Trophophyll

in a plant, the green assimilative leaf that performs the function of photosynthesis (in contrast to the sporo-phyll, which bears the sporangia). In some ferns, the functions of the trophophyll and the sporophyll are performed by the same leaf—a trophosporophyll. For example, in the male fern the leaf performs both spore-bearing (the underside) and assimiliative functions. In Botrychium and Ophioglossum, one part of the leaf is assimilative, and the other is spore-bearing. In seed plants tro-phophylls are usually sharply differentiated from sporophylls (stamens, carpels) and are extremely varied in form.