Very nice, FMO. I am a bit confused by this statement, though:
"The big deal is to get that pro-thallus onto the fern frond so in drier evironments it has a chance to grow"
Maybe your next post will clear that up.
Nostalgic - Botany classes many years ago.
The planned next post will be somewhat delayed. I have to go offline for a while and some of my original sources aren't where I expected them to be.
But, since you've taken botany, you can google "seed ferns" with the quotes and get a lot of stuff on your own.
The key factor is that seed plants grow their gametophytes and seeds inside the spermatophyte (google images: spermatophyte life cycle), in a protected position, while in Ferns the gametophytes and fertilized ova can only grow on moist soil.
"Seed Ferns" are the intermediate step.
I'll be back in a few hours and pick this up.
Here are a couple of illos.
Time is still short, maybe more this evening
a progymnosperm: http://www.science.siu.edu/plant-biology/PLB117/JPEGs%20CD/1033.JPG
A seed fern with the seeds http://www.science.siu.edu/plant-biology/PLB117/JPEGs%20CD/1034.JPG
