Practical 6 : Seed Plants (Gymnosperms and Anginosperms)

Objectives:
At the end of this lab, students should be able to:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

Describe the features of seed plant life cycle and the concept of the
dominant generation.
Describe the life histories and related reproductive structures of
gymnosperms and anginosperms.
Summarize the features that distinguish gymnosperms and anginosperms.
Discuss the advantages of seed plants to dominate land and their
evolutionary adaptations on land.

Experiment 1: Gymnosperms
Introduction
Gymnosperms (720 species in 65 genera) are ancient seed planmts that include
ginkgos (Division Ginkgophyta), cycads (Division Cycadophyta), conifers (Division
from the Greek wood roots gymnos, meaning naked, and sperma, meaning
seed. They are naked-seeded plants meaning that the ovule, which becomes a
seed, is exposed on the sporophyte at pollination. Mature seed are not enclosed in a
fruit as are those of flowering plants. Gymnosperms are best known for their
characteristic cones, called strobili. These strobili display sprorangia and their
subsequently developing, ovules and pollens. Gymnosperms do not require water
for sperm to swim to reach the egg as do seedless plants. Instead, immense amount
of windblown pollen are produced.
Most gymnosperm cones, including the familiar pine cone, are complex
whorls of leaflike, woody around a central axis. The smallest cones include those of
the junipers (Juniperus) which have flesh scales fused into a structure resembling a
berry. The larger cones may weight 45kg and are produced by cycads. In most
gymnosperm species, the female megostrobilus is larger and distinctive from the
male microstrobilus.

Materials
Living or preserved specimens of

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

Cycad (Cycas sp.)
Pine (Pinus sp.)

Prepared slide of gymnosperms

Compound microscope
Dissecting microscope
Slide and coverslip
Distilled water

Procedure
A ginkgo:
1. Examine a oreoared slide of male strobilus of Ginkgo biloba. Identify the
microsporophyll, microsprorangium and strobilus axis.
2. Examine a prepared slide of female strobilus of Gunkgobiloba. Identify the
megasprophyll, megasprorangium, and strobilus axis.
A cycad:
1. Examine a female cycad. Identify leaves, megasprorophylls, megasporangium
and developing seeds.
2. The pollen cone bears on male cycad. Examine pollinate cone and identify
microsporophyll, microsporangium, and pollen grains.

A pine:
1. Obtain a male cone and female cone of Pinus sp. Can you differentiate
between the two cones?
2. Examine a prepared slide of longitudinal section of female cone. Look for
megasporophyll, megasporangia, and ovule.
3. Examine a prepared slide of longitudinal section of male cone. Look for
megasporophyll, megasporangia, and pollen grains.
4. Fertilization occurs after the pollen tube penetrates the megasporangium and
allows sperm to enter the archegonium and fuses with the egg. The zygote
will form after fertilization. Examine a prepared slide of the developing
embryo of Pinus sp.
5. Obtain mature seed cone. Find the seed with wing attached to the ovuliferous
scale. What is the special about the seeds?
6. Examinated the anatomy of pine leaf one needle. Identify the following
epidermis, stoma, photosynthetic mesophyll, endodermis, phloem, xylem,
and resin duct.

Discussion

The gymnosperms are a group of seed-producing plants that includes

conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and Gnetales. The term "gymnosperm" comes from
the Greek composite word ( gymnos, "naked" and
sperma, "seed"), meaning "naked seeds", after the unenclosed
condition of their seeds (called ovules in their unfertilized state). Their naked
condition stands in contrast to the seeds and ovules of flowering plants
(angiosperms), which are enclosed within an ovary. Gymnosperm seeds
develop either on the surface of scales or leaves, often modified to form
cones, or at the end of short stalks as in Ginkgo.The gymnosperms and
angiosperms together compose the spermatophytes or seed plants. By far
the largest group of living gymnosperms are the conifers (pines, cypresses,
and relatives), followed by cycads, gnetophytes (Gnetum, Ephedra and
Welwitschia), and Ginkgo (a single living species).
Firstly, Ginkgo is a genus of highly unusual non-flowering plants. The
scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it
belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago,
possibly derived from "seed ferns" of the order Peltaspermales. The rate of
evolution within the genus has been slow, and almost all its species had
become extinct by the end of the Pliocene; the exception is the sole living
species, Ginkgo biloba, which is only found in the wild in China, but is
cultivated across the world. The relationships between ginkgos and other
groups of plants are not fully resolved.
Next, Cycads /sakdz/ are seed plants with a long fossil history that
were formerly more abundant and more diverse than they are today. They
typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard
and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual
plants are either all male or all female (dioecious). Cycads vary in size from
having trunks only a few centimeters to several meters tall. They typically
grow very slowly and live very long, with some specimens known to be as
much as 1,000 years old. Because of their superficial resemblance, they are
sometimes mistaken for palms or ferns, but are only distantly related to
either.The living cycads are found across much of the subtropical and tropical
parts of the world. The greatest diversity occurs in South and Central
America. They are also found in Mexico, the Antilles, southeastern United
States, Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Japan, China, Southeast Asia, India,
Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and southern and tropical Africa, where at least 65
species occur. Some can survive in harsh desert or semi-desert climates
(xerophytic), others in wet rain forest conditions,and some in both. Some can
grow in sand or even on rock, some in oxygen-poor, swampy, bog-like soils
rich in organic material.[citation needed] Some are able to grow in full sun,
some in full shade, and some in both. Some are salt tolerant (halophytes).
The three extant families of cycads are Cycadaceae, Stangeriaceae, and

Zamiaceae. Cycads have changed little since the Jurassic, compared to some
major evolutionary changes in other plant divisions. Cycads are
gymnosperms (naked seeded), meaning their unfertilized seeds are open to
the air to be directly fertilized by pollination, as contrasted with angiosperms,
which have enclosed seeds with more complex fertilization arrangements.
Cycads have very specialized pollinators, usually a specific species of beetle.
They have been reported to fix nitrogen in association with a cyanobacterium
living in the roots. These blue-green algae produce a neurotoxin called BMAA
that is found in the seeds of cycads. This neurotoxin may enter a human food
chain as the cycad seeds may be eaten directly as a source of flour by
humans or by wild or feral animals such as bats, and humans may eat these
animals. It is hypothesized that this is a source of some neurological diseases
in humans.
Lastly, Pines are conifer trees in the genus Pinus /pinus/, in the family
Pinaceae. They are the only genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The Plant List
compiled by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden
accepts 126 species names of pines as current, together with 35 unresolved
species and many more synonyms.

Experiment 2: Angiosperms
Introduction
Angiosperms are the most abundant, diverse, and widespread of all plants.
They are successful because they are structurally diverse, have efficient
vascular system, share a variety of mutualisms (especially with insects and
fungi), and have short generation times. Flowering plants are important to
human because our world economy is overwhelmingly based on them.
Indeed, we eat and use vegetative strucutures (roots, stems and leaves) as
well as reproductive structure (flower, seed, and fruits). You will find that
many of the vegetative structures are quite similar to those of more, ancient
plants shown. The roots, stems, and leaves of flowering plants function just
as those of ferms and cone bearing plants. Flowers and fruits, however are
unique adaptations of angiosperms. Biologists believe that the extraordinary
adaptiveness of these structures has led to the proliferation of the incredible
diversity found among flowering plants.
Materials
Living specimens of angiosperms (dicots & monocots) with roots, steams,
leaves, flowers, fruits and seed. (Imperata cylindrical, zea mays, Carica
papaya, Phaseolus sp.)
Prepared slides of angiosperms (dicots & monocots)
Compound microscope
Dissecting microscope
Slide and coverslip
Forceps
Distilled water

Procedure

Root:
1. Obtains a root of a dicots and mococots for morphology and anatomy
study.
2. Look for the root systems of representative dicot and moncot. Can you
give the function of these roots?
3. Cross section of dicot root shows the central stele is surrounded by a thick
cortex and epidermis. Identify the following: epidermis, cortex,
parenchyma cells, starch grains, pericycle, endodermis, phloem, and
xylem.
4. Cross section of monocot root show this root has a vascular cylinder of
xylem and phloem that surrounds a central pith. Identify the following:
epidermis, cortex, endodermis, Casparian strip, pith, phloem, and xylem.
5. Obtain a prepared slide of the roots for some other species and distinguish
their structure.

Steams:
1. Study the longitudinal section of shoot tip of representative dicot and
monocot (fresh prepared slide or prepared slide). Identify the following: leaf,
leaf primordium, apical meristem, ground meristem, axillary bud, vascular
bundle, and pith.
2. Obtain a dicot and monocot and make a cross section of the stems and
examine the arrangement of vascular bundles. Compare the anatomy
between this dicot and monocot.
3. For both type of plants, identify epidermis, cortex, phloem, xylem, cambium,
pith and vascular bundle.
Leaves:
1. Look for fresh specimen provided in lab. Flowering plants show a variety of
morphology to identify, such as, leaf arangements and leaf venation.
2. Using fresh prepared slide or prepared slide of some flowering plants, study
the structure of the leaves. Notice that the lesves have common features:
cuticle, air space, lower epidermis, upper epidermis, palisade mesophyll,
spongy mesophyll, and vascular bundle.
Flowers:
1. Look for longitudinal section of some flowers. Name the par ts of a flower:
stigma, pistil , style, sepal, receptacle, peduncle, petal, filament, stamen, and
anther.

2. Examine a prepared slide of a cross section of mature anther (lily anther).

Find sections of four microsporangia. Look for pollen grains within a
microsporangium.
3. Examine a prepared slide of a cross section of an ovary (lily ovary). Find the
several ovules. Look for megaspores mother cell within megasporangium.
Study the megasporangium develops. Identify the placenta, integuments,
microphyle, egg cell, central cell, and polar nuclei.
4. Observe the demonstration slide of double fertilization and identify the
zygote, primary endosperm nucleus, and central cell of the female
gametophyte.
Fruits and seeds:
1. Get a sample opf dry, dehiscent fruits (peanuts). Identify the fruit wall,
cotyledon, plumule of embryo, radicle, cotyledon, and seed coat.
2. Get a sample of simple flesy fruits (tomato, a berry). Identify pericarp,
mesocarp, endocarp, locule, seed and placenta.
3. Examine a prepared slide of corn grain (Zea mays), a caryopsis fruit. The
pericarp of a corn grains is tightlt united and inseparable from the seed.
Identify the pericarp, endosperm, cotyledon, coleptile, plumule, plumule bud,
embryo, radicle, and coleorhiza.

Discussion
The flowering plants (angiosperms), also known as Angiospermae bor
Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants, with about 350,000
species. Like gymnosperms, angiosperms are seed-producing plants; they are
distinguished from gymnosperms by characteristics including flowers, endosperm
within the seeds, and the production of fruits that contain the seeds. Etymologically,
angiosperm means a plant that produces seeds within an enclosure, in other words,
a fruiting plant. The term "angiosperm" comes from the Greek composite word
(angeion-, "case" or "casing", and sperma, "seed") meaning "enclosed seeds", after
the enclosed condition of the seeds. The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from
gymnosperms in the Triassic Period, during the range 245 to 202 million years ago
(mya), and the first flowering plants are known from 160 mya. They diversified
extensively during the Lower Cretaceous, became widespread by 120 mya, and
replaced conifers as the dominant trees during 100 to 60 mya.
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being
the root. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes. The nodes hold
one or more leaves, as well as buds which can grow into branches (with leaves,
conifer cones, or inflorescences (flowers)). Adventitious roots may also be produced
from the nodes.The internodes distance one node from another. The term "shoots"
is often confused with "stems"; "shoots" generally refers to new fresh plant growth
including both stems and other structures like leaves or flowers. In most plants
stems are located above the soil surface but some plants have underground
stems.Stems have four main functions which are:
a. Support for and the elevation of leaves, flowers and fruits. The stems
keep the leaves in the light and provide a place for the plant to keep its
flowers and fruits.
b. Transport of fluids between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and
phloem
c. Storage of nutrients
d. Production of new living tissue. The normal life span of plant cells is
one to three years. Stems have cells called meristems that annually
generate new living tissue.

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant and is the principal lateral appendage of

the stem. The leaves and stem together form the shoot. Foliage is a mass noun that
refers to leaves collectively. Typically a leaf is a thin, dorsiventrally flattened organ,
borne above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Most leaves have

distinctive upper (adaxial) and lower (abaxial) surfaces that differ in colour,
hairiness, the number of stomata (pores that intake and output gases) and other
features. In most plant species, leaves are broad and flat. Such species are referred
to as broad-leaved plants. Many gymnosperm species have thin needle-like leaves
that can be advantageous in cold climates frequented by snow and frost. Leaves
can also have other shapes and forms such as the scales in certain species of
conifers. Some leaves are not above ground (such as bulb scales). Succulent plants
often have thick juicy leaves, but some leaves are without major photosynthetic
function and may be dead at maturity, as in some cataphylls, and spines).
Furthermore, several kinds of leaf-like structures found in vascular plants are not
totally homologous with them. Examples include flattened plant stems (called
phylloclades and cladodes), and phyllodes (flattened leaf stems), both of which
differ from leaves in their structure and origin. Many structures of non-vascular
plants, and even of some lichens, which are not plants at all (in the sense of being
members of the kingdom Plantae), look and function much like leaves. The primary
site of photosynthesis in most leaves (palisade mesophyll) almost always occurs on
the upper side of the blade or lamina of the leaf but in some species, including the
mature foliage of Eucalyptus palisade occurs on both sides and the leaves are said
to be isobilateral.
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive
structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called
angiosperms). The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by
providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs. Flowers may facilitate
outcrossing (fusion of sperm and eggs from different individuals in a population) or
allow selfing (fusion of sperm and egg from the same flower). Some flowers produce
diaspores without fertilization (parthenocarpy). Flowers contain sporangia and are
the site where gametophytes develop. Flowers give rise to fruit and seeds. Many
flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, so as to cause them to be vectors
for the transfer of pollen. In addition to facilitating the reproduction of flowering
plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans to beautify their
environment, and also as objects of romance, ritual, religion, medicine and as a
source of food.
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in angiosperms formed from
the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate
seeds. Edible fruits, in particular, have propagated with the movements of humans
and animals in a symbiotic relationship as a means for seed dispersal and nutrition;
in fact, humans and many animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of
food. Accordingly, fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world's agricultural
output, and some (such as the apple and the pomegranate) have acquired
extensive cultural and symbolic meanings. In common language usage, "fruit"
normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of a plant that are sweet or
sour, and edible in the raw state, such as apples, bananas, grapes, lemons,

oranges, and strawberries. On the other hand, in botanical usage, "fruit" includes
many structures that are not commonly called "fruits", such as bean pods, corn
kernels, tomatoes, and wheat grains. The section of a fungus that produces spores
is also called a fruiting body. A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective
outer covering known as the seed coat. It is a characteristic of spermatophytes
(gymnosperm and angiosperm plants) and the product of the ripened ovule which
occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant. The formation of
the seed completes the process of reproduction in seed plants (started with the
development of flowers and pollination), with the embryo developed from the
zygote and the seed coat from the integuments of the ovule. Seeds have been an
important development in the reproduction and spread of gymnosperm and
angiosperm plants, relative to more primitive plants such as ferns, mosses and
liverworts, which do not have seeds and use other means to propagate themselves.
This can be seen by the success of seed plants (both gymnosperms and
angiosperms) in dominating biological niches on land, from forests to grasslands
both in hot and cold climates. The term "seed" also has a general meaning that
antedates the aboveanything that can be sown, e.g. "seed" potatoes, "seeds" of
corn or sunflower "seeds". In the case of sunflower and corn "seeds", what is sown
is the seed enclosed in a shell or husk, whereas the potato is a tuber.Many
structures commonly referred to as "seeds" are actually dry fruits. Plants producing
berries are called baccate. Sunflower seeds are sometimes sold commercially while
still enclosed within the hard wall of the fruit, which must be split open to reach the
seed. Different groups of plants have other modifications, the so-called stone fruits
(such as the peach) have a hardened fruit layer (the endocarp) fused to and
surrounding the actual seed. Nuts are the one-seeded, hard-shelled fruit of some
plants with an indehiscent seed, such as an acorn or hazelnut.

Post-lab Questions
1. How to distinguish between a amel and female cone of pine?
A female pine cone, also called a megasporangiate strobilus, consists of cone
or seed scales that hold two ovules, the unfertilized seeds. It takes about two
years for female pine cones to become mature. When the seed matures, the
cone opens up, exposing the seeds to the environment. Once the seeds are
mature, the seed scales fall out of the cone. Seeds are then carried away
from the parent tree by the wind and animals. Some female pine cones do
not open up until they experience high temperatures such as during a forest
fire.
The male pine cone, or microsporangiate strobilus, do not last as long as their
female counterparts. Every spring, the pollen from the male pine cones are
released into the air where they may eventually land on a scale on the female
cone. Male pine cones are usually yellowish because of the pollen dust. Male
cones exist in clusters on the tips of the branches of pine trees.
2. Explain the characteristics of gymnosperm seed to aid in dispersal.
The characteristics of gymnosperm seeds to aid in dispersal include being
lightweight and they have wings. Gymnosperm seeds can also blow in the
wind.
3. List some uses for conifers.
Conifers are very important for our economy because of their softwood, which
is used for paper and timber, as well as cedar which many people use for

their homes because of its beauty and resistance to insects. The Bible records
that the Cedar of Lebanon was used for temples or other extravagant
structures. Some conifers excrete a resin to protect themselves from insects
and fungal infections, and this resin can be used for varnishes and adhesives.
Conifers are evergreens.
4. List the common characteristics of seeds plants.
They have vascular tissue and use seeds to reproduce. In addition, they all
have body plans that include leaves, stems, and roots. Most seed plants live
on land. Seed plants face many challenges, including standing upright and
supplying all their cells with water and food.
5. Contrast between dicots and monocots, the two classes of flowering plants.
MONOCOTS
Embryo with single cotyledon
Pollen with single furrow or pore
Flower parts in multiples of three
Major leaf veins parallel

DICOTS
Embryo with two cotyledons
Pollen with three furrows or pores
Flower parts in multiples of four or five
Major leaf veins reticulated

6. Discuss the features of plant flowering fruits and seeds.

Fruits are a uniquely angiosperm feature: part of the pollinated flower ripens
and becomes the fruit. Two types of fruits with a generally different
mechanism of seed distribution exist: dehiscent and nondehiscent fruits.
Dehiscent fruits set the seeds free by opening of the fruit that remains itself
with the mother plant. In contrast, nondehiscent fruits and their seeds are a
dispersal unit. Dehiscent fruit types are follicles, pulses, pods and capsules.
Nondehiscent fruits are berries, drupes and nuts. Seeds are normally
surrounded by a tough shell, the testa, that is derived from one or more
integuments. It contains the endosperm, a nourishing tissue. Seeds are
dispersed either by self-dispersal, also called autochory, or by allochory which
means that extern factors are involved. Allochor modes of dispersal are
dispersal by wind (anemochorys), water (hydrochory) or by animals
(zoochory).

References
Cain, M.D.; Shelton, M.G. 2001. Twenty years of natural loblolly and shortleaf
pine seed production on the Crossett Experimental Forest in southeastern
Arkansas. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry. 25(1): 40-45.
Jump up ^ Galili G, Kigel J (1995). "Chapter One". Seed development and
germination. New York: M. Dekker. ISBN 0-8247-9229-7.
Jump up ^ Raven, Peter H., Ray Franklin Evert, and Helena Curtis. 1981. Biology
of plants. New York, N.Y.: Worth Publishers. page 410.
Jump up ^ Rost, Thomas L.; Weier, T. Elliot; Weier, Thomas Elliot (1979). Botany:
a brief introduction to plant biology. New York: Wiley. p. 319. ISBN 0-471-021148.