Gymnosperm and Angiosperm Seeds
The term gymnosperm is derived from two Greek words: gymnos, meaning naked, and sperma, meaning seed. The term refers to plants, such as pine and spruce , in which seeds mature on the surface of cone scales. In contrast, the term angiosperm means a seed contained in a vessel and refers to flowering plants, in which seeds mature within a fruit. The seeds of angiosperms develop in an ovary, a part of the carpel that surrounds and protects the egg-containing ovules . Seeds develop from the ovules after pollination and fertilization of the eggs. Ovules and seeds are not exclusive to angiosperms. The “naked-seed” plants (see Gymnosperm ), which include the conifers , cycads , and ginkgo , have ovules that lie exposed on the surface of specialized, scalelike leaves arranged into cones. The development of seeds from ovules enclosed in an ovary, which enlarges into a fruit as the fertilized seeds grow, is a feature unique to the angiosperms. See also: angiosperms parts of a flower evolution o...