General Biology II · Module 7 · Plant diversity

Plant Diversity Lab

Explore four plant life cycles and watch the generations alternate; train on n, 2n and 3n, generations and chromosome counts with animated worked solutions; sort traits and features; and read real data on bogs, coal, pollinators, seed banks and medicines. Nothing here is graded.

Part 1: Life Cycle Explorer

Pick a plant and watch its life cycle turn. The top half of the wheel is the diploid sporophyte; the bottom half is the haploid gametophyte.
Sporophyte, 2n Gametophyte, n Endosperm, 3n Current stage and innovation markers Bryophytes Seedless vascular Gymnosperms Angiosperms
Live readouts
MeasureValue

Each wheel shows the main stages only. Example species and chromosome numbers: moss Physcomitrium patens (n = 27), fern Ceratopteris richardii (n = 39), pine (n = 12), pea (n = 7). Sizes are typical rounded values on a logarithmic scale. Dates on the timeline are approximate, from fossils and molecular clocks. Stages are shown far faster than real life.