Use the Following Information to Answer the Question

question 4

Multiple Choice

Use the following information to answer the question.
Big Bend National Park in Texas is mostly Chihuahuan desert, where rainfall averages about 25 centimeters per year. Yet, it is not uncommon when hiking in this extremely arid zone to encounter mosses and ferns. One such plant is called "flower of stone." It is not a flowering plant, nor does it produce seeds. Under arid conditions, its leaflike structures curl up. However, when it rains, it unfurls its leaves, which form a bright green rosette on the desert floor. Consequently, it is sometimes called the "resurrection plant." At first glance, it could be a fern, a true moss, or a spike moss.
Which of the following characteristics is (are) possessed in common by true mosses, ferns, and spike mosses, and therefore becomes useless at helping to determine to which of these groups "flower of stone" belongs?

• A) alternation of generations
• B) a sporophyte generation that is dominant and alternation of generations
• C) flagellated sperm and true leaves and roots
• D) flagellated sperm and alternation of generations

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