The primitive world of plants and fungi
Nandini Dholepat
As a botanist, I often find myself answering questions from curious friends about plant life. And because I have a group of friends with common interests, we created a WhatsApp group called “Backyard Discovery” to share and answer questions about plants that we find in our neighbourhood.

Over the initial few days after setting up the group, there were many questions that members had. As it would have been difficult to answer these questions via WhatsApp, I suggested that we meet on the following Saturday by the stream in our neighbourhood to find the answers.
On Saturday afternoon, the children – Shilpa, Rini, Anand, and Vivan – were the first ones to arrive. They asked to see pictures of my recent trip to the US. I opened the photos folder on my computer as we waited for Madhavi and Sujatha to arrive. Shilpa was excited when she saw pine trees with big cones. She told her friends about her trip to Ooty. There she had seen pine trees and collected different types of cones, which she had painted to make flower vases.

“Are these cones flowers?” Rini asked.
“Pine trees belong to the ‘Gymnosperm’ group. They are called ‘naked seed plants’. The cones are modified leaves that hold seeds,” I replied.
“Funny, because they look like carved wood, without colour petals,” Rini said.
I showed them another photo, “See this photo, when I dusted the pine cone, seeds fell down from it.”
“This is interesting, not like mango or guava, where the seeds are inside the fruit,” Anand said.
After an hour, Madhavi and Sujatha arrived. Together, we walked towards the stream. This time we noticed big mushrooms in between the grass.

Vivan said, “Aunty, we can see both the stem and umbrella of this mushroom. You said something about hyphae in mushrooms. How can we see that?”
“You can see the hyphae only under a microscope as they are very minute filaments,” I replied.
Sujatha suddenly asked, “When will we go to the university? Have you asked your friend?”
“Yes, maybe next week. Once I hear from her, I will let you know. In the meanwhile, all of you note down your observations and questions that you want to ask the professors and scholars there,” I said.
What is that big ball-like thing over there?” Vivan bent and pointed towards a bush.
“Oh! A white balloon! Or is it a ball?” Rini wondered.
I turned to see where Vivan had pointed, “You all wait here, I will check.”
I pushed the stems of the bush and pulled the ball out.
“This is a puff ball mushroom. It is also a kind of fungi,” I said.
“But this is just like a ball. Where are the stem and the gills?” Vivan asked.
“These belong to a separate group. Spores are produced in the centre of the ball. When the puff ball matures, it develops an aperture to release the spores.”
“This is yet to mature and hence has not yet produced spores,” I split the puff ball open to show them.
“Can I touch it?” Vivan asked.
“Sure, you can,” I replied.
“This is the first time I am seeing something like this!” said Madhavi.
“This is also used for cooking?” Sujatha asked.
“Some varieties are consumed. But I am not sure about this one,” I replied.

When we reached the stream, it was marshy and cool. “See these small plants on the rocks. They cover the rock like a green mat,” Sujatha said.

“You can see a lot of moss plants here. Underneath the rocks, you can also see some ferns growing,” I pointed.
“I know ferns. We have fern plants in our school garden,” Vivan said.
“Do they grow big and produce flowers?” Rini asked.
“These are all non-flowering plants. Algae and moss are primitive plants. Moss generally grows like a thick mat. You have seen moss sticks, which are used as a support to grow plants in pots,” I replied.
I picked some moss and turned it upside down. “These are also called ‘liverworts’ as they look like the liver! The plant body is called ‘thallus’. It is a flat green structure that helps in photosynthesis. The underside of the thallus has thread-like growth called ‘rhizoids’, which help in the absorption of water and minerals, and to hold the substratum.”
“Come here, look. This is another kind of moss. You can see the moss growing on this tree trunk. The small green capsule-like structures hanging on the stalks are ‘sporophyte’. They produce spores. These spores fall down and produce ‘gametophytes’ or ‘prothallus’, which in turn produce separate male and female gametes. In nature, male and female gametes unite to produce an embryo, which is like a seed. This seed germinates to produce the sporophyte,” I showed them the mass growing on a tree trunk.

“So, there are two different forms of the same plant in nature, and the formation of gametophyte-sporophyte- gametophyte continues like a circle?” Madhavi asked.
“Yes, it is a cycle. It is called alternation of generation. There are two different forms of the same plant. In some types of moss, it is difficult to distinguish the sporophyte from the gametophyte, as the thallus looks the same to the naked eye. In ferns, generally, the gametophytes are very small, you cannot see them with your naked eye. You can learn in detail when we go to university,” I said.
“Then what about fruits and seeds? How do these non-flowering plants multiply?” Rini asked.
I picked up a fern, “You can get new plants by separating the stems with roots. On the underside of the fern leaves, you can see small structures, along the margin. These are sporangium, which produce the male and female gamates,” I turned the fern leaf to show orange colour outgrowths on the leaves.

Anand and Vivan were looking at the tadpoles swimming in the water. “What are these green plants inside the water aunty?” Anand asked.
“They look like algae. You must have seen these kinds of plants in aquariums too,” I replied.
“Oh yes, I have seen them!” said Vivan.
“Do they also produce spores?” Anand asked.
“Yes, they also produce spores,” I replied.
“One more query Nandini, can we take these samples to observe in the lab?” Madhavi asked.
“If you collect water here, you can see many different microscopic organisms too. But these algae are very fragile. It is better to collect the sample before going to the lab,” I replied.
“This is amazing. If I had come here alone, I would not have noticed all this. I will come once again to collect the samples before going to the university,” Sujatha said.
Suggested activities
1. Find different types of ferns in your neighbourhood and draw their pictures.
2. Make a list of the different types of non-flowering plants you have seen.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchantia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/fun_facts_about_pine_cones
The author is a botanist. She has been involved in teaching and research for more than 25 years. Currently, she is a consultant for Intellectual Property Rights and is a visiting faculty member at RIWATCH, Roing, Arunachal Pradesh. She can be reached at nandinidholepat@gamil.com.