What would cause plant life not to spread onto land?

I have a rocky world where land-based vegetation like grass or trees are either very rare and restricted to small and rare areas or non-existent. Rather, vegetation has stayed in the oceans and developed there.

So the question is that in the title, what natural cause could there be for the landmasses of a planet having few or no plants while the seas have plenty?

Edit: Note that animals still spread onto land, maybe feeding off photosynthetic animals rather than plants, or by feeding in lakes with plants

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What would cause plant life not to spread onto land?

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