Definition of "pteridophyte" [pteridophyte]

• Any of various vascular plants that reproduce by means of spores rather than by seeds, including the ferns and related plants, such as club mosses and horsetails. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There are 794 angiosperm genera, 77% of China's total angiosperm species, 24 gymnosperm, 70 pteridophyte and 102 bryophyte genera."
• "A total of 859 vascular plant, 15 pteridophyte, 21 bryophyte and 159 algal species have been recorded."
• "Instead of the great extinction event we observe an increase in the diversity of pteridophyte spores."