are sporophytes haploid
Spores are haploid reproductive cells. Remember, a sporophyte is a diploid organism, so in order to produce haploid cells with half the number of chromosomes, meiosis must occur. Meiosis is a type of cell division that cuts the number of chromosomes in a cell in half. In sporophytes, it occurs in structures called sporangia (sporangium is singular). Once spores are produced in a sporangium, they are often released into the air. A single haploid spore will undergo mitosis, or cell division without a reduction in chromosome number, to become a multicellular haploid gametophyte.