Gymnosperms

gymnos sperma

“naked” “seed”

Are plants whose pollen goes directly to ovules, and whose seeds
are naked i.e. are not enclosed in fruits.
 Features of Gymnosperms
• Gymnosperms have microstrobili and megastrobili.

• Gymnosperms have sporophytic and gametophytic

phases.
• Gametophytes are unisexual.

• The movement of male gametes to female gametes in

seed plants relies on airborne transport.
• Consequently, most gymnosperms produce huge
amounts of pollen.
• The pollen grain consists of prothalial cells, the generative
cell which divides to form a stalk cell and body cell.

• The body cell divides to form two sperm cells.

• Pollination involves a pollination droplet that protrudes
from the micropyle when pollen grains are being shed.

• This droplet provides a sticky surface that catches wind-

borne pollen grains, so that the ovule can be fertilized.
• The most consistent features
shared by all living gymnosperms
involve the seed.

• The seed consists of an

integumentary layer, a
multicellular female
gametophyte, and one or more
embryos.
 The Diversity of Gymnosperms

• Gymnosperms are separated into four divisions:

– Ginkgophyta (maidenhair tree),
– Cycadophyta (cycads),
– Pinophyta (conifers), and
– Gnetophyta (gnetophytes).
 Division Cycadophyta: Cycads
• All species of cycads are dioecious.
• Cycads have plamlike leaves and usually
produce one crown of leaves each year.
• The strobili of cycads are simple, often with
bract-like sporophylls.
• Their seeds have a massive integument – a
fleshy outer layer, a hard and stony middle
layer, and an inner layer that is dry and papery.
 Division Ginkgophyta
• Ginkgo, the maidenhair tree, is a popular
cultivated tree.
• Ginkgo is dioecious.
• The seeds of Ginkgo have a three-layered
integument a fleshy outer layer, a hard and
stony middle layer, and an inner layer that is
dry and papery.
• Ginkgo trees are deciduous
 Division Gnetophyta
• There are 3 defined genera: Ephedra, Gnetum,
and Welwitschia.
• Gnetophytes undergo double fertilization, a
process known only in the angiosperms.
• However, double fertilization in Gnetophytes
is not followed by the formation of
endosperm.
• After one of the sperm cells from a male
gametophyte fertilizes an egg, the second
sperm cell fuses with another cell in the same
female gametophyte to form a diploid cell.
• The diploid cell formed by the second sperm
disintegrates.
 Division Pinophyta: The Conifers
• Conifers signify plants that bear cones.
• Pines have two kinds of leaves  short shoots
and long shoots.
• The more obvious type of leaf is the pine
needle, which occurs in groups, called
fascicles, of 2-5 needles.
• Fascicles are short shoots that are
surrounded by small, non-
photosynthetic, scale-like leaves.
• The pines have an extended reproductive
cycle.
• The gametophytes are much reduced and
nutritionally dependent upon the sporophyte.
• The gametophytes are enclosed within the
tissue of the sporophyte.
 Life Cycle of Pinus
• A mature tree of Pinus is the diploid sporophyte
generation and bears reproductive structures in cones.
• The female cones are larger than the male cones and
take two years to develop.
• The spirally arranged ovuliferous scales each bear two
ovules.
• Within the ovule four haploid megaspores are produced
by meiosis but only a single megaspore is functional. It
undergoes a series of mitotic divisions which result in
the formation of haploid gametophyte tissue.
• Male cones are small and occur in groups at the ends of
leafy branches.
• Each cone has a series of spirally arranged scales, bearing
the microsporangia.
• Meiosis occurs within the microsporangia to produce
haploid microspores, which develop into the pollen grains.
• At the time of release each pollen grain consists of four
cells, which together constitute the haploid gametophyte.
• Pollen is drawn into the pollen chamber of an ovule by a
pollination drop.
• During the year between pollination and fertilization, the
pollen grain grows a pollen tube which penetrates into the
nucellus.
• Meanwhile, the generative cell divides into a stalk cell and
a body cell.
• When the pollen tube comes close to an archegonium, the
body cell divides to form 2 sperm cells.
• The pollen tube transports sperm cells to the female
gametophyte.
• One sperm nucleus fuses with the egg cell nucleus to form
the diploid zygote. All other sperm nuclei disintegrate.

• Mitotic cell division occurs in the zygote to produce a

multicellular embryo.

• The embryo develops into a matured seed.

• The winged seeds are then carried away by wind.

• Following germination, the primary root is established and

leaves expand.

• The plant will grow for years before becoming

reproductively mature.
 Mature
Sporophyte (2n)

Young
Female cone Male cone
Sporophyte (2n)
(2n) (2n)

Seed (2n) Meiosis

Megaspore (n) Microspore (n)

Embryo (2n)
Female Male
Gametophyte (n) Gametophyte (n)

Zygote (2n)
Egg (n) Pollination

Fertilization Sperm (n)

 The Economic Importance of
Gymnosperms
• The greatest economic impact of gymnosperms comes
from the use of their wood for making paper.

• Conifers produce about 75% of the world’s timber and pulp

used to make paper.

• Redwoods contain substances that inhibit the growth of

fungi and bacteria.

• The wood is used for some types of construction, furniture,

posts, greenhouse benches, etc.
• Spruce wood is especially important to the music industry.
The tracheids of spruces have spiral thickenings on the
inner walls which makes it ideal for use as soundboards in
violins.

• Another important wood product is resin, which is the

sticky, aromatic substance in the resin canals of conifers.

• British Royal Navy used resin for caulking and sealing their
sailing ships and for waterproofing wood and rope.

• Ballerinas dip their shoes in resin to improve their grip on

the stage.

• Turpentine is the premier paint and varnish solvent, and is

also used to make deodorants, shaving lotions, drugs, and
limonene.