Diagram of antheridium anatomy

An antheridium (plural: antheridia) is a structure or organ of the gametophyte phase of certain plants producing and containing the spermatids or male gametes. It is present in lower plants like mosses and ferns, and also in the primitive vascular Psylotophytes, but the comparable structure in gymnosperms' (microsporangium) and angiosperms' (anthers) is comprised mostly of sporophyte (diploid) tissue that surrounds the haploid gametes. The female counterpart to the antheridium is the archegonium. Image File history File links Antheridia. ... Image File history File links Antheridia. ... // Overview A gametophyte is the haploidor possibly diploid structure or phase of life of a sexually-reproducing plant. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... The term spermatid refers to the haploid male germ cell that results from secondary spermatocyte division. ... Gametes (in Greek: γαμέτες) —also known as sex cells, or spores—are the specialized germ cells that come together during fertilization (conception) in organisms that reproduce sexually. ... ... Subclasses Sphagnidae Andreaeidae Tetraphidae Polytrichidae Archidiidae Buxbaumiidae Bryidae Moss gametophyte generation plants with a single sporophyte. ... Classes Marattiopsida Osmundopsida Gleicheniopsida Pteridopsida A fern, or pteridophyte, is any one of a group of about 20,000 species of plants classified in the Division Pteridophyta, formerly known as Filicophyta. ... Families Psilotaceae Tmesipteridaceae Psilotophyta (the whisk ferns; also sometimes as Psilophyta) is a division (i. ... Coast Douglas-fir cone, from a tree grown from seed collected by David Douglas Gymnosperms are seed-bearing, vascular plants. ... A sporangium (pl. ... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Flower of the spider tree (Crateva religiosa) with its numerous conspicuous stamens The stamen is the male organ of a flower. ... A sporophyte is the diploid structure or phase of life of a sexually reproducing plant. ... An archegonium (pl: archegonia) (from the Greek arche = beginning and gonos = born) is a multicellular structure or organ of the gametophyte phase of certain plants producing and containing the ovum or female gamete. ...

In mosses, the antheridium is borne on an antheridiophore. Some ascomycetes, water moulds and algae also have antheridia during their reproductive stages. Subclasses Sphagnidae Andreaeidae Tetraphidae Polytrichidae Archidiidae Buxbaumiidae Bryidae Moss gametophyte generation plants with a single sporophyte. ... Classes Archaeascomycetes Hemiascomycetes Euascomycetes Neolectomycetes Pezizomycotina Pneumocystidomycetes Saccharomycotina Schizosaccharomycetes Taphrinomycetes mitosporic Ascomycota Members of the Division Ascomycota are known as the Sac Fungi and are fungi that produce spores in a distinctive type of microscopic sporangium called an ascus (Greek for a bag or wineskin). This monophyletic grouping was formerly... Orders Lagenidiales Leptomitales Peronosporales Pythiales Rhipidiales Saprolegniales Sclerosporales Water moulds or Oomycetes are a group of filamentous protists, physically resembling fungi. ... A seaweed (Laurencia) up close: the branches are multicellular and only about 1 mm thick. ...