EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The life cycle of a conifer will serve as our example of reproduction in gymnosperms. Pine trees are conifers (coniferous = cone bearing) and carry both male and female sporophylls on the same mature sporophyte . Therefore, they are monoecious plants.

Detailed explanation-2: -This pinnate leaf form is not found in any other gymnosperms. cycads are dioecious, meaning that there are separate male plants that produce pollen cones and female plants that produce seed cones. The cones of cycads are typically large, with many fertile, leaflike organs (sporophylls) that are aggregated into cones.

Detailed explanation-3: -Gymnosperms are a group of seed-bearing plants that include conifers and cycads that produce “cones” as reproductive structures, one example being the well-known pine cone.

Detailed explanation-4: -In gymnosperms (plants with “naked seeds”-such as conifers, cycads, and ginkgo), the ovules are not enclosed in an ovary but lie exposed on leaflike structures, the megasporophylls.

Detailed explanation-5: -Gymnosperms are one of the ancient plant groups with seed production. They are a group of vascular plants with naked (without ovary) seeds. Gymnospems are also heterosporous. Furthermore, gymnosperms produce two different types of cones, namely, large female cones and small male cones.