EXPERIMENT 4

GYMNOSPERMS AND ANGIOSPERMS

INTRODUCTION

Gymnosperms are a group of vascular plants whose seeds are not enclosed by a
ripened ovary. The seeds of many gymnosperms (literally, "naked seed") are borne in cones
and are not visible. During pollination, the immature male gametes, or pollen grains, sift
among the cone scales and land directly on the ovules rather than on elements of a flower as
in angiosperms. There is four distinct divisions of extant gymnospermous plants
(Coniferophyta, Cycadophyta, Ginkgophyta, Gnetophyta) and to use the term gymnosperms
only when referring to the naked-seed habit. The wood of gymnosperms is often called
softwood to differentiate it from the hardwood of angiosperms.
Angiosperms are flowering plants. Angiosperms are the biggest group in the plant
kingdom. They have true roots, stems, leaves and flowers. They also have seeds. The seeds
are formed when an egg or ovule is fertilized by pollen in the ovary. The ovary is within a
flower. The flower contains the male and/or female parts of the plant. Fruits are frequently
produced from these ripened ovaries. They are more highly evolved that the algae, mosses,
fungi and ferns. Their advanced structures allow angiosperms to thrive on land. They have
roots that hold the plant in place and take in needed minerals and water. They have leaves
that are the major food makes for the plant. They have stems that hold the plants up and move
the nutrients and water about the plant.

OBJECTIVE

1. Investigate the vegetative morphology and reproduction of one type of

gymnosperm, Pinus sp.

2. Make overall morphological comparisons of 4 group of gymnosperms.

3. Investigate the reproductive morphology of 2 types of flowering plants, Lilium sp and

Hibiscus sp.

4. Make overall morphological comparisons of gymnosperms and angiosperms.

APPARATUS

Microscope, Scalped blade, forceps, slide, coverslip, plant samples.

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PRACTICAL METHODS / RESULTS

GYMNOSPERM
1. Morphology of Pinus merkusii

a) Vegetative characteristics of Pinus sp.

Long shoots, short shoots and fascicle Woody structures

b) Reproductive structures of Pinus sp.

Male Cones Female Cones

Cross Section of Male Cone Cross Section of Female Cone

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 2. Comparative studies of four main groups of gymnosperms using Cycad, Ginkgo,
Gnetum and Pinus

Cycad Ginkgo Gnetum Pinus

- In many areas - Bark gray, - The Gnetophyta - Trees or shrubs,
cycads are also furrowed, with have been treated aromatic,
referred to as palms flattened ridges as separate from evergreen; crown
or ferns other seed plants at usually conic when
the ranks of young, often
division rounded or flat-
Morphology topped with age.
Bark of older stems
variously furrowed
and plated, plates
and/or ridges
layered or scaly.

Height up to 20 m 20–35 m N/A 30-50m

- Leaves are once- - Fan-shaped with - Large leathery - Leaf vascular
pinnate and form a veins radiating out leaves bundle single.
palm-like crown into the leaf blad..
- Fascicles with 1-5
- Two veins enter needles
Vegetative the leaf blade at the
base and fork
Characteristic-
repeatedly in two;
(Leaf) this is known as
dichotomous
venation. The
leaves are usually
5-10 cm long.

- Stems may be - Ginkgo branches - Wood contains - Bark of older

underground or grow in length by vessels stems variously
emergent. growth of shoots furrowed and
with regularly plated, plates
spaced leaves. and/or ridges
layered or scaly.
Vegetative
- Leaves appear to
Characteristic-
be clustered at the
(Stem)
tips of short shoots,
and reproductive
structures are
formed only on
them

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 - Reproductive - Male plants - Male cone mostly - cones numerous
structure a large produce small compound, and and small, in a
cone. pollen cones with associated with dense, spikelike
Reproductive
sporophylls each bracts. Fertilization cluster around
Characteristic-
bearing two occurs through
(Cone)
microsporangia pollen-tubes with
spirally arranged two male nuclei.
around a central
axis.

- Seeds are - Female plants do - Ovules with extra - Two seeds at the
dispersed by not produce cones. integuments around base of the cone
gravity, water and Two ovules are the nucellus. The scale, winged, in
animals. formed at the end micropyle projects some the wing
of a stalk, and after as a long tube. vestigial;
pollination, one or Archaegonia cotyledons
both develop into deveop at the
Reproductive
seeds. The seed is micropylar end of
Characteristic-
1.5-2 cm long the
(seed)
megagametophyte.
There is evidence
for double
fertilization. The
embryo is
dicotyledonous.

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3. Observation of microscope slide of the following structure

Microsporangium Microphyll

Male Cones Female Cones

Horizontal section of
gymnosperm seed

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ANGIOSPERM

4. Morphology of two examples of the flowering plants, Lilium sp. and Hibiscus sp.

Pollen of Lilium sp.

Ovary

Ovul

Horizontal section of pistil Vertical section of pistil

(Hibiscus sp) (Hibiscus sp)

Developed pollen grains 6

 Funicle

Integument

Micropyle

Embryo Nucellus

Angiosperms Ovary

Sepal

Pistil

Stigma

Petal

Lillium sp Hibiscus sp
(Floral Diagram) (Floral Diagram)

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5. Compare the characteristics of gymnosperms (that you observe in section 1, 2
and 3 above) and angiosperms, particularly with regards to the following
aspects:

a. seed structure

Gymnosperm - seeds mature on the surface of cone scales.

Angiosperms - seed contained in a vessel and refers to flowering

plants, in which seeds mature within a fruit.

b. gymnosperm cone and angiosperm flower

In angiosperms, the pistil is the female reproductive structure found in flowers, and
consists of the stigma, style, and ovary. There are two parts to an angiosperm: a male
part and a female part. The male gametophyte consists of 2-3 cells contained within a
pollen grain; the female gametophyte consists of eight cells contained within an
ovule. The stamen is the male reproductive structure of a flower; usually consisting of
slender, thread like filaments topped by anthers, which contain the pollen

In gymnosperms the cone is the female reproductive part and the pollen is the male
reproductive part. Pine trees and other gymnosperms produce two types of cones. The
male cone is called the pollen cone. The larger female cone is the seed cone. A single
tree usually produces both pollen and seed cones. Spore producing structures are
found on the scales of cones.

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DISSCUSSION

Ovules in gymnosperms are exposed naked to the world when the ovuliferous scales of
conifers separate to let in pollen. Angiosperm ovules are completely isolated from the outside
world by a barrier of sporophytic tissues. For sperm to reach an egg, pollen tubes must grow
through parental sporophyte for a considerable. Two other unique features of angiosperms are
the phenomenon of double fertilization and triploid endosperm formation. Of the two
fertilizations, only one results in a zygote, the other sperm joins with two nuclei in the
megagametophyte to form a triploid tissue (the endosperm) that will become the source of
nutrients for the developing embryo. The basic structural unit of sexual reproduction in
angiosperms is the flower. Although flowers come in a spectacular array of sizes, shapes, and
colors, they are, in essence, believed to have developed from shoots that have become
modified for reproductive purposes. Flowers typically have fours kinds of foliar appendages
usually arranged in a series of whorls: sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels, arranged in this
order from the bottom to the top of the floral axis.

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REFERENCES:

1. Niel A. Campbell. Biology Fourth Edition. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing

Company, Inc.
2. N.P.O. Green, G.W.Stout, D.J. Taylor.1996. Biological Science Second Edition.
Cambridge University Press.
3. Kingsley R. Stern, Introduction Plant Biology, Tenth Edition
4. A.C. Shaw G.N. Foster S.K. Lazell Lum How Kee, Kursus Amali Biologi Pra-Universiti,
Buku 1.

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