Main Entry: ga·me·to·phyte

Pronunciation: \gə-ˈmē-tə-ˌfīt\

Function: noun

Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary

Date: circa 1889

: the haploid multicellular individual or generation of a plant with alternation of generations that begins with a haploid spore, produces gametes by mitotic division, and ends with fertilization producing a diploid zygote and that constitutes the visibly dominant form in mosses and algae, exists as an independent plant body in ferns and their relatives, and is reduced to a microscopic or rudimentary state in seed plants — compare sporophyte

— ga·me·to·phyt·ic \-ˌmē-tə-ˈfi-tik\ adjective