Let's see how the moss life cycle fits the alternation of generations pattern. Which letter indicates a gametophyte? Meiosis always produces haploid cells. In plants, these cells are spores which develop into gametophytes. Therefore, these plants are the moss gametophytes. And these are the moss sporophytes. In contrast to ferns, the moss sporophyte is not an independent plant. It remains attached to, and dependent upon, the gametophyte. In mosses, the gametophyte is the larger, longer-lived generation. Also notice that sperm cells from a male plant swim to reach an egg on a female plant.