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One type of cone is the small pollen cone, which produces microspores that subsequently develop into pollen grains. Like all seed plants, gymnosperms are heterosporous: both sexes of gametophytes develop from different types of spores produced by separate cones. The female gametophyte develops from the haploid (meaning one set of genetic material) spores that are contained within the sporangia. Their sporangia (receptacle in which sexual spores are formed) are found on sporophylls, plated scale-like structures that together make up cones. Gymnosperms are sporophytes (a plant with two copies of its genetic material, capable of producing spores ). As will be discussed in subsequent sections, the various environmental adaptations gymnosperms have represent a step on the path to the most successful (diversity-wise) clade (monophyletic branch). They are found far earlier in the fossil record than angiosperms. Gymnosperms are older than angiosperms on the evolutionary scale. This term comes from the fact that the ovules and seeds of gymnosperms develop on the scales of cones rather than in enclosed chambers called ovaries. The name gymnosperm means "naked seed," which is the major distinguishing factor between gymnosperms and angiosperms, the two distinct subgroups of seed plants. They have a vascular system (used for the transportation of water and nutrients) that includes roots, xylem, and phloem.
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Gymnosperms are seed plants adapted to life on land thus, they are autotrophic, photosynthetic organisms that tend to conserve water. heterosporous: producing both male and female gametophytes.sporophyll: the equivalent to a leaf in ferns and mosses that bears the sporangia.ovule: the structure in a plant that develops into a seed after fertilization the megasporangium of a seed plant with its enclosing integuments.Conifer sperm do not have flagella but rather move by way of a pollen tube once in contact with the ovule.Megaspores made in cones develop into the female gametophytes inside the ovules of gymnosperms, while pollen grains develop from cones that produce microspores.
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Gymnosperms produce both male and female cones, each making the gametes needed for fertilization this makes them heterosporous.