Chapter 21, Problem 14A

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The need of dependency of nonvascular sporophyte on gametophyte.

Introduction:

The diploid multicellular stage in life cycle of plant is termed as sporophyte. When a haploid egg fuses with a haploid sperm, a zygote is formed. Sporophyte develops from the zygote and has two sets of chromosomes.

Explanation of Solution

The sporophyte is dependent on gametophyte generation. Sporophyte gets nourishment from gametophyte, as it is capable of photosynthesis. Non-vascular sporophytes cannot make their own food from photosynthesis, so they use food formed by gametophytes, which are in the form of moss-like vegetation.