General characters of Gymnosperms

Gymnosperms are a group of plants that produce seeds not enclosed

within the ovary or fruit , so they are called necked seeded plants.”
Following are the important characteristics of gymnosperms:
 Well developed sporophytic body is differentiated in to root, stem and
leaf.
 They do not contain true flowers.
 Seeds are not formed inside a fruit. They are naked.
 They are found in colder regions where snowfall occurs.
 They develop needle-like leaves.
 They are perennial or woody, forming trees or bushes.
 There is no any differentiation in to ovary, style and stigma.
 Since stigma is absent, they are pollinated directly by the wind.
 The male gametophytes produce two gametes, but only one of them is
functional.
 They form cones as reproductive structures.
 The seeds contain endosperm that stores food for the growth and
development of the plant.
 These plants have vascular tissues ‘Xylem and phloem ‘ which help in the
transportation of water and nutrients . Eg. Pinus, Cycas, Juniperus etc.
 Importance of Gymnosperms
 Gymnosperms are a good source of food. Seeds of these
plants are widely used as food and used for producing various
food products, like: Ginko, Pinus, Cycas, etc.
 A few species of gymnosperms are a good source of starch .
 In certain regions, the leaves of these plant species are used
as a green leafy vegetable.
 The different species of these plants are widely used in the
production of wine and other food products.
 They are widely used by the pharmaceutical industry for the
production of various medicines.
 Taxus, a genus of coniferous trees is well known for the drug
taxol. This is an anticancer drug, which is used in the
treatment of different cancers and is prepared from the
leaves and bark of the Taxus tree.
• Different species of Cycas plants are used in the production of
hair care products, including oil, lotion, shampoo, etc.
• Some of them are used as ornaments plants. Example- Cycas
• Oil extracted from the barks, wood and other parts of the plants
are used in the cosmetics industries in the production of
perfumes, room fresheners and other fragrance spray.
• Some mounting medium during microscopic examination in
laboratories are produced.
• Gum extracted from Cycas trees are used as the antidote for
snake bites.
• The wood of these plants are widely used in paper and in
furniture industries.
• The leaves of cycads are used for preparing hand baskets,
brooms, hats, door and floor mats and other eco-friendly
products.
• Some are used in the production of resins, turpentine etc
 Division: Gymnospermae

Pinus (pine) Class: Coniferopsida

Order: Coniferales
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Pinus
 The Pinus is evergreen, perennial and xerophytic plant.
The Pinus tree is sporophyte and differentiated into root,
stem and leaves. It is main source of tanins, resins and wood.
Among 100 species of Pinus only two naturally growing
species Pinus roxburghii and Pinus wallichiana are found in
Nepal. Leaves are modified into pine needles and also
possesses sunken stomata in the epidermal layer of the
needle are the main xerophytic characters of it.
 Distribution: It is found from 1000-3300m from sea level.
It is found in the eastern region and western region. Its
height is about 60-100ft in coniferous forest.
 Distribution of pinus in Nepal:
 Among 100 species of Pinus only two species Pinus roxbourgii
and Pinus wallichina are found in Nepal.
Pinus wallichina is found in Nepal between 1800 and 3300 m, and very
occasionally up to 4400 m. It is widely distributed in the midland zone
between the foothills and the main Himalayan range, where, at its lower
altitude limits, it is often mixed with P. roxburghii, mainly they are found in
north facing slopes. They are commonly called Himalaya blue pine. Mostly
they are found through out the length of Nepal in temperate region. Dense
forest of this pine is found in between Karnali and Kaligandaki river of
Nepal. Pure forest of this Pinus is also found in Solukhumbu and Junibesi of
eastern region.
Pinus roxburghii is found in subtropical and temperate region of Nepal in
between Shivalik hills and Mahabharat range. Mostly they are found on
sloppy areas of 1000m to 2100m altitude. Generally they are found on south-
facing slopes on the outer range and mid valleys of Himalayan region. The
dense forest of this Pinus is found in sunny slopes of central and eastern
region of Nepal. In north facing slopes they are found mixed with broad
leaved plants. They are also found in western region of Nepal. It is abundant
in the inner dry valleys, such as in the Humla-Jumla, and the edges of the
arid zone around Jomsom, where it is found under rainfall of 750 mm or less;
it is also very common in the Solokhumbu area.
 External Morphology of Pinus:
1. Pinus is a large, perennial, evergreen plant.
2. Branches grow spirally and thus the plant gives the appearance of a
conical or pyramidal structure.:
3. Sporophytic plant body is differentiated into roots, stem and acicular
(needle-like) leaves.
4. A tap root with few root hair is present but it disappears soon. Later on
many lateral roots develop, which help in absorption and fixation.
5. The ultimate branches of these roots are covered by a covering of
fungal hyphae called Mycorrhiza. These roots with symbiotic
association to fungi are called mycorrizal root
6. The stem is cylindrical and erect, and remains covered with bark.
Branching is monopodial.
7. Two types of branches are present: long shoots and dwarf shoots. These
are also known as branches of unlimited and limited growth, respec-
tively.
8. Long shoots contain apical bud and grow indefinitely. Many scaly
leaves are present on the long shoot.
9 . The leaves are of two types, i.e.,
foliage and scaly.
10. Scaly leaves are thin, brown-
coloured and scale like and develop
only on long as well as dwarf shoots.
11. Foliage leaves are present at the
apex of the dwarf shoots only.
12. Foliage leaves are large, needle-
like, and vary in number from 1 to 5
in different species.
13. A spur is called unifoliar if only
one leaf is present at the apex of the
dwarf shoot, bifoliar if two leaves
are present, trifoliar if three leaves
are present, and so on.
Some of the species with different types of spurs are :
(i) Pinus monophylla -unifoliar (having only one needle);
(ii) P. sylvestris -bifoliar (having two needles);
(iii) P. roxburgii -trifoliar (having three needles);
(iv) P. quadrifolia -quadrifoliar (having four needles);
(v) P. wallichiana -pentafoliar (having five needles).
 Reproduction in Pinus
 Pinus is a monoecious plant i.e. male and female cones
are found in the same plant. The plant reproduces by
spore which are produced in sporangia. The spores are of
two types: microspore and megaspores borne on
microsporophyll and megasporophyll respectively.
 Male cones arise in clusters in place of dwarf shoots.
Each cone consists of numerous microsporophylls,
arranged spirally on the central axis. Two microsporangia
are present on the lower side of each microsporophyll.
Inside the sporangia a large number of microspore
mother cells are present which undergo reductional
division and produced haploid microspores (pollen
grains).
• Female cones are borne at the tips of long shoots and
generally occur in pairs. Each cone consist of a central axis to
which are attached the megasporophylls.
•Each megasporophyll on its upper surface has two ovules
with small bract scale and a large ovuliferous scale.
•Each ovule consists of nucellus surrounded by a single
integument. Within the nucellus a megaspore mother cell
undergoes two successive divisions (reductional) and forms a
linear tetrad of megaspores. Out of four only one megaspore
is functional. The remaining three simply degenerates soon.
• This megaspore develops into the female gametophyte.
It contains two archegonia which bear egg.
• After fertilization the ovules developed into seed which
are naked and endospermic. It has many cotyledons. The
seed on germination produces the sporophytic plant.
1. Timber: They are the source of light wood. Furnitures are made from these
woods. Mostly, plywoods are prepared from Podocarpus.
2. Ornament: Cycas revoluta and Araucaria are cultivated as ornamental
gymnosperm.
3. Food: Seeds of some gymnosperms (Cycas, Ginko, Pinus and Gnetum) are
edible. Seeds and stem (cortex and pith) of Cycas (Cycas revolute and Cycas
rumphi) yield sago. Zamia is rich source of starch.
4.Paper production: Pine, fir, spruce, and cedars are use in paper production.
5. Resin and turpentine: is extracted from Agathis, Alba and Pinus
6.Medicine: A very famous and potent anticancer alkaloid taxol is extracted
from Taxus bacata, T. bervifolia. Ephedrine is an important alkaloid
extracted from Ephedra plant. Ephedrine is used in asthma, cough, cold and
bronchitis.
7. Animal habitat : They provide habitat and food for wildlife animals.
8. Fire wood: Many gymnospermic plants are also used as fi re wood in
various places in rural areas.
9. Some other common uses for gymnosperms are soap, varnish, nail polish,
gum and perfumes.