Cryptogam

Short description: Any plant or plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds

Polystichum setiferum, a fern Grimmia pulvinata, a moss Pelvetia canaliculata, a brown alga Hypholoma fasciculare, a fungus

A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name Cryptogamae (from grc κρυπτός (kruptós) 'hidden', and γαμέω (gaméō) 'to marry') means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact that no seed is produced, thus cryptogams represent the non-seed bearing plants. Other names, such as "thallophytes", "lower plants", and "spore plants" are also occasionally used. As a group, Cryptogamae are the opposite of the Phanerogamae (from grc φανερός (phanerós) 'visible') or Spermatophyta (from grc σπέρματος (spérmatos) 'seed', and φυτόν (phutón) 'plant'), the seed plants. The best-known groups of cryptogams are algae, lichens, mosses, and ferns,[1] but it also includes non-photosynthetic organisms traditionally classified as plants, such as fungi, slime molds, and bacteria.[2] The classification is now deprecated in Linnaean taxonomy. Cryptogams have been classified into three sub-kingdoms: Thallophyta (thallophyte), Bryophyta (bryophyte), and Pteridophya (pteridophyte).

At one time, the cryptogams were formally recognised as a group within the plant kingdom. In his system for classification of all known plants and animals, Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) divided the plant kingdom into 24 classes,[3] one of which was the "Cryptogamia". This included all plants with concealed reproductive organs. He divided Cryptogamia into four orders: Algae, Musci (bryophytes), Filices (ferns), and Fungi.

Not all cryptogams are treated as part of the plant kingdom today; the fungi, in particular, are regarded as a separate kingdom, more closely related to animals than plants, while blue-green algae are now regarded as a phylum of bacteria. Therefore, in contemporary plant systematics, "Cryptogamae" is not a taxonomically coherent group, but is cladistically polyphyletic. However, all organisms known as cryptogams belong to the field traditionally studied by botanists and the names of all cryptogams are regulated by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.

During World War II, the British Government Code and Cypher School recruited Geoffrey Tandy, a marine biologist expert in cryptogams, to Station X, Bletchley Park, allegedly when someone confused these with cryptograms.[4][5][6]

## See also

* Plant – to see how cryptogams are distributed across modern classification systems

## References

1. ↑ "Cryptogams". Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. http://www.rbge.org.uk/rbge/web/hort/crypto2.jsp.
2. ↑ Smith, Gilbert M. (1938). Cryptogamic Botany, Vol. 1. McGraw-Hill. https://archive.org/details/cryptogamicbotan031880mbp.
3. ↑ Dixon, P. S. (1973). Biology of the Rhodophyta. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. ISBN 0-05-002485-X.
4. ↑ Smithies, Sandy (19 January 1999). "Television Tuesday Watching brief". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/media/1999/jan/19/tvandradio.television1.
5. ↑ Davies, Mike (20 January 1999). "Cracking the code at last of Station X". Birmingham Post.
6. ↑ Hanks, Robert (20 January 1999). "Television Review". The Independent.

## External links

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Microbiology: Protistology: Protists

Former
classifications|

* Protozoa
* Mastigophora/Flagellates
* Sarcodina/Amoeboids
* Testate
* Heliozoa
* Infusoria/Ciliates
* Sporozoa
* Algae
* Cryptogams
* Thallophytes
* Fungus-like organisms
* Slime molds
* Ambiregnal protists

Morphology|

| Archaeplastida|

| Chloroplastida|

* "green algae": Phycoplast
* Phragmoplast
* Flagellar apparatus

|

Glaucophytes:|

* Cyanelles
* Phycobilisomes

Red algae:|

* Pit connection
* Phycobilisomes

Hacrobia|

| Cryptophyta:|

* Mastigonemes
* Periplast

|

Haptophyte:|

* Coccolith
* Haptonema

Stramenopiles|

| General:|

* Mastigonemes

|

Diatoms:|

* Frustule

Brown algae:|

* Lamina
* Pneumatocyst

Alveolata|

| General:|

* Alveoli
* Trichocyst

|

Dinoflagellates:|

* Dinokaryon
* Dinocyst
* Theca

Ciliates:|

* Cilium
* Cirrus
* Macronucleus
* Micronucleus

Apicomplexans:|

* Rhoptry
* Apicoplast
* Microneme

Rhizaria|

| Phytomyxea|

* Cruciform division

|

Excavate|

| Kinetoplastids:|

* Kinetoplast
* Glycosome

|

Euglenoidea:|

* Periplast/pellicle

Amoebozoa|

| Dictyostelids:|

* Macrocyst
* Sorocarp

|

Opisthokonta|

| Choanoflagellates:|

* Collar of microvilli

|

General|

| Levels of
organization|

* Unicellular
* Monadoid
* Amoeboid
* Coccoid
* Colonial s.s.
* Colonial flagellated
* Tetrasporal/capsal/palmelloid
* Sarcinoid
* Coenobial
* Filamentous/trichal/hyphal
* Parenchymatous
* Pseudoparenchymatous/plektenchymatic
* Membranous/thalloid/foliaceous
* Multinucleated
* Syncytial
* Coenocytic
* Siphonous
* Siphonocladous
* Multicellular s.s./tissular/histonal

|

Cell surface
structures|

* Simple cell membrane
* Mucilage
* Scale
* Frustule
* Cell wall
* Lorica
* Skeleton
* Test
* Theca
* Periplast/pellicle

Locomotion|

* Flagellum
* Cilium
* Pseudopodia
* Gliding motility

Mitochondria|

* Hydrogenosome
* Mitosome

Nucleus|

* Nucleomorph
* Multinucleate cells
* Plasmodium
* Dikaryon
* Heterokaryon
* Mitosis in protists
* Open
* Closed
* Orthomitosis
* Pleuromitosis
* Meiosis in protists
* Gametic
* Zygotic
* Sporic

Other|

* Cyst
* Cytostome
* Fimbriae
* Extrusome
* Contractile vacuole
* Eyespot apparatus
* Pyrenoid
* Axostyle
* Mastigont system

Ecology and
physiology|

* Microbial ecology
* Microbial biogeography
* Baas-Becking hypothesis
* Development/Reproduction
* Life cycles
* Fertilization
* Nutrition: Autotrophy
* Phototrophy
* Heterotrophy
* Phagotrophy
* Osmotrophy
* Saprotrophy
* Parasitism
* Biotrophy
* Necrotrophy
* Mixotrophy
* Auxotrophy

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