Archegoniatae was a higher
taxonomic term that indicated those
embryophytes
The Embryophyta (), or land plants, are the most familiar group of green plants that comprise vegetation on Earth. Embryophytes () have a common ancestor with green algae, having emerged within the Phragmoplastophyta clade of green algae as sist ...
having a female sexual organ in the form of an
archegonium. The term was first introduced by the Russian
botanist Ivan Nikolaevich Gorozhankin (1848–1904) in 1876 to indicate a division including
bryophytes,
pteridophytes
A pteridophyte is a vascular plant (with xylem and phloem) that disperses spores. Because pteridophytes produce neither flowers nor seeds, they are sometimes referred to as "cryptogams", meaning that their means of reproduction is hidden. Ferns, ...
and
gymnosperms in contrast to the Gynoeciatae (
Angiosperms
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants ...
) with a more complex female organ. It has also been used as a general term for
mosses (bryophytes) and
fern
A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...
s (pteridophytes), for instance by Douglas Campbell.
Campbell, Douglas Houghton. The structure and development of mosses and ferns (Archegoniatae). 2nd ed. 1905
/ref>
In the major post-Darwinian
Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that ...
taxonomic systems such as the Engler system
One of the prime systems of plant taxonomy, the Engler system was devised by Adolf Engler (1844–1930), and is featured in two major taxonomic texts he authored or co-authored. His influence is reflected in the use of the terms "Engler School" and ...
it was used to divide the Embryophyta into two divisions, one the Archegoniatae (also called Zoidogamae) containing bryophytes and pteridophytes and the other the Siphonogamae containing the gymnosperms and angiosperms. Campbell indicates that there was both a ''sensu lato
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...
'' usage which included the gymnosperms, or a ''sensu stricto'' usage as in his book, applied only to bryophytes and pteridophytes.
References
Bibliography
* The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). 2010 The Gale Group, Inc.
*
* Heinrich Schenck. Ueber die Phylogenie der Archegoniaten und der Characeen. Engler's Botan. Jahrbuch. Bd. XLII., p. 1, 1908).
*
The Phylogeny of the Archegoniatae (Review). W. H. L. New Phytologist Vol. 8, No. 5/6 (Jun. 30, 1909), pp. 234-236
{{refend
External links
Historically recognized plant taxa