Spore germination

Released spores grow into a gametophytes – very small heart-shaped structures.

Transcript

Dr Leon Perrie

Spores are released into the wind. If those spores happen to land somewhere suitable, they will grow into what is called a gametophyte, and that is a whole separate individual plant. It’s very tiny, maybe the size of your fingernail, and it’s just like a little, thin, small green plate. What that does is it will produce the sex cells – the eggs and the sperm.

Video: © University of Waikato Micrograph of spore, Australasian Pollen & Spore Atlas, Creative Commons 3.0