A sporophyte is the diploid multicellular stage in the life cycle of a plant or alga which produces asexual spores. This stage alternates with a multicellular haploid gametophyte phase. The sporophyte produces spores by meiosis, a process that reduces the number of chromosomes in each spore mother cell by half. The resulting meiospores develop into a gametophyte, which is haploid, meaning it only has one set of chromosomes. The character and relative extent of the two phases vary greatly among different groups of plants and algae. During the course of evolution, the sporophyte stage has become progressively increased. Thus, in the higher (i.e., vascular) plants, the sporophyte is the dominant phase in the life cycle, whereas in the more primitive nonvascular plants (bryophytes), the gametophyte remains dominant. The primary function of sporophytes is to produce spores, which possess all the genetic information for the functioning of a mature plant and the capability to carry out asexual reproduction.