Non-seed plants release spores into the environment that grow into gametophytes
Non-seed plants include liverworts, mosses, clubmosses, horsetails, and ferns. Compared to seed plants which produce seeds for reproduction, non-seed plants either produce spores, or reproduce asexually.
Although seemingly seedlike, spores differ from seeds in that they do not contain embryos, nor do they contain food stores for the spore to grow. Spores usually remain dormant until they are finally in an environment with favorable conditions for growth. It grows into a tiny short-lived plant called a gametophyte, with both the male and female reproductive organs that later on produce male and female gametes, which fertilize to form an embryo. The embryo then grows into the actual plant itself.