🌲 GYMNOSPERMS: THE FIRST SEED PLANTS
PAGE 1 OF 5 — WHAT ARE GYMNOSPERMS?
NAKED SEEDS
SEEDS WITHOUT A COVER!
The word gymnosperm comes from Greek — "gymnos" meaning naked and "sperma" meaning seed. Unlike flowering plants, gymnosperms carry their seeds exposed on the surface of cones or scales — not wrapped inside a fruit.
⚡ DID YOU KNOW?
There are around 1,000 species of gymnosperms alive today — but 300 million years ago, they ruled every forest on Earth!
NAKED!
NAKED vs COVERED
🌲 Pine cone: seeds exposed on open wooden scales
🍎 Apple: seeds hidden inside sweet flesh — totally different!
🍎 Apple: seeds hidden inside sweet flesh — totally different!
4 GROUPS
🌲 Conifers · 🌴 Cycads · 🍃 Ginkgos · 🌿 Gnetophytes
~1,000 species alive today — once rulers of all forests
~1,000 species alive today — once rulers of all forests