o OVERVIEW OF THE SEED PLANTS

o First seed plat s evolved from earlier seedless vascular plants

 Spermatophytes
o One ancestral gymnosperm lineage gave rise to angiosperms
o Characteristics shared by all seed plants
 Pollen allows seed plants to disperse male gametophytes
 Ovules provide protection and nourishment to female gametophytes
 Seeds allow plants to reproduce in diverse habitats
 Wood strengthens plants, allowing them to grow tall and produce many
branches, leaves, and seeds
o Seeds were key to colonizing and dominating terrestrial habitats
o Seedless vascular plants
 Flagellated sperm; requires water
 Embryo develops in archegonium of female gametophyte
o Seed plants
 Sperm enclosed in pollen grain, transported by wind and/or animals
 Gametophyte and embryo in tough seed; can disperse and tolerate
desiccation
o Seed: embryo and food supply
o Ecological advantages of seeds
o Can remain dormant and wait for favorable conditions
o Store food
o Adaptations to improve dispersal
o Seed plants exhibit heterospory
o Seed plants have highly reduced gametophytes
o Gymnosperms: ‘naked seeds’
o Cycads, ginkgos, gnetophytes, and conifers
o Reproduce using spores and seeds
o “naked” seeds; not contained in fruit
o Dominated in Mesozoic era
o Seeds and wood are adaptations
o Cope with global climate changes
o Live in cold and dry habitats
o Produce exposed seeds
o 4 phyla
 Phylum Ginkgophyta: single remining species
 Phylum Gnetophyta
 Phylum Cycadophyta
 Phylum Coniferophyta: seed cones
 Show several adaptations to cold climates
 Produce pollen cones and ovule bearing cones
 Produce a variety of seed types
o Wood
o Tissue composed of empty water conducting cells strengthened by lignin
  Allows transport of water upward for great distances
 Structural support
o Vasular cmbuim: produces thick layer of wood and thin layer of inner bark
o Transporting water solutions of organic compounds
o Progymnosperms
 Produced vascular cambium and wood
 Reproduced with sproes
 Wood came before seeds
o Wind and animals are common pollinating agents
o Rise of angiosperms: in the Cenozoic
o Meteorite caused mass extinction