SEED PLANTS: GYMNOSPERMS

❖ Derived from two Greek words: gymnos, meaning naked, and sperma, a seed. The name refers to the
exposed nature of the seeds, which are produced on the surface of sporophylls or similar structures
instead of being enclosed within a fruit as they generally are in the flowering plants

➢ Division Coniferphyta (Conifers)

THE CONIFERS: Pines
▪ The largest genus of conifers, Pinus (pines) has over 100 living species
▪ Includes bristlecone pines – the world’s oldest known living organism. Native to the White
Mountains of eastern central California and the Snake range on the central Nevada-Utah border. 4,
600-year-old trees still standing; One cut down in 1964 – 4,900 yrs. old.

STRUCTURE AND FORM

▪ Pine leaves are needlelike
▪ Arranged in clusters of two to five leaves each.
▪ Regardless of the number of leaves, each cluster (fascicle) forms a cylindrical rod if leaves are held
together. Fasicles – short shoots with restricted growth, a feature of some gymnosperms not found
in flowering plants.
▪ Pines live in areas where topsoil is frozen for a part of the year which makes it difficult for roots to
obtain water. Leaves may be exposed to high winds and bitterly cold temperatures.

MODIFICATIONS TO WITHSTAND HARSH ENVIRONMENTS

▪ Hypodermis beneath epidermis consists of one to several layers of thick-walled cells.

▪ Epidermis – is coated with thick cuticle
▪ Stomata – recessed or sunken in small cavities.
▪ Veins and Associated Tissues – surrounded by endodermis
▪ Mesophyll cells do not have the obvious air spaces typical of the spongy mesophyll of the leaves of
flowering plants.
▪ Conspicuous resin canals develop in mesophyll.
• Conspicuous resin canals develop in mesophyll. These canals are found throughout the plant consisting
tubes producing Resin
• Resin – aromatic and antiseptic, prevents development of fungi, deters insect attacks. Other conifers
apparently produce resin canals in response to injury.
• Pine fascicles – usually abscise within 2-5 years of their maturing. Those of bristlecone pines persist up
to 30 years. Fascicles are lost few at a time in order for functional leaves to always stay present in
healthy trees. Wood varies in hardness.
• Most gymnosperm wood, including that of pines, consists primarily of tracheids and differs from the
wood of dicots in having no vessel members or fibers.
• Conifer Wood – said to be soft due to the absence of thick-walled cells.
• Broadleaf Tree – its wood is described as hard.
• In many conifers, the annual rings of xylem are often fairly wide as a result of a comparatively rapid
growth rate during the growing season.
• Resin canals are formed both vertically and horizontally throughout various tissues.
• The bark includes relatively thick secondary phloem. Often becomes 7-5 cm. (3 in.) or more wide. Giant
redwood becomes as much as 60 cm. (2 ft.) wide.
• Companion cells are absent from phloem, but similar albuminous cells apparently perform the same
function.
• Mycorrhizal fungi – associated with the roots of most conifers. Pine seedlings that germinate in
sterilized soil do not grow well at all until the fungi are allowed to develop or introduced. Roots of
adjacent pines often interweave.

➢ Division Cycadophyta (Cycads)

• Cycads – have the appearance of a cross between a tree fern and a palm but are not related to either.
• Slow-growing plants of tropics and subtropics, have unbranched trunks that grow more than 15
meters (50 ft.) tall in a few species, and have a crown of large, pinnately divided leaves.
• Several of approximately 240 known living species of cycads are presently facing extinction.
• Cycadeoids – abundant gymnosperms during Mesozoic era. Now extinct. They bore a superficial
resemblance to cycads, but had very different reproductive structures and are not related.
• Cycad life cycles are similar to those of conifers, except that pollination of cycads are sometimes
brought about by beetles instead of wind.
• Each cycad sperm has from 10,000 to 20,000 spirally arranged flagella.
• Cycads are dioecious. Both the pollen strobili and the seed strobili of some species are huge (more
than a meter [3ft. 3 in.] long with a weight of over 220 kg [100 pounds]). Scales of strobili seeds of
some species are covered with feltlike or woolly hairs.

➢ Division Ginkgophyta (Ginkgo)

• Ginkgo – derived from Chines words meaning “silver apricot.”
• Fossil record indicated Ginkgo and other members of its family (Ginkgoaceae) were once widely
distributed, especially in the Northern Hemisphere.
• Ginkgoes are often referred to as maidenhair trees because their notched, broad, fan-shaped leaves
look like larger versions of the individual pinnae of maidenhair ferns.
• They are widely cultivated in the US and are popular street trees in some areas.
• The leaves are mostly produced in a spiral on short, slow-growing spurs and have no midribs or
prominent veins. Instead, hairlike veins branch dichotomously (fork evenly) and are relatively uniform
in their width.
• They are deciduous and turn a bright golden yellow before abscission in the fall.

➢ Division Gnetophyta (Gnetophytes)

• The 100 known species of gnetophytes are distributed among three distinctive genera. They are
unique among the gymnosperms in having vessels in the xylem. More than half of the gnetophytes
are species of joint firs in the genus Ephedra.
• These shrubby plants inhabit drier regions of southwestern North America
• Their tiny leaves are produced in twos and threes at a node and turn brown soon after they appear.
• The stem and branches, often worled, are slightly ribbed; they are photosynthetic when they are
young.
• Before pollination, the ovules of Ephedra produce a small, tubular extension resembling the neck of a
miniature bottle extending into the air. Sticky fluid oozes out of this extension which constitutes the
micropyle, and airborne pollen catches in the fluid. Male and female strobili may be produced on the
same plant or on different ones, depending on the species.
• Most of the remaining species in this division are in the genus Gnetum which has not been given an
English common name. Its members occur in the tropics of South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Most are vinelike, with broad leaves similar to those of flowering plants.
• The best-known species of Gnetum, however, is a tree that grows up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall.
 • The third genus, Welwitschia, has only one species, which is confined to the temperate Namib and
Mossamedes deserts of southwestern Africa. The plants carry on CAM photosynthesis, and their
stomata are open at night.
• The plants apparently obtain most of their water from dew and condensate from fog that rolls in off
the ocean at night. Welwitschia plants are also truly extraordinary in appearance. The stem rises only
a short distance above the ground’s surface and is in the form of a large, shallow cup that tapers at
the base into a long taproot.
• Welwitschia plants usually produce only two leaves. The leaves are wide and straplike, each with a
meristem at the base.
• Welwitschia is dioecious, with both male and female strobili being produced on axes that emerge from
the axils of the leaves. This makes the strobili appear to be growing around the rim of the stem cup.

HUMAN AND ECOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

• The seeds and inner bark of pines are edible, Douglas firs – probably the most desired timber
and a tea has been made from leaves. tree in the world today.
• Eastern white pines stems were used as masts • Coastal redwoods are also prized for their
for sailing vessels and for crates, furniture, wood, which is resistant to fungi and insects.
flooring, paneling, and matchsticks. Western Bald cypress wood – used in the past for coffins
white pine is the source of most such lumber and shingles, is also resistant to decay.
today. • Eastern hemlock – dye and tannins. Native
• Resins from pine consists of turpentine and Americans used parts of hemlocks foe poultices
rosin. Turpentine is used as a solvent, and rosin and for food.
is used by musicians and by baseball players. • Eastern white cedar’s wood – used for canoes.
Dammar from kauri pines is used in colorless Atlantic cedar – used for construction of pipe
varnishes. Amber is fossilized resin. Resin is also and pipe organs. Yew wood - used for making
used in floor waxes, printer’s ink, paper bows. Yew bark extract – has potential for
coatings, perfumes, and the manufacture of treatment of human ovarian cancer.
menthol. • Podocarps of New Zealand have edible seed.
• White spruce is the chief source of newsprint. Incense cedar wood – used for cedar chests,
Also used for basketry and canoe lashing by cigar boxes, pencils, and fence posts. Juniper
Native Americans. Molasses or Honey – Berries – used to flavor gin, used by Native
treating scurvy, and brewing a certain type of Americans for food and a beverage.
beer (Spruce Beer). Spruce Resin – used for a • Ginkgo seeds are edible, and Ginkgo plant
type of chewing gum. The wood is used as extracts are used to improve blood circulation.
soundboards for musical instruments and in Arrowroot starch was once obtained from a
construction of aircraft. cycad. Mormon tea – brewed from the leaves
• Larch and Juniper woods – used for fence and stems of joint firs (Ephedra), which, in the
posts. Firs – used in the construction, paper, past, were also a source of the drug ephedrine
ornament, and Christmas tree industries. and a venereal disease treatment. One Gnetum
species is cultivated in Java for food.

SEED PLANTS: ANGIOSPERMS

• Largest and most diverse flowering group within the Kingdom Plantae.
• Angiosperms represent approximately 80 percent of all the known green plants now living.
• Vascular seed plants in which the ovule (egg) is fertilized and develops into a seed in an enclosed
hollow ovary.
• Pacific bleeding hearts (Dicentra formosa)
• FRUITS – derived from maturing floral organs of angiospermous plants.
 • GYMNOSPERMS – seeds do not develop enclosed within an ovary but are usually born exposed on te
surfaces of reproductive structures, such as cones.
• Specialized cells and tissues that carry out these functions and have further evolved specialized
vascular tissues that translocate the water and nutrients to all areas of the plant body.
• The specialization of plant body, which has evolved as an adaptation to a principally terrestrial habitat,
includes:
o Extensive root stems that anchor the plant and absorb water and minerals from the soil.
o Stem that supports the growing plant body.
o Leaves, which are the principal sites of photosynthesis for most angiospermous plants.
• Another significant evolutionary advancement over the nonvascular and the more primitive vascular
plants is the presence of localized regions of plant growth, called meristems and cambia, which extend
the length and width of the plant body, respectively. As a result, angiosperms are the most important
ultimate source of food for birds and mammals, including humans.
• The flowering plants are the most economically important group of green plants, serving as a source
of pharmaceuticals, fibre products, timber, ornamentals, and other commercial products.

FEATURES
• The size range alone is quite remarkable, from Squashes (Cucurbita; Cucurbitaceae),
the smallest individual flowering plant, probably (Ranunculus; Ranunculaceae)
the watermeal (Wolffia; Araceae) at less than 2 Poppies (Papaver and other genera;
mm. (0.8 inch), to one of the tallest angiosperms, Papaveraceae)
Australia’s mountain ash tree (Eucalyptus • Biennials are also herbs, but, unlike annuals,
regnas; Myrtaceae) at about 100 metres (330 their growing cycle spans 2 years: the vegetative
(nonreproductive) plant growth take place from
ft.).
seed during first year, and flowers and fruit
• The basic angiosperm form is woody or develop during the second. The beet (Beta
herbaceous. Woody forms (generally trees and vulgaris; Amaranthaceae) and carrot (Daucus
shrubs) are rich in secondary tissues, while carota; Apiaceae) are well-known biennials.
herbaceous forms (herbs) rarely have any. • A perennial grows for many years and often
• Annuals are herbals that complete their growing flowers annually. In temperate areas the aerial
cycle (growth, flowering, and death) within the parts of a perennial die back to the ground at the
same season. end of each growing season and new shoots are
Ex.: Beans (Phaseolus genera; Fabaceae) produced the following season from such
Corn (maize, Zea mays; Poaceae) subterranean parts as bulbs, rhizomes, corms,
tubers, and stolons.

REPRODUCTION
• The angiosperm life cycle consists of a
spoprophyte phase and a
gametophyte phase.
BASAL ANGIOSPERMS
❖ The basal angiosperms are a broad group of the most primitive flowering plants. They do not belong
to either the monocots or eudicots but were for a long time lumped together with the eudicots into a
well-known group called the dicots. The basal angiosperms are mostly woody plants that produce
seeds and flowers.
❖ There is toughly 9000 basal angiosperm species currently existing on Earth that can be separated into
two categories: 1.) ANITA basal angiosperms; 2.) Magnoliids-majority

CHARACTERISTICS OF BASAL ANGIOSPERMS

• Monocot and dicot characteristics. For a long time, the basal angiosperms and eudicots were clumped
together as dicots due to both groups having two embryonic leaves. They also tend to have net-like
vein pattern on their leaves as eudicots do, but their pollen only ever has one pore or groove – the
same as monocots – and not three as seen in eudicots.
• Basal angiosperms have a number of characteristics that show their primitive evolution.
• They lack any real differentiation between their petal and their sepals and have very little fusion within
their floral parts such as petals, stamens and carpels.
• They tend to have multiple, flattened stamens and multiple carpels, and their fruits are typically single-
chambered and dry.
• Basal angiosperms also have less advanced vascular system than other angiosperms.

DISTRIBUTION OF BASAL ANGIOSPERMS

• Basal angiosperms are found all around the world, with a few exceptions in extreme climates such as
Antarctica and Saharan Desert. They enjoy most of their success in tropical and warm-temperate
rainforests.
• A number of ANITA basal angiosperms are confined within Australia, Asia and Oceania; a fact that
supports the idea that the basal angiosperms originated in Australia. In comparison, Magnoliid species
tend to have much more variable distributions.

DIVERSITY AND TAXONOMY

• All up the basal angiosperms make up less than 3% of all plant species. The estimated diversity of the
basal angiosperms is around 9,000 species and the vast majority of those species belong to the
Magnoliids. There is a total of 10 orders of basal angiosperms – three belonging to the ANITA basal
angiosperms and the remaining seven making up the Magnoliids.

MAGNOLIIDS

• The Magnoliids are a large group of related basal angiosperms including roughly 9,000 species. They
include trees, shrubs, herbs, and vines, and are most common in tropical and warm temperate regions.
Commonly known Magnoliids include black pepper, avocado, cactus, nutmeg, pawpaw, and
Magnolias. They are aromatic plants that include a number of orders such as Magnoliales, Laurales,
Piperales, Canellales and Caryophyllates.
• The order Magnoliales are commonly trees and shrubs that produce scented, simple flowers and have
dry aggregate fruits. This order includes nutmeg, pawpaw, Magnolias, the tulip tree, and custard apple
to name a few. The Laurales is the most diverse order of Magnoliids and includes aromatic trees or
shrubs sich as cinnamon and the laurels. Piperales is an order of shrubs, vines, herbs and ephiphytes
that includes the peppers.

ANITA BASAL ANGIOSPERMS

• The ANITA basal angiosperms include three orders of plants that include only a few hundred species.
Each order is not necessarily closely related to the other two but they are known to be evolutionarily
distinct from the remaining basal angiosperms that belong to the Magnoliids. The order Amborellales
has only a singles species, Amborella trichipoda, an evergreen shrub that is found only in New
Caledonia in the South Pacific.
• The remaining two orders from the ANITA basal angiosperms are the Austrobaileyales and the
Nymphaeales
o Nymphaeales includes a number of aquatic herbs including the water lilies and is the
second oldest lineage of basal angiosperms after the order Amborellales. Species of
Nymphaeales have a much wider distribution than any other ANITA basal angiosperm
and is distributed through most places on earth apart from in deserts and the polar
regions of the Antarctica and the Arctic.
o Austrobaileyales includes a number shrubs and vines that are found in parts of Asia,
eastern North America, a small spot in northern Australia and in the Caribbean.

MONOCOTS AND EUDICOTS