PTERIDOPHYTE

any of the spore-bearing plants also known as vascular cryptogams. The name pteridophyte, no longer used in systematic taxonomy, is derived from Greek words meaning feather plant. In earlier classifications the Pteridophyta included the club mosses, horsetails, ferns, and various fossil groups. In more recent classifications, pteridophytes and spermatophytes (seed-bearing plants) are in the division, or phylum, Tracheophyta. See tracheophyte.