Pteridophytes — NEET Biology MCQs with Solutions
Free NEET Biology Pteridophytes MCQs with step-by-step solutions (40 questions). Part of Plant Kingdom. Practise online on Prepizo — no login needed.
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Questions with solutions
Q1 — Pteridophytes · easy · theory
Pteridophytes are the first plants to possess:
A. Flowers
B. Seeds
C. True vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) ✓ Correct
D. Fruits
Solution: Pteridophytes (ferns and allies) are the first terrestrial plants with well-differentiated vascular tissue.
Q2 — Pteridophytes · easy · theory
In the life cycle of a fern, the dominant phase is the:
A. Gametophyte
B. Sporophyte ✓ Correct
C. Zygote
D. Prothallus
Solution: Unlike bryophytes, in pteridophytes the diploid sporophyte is the main, dominant plant.
Q3 — Pteridophytes · medium · theory
The small, multicellular, free-living, mostly photosynthetic gametophyte of a fern is the:
A. Protonema
B. Rhizome
C. Prothallus ✓ Correct
D. Sorus
Solution: Fern spores germinate into an inconspicuous, independent prothallus that bears the sex organs.
Q4 — Pteridophytes · medium · theory
Heterospory — production of two kinds of spores — is seen in:
A. All ferns
B. Dryopteris and Pteris
C. Selaginella and Salvinia ✓ Correct
D. Equisetum only
Solution: Selaginella and Salvinia produce microspores and megaspores (heterospory), a step toward the seed habit.
Q5 — Pteridophytes · hard · theory
The four classes of pteridophytes — Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Sphenopsida, Pteropsida — are represented respectively by:
A. Cycas, Pinus, Ginkgo, Ephedra
B. Psilotum, Selaginella/Lycopodium, Equisetum, Dryopteris/Pteris ✓ Correct
C. Chara, Volvox, Fucus, Ulva
D. Riccia, Funaria, Pinus, Cycas
Solution: These are the standard NCERT type genera of the four pteridophyte classes.
Q6 — Pteridophytes · hard · theory
The significance of heterospory in pteridophytes lies in that the megaspore:
A. Is identical to the microspore
B. Is dispersed by wind only
C. Develops into the sporophyte directly without fertilisation
D. Retains and germinates within it, foreshadowing the seed habit of higher plants ✓ Correct
Solution: In heterosporous forms the female gametophyte is retained on the parent — a precursor to the seed habit of gymnosperms/angiosperms.
Q7 — Pteridophytes · easy · numerical
The clusters of sporangia seen on the underside of a fern frond are called:
A. Elaters
B. Prothalli
C. Ramenta
D. Sori ✓ Correct
Solution: Sporangia in ferns are borne in groups called sori on the lower surface of the leaves (sporophylls).
Q8 — Pteridophytes · easy · numerical
Which of the following is a pteridophyte?
A. Chara (an alga)
B. Cycas (a gymnosperm)
C. Selaginella ✓ Correct
D. Funaria (a moss)
Solution: Selaginella is a pteridophyte; Funaria is a moss, Cycas a gymnosperm and Chara a green alga.
Q9 — Pteridophytes · easy · numerical
In pteridophytes, the main plant body (sporophyte) is differentiated into:
A. Only a leafy shoot without roots
B. A thallus without any root, stem or leaf
C. True root, stem and leaves ✓ Correct
D. Rhizoids and a flattened thallus
Solution: Pteridophytes are the first plants with a sporophyte differentiated into true roots, stem and leaves, along with vascular tissue.
Q10 — Pteridophytes · medium · numerical
Assertion (A): Pteridophytes are called cryptogams. Reason (R): They do not produce seeds and have concealed reproductive organs.
A. A is false but R is true
B. Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
C. A is true but R is false
D. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A ✓ Correct
Solution: Cryptogams are seedless plants with hidden (non-flowering) reproductive structures, which is exactly why pteridophytes carry this name, so R correctly explains A.
Q11 — Pteridophytes · medium · numerical
Which statement about pteridophytes is INCORRECT?
A. The gametophyte (prothallus) is the dominant, conspicuous phase of the life cycle ✓ Correct
B. They possess vascular tissue, namely xylem and phloem
C. Water is required for fertilisation
D. The sporophyte is differentiated into root, stem and leaves
Solution: In pteridophytes the diploid sporophyte is dominant, while the prothallus is small and inconspicuous; therefore the first statement is incorrect.
Q12 — Pteridophytes · medium · numerical
Which set correctly matches each pteridophyte with its common name?
A. Equisetum – horsetail; Lycopodium – maidenhair fern; Adiantum – club moss
B. Equisetum – club moss; Lycopodium – maidenhair fern; Adiantum – horsetail
C. Equisetum – horsetail; Lycopodium – club moss; Adiantum – maidenhair fern ✓ Correct
D. Equisetum – maidenhair fern; Lycopodium – horsetail; Adiantum – club moss
Solution: Equisetum is the horsetail, Lycopodium the club moss and Adiantum the maidenhair fern.
Q13 — Pteridophytes · medium · numerical
Assertion (A): In ferns, water is essential for fertilisation. Reason (R): The antherozoids are motile and swim to the archegonia.
A. Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
B. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A ✓ Correct
C. A is true but R is false
D. A is false but R is true
Solution: Fern male gametes are flagellated and must swim through water to reach the archegonia, so the requirement of water is correctly explained by their motility.
Q14 — Pteridophytes · medium · numerical
Which statement about the economic and ecological importance of pteridophytes is correct?
A. They are major cereal food crops
B. They are the chief source of the world's commercial timber
C. They are the main commercial source of agar
D. Several pteridophytes are used as soil binders, medicinally and as ornamentals ✓ Correct
Solution: Pteridophytes such as ferns and Selaginella are used as ornamentals, as soil binders and in medicine; they are neither timber trees, cereals, nor sources of agar.
Q15 — Pteridophytes · easy
Heterosporous pteridophyte(s) is/are-
A. Salvinia
B. (1) & (2) both ✓ Correct
C. Selaginella
D. Psilotum
Solution: Both Selaginella and Salvinia are heterosporous, producing two kinds of spores (micro- and megaspores).
Q16 — Pteridophytes · medium
Pteridophyte with all similar kind of spores (homosporous) is-
A. Selaginella
B. (1) & (2) both
C. Psilotum ✓ Correct
D. Salvinia
Solution: Psilotum is homosporous, producing only one type of spore, whereas Salvinia and Selaginella are heterosporous.
Q17 — Pteridophytes · medium
Seed habit is reported for the first time in-
A. Pteridophyte ✓ Correct
B. Angiosperm
C. Blue-green algae
D. Bryophyta
Solution: Heterospory in some pteridophytes is regarded as the precursor to the seed habit, which appeared first among them.
Q18 — Pteridophytes · easy
Pteridophytes are classified into-
A. 4 classes ✓ Correct
B. 4 orders
C. 4 families
D. All of these
Solution: Pteridophytes are divided into four classes: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Sphenopsida and Pteropsida.
Q19 — Pteridophytes · medium
Adiantum is a member of the same class along with-
A. Lycopodium
B. Pteris ✓ Correct
C. Equisetum
D. Selaginella
Solution: Adiantum and Pteris are both ferns belonging to the class Pteropsida.
Q20 — Pteridophytes · medium
Match the following: Column-I (i) Sphenopsida, (ii) Lycopsida, (iii) Psilopsida, (iv) Pteropsida with Column-II (a) Dryopteris, (b) Selaginella, (c) Psilotum, (d) Equisetum.
A. a-iv, b-ii, c-iii, d-i ✓ Correct
B. a-i, b-iv, c-ii, d-iii
C. a-iii, b-ii, c-iv, d-i
D. a-ii, b-iii, c-i, d-iv
Solution: Sphenopsida-Equisetum, Lycopsida-Selaginella, Psilopsida-Psilotum, Pteropsida-Dryopteris, giving a-iv, b-ii, c-iii, d-i.
Q21 — Pteridophytes · easy
Pteridophytes include-
A. (1) and (2) both ✓ Correct
B. Polytrichum
C. Ferns
D. Horsetail
Solution: Horsetails (Equisetum) and ferns are pteridophytes; Polytrichum is a moss (bryophyte).
Q22 — Pteridophytes · medium
The first terrestrial vascular plants are-
A. Pteridophyta ✓ Correct
B. Bryophyta (Mosses)
C. Algae
D. Bryophyta (liverworts & hornworts)
Solution: Pteridophytes are the first terrestrial plants to possess vascular tissues (xylem and phloem).
Q23 — Pteridophytes · medium
Choose the correct statement from the following:
A. All of these ✓ Correct
B. The plant body is differentiated into true root, only true prostrate stem as in Selaginella and true leaf
C. The leaves of pteridophytes are small as in Selaginella or macrophyll in ferns
D. Pteridophytes possess xylem, phloem
Solution: The pteridophyte body has true roots, stem and leaves; leaves are microphylls (Selaginella) or macrophylls (ferns); and they possess vascular tissues xylem and phloem.
Q24 — Pteridophytes · easy
In pteridophyta-
A. the main plant body is a gametophyte on which sporophytic phase is partially dependent
B. the main plant body is a sporophyte ✓ Correct
C. (1) and (2)
D. the main plant body is a gametophyte
Solution: In pteridophytes the dominant, independent main plant body is the sporophyte.
Q25 — Pteridophytes · medium
Choose the correct statement with regard to reproduction in pteridophytes:
A. Gametophyte bears sporangia that are subtended by sporophyll
B. Sporophyte bears sporangia that are subtended by sporophyll ✓ Correct
C. Sporophylls compact to form strobili as in fern
D. The sporangia produce spores by mitosis in spore mother cell
Solution: The sporophyte bears sporangia borne on sporophylls; spores are produced by meiosis, and strobili occur in Selaginella and Equisetum, not ferns.
Q26 — Pteridophytes · medium
The gametophyte of pteridophytes is-
A. Small inconspicuous but multicellular free-living, mostly non-photosynthetic thalloid body
B. Small but multicellular, free living, mostly photosynthetic thalloid structure ✓ Correct
C. Small inconspicuous but multicellular dependent, mostly photosynthetic thalloid body
D. Small but multicellular, free living, mostly photosynthetic, differentiated into root, stem and leaf
Solution: The pteridophyte gametophyte (prothallus) is small, multicellular, free-living, photosynthetic and thalloid, not differentiated into root/stem/leaf.
Q27 — Pteridophytes · easy
Water is needed for fertilization in-
A. (2) & (3) both ✓ Correct
B. Bryophytes
C. Eucalyptus
D. Pteridophytes
Solution: Both bryophytes and pteridophytes require water for the motile antherozoids to reach the egg during fertilization.
Q28 — Pteridophytes · easy
Sex organs are borne on-
A. None
B. On both gametophytes & sporophyte
C. Gametophyte ✓ Correct
D. Sporophytes
Solution: Sex organs (antheridia and archegonia) are borne on the gametophyte (prothallus) in pteridophytes.
Q29 — Pteridophytes · medium
Assertion (A): In pteridophytes, the dominant and independent phase is the sporophyte. Reason (R): The pteridophytic sporophyte is differentiated into true roots, stems and leaves.
A. Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. ✓ Correct
B. A is false, but R is true.
C. A is true, but R is false.
D. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
Solution: Both statements are true and the sporophyte's differentiation into true roots, stems and leaves is why it is the dominant independent phase, so R correctly explains A.
Q30 — Pteridophytes · medium
Assertion (A): Pteridophytes are considered the first vascular land plants. Reason (R): They are the first plants to show seeds enclosed in fruits.
A. Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
B. A is false, but R is true.
C. A is true, but R is false. ✓ Correct
D. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
Solution: The assertion is true because pteridophytes are the first vascular plants, but the reason is false since pteridophytes are seedless and do not bear seeds enclosed in fruits.