cryptogam means any plant that reproduces using spores (rather than seeds), formerly placed in the taxonomic group Cryptogamae, which included ferns, mosses, algae, fungi, lichens and liverworts. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
noun
- Any plant that reproduces using spores (rather than seeds), formerly placed in the taxonomic group Cryptogamae, which included ferns, mosses, algae, fungi, lichens and liverworts.“1956, George A. Llano, Botanical Research Essential to a Knowledge of Antarctica, A. P. Crary, L. M. Gould, E. O. Hulburt, Hugh Obishaw, Waldo E. Smith (editors), Antarctica in the International Geophysical Year, Geophysical Monograph Number 1, American Geophysical Union, page 124,
In the absence of phanerogams, the cryptogams — principally the algae, mosses, and lichens — are the dominant forms o”