Economic Importance Of Pteridophytes – Botany Notes – For W.B.C.S. Examination.

টেরিডোফাইটের অর্থনৈতিক গুরুত্ব – উদ্ভিদ নোট – WBCS পরীক্ষা।

Characters of Pteridophytes:

They are characterised by the following features:

1. Plant body is a sporophyte (2n) and differentiated into true stem, leaves and roots.Continue Reading Economic Importance Of Pteridophytes – Botany Notes – For W.B.C.S. Examination.

2. Leaves can be microphyllous (small without forming leaf gaps in vascular supply of stem, e.g., Selaginella) or macrophyllous (megaphyllous or large forming leaf gaps in vascular supply of stem, e.g., most ferns).

3. Vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) are present. In xylem, true vessels are absent. In phloem, companion cells and sieve tube are absent. Instead, sieve cells are present.

4. Meiospores are formed inside sporangia by sporic meiosis. Leaves bearing sporangia are called sporophylls.

5. Spores may be similar (homosporous) as in majority of pteridophytes e.g., Pteris Adiantum. A few plants are heterosporous, i.e., with two types of spores, microspores and megaspores, e.g., Selaginella, Salvinia, Marsilea.

(1) Food:

Like other plants, pteridophytes con­stitute a good source of food to animals. Sporocarps of Marsilea, a water fern, yield starch that is cooked and eaten by certain tribal.

(2) Soil Binding:

By their growth pteridophytes bind the soil even along hill slopes. The soil is protected from erosion.

(3) Scouring:

Equisetum stems have been used in scouring (cleaning of utensils) and polishing of metals. Equisetum species are, therefore, also called scouring rushes.

(4) Nitrogen Fixation:

Azolla (a water fern) has a symbiotic association with nitrogen fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena azollae. It is inoculated to paddy fields to function as biofertilizer.

(5) Medicines:

An anthelmintic drug is obtained from rhizomes of Dryopteris (Male Shield Fern).

(6) Ornamentals:

Ferns are grown as ornamental plants for their delicate and graceful leaves.

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