Embryophyta

Land plants Temporal range: Mid Ordovician–Recent(Spores from Dapingian (early Middle Ordovician) PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
(unranked):	Archaeplastida
Kingdom:	Viridiplantae
(unranked):	Embryophyta Engler, 1892
Divisions
Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta – liverworts Bryophyta – mosses Anthocerotophyta – hornworts †Horneophytopsida Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta – rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta – zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta – clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta – trimerophytes Pteridophyta – ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta – seed ferns Pinophyta – conifers Cycadophyta – cycads Ginkgophyta – ginkgo Gnetophyta – gnetae Magnoliophyta – flowering plants Traditional groups: Bryophyta* Pteridophyta* Gymnospermae* Angiospermae
Synonyms
Cormophyta Endlicher, 1836 Phyta Barkley, 1939 Cormobionta Rothmaler, 1948 Euplanta Barkley, 1949 Telomobionta Takhtajan, 1964 Embryobionta Cronquist et al. 1966 Metaphyta Whittaker, 1969 Plantae Margulis, 1971

Traditional groups:

The Embryophyta are the most familiar group of green plants that form vegetation on earth. Living embryophytes include hornworts, liverworts, mosses, ferns, lycophytes, gymnosperms and flowering plants, and emerged from Charophyte green algae. The Embryophyta are informally called land plants because they live primarily in terrestrial habitats, while the related green algae are primarily aquatic. All are complex multicellular eukaryotes with specialized reproductive organs. The name derives from their innovative characteristic of nurturing the young embryo sporophyte during the early stages of its multicellular development within the tissues of the parent gametophyte. With very few exceptions, embryophytes obtain their energy by photosynthesis, that is by using the energy of sunlight to synthesize their food from carbon dioxide and water.

The evolutionary origins of the embryophytes are discussed further below, but they are believed to have evolved from within a group of complex green algae during the Paleozoic era (which started around 540 million years ago). Charales or the stoneworts may be the best living illustration of that developmental step. Embryophytes are primarily adapted for life on land, although some are secondarily aquatic. Accordingly, they are often called land plants or terrestrial plants.