Ferns are an example of plants with what type of vascular tissue?

• A. Simple vascular
• B. Nonvascular
• C. Complex vascular
• D. Seed plants

Answer: (A)

Ferns are vascular plants, meaning they have tissue that transports water and nutrients (xylem and phloem). In some teaching contexts, vascular tissue is described as simple when the plant’s transport system is less differentiated or less organized into complex bundles than in seed plants. Ferns fit this description because their vascular tissue is present but comparatively simpler in structure than the highly organized vascular bundles seen in seed plants. They are not nonvascular, since they do have vascular tissue, and they are not seed plants because they reproduce by spores, not seeds. So, in this framing, ferns are examples of plants with simple vascular tissue.