Very pleased with my Adiantum formosum gametophytes. Sowed at an Edge Hill University / BPS spore sowing workshop 6 weeks ago. #FernFriday #BritishFernSociety
March 21, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Very pleased with my Adiantum formosum gametophytes. Sowed at an Edge Hill University / BPS spore sowing workshop 6 weeks ago. #FernFriday #BritishFernSociety
The good news is: kelp gametophytes‼️
February 6, 2025 at 1:02 AM
The good news is: kelp gametophytes‼️
Some cute giant kelp gametophytes for #PhycologyFriday! 🌊
July 24, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Some cute giant kelp gametophytes for #PhycologyFriday! 🌊
So excited to see some kelp gametophytes under the confocal microscope!! 🔬
Students of our mini-course imaging kelp with @brookeweigel.bsky.social!
June 13, 2025 at 2:30 AM
So excited to see some kelp gametophytes under the confocal microscope!! 🔬
As part of our NASA-funded work to understand why ferns were so successful in the aftermath of the impact that killed the dinosaurs (for centuries!) team lead @ebsessa.bsky.social's graduate student led a study of gametophytes, the tiny stage that ferns go through that you may not even know about.
June 30, 2026 at 2:44 PM
As part of our NASA-funded work to understand why ferns were so successful in the aftermath of the impact that killed the dinosaurs (for centuries!) team lead @ebsessa.bsky.social's graduate student led a study of gametophytes, the tiny stage that ferns go through that you may not even know about.
We found that spores took longer to germinate in post-impact conditions, but the gametophytes actually photosynthesized better in the impact conditions than the control. This helps explain why ferns are resilient in the aftermath of catastrophes.
Read the study here:
bioone.org/journals/ame...
Read the study here:
bioone.org/journals/ame...
bioone.org
June 30, 2026 at 2:51 PM
We found that spores took longer to germinate in post-impact conditions, but the gametophytes actually photosynthesized better in the impact conditions than the control. This helps explain why ferns are resilient in the aftermath of catastrophes.
Read the study here:
bioone.org/journals/ame...
Read the study here:
bioone.org/journals/ame...
📢 New publication 'The B-class #auxin response factor MpARF2 is essential for #meristem organization in free-living #plant gametophytes' by Eduardo Flores-Sandoval et al. in Current Biology 🧪🌱
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
December 11, 2025 at 12:37 AM
📢 New publication 'The B-class #auxin response factor MpARF2 is essential for #meristem organization in free-living #plant gametophytes' by Eduardo Flores-Sandoval et al. in Current Biology 🧪🌱
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
the things plants do with sex hormones makes me feel a way sometimes like the first ferns to germinate in a population secrete a hormone that ensures all the nearby fern gametophytes turn into males
September 30, 2026 at 12:59 PM
the things plants do with sex hormones makes me feel a way sometimes like the first ferns to germinate in a population secrete a hormone that ensures all the nearby fern gametophytes turn into males
Shrivelled gametophytes of baby-tooth moss (or woodsy thyme moss, or toothed plagiomnium moss... take your pick, it's Plagiomnium cuspidatum in any case), backlit, with sporophytes raised high.
Lyman Woods this afternoon.
Lyman Woods this afternoon.
March 22, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Shrivelled gametophytes of baby-tooth moss (or woodsy thyme moss, or toothed plagiomnium moss... take your pick, it's Plagiomnium cuspidatum in any case), backlit, with sporophytes raised high.
Lyman Woods this afternoon.
Lyman Woods this afternoon.
Sporophytes and gametophytes
February 16, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Sporophytes and gametophytes
My fern gametophytes in my grow bin are starting to push up sporophyte fronds. Very exciting!
March 22, 2025 at 5:41 AM
My fern gametophytes in my grow bin are starting to push up sporophyte fronds. Very exciting!
June 7, 2025 at 5:03 AM
March 31, 2026 at 12:03 AM
December 27, 2025 at 10:59 AM
January 4, 2025 at 11:38 AM
🔬🌱 RESEARCH 🌱🔬
Continuous cell proliferation and de novo meristem formation drive clone-forming growth and prolonged longevity in epiphytic fern gametophytes - Wu et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Continuous cell proliferation and de novo meristem formation drive clone-forming growth and prolonged longevity in epiphytic fern gametophytes - Wu et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
October 19, 2025 at 2:40 PM
🔬🌱 RESEARCH 🌱🔬
Continuous cell proliferation and de novo meristem formation drive clone-forming growth and prolonged longevity in epiphytic fern gametophytes - Wu et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Continuous cell proliferation and de novo meristem formation drive clone-forming growth and prolonged longevity in epiphytic fern gametophytes - Wu et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
But the trend in the plant lineage has been to reduce the gametophyte stage more and more to a purely reproductive thing dependent on the parent sporophyte
In angiosperms, the female gametophyte never leaves the flower, and the male gametophytes are grains of pollen!
In angiosperms, the female gametophyte never leaves the flower, and the male gametophytes are grains of pollen!
July 9, 2026 at 2:30 PM
But the trend in the plant lineage has been to reduce the gametophyte stage more and more to a purely reproductive thing dependent on the parent sporophyte
In angiosperms, the female gametophyte never leaves the flower, and the male gametophytes are grains of pollen!
In angiosperms, the female gametophyte never leaves the flower, and the male gametophytes are grains of pollen!
Y'see, plants do something called alternation of generations, where instead of a diploid plant directly producing haploid gametes, they asexually produce haploid plants that then make haploid gametes
In the most primitive plants, these "gametophytes" were full, separate plants, grown from spores!
In the most primitive plants, these "gametophytes" were full, separate plants, grown from spores!
July 9, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Y'see, plants do something called alternation of generations, where instead of a diploid plant directly producing haploid gametes, they asexually produce haploid plants that then make haploid gametes
In the most primitive plants, these "gametophytes" were full, separate plants, grown from spores!
In the most primitive plants, these "gametophytes" were full, separate plants, grown from spores!
Late to the party, but I appreciate the Closing Ceremonies had a tribute to fern gametophytes!
February 24, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Late to the party, but I appreciate the Closing Ceremonies had a tribute to fern gametophytes!
Loved seeing these sun kissed sporophytes and gametophytes along a tree branch today.
💚🔬 #iseemoss #mosssafari
📍Burgess Hill, England
💚🔬 #iseemoss #mosssafari
📍Burgess Hill, England
October 26, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Loved seeing these sun kissed sporophytes and gametophytes along a tree branch today.
💚🔬 #iseemoss #mosssafari
📍Burgess Hill, England
💚🔬 #iseemoss #mosssafari
📍Burgess Hill, England
Lordy the gametophytes on my eyeballs
April 3, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Lordy the gametophytes on my eyeballs
Today's teaching: for Year 1 Intro to Plant Science plant diversity, including the wonderful everyday weirdness of fern life cycles 💚🌿💚🌿💚🌿
October 2, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Today's teaching: for Year 1 Intro to Plant Science plant diversity, including the wonderful everyday weirdness of fern life cycles 💚🌿💚🌿💚🌿
The fungi that grow on bryophyte (moss) sporophytes are usually completely different to those on gametophytes. One feature is less apparent specificity in many, where generalists can grow on decaying vascular plants and "woody" moss sporophytes. This is a spore of Pleospora cf. herbarum ... 1/2
April 12, 2025 at 4:38 PM
The fungi that grow on bryophyte (moss) sporophytes are usually completely different to those on gametophytes. One feature is less apparent specificity in many, where generalists can grow on decaying vascular plants and "woody" moss sporophytes. This is a spore of Pleospora cf. herbarum ... 1/2