Question

Fern gametophyte is nutritionally
A. Saprophyte
B. Parasite
C. Chemoautotroph
D. Photoautotroph

Answer 1

Hint: Ferns make a group of vascular plants that bear no seed or fruits. They reproduce with the help of spores. The sporophyte stage is the predominant phase in ferns. They have specialized water and nutrients conducting tissues called xylem and phloem that differentiates them from mosses. They are found growing on dead and decaying matter.

Complete answer: The ferns make a diverse group of plants having a highly specialized vascular system for the transport of water and minerals. These are unique plants having neither seeds nor flowers. Thus, they reproduce by spore formation. Spores are reproductive units that disperse off from the parent plant and germinate when sufficient desirable conditions are acquired. The spores of ferns germinate over dead and decaying matter. Thus, they depend or live over decaying organic matter. The spore turns into sporophyte which is the predominant stage of ferns. The sporophyte obtains its nutrition from the dead and decaying organic matter. Thus, it makes fern a saprophyte.
-Parasite plants are those that live or depend on a living host for their nutrition. The parasitic plants climb on the vascular tissues of the host plant from where it sucks the nutrition for itself.
-Chemoautotrophs are those that do not depend on other organisms for their nutrition. They make their own food through the breakdown of complex inorganic chemical molecules into organic molecules.
-Photoautotrophs are photosynthetic plants. These also make their food on their own. They utilize sunlight, carbon dioxide, water, etc. to make their food.
Hence, from the above discussion, we can conclude that the right answer is option A.

Note: The type of nutrition adapted by the plant determines its physical characteristics. The ferns have complex leaves. The young fern plant has furled structures called fiddleheads. The fiddleheads unroll to form a frond that is a specialized leaf. These are large divided leaves. The fiddleheads of fern are used as a vegetable.