| Abstract from DBPedia | A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name Cryptogamae (from Ancient Greek κρυπτός (kruptós) 'hidden', and γαμέω (gaméō) 'to marry') means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact that no seed is produced, thus cryptogams represent the non-seed bearing plants. Other names, such as "thallophytes", "lower plants", and "spore plants" are also occasionally used. As a group, Cryptogamae are the opposite of the Phanerogamae (from Ancient Greek φανερός (phanerós) 'visible') or Spermatophyta (from Ancient Greek σπέρματος (spérmatos) 'seed', and φυτόν (phutón) 'plant'), the seed plants. The best-known groups of cryptogams are algae, lichens, mosses, and ferns, but it also includes non-photosynthetic organisms traditionally classified as plants, such as fungi, slime molds, and bacteria. The classification is now deprecated in Linnaean taxonomy. At one time, the cryptogams were formally recognised as a group within the plant kingdom. In his system for classification of all known plants and animals, Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) divided the plant kingdom into 24 classes, one of which was the "Cryptogamia". This included all plants with concealed reproductive organs. He divided Cryptogamia into four orders: Algae, Musci (bryophytes), Filices (ferns), and Fungi. Not all cryptogams are treated as part of the plant kingdom today; the fungi, in particular, are regarded as a separate kingdom, more closely related to animals than plants, while blue-green algae are now regarded as a phylum of bacteria. Therefore, in contemporary plant systematics, "Cryptogamae" is not a taxonomically coherent group, but is cladistically polyphyletic. However, all organisms known as cryptogams belong to the field traditionally studied by botanists and the names of all cryptogams are regulated by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. During World War II, the British Government Code and Cypher School recruited Geoffrey Tandy, a marine biologist expert in cryptogams, to Station X, Bletchley Park when someone confused these with cryptograms.隠花植物（いんかしょくぶつ）とは、顕花植物の対語であり、かつて下等植物とみなされた生物に対して使われていた分類用語で、現在は生物学用語として使われることはあまりない。現在の系統分類の有胚植物の中に限ってもちいれば、有効に使用することも可能である。 かつて、生物の分類を動物と植物に分けていた（二界説）頃、植物の中で花の咲かないものに対してこの語が使われた。 具体的には、以下のような生物がそこに含まれていた。
* 植物界
* コケ植物
* シダ植物
* 原生生物界
* 藻類のすべて
* 菌類と考えられていた、変形菌や卵菌など
* 菌界
* 菌類のすべて
* 真正細菌
* 藍藻、放線菌を含むすべてのバクテリア
* 古細菌
* バクテリアと考えられていた、メタン菌や高度好塩菌など (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Cryptogam) |
