Group 3: Seed producing, Vascular Plants

1. Group 3: Seed producing, Vascular Plants • Gymnosperms • Cycads • Ginko • Conifers • Angiosperms

2. Group 3: Seed producing, Vascular Plants • 1) Seed plants don’t depend on water to reproduce • Pollen (contains sperm) combines with egg • Egg hardens into a seed • 2) Nourishment and protection • Nourish: Nutrients inside seed for the embryo • Protection: Hard shell • 3) Allow dispersal • Carried by wind, water, animals

3. Type 1: Gymnosperms Seeds not enclosed in a fruit produced inside cones Cone = reproductive structure Male cones: produce pollen Female cones: produce eggs and seeds Group 3: Seed producing, Vascular Plants

4. Gymnosperm example: Conifers Cone plants Needle-like leaves Common to lumber industry Evergreen, Pine, Redwood, Cedar Group 3: Seed producing, Vascular Plants

5. Conifers • Seed advantages • Don’t depend on water • Protects & nourishes embryo • Allow plants to grow in new locations • Conifers: woody cone houses seeds • Male cones: produce pollen • Female cones: produce egg • Pines, redwoods, spruce, cedar

6. The sporophyte is the dominant phase for seed plants.

7. 1) Male and female seed cones grow in adult sporophytes

8. 2) Pollen grains released from the male seed cones -- Pollen is the male gametophyte Let’s zoom into the female seed cone

9. 3) Pollen grain sticks to the female ovule 4) Pollen tube grows from the male spore 5) Two nuclei transfer into female spore - one fertilizes the egg 6) Diploid embryo develops (sporophyte stage restarts)

10. 7) After seeds harden, the cone reopens and the seeds are released

11. 8) Seed will land ground

12. 9) Seedling grows into (sporophyte)…the cycle repeats ground

13. Plant Life Cycle Comparisons