# Cryptogam By [KlOP](https://paragraph.com/@klop) · 2023-05-30 --- A **cryptogam** (scientific name **Cryptogamae**) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by [spores](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore), without flowers or [seeds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeds). The name _Cryptogamae_ (from [Ancient Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_language) [κρυπτός](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BA%CF%81%CF%85%CF%80%CF%84%CF%8C%CF%82#Ancient_Greek) _(kruptós)_ 'hidden', and [γαμέω](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B3%CE%B1%CE%BC%CE%AD%CF%89#Ancient_Greek) _(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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thallophyte)", "[lower plants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_plants)", and "spore plants" are also occasionally used. As a group, Cryptogamae are the opposite of the [Phanerogamae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanerogamae) (from [Ancient Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_language) φανερός _(phanerós)_ 'visible') or Spermatophyta (from [Ancient Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_language) σπέρματος _(spérmatos)_ 'seed', and φυτόν _(phutón)_ 'plant'), the [seed plants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed_plant). The best-known groups of cryptogams are [algae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae), [lichens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen), [mosses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss), and [ferns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern),[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_note-1) but it also includes non-photosynthetic organisms traditionally classified as plants, such as [fungi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi), [slime molds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold), and [bacteria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria).[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_note-Smith1938-2) The classification is now deprecated in [Linnaean taxonomy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnaean_taxonomy). [https://opensea.io/assets/0xe4bDcC11A6b9EB941FE3A761D174714Eb626d44a/2](https://opensea.io/assets/0xe4bDcC11A6b9EB941FE3A761D174714Eb626d44a/2) 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Linnaeus) (1707–1778) divided the plant kingdom into 24 [classes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnaean_taxonomy#Classification_of_plants),[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_note-3) one of which was the "Cryptogamia". This included all plants with _concealed_ reproductive organs. He divided Cryptogamia into four orders: [Algae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae), [Musci](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musci) ([bryophytes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryophyte)), [Filices](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filices) ([ferns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern)), and [Fungi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi). Not all cryptogams are treated as part of the [plant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant) kingdom today; the fungi, in particular, are regarded as a separate kingdom, more closely related to [animals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal) than plants, while [blue-green algae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria) are now regarded as a [phylum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylum) of [bacteria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria). Therefore, in contemporary [plant systematics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_systematics), "Cryptogamae" is not a taxonomically coherent group, but is [cladistically](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladistics) [polyphyletic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphyly). 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_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Code_of_Nomenclature_for_algae,_fungi,_and_plants). During [World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II), the British [Government Code and Cypher School](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Code_and_Cypher_School) recruited [Geoffrey Tandy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Tandy), a marine biologist expert in cryptogams, to [Station X, Bletchley Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Station_X,_Bletchley_Park), allegedly when someone confused these with [cryptograms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptograms).[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_note-4)[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_note-5)[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_note-6) See also -------- * [Plant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant) – to see how cryptogams are distributed across modern classification systems References ---------- 1. [**^**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_ref-1) ["Cryptogams"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071118072522/http://www.rbge.org.uk/rbge/web/hort/crypto2.jsp). [Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Botanic_Garden,_Edinburgh). Archived from [the original](http://www.rbge.org.uk/rbge/web/hort/crypto2.jsp) on 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2007-07-02. 2. [**^**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_ref-Smith1938_2-0) [Smith, Gilbert M.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Morgan_Smith) (1938). [_Cryptogamic Botany, Vol. 1_](https://archive.org/details/cryptogamicbotan031880mbp). [McGraw-Hill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGraw-Hill). 3. [**^**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_ref-3) Dixon, P. S. (1973). _Biology of the Rhodophyta_. [Oliver and Boyd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_and_Boyd), Edinburgh. [ISBN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_\(identifier\)) [0-05-002485-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-05-002485-X). 4. [**^**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_ref-4) Smithies, Sandy (19 January 1999). ["Television Tuesday Watching brief"](https://www.theguardian.com/media/1999/jan/19/tvandradio.television1). [_The Guardian_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian). Retrieved 23 July 2015. 5. [**^**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_ref-5) Davies, Mike (20 January 1999). ["Cracking the code at last of Station X"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Station_X_\(TV_documentary\)). [_Birmingham Post_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Post). 6. [**^**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogam#cite_ref-6) Hanks, Robert (20 January 1999). "Television Review". [_The Independent_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Independent). --- *Originally published on [KlOP](https://paragraph.com/@klop/cryptogam)*