Question

Podocarpus, Ginkgo and Cycas share which one of the following character?

• A. All show polyembryony.
• B. All have multiflagellated antherozooids.
• C. All have coralloid roots.
• D. Both A and C.

Answer 1

The correct option is D Both A and C.

Polyembryony is the phenomenon of two or more embryos developing from a single fertilized egg. The term is also used in botany to describe the phenomenon of two seedlings emerging from one seed.

Branch roots are of two kinds: long-branching geotropic roots and short-branching apogeotropic roots, which are referred to as coralloid, because of their irregular, beady appearance.

The coralloid roots contain symbiotic Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), which fix nitrogen and, in association with root tissues, produce beneficial amino acids, such as asparagine and citrulline.