Question

Fern plant is,
A. Diploid sporophyte
B. Diploid gametophyte
C. Haploid sporophyte
D. Haploid gametophyte

Answer 1

Hint: Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta are often called ferns; is a member of a group of vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers.

Complete answer: Ferns have a diploid sporophyte. Ferns have complex leaves called megaphylls, that are more complex than the microphylls of clubmosses. Most of the ferns are leptosporangiate ferns. They produce the coiled fiddleheads that uncoil and expand into fronds. The group includes about 10,560 known extant species. The life cycle of ferns is different from the other land plants as both the gametophyte and the sporophyte phases are free living. This interactive illustrates the alternation of generations in ferns. The ferns are extremely diverse in habitat, form, and reproductive methods. Some ferns play a very important role in ecological succession, growing from the crevices of bare rocks exposures and in open bogs and marshes prior to the advent of forest vegetation. The best-known fern genus over much of the world, Pteridium which is found in the old fields or cleared forests where in most places it is often succeeded by woody vegetation. Because of their ability to disperse by spores and their capacity to produce both the sex organs on the same gametophyte and thus to self-fertilize, it is thought to be logical to assume that the ferns possess higher powers of long-distance dispersal.
Hence, the correct answer is option A.

Note: Ferns are not much of major economic importance, but some are used for food, medicines, biofertilizers, ornamental plants and for remediating contaminated soil.