list important differences in the reproductive stuctures of angiosperms and gymnosperms?
Gymnosperms | Angiosperms |
The pollen is the male reproductive part and the cone is the female reproductive part. | The male part is the pollen grain, and the female part is the ovary. |
Pollination is accomplished mainly by wind. | Pollination is accomplished by wind, insects, and other animals. |
Male cones (staminate cones) are typically much smaller than female cones (ovulate cones). | The ovary goes through meiosis to produce an "egg", which is then fertilized by the "sperm" carried by the pollen. |
A pollen grain is carried by wind currents to the appropriate "egg" where the growth of the pollen tubes through this tissue brings the sperm to the egg.
| The sperm of the male part travels down the pollen tube in the style. Two sperm enter the micropyle of the ovary. After the process of mitosis, it turns into a seed with an embryo. |
The seed may be naked. | The seed may be inside a fruit. |
Gymnosperms have the unenclosed seeds, and are found naked on the scales of a cone. | Angiosperms have flowers and bear seeds enclosed in a protective covering called a fruit.
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