What are ferns? Describe its salient features.
Ferns are found in warm moist tropical regions as well as dry rocky places. The plant body is distinguished into three parts- i) underground stem rhizome ii) it bears roots and iii) it sends aerial shoots with leaves. Leaves of ferns are of two types- a) simple leaves with a single vein and b) compound leaves with several leaflets. The sporophyte phase is dominant in ferns. Spores are produced after meiosis, sporangium has an annulus made up of a band of thickened cells that dry out pulling it open. So spores are released which then germinate into a prothallus, the gametophyte.
