Reproductive Terms

Annullus: a row of thick and thin walled cells of the sporangium, which cause the sporangium to open and to discharge its spores.
Gametopyte: the inconspicuous structures that bear male and female sex organs and sex cells.
Indusium: a usually thin, often scale-like membrane or structure partially or fully covering or subtending the sorus and protecting the young sporangia.
Prothallus: the independent gametophyte. The site of sexual reproductions in ferns.
Sporophyte: the conspicuous plants that bear spores.
Sinus: the space between two lobes of a margin.
Sorus: a cluster of sporangia having a distinct shape.
Sporangium: the region where spores are produced.
Spores: a unicellular, reproductive structure produced by the sporangia and germinating to form a mature plant.