sporophyte

In land plants, the sporophyte is the diploid, multicellular phase that arises from the zygote after fertilization and represents one generation in the plant's life cycle. The sporophyte produces spores by meiosis, which germinate to form the haploid gametophyte. Depending on the lineage, the sporophyte may be nutritionally independent and photosynthetic or dependent on the gametophyte for nutrients.

In bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, hornworts), the sporophyte is typically small and attached to and dependent on the gametophyte. In ferns and other pteridophytes, the sporophyte is the dominant, free-living generation, while the gametophyte is small and short-lived. In seed plants (gymnosperms and angiosperms), the sporophyte is the dominant, long-lived generation, and the gametophyte is highly reduced and contained within the reproductive organs: microgametophyte (pollen) and megagametophyte (embryo sac).

Sporangia, the structures that produce spores, are often organized into discrete organs: in ferns they form sori on the fronds; in mosses they appear as capsules atop stalks called setae; in seed plants the sporophyte generates pollen-producing and ovule-containing organs on cones or flowers. Meiosis within sporangia yields haploid spores that disperse and colonize new gametophytes, starting the next generation.