How are evergreen plants with woody stems having naked seed classified?
- (a)Angiosperms
- (b)Monocotyledons
- (c)Pteridophytes
- (d)Gymnosperms
Correct — D, Gymnosperms. The word gymnosperm means 'naked seed', and these plants bear seeds that are not enclosed inside a fruit or ovary. Most are evergreen, woody perennials, the conifers such as pine, cedar and deodar being the classic examples. Because the defining features in the question are naked seeds on woody, evergreen plants, the group is the gymnosperms.
- (a)Angiosperms — Angiosperms are flowering plants whose seeds are enclosed within a fruit (the word means 'covered seed'), the opposite of the naked seeds described here.
- (b)Monocotyledons — Monocotyledons are a subgroup of angiosperms (flowering plants) with one seed leaf, such as grasses and cereals; their seeds are enclosed, not naked.
- (c)Pteridophytes — Pteridophytes, such as ferns, are seedless vascular plants that reproduce by spores, so they bear no seeds at all, naked or otherwise.
Seed plants are divided by how their seeds are borne. Gymnosperms have naked seeds, usually held on cones, and are mostly evergreen woody trees and shrubs like conifers. Angiosperms are flowering plants whose seeds are enclosed within fruits. Pteridophytes, by contrast, are seedless plants that spread by spores.
The single deciding clue is 'naked seed'. Matching that word to its Greek root, gymno meaning naked and sperma meaning seed, points straight to gymnosperms. The woody, evergreen habit confirms the conifer-type plants of that group.
- Gymnosperm means 'naked seed'; the seeds are not enclosed in a fruit.
- Most gymnosperms are evergreen, woody perennials, chiefly the conifers such as pine, cedar and deodar.
- Angiosperms are flowering plants with seeds enclosed in fruits ('covered seed').
- Pteridophytes such as ferns are seedless and reproduce by spores.
- Confusing angiosperms (covered seeds) with gymnosperms (naked seeds).
- Forgetting that pteridophytes bear no seeds at all, only spores.
Asked as the group with naked seeds or as a feature-based classification; the phrase 'naked seed' fixes the answer as gymnosperms.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The seeds of gymnosperms are described as 'naked' because they are
- (a)very small in size
- (b)not enclosed within a fruit or ovary
- (c)always green in colour
- (d)produced only in water
Answer(b) not enclosed within a fruit or ovary — gymnosperm means 'naked seed'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is a gymnosperm?
- (a)Mango
- (b)Wheat
- (c)Pine
- (d)Fern
Answer(c) Pine — a woody, evergreen conifer that bears naked seeds on cones.