General characters of gymnosperms, orders of gymnosperms, its characters with its exmple

1. Gymnosperms Orders
& their examples
Dr. Sonali Randive-Aherkar

2. Cycadels
Coniferales
Ginkgoales
Taxales
Ephidrales

3.  Cycadales, consisting of 11 living genera and more
than 100 species.
 Members of cycadels are distributed in both tropical
and warm temperate regions of the world.
 The plant body is sporophytic.
 The sporophyte is differentiated into roots, un-
branched stem and pinnately compound leaves.

4.  Members exhibit xerophytic characters.
 Young leaves show circinate vernation.
 The leaf trace is diploxylic
 Plants are dioecious
 The cones are generally terminal or lateral
 Microsporangia are arranged on the abaxial side of
the microsporophyll’s.
 Megasporophylls are foliage leaf-like structures.

5.  Kingdom: Plantae
 Subkingdom: Tracheophytes
 Division: Cycadophyta
 Class: Cycadopsida
 Order: Cycadales
 Family: Zamiaceae
 Genus: Zamia

6. Habit
Leaf Structure
Male cone
Female cone

7.  Coniferales shows presence of 54 living genera &
more than 500 species.
 Main plant body is sporophytic.
 Sporophyte is divided in to root, stem & branches.
 They are found from Carboniferous to the present
times.
 Branches are dimorphic.
 Leaves are of two types, i.e. foliage leaves and
scaly leaves

8.  Leaves are arranged spirally.
 Plants are either monoecious or dioecious.
 Reproductive organs are unisexual cones.
 The sporophylls are generally arranged in the
form of cones.
 Pollen grains may be winged.
 The female cone consist of many sterile bract
scales and fertile ovuliferous scales.
 Seeds are endospermic and winged

9.  Kingdom: Plantae
 Subkingdom:Tracheophytes
 Division: Pinophyta
 Class: Pinopsida
 Order: Pinales
 Family: Araucariaceae
 Genus: Araucaria

10. Habit
Leaf Structure
Female cone
Male cone

11.  Kingdom: Plantae
 Subkingdom: Tracheophytes
 Division: Pinophyta
 Class: Pinopsida
 Order: Pinales
 Family: Podocarpaceae
 Genus: Podocarpus

12. Habit
Leaf Structure
Male
cone
Female Cone

13.  Kingdom: Plantae
 Subdivision: Tracheophytes
 Division: Pinophyta
 Class: Pinopsida
 Order: Pinales
 Family: Cupressaceae
 Genus: Cupressus

14. Habit Cones
Leaf structure

15.  Order Ginkgoales is today represented by only one
living member
 Plants distribution during Triassic and Jurassic
periods of Mesozoic age.
 Plants are tall, well-branched trees with short and
long shoots.
 Leaves are large, leathery and fan-shaped or strap-
shaped. They are often deeply divided.
 Wood is pycnoxylic

16.  Male organs are catkin-like, present in axillary
position
 Each micro-sporangiophore possesses 2-12
pendulous microsporangia.
 Ovules are terminal in position, 2-20 in
number.

17.  Kingdom: Plantae
 Subkingdom: Tracheophytes
 Division: Ginkgophyta
 Class: Ginkgoopsida
 Order: Ginkgoales
 Family: Ginkgoaceae
 Genus: Ginkgo
 Species: biloba

18. Habit
Leaf Structure Fruits
Male & Female cone

19.  Taxales shows 5 living genera and 200 species
 Professor Birbal Sahni (1920), who suggested that
Cephalotaxus, Taxus and Torreya should be
treated under Taxales.
 Members are tree or small shrub.
 Plant body is sporophytic
 Plants are evergreen
 The leaves are simple, linear with acute apex
 Leaves are spirally arranged on the branches.

20.  Plants are mostly unisexual.
 Micro-sporangiophores are arranged in the
form of small cones.
 The ovule is solitary and borne terminally on a
dwarf shoot.
 An aril is present at the base of each ovule.
 The secondary wood is compact and
pycnoxylic.
 The seeds are endospermic.

21.  Kingdom: Plantae
 Subkingdom: Tracheophytes
 Division: Pinophyta
 Class: Pinopsida
 Order: Pinales
 Family: Taxaceae
 Genus: Taxus

22. Habit Leaves with sporangia
Fruits
Leaf Structure

23.  Family Ephedraceae and order Ephedrales, is
represented by 50 species.
 These species grow in dry climate.
 The plant body is sporophytic.
 Mostly the plants are woody shrubs, some are
lianas, and small trees.
 Shows a prominent underground tap root system.
 stem is green, ribbed, branched, fluted and
differentiated into nodes and internodes

24.  Leaves are small scaly, are arranged in
opposite decussate manner.
 Ephedra is heterosporous
 These flowers are present in the form of cone
like compound strobili.
 Male strobili arise in clusters from the nodes of
the branches.
 Strobilus is rounded, ovoid or spherical in
shape

25.  Female strobilus usually arise in pairs at each
node in the axil of scale leaves
 Female strobilus appears to be an elliptical
structure with a pointed apex.

26.  Kingdom: Plantae
 Subdivision: Tracheophytes
 Division: Gnetophyta
 Class: Gnetopsida
 Order: Ephedrales
 Family: Ephedraceae
 Genus: Ephedra

28. Habit
Male Cone
Equisetifolium shoots
Female Cone
Fruits