gametophyte

noun

(Gr. gametês: spouse; phyton: plant) The haploid (1n), gamete-producing generation of the plant reproductive cycle, the reduced and inconspicuous portion of the life cycle in the vascular plants; it is the dominant phase in the life cycle of mosses and liverworts, the sporophyte generation depending on it either partially or completely and it consist normally of green, leafy or thalloid plants, bearing antheridia r archegonia; in clubmosses, horsetails, and ferns it is the prothallus; in seed plants it is very much reduced; for example, in angiosperms the pollen grain is the male gametophyte and the embryo sac is the female gametophyte. See also alternation of generations.