fern allies

Fern ally is a general term covering a somewhat diverse group of vascular plants that are not flowering plants and not true ferns. Like ferns, these plants disperse by shedding spores to initiate an alternation of generations. There was originally three or four groups of plants considered to be fern allies. In various classification schemes, these may be grouped as classes or divisions within the plant kingdom. The more traditional classification scheme is as follows (here, the first three classes are the "fern allies"):Kingdom: PlantaeDivision Tracheophyta (vascular plants)Class Lycopsida, (fern-allies) the clubmosses and related plantsClass Sphenopsida or Equisetopsida, (fern-allies) the horsetails and scouring-rushesClass Psilopsida, (fern-allies) the whisk fernsClass Filices, the true fernsClass Spermatopsida (or sometimes as several different classes of seed-bearing plants)
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