Figure 10.19: Fleshy fruits aid in seed dispersal since animals eat the fruits and carry the
seeds to a new location. ( 26 )
- Cycadophyta, common name cycads
- Ginkgophyta, Ginkgo trees
- Gnetophyta, common name gnetophytes
TheConifers,members of the phylum Coniferophyta, are probably the gymnosperms that
are most familiar to you. The conifers include pines, firs, spruces, cedars, and the coastal
redwoodsinCaliforniathataretallestlivingvascularplants. Thenameofthisgroupsignifies
that the plants bear their reproductive structures in cones, but this is not a characteristic
unique to this phylum (Figure10.20). Conifer pollen cones are usually very small, while the
seed cones are larger.Pollencontains gametophytes that produce the male gamete of seed
plants. The pollen, which is a fine to coarse powder-like material, is carried by the wind to
fertilize the seed cones (Figure10.21).
The Conifers are important to humankind since they have many uses. They are important
sources of lumber and are also used to make paper. Resins, the sticky substance you might
see oozing out of a wound on a pine tree, are collected from conifers to make a variety of
products, suchasthesolventturpentineandtherosinusedbymusiciansandbaseballplayers.
The sticky rosin improves the pitcher’s hold on the ball or increases the friction between the
bow and the strings to help create music from a violin or other stringed instrument.
TheCycads,in the phylum Cycadophyta, are also Gymnosperms. They have large, finely-
divided leaves and grow as short shrubs and trees in tropical regions. Like the conifers, they
produce cones, but the seed cones and pollen cones are always on separate plants (Figure
10.22). One type of cycad, the sago palm, is a popular landscape plant. During the Age of