coal, is formed almost entirely from the fossilized spores of a species of

A) club mosses.
B) mosses.
C) horsetails.
D) flowering plants.
E) hornworts.