pteridophyta Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun containing all the vascular plants that do not bear seeds: ferns, horsetails, club mosses, and whisk ferns; in some classifications considered a subdivision of Tracheophyta
    division Pteridophyta.

WordNet

Pter`i*doph"y*ta noun plural
Etymology
NL., from Gr. , , a fern + a plant.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) A class of flowerless plants, embracing ferns, horsetails, club mosses, quillworts, and other like plants. See the Note under Cryptogamia. -- Pter"i*do*phyte` n. ✍ This is a modern term, devised to replace the older ones acrogens and vascular Cryptogamia.

Webster 1913