∞ generated and posted on 2016.08.30 ∞
Haploid multicellular organism that produces gametes.
More generally, this is the haploid generation in alternation of generations. That is, alternation of generations is not exclusive to plants since it is seen in various algae as well.
In primitive plants the gametophyte generation is the conspicuous plant generation, e.g., the part of mosses that you think of when you think of what a moss plant looks like. In vascular plants, by contrast, the gametophyte generation is the smaller, inconspicuous plant generation.
Figure legend: The gametophyte generation is initiation from spores, which constitute the first cell of this haploid generation. The multicellular, haploid organism is generated via mitosis. Also via mitosis the gametes are generated, the more or less familiar sperm and egg. It is via the fusion of sperm and egg, that is, fertilization or syngamy, that the sporophyte generation is, well, generated. Note that the gametophyte generation is called the gametophyte generation because it is this generation that produces the gametes.
In all plants the sporophyte generation forms in association with the maternal gametophyte, that is, from an egg that remains in association with the gametophyte plant. That egg is produced within an organ called an archegonium, which is a kind of gametangium, that is, the organ of plants in which gametes are produced. Plant sperm, by contrast, are produced within antheridia, the male gametangium.