- Mosses, such as sphagnum, and ferns, such as fiddleheads, enjoy cool, moist, shady habitats. Dr. Bruce E. Fleury of Tulane University's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology states in a report that, while no mosses exist in the desert, they do grow abundantly in the world's arctic regions -- any place where moisture abounds. Ferns thrive and reproduce in moist habitats as well but can withstand dryer conditions because of roots that retrieve water and minerals from the soil. Both are primitive plants that need a moist environment to reproduce.
- Though ferns are further along the evolutionary pathway than mosses, both mosses and ferns are primitive plants that most likely evolved from algae. Much simpler in structure, mosses nevertheless successfully survived on land, though without roots like true plants. Neither ferns nor mosses produce seeds but rely on spores that eventually produce sperm and eggs.
- Because mosses and ferns do not produce seeds, they must rely on casting spores to the ground to get the reproduction ball rolling. The spores often travel great distances before settling. A cushion or creeping mat of moss periodically sends up shoots or stalks that contain a single spore at the stalk's apex. The spore is carried away by wind, rain or other disturbance. Fern spores, called sporangia, dot the underside of an unfurled, fully formed frond. A small, explosive burst releases the spores when ready, and, as in the case with mosses, the spores drop or fly away on the wind.
- After the casting of spores occurs, the spores germinate and plant sex cells from inside a gametophyte that often resemble a "heart-shaped plate of cells," according to the HomeSchool Online UK website. The sperm of both mosses and ferns must have a watery environment in which to energetically swim toward the egg. Once fertilization takes place, tiny replicas of the plants appear, and the cycle continues.
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