Sporocarp (ferns)
A sporocarp is a specialised type of structure in the aquatic ferns of the order Salviniales whose primary function is the production and release of spores.[1]
Sporocarps are found only in the Salviniales, a group that is aquatic and
germinated
after being stored for more than forty years. Each growing season, only one sporocarp develops per node along the rhizome near the base of the other leaf-stalks.
The sporocarps are functionally and developmentally modified leaves, although they have much shorter stalks than the vegetative leaves. Inside the sporocarp, the modified leaflets bear several
megasporangia, each of which will produce a single large female megaspore. Surrounding them at the edge of the sorus and developing later are the microsporangia, each of which will produce many small male microspores
.
References
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