Conifers, cycads and ginkgo belong to which group of plants?

Gymnosperms (from the Greek words gymnos, meaning "naked", and sperma, meaning "seed") are seed-bearing plants whose seeds are not enclosed inside a fruit. The seeds lie exposed on the surface of scales, usually arranged in cones. Gymnosperms do not produce flowers or fruits.

Gymnosperms are mostly woody trees and shrubs. They are vascular plants, with xylem and phloem to carry water and food, and they have true roots, stems and leaves. Many have needle-like or scale-like leaves with thick cuticles, which help them survive in cold and dry conditions.

The main groups of gymnosperms include:

Conifers: the largest group, such as pine (Pinus), deodar (Cedrus), fir, spruce and redwood (Sequoia). Most are evergreen and grow in temperate and mountain forests, including the Himalaya. Sequoia (the redwood) includes some of the tallest trees in the world.

Cycads: palm-like plants such as Cycas. Cycas roots have coralloid roots that contain nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria.

Ginkgo: Ginkgo biloba, the maidenhair tree, is called a "living fossil" because it is the only surviving species of a very old group.

Gnetophytes, such as Ephedra, a source of the drug ephedrine, and Gnetum.

Gymnosperms are economically important for timber, paper pulp, resin, turpentine (from pine) and ornamental plants.

The plant kingdom is broadly divided into thallophytes (algae), bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms. The first three are cryptogams (without seeds), and the last two are phanerogams (seed plants).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Angiosperms are flowering plants with seeds enclosed in fruits.
• ✗Pteridophytes, such as ferns, have vascular tissues but no seeds.
• ✗Bryophytes, such as mosses, have no vascular tissues and no seeds.