Gymnosperms the MESOZOIC: ERA of GYMNOSPERM DOMINANCE
Chapter 24 Gymnosperms THE MESOZOIC: ERA OF GYMNOSPERM DOMINANCE THE VASCULAR SYSTEM OF GYMNOSPERMS CYCADS GINKGO CONIFERS Pinaceae Include the Pines, Firs, and Spruces Cupressaceae Include the Junipers, Cypresses, and Redwoods Taxaceae Include the Yews, but Plum Yews Belong to Cephalotaxaceae Podocarpaceae and Araucariaceae Are Largely Southern Hemisphere Conifers THE LIFE CYCLE OF PINUS, A REPRESENTATIVE GYMNOSPERM Pollen and Ovules Are Produced in Different Kinds of Structures Pollination Replaces the Need for Free Water Fertilization Leads to Seed Formation GNETOPHYTES GYMNOSPERMS: SEEDS, POLLEN, AND WOOD THE ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF GYMNOSPERMS The Origin of Seeds, Pollen, and Wood Seeds and Pollen Are Key Reproductive SUMMARY Innovations for Life on Land Seed Plants Have Distinctive Vegetative PLANTS, PEOPLE, AND THE Features ENVIRONMENT: The California Coast Relationships among Gymnosperms Redwood Forest 1 KEY CONCEPTS 1. The evolution of seeds, pollen, and wood freed plants from the need for water during reproduction, allowed for more effective dispersal of sperm, increased parental investment in the next generation and allowed for greater size and strength. 2. Seed plants originated in the Devonian period from a group called the progymnosperms, which possessed wood and heterospory, but reproduced by releasing spores. Currently, five lineages of seed plants survive--the flowering plants plus four groups of gymnosperms: cycads, Ginkgo, conifers, and gnetophytes. Conifers are the best known and most economically important group, including pines, firs, spruces, hemlocks, redwoods, cedars, cypress, yews, and several Southern Hemisphere genera. 3. The pine life cycle is heterosporous. Pollen strobili are small and seasonal. Each sporophyll has two microsporangia, in which microspores are formed and divide into immature male gametophytes while still retained in the microsporangia.
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