cryptogamous plants
Technical botanical term for plants that reproduce by spores rather than flowers or seeds, including ferns, mosses, algae, and fungi. Rare in everyday conversation.
Cryptogamous plants include ferns and mosses.
顕花植物 refers to phanerogams (seed plants), the contrasting category to 隠花植物類.
Compound of 隠花 (inka, 'hidden flower') + 植物 (shokubutsu, 'plant') + 類 (rui, 'category'). The term reflects the historical classification of plants without conspicuous flowers.