Gymnosperms

Gymnosperms are the most ancient seed plants, whose seeds are naked (not enclosed in a fruit wall). This chapter covers their general characteristics, how they differ from angiosperms, and a study of Pinus as a representative genus.

Introduction

Gymnosperms are plants whose seeds are unprotected, that is, the ovules and the seeds that develop from those ovules are not enclosed in a fruit wall. In other words, the ovary is absent. The gymnosperms are the most ancient seed plants and originated during the late Paleozoic era. Gymnosperms are mostly evergreen, but a few deciduous plants are also known. The leaves may be either large and fern-like or small and simple.

Characteristics of gymnosperms

• They are flowering plants but do not bear true flowers, as angiosperms do.
• They are naked-seeded plants, that is, the seeds are not enclosed within a fruit.
• They are cosmopolitan in distribution and are mainly found in xerophytic habitats.
• The plant body is a sporophyte which is differentiated into root, stems and leaves.
• The gymnosperms are evergreen plants.
• The male flowers are called male cones.