from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Gametophyte \Ga*me"to*phyte\, n. [Gamete + Gr. fyto`n plant.]
(Bot.)
In the alternation of generations in plants, that generation
or phase which bears sex organs and produces gametes. In the
lower plants, as the alg[ae], the gametophyte is the
conspicuous part of the plant body; in mosses it is the
so-called moss plant; in ferns it is reduced to a small,
early perishing body; and in seed plants it is usually
microscopic or rudimentary.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]