Sporophyte, which literally means "spore-bearing" plant, is the diploid multicellular phase of an organism that displays alternation of generations. The sporophyte phase develops from the fertilized egg, or zygote, by simple cell division...

A sporophyte is the diploid (i.e., it is 2n, having two sets of chromosomes), spore-producing generation in the life cycle of plants. A sporophyte is formed by the fusion of two haploid gametes (or gametophytes, these have one set of chromosomes, i.e.,...

All land plants, and some algae, have life cycles in which a haploid gametophyte generation alternates with a diploid sporophyte, the generation of a plant or alga that has a double set of chromosomes. A multicellular sporophyte generation or phase is...