Monoicy

Monoicy (mɒˈnoʊəsi) is a sexual system in haploid plants (mainly bryophytes) where both sperm and eggs are produced on the same gametophyte, in contrast with dioicy, where each gametophyte produces only sperm or eggs but never both. Both monoicous (mɒˈnoʊəkəs) and dioicous gametophytes produce gametes in gametangia by mitosis rather than meiosis, so that sperm and eggs are genetically identical with their parent gametophyte. It has been suggested that monoicy may have benefits in dry habitats where the ability to produce sporophytes is limited due to lack of water. Monoicy is similar to, and often conflated with, monoecy, which applies to seed plants (spermatophytes) and refers to separate male and female cones or flowers on the same plant. The word monoicous and the related forms mon(o)ecious are derived from the Greek mόνος (mónos), single, and οἶκος (oîkos) or οἰκία (oikía), house. The words dioicous and di(o)ecious are derived from οἶκος or οἰκία and δι- (di-), twice, double. ((o)e is the Latin way of transliterating Greek οι, whereas oi is a more straightforward modern way.) Generally, the terms "monoicous" and "dioicous" have been restricted to description of haploid sexuality (gametophytic sexuality), and are thus used primarily to describe bryophytes in which the gametophyte is the dominant generation. Meanwhile, "monoecious" and "dioecious" are used to describe diploid sexuality (sporophytic sexuality), and thus are used to describe tracheophytes (vascular plants) in which the sporophyte is the dominant generation. However, this usage, although precise, is not universal, and "monoecious" and "dioecious" are still used by some bryologists for the gametophyte. 40% of mosses are monoicious. Bryophytes have life cycles that are gametophyte dominated. The longer lived, more prominent autotrophic plant is the gametophyte. The sporophyte in mosses and liverworts consists of an unbranched stalk (a seta) bearing a single sporangium or spore-producing capsule.