Cryptogams

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Cryptogams

The name cryptogams (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a term fairly widely in use as a phrase of convenience, although regarded as an obsolete taxonomic term

Linnaean taxonomy

Linnaean taxonomy is a method of classifying living things, originally devised by Carolus Linnaeus , although it has changed considerably since his time....
. The name cryptogams refers to plants (in the wide sense of the word) which reproduce by spore

Spore

In biology, a spore is a reproduction structure that is adapted for biological dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions....
s. Other names, such as "thallophyte

Thallophyte

The thallophytes are a polyphyletic group of non-mobile organisms traditionally described as "relatively simple plants" or "lower plants" with undifferentiated bodies ....
s", "lower plants" and "spore plants" are also occasionally used. The best known groups of cryptogams are algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. The largest and most complex marine forms are called seaweeds....
, lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiosis association of a fungus with a Photosynthesis partner , usually either a green algae or Cyanobacteria ....
s, moss

Moss

Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1?10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations....
es and fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta....
s .

The name Cryptogamae is from the Greek

Greek language

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Encyclopedia

The name cryptogams (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a term fairly widely in use as a phrase of convenience, although regarded as an obsolete taxonomic term

Linnaean taxonomy

Spore

Thallophyte

Algae

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiosis association of a fungus with a Photosynthesis partner , usually either a green algae or Cyanobacteria ....
s, moss

Moss

Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1?10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations....
es and fern

Fern

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
kryptos, meaning "hidden" and gameein, "to marry". As a group Cryptogamae are the opposite of the Phanerogamae (Greek phaneros = "visible") or Spermatophyta (Greek sperma = "seed" and phytum = "plant"), the seed plants.

At one time, the cryptogams were formally recognised as a group within the plant kingdom. In his system for classification of all known plants and animals, Carolus Linnaeus

Carolus Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus was a Sweden botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern alpha taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology....
(1707–1778) divided the plant kingdom into 25 classes , one of which was the Cryptogamia. This included all plants with concealed reproductive organs. He divided the Cryptogamia into four orders: Algae

Algae

Bryophyte

Bryophytes are all embryophytes that are non-vascular plant: they have tissues and enclosed reproductive systems, but they lack vascular tissue that circulates liquids....
s), Filices (fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta....
s), and Fungi .

Currently, not all cryptogams are treated as part of the plant

Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
kingdom; the fungi, in particular, are regarded as a separate kingdom, more closely related to animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
s than plants, while some algae are now regarded as allied with the bacteria

Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
. Therefore, in contemporary plant systematics "Cryptogamae" is not a name of a scientifically coherent group, but is cladistically

Cladistics

Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of species based on evolutionary ancestry. Cladistics is distinguished from other taxonomic systems because it focuses on evolution rather than similarities between species, and because it places heavy emphasis on objective, quantitative analysis....
polyphyletic. However, all organisms known as cryptogams belong to the field traditionally studied by botanists and the names of all cryptogams are regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants....
.