\Pro"to*phyte\, n. [Proto- + Gr. ? a plant.] (Bot.)
Any unicellular plant, or plant forming only a plasmodium,
having reproduction only by fission, gemmation, or cell
division.
Note: The protophytes ({Protophyta}) are by some botanists
      considered an independent branch or class of the
      vegetable kingdom, and made to include the lowest forms
      of both fungi and alg[ae], as slime molds, Bacteria,
      the nostocs, etc. Cf. {Carpophyte}, and {O["o]phyte}.