Gametophyte

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gametophyte \Ga*me"to*phyte\, n. [Gamete + Gr. fyto`n plant.]
     (Bot.)
     In the alternation of generations in plants, that generation
     or phase which bears sex organs and produces gametes. In the
     lower plants, as the alg[ae], the gametophyte is the
     conspicuous part of the plant body; in mosses it is the


     so-called moss plant; in ferns it is reduced to a small,
     early perishing body; and in seed plants it is usually
     microscopic or rudimentary.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  gametophyte
       n : the gamete-producing individual or phase in the life cycle
           of a plant having alternation of generations