AP Notes, Outlines, Study Guides, Vocabulary, Practice Exams and more!

Gymnosperms

seedless vascular plants - all very similar to ferns

  • sporophylls clustered to form strobili (cone-like structure)
  • all have microphyll
  • Lycophyta - club mosses
    • micropyll-covered stems (has single vein)
    • includes resurrection ferns
  • Pterophyta - includes ferns, whisk ferns, scouring rush

gymnosperms - most contain seeds within cones

  • heterosporous - microspores produced in male cones, megaspores created in female cones
  • has microscopic gametophytes, completely dependent on sporophyte generation
  • Cycadophyta - Cycades
    • resembles palm trees
    • evergreen, has cones/strobili
    • flagellated sperm
  • Ginkgophyta - only 1 species (Ginkgo tree)
    • dioecious, doesn’t have cones
    • fan-shaped leaves
    • female tree seeds have buyric acid (has stench)
  • Coniferophyta - conifers
    • largest gymnosperm phylum
    • microsporophyll - male cone, located near bottom of tree
    • megasporophyll - female cone, located at top of tree, bigger than male cone
    • resin duct - used for protection, storage, wound-healing
    • stoma - gas exchange
    • epidermis - for gas exchange, protection, prevents desiccation
    • chlorenchyma - photosynthetic cells
    • endodermis - regulates transport in/out of vascular cylinder
  • Gnetophyta - most similar to angiosperms
Subject: 
Biology
Subject X2: 
Biology

Need Help?

We hope your visit has been a productive one. If you're having any problems, or would like to give some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.

For general help, questions, and suggestions, try our dedicated support forums.

If you need to contact the Course-Notes.Org web experience team, please use our contact form.

Need Notes?

While we strive to provide the most comprehensive notes for as many high school textbooks as possible, there are certainly going to be some that we miss. Drop us a note and let us know which textbooks you need. Be sure to include which edition of the textbook you are using! If we see enough demand, we'll do whatever we can to get those notes up on the site for you!