conifer

Examples of conifer in the following topics:

• Life Cycle of a Conifer

  • Conifers are monoecious plants that produce both male and female cones, each making the necessary gametes used for fertilization.
  • Pine trees are conifers (cone bearing) and carry both male and female sporophylls on the same mature sporophyte.
  • In the life cycle of a conifer, the sporophyte (2n) phase is the longest phase.
  • This image shows the life cycle of a conifer.

• Diversity of Gymnosperms

  • Conifers are the dominant phylum of gymnosperms, with the most variety of species .
  • Adaptations to cold and dry weather explain the predominance of conifers at high altitudes and in cold climates.
  • Conifers include familiar evergreen trees such as pines, spruces, firs, cedars, sequoias, and yews.
  • The European larch and the tamarack are examples of deciduous conifers.
  • Conifers are the dominant form of vegetation in cold or arid environments and at high altitudes.

• Evolution of Gymnosperms

  • Gingkoales and the more familiar conifers also dotted the landscape.
  • This boreal forest (taiga) has low-lying plants and conifer trees, as these plants are better suited to the colder, dryer conditions.

• Sexual Reproduction in Gymnosperms

  • In conifers such as pines, the green leafy part of the plant is the sporophyte; the cones contain the male and female gametophytes .
  • This image shows the life cycle of a conifer.

• The Major Divisions of Land Plants

  • Seed-producing plants include gymnosperms, most notably conifers, which produce "naked seeds," and the most successful of all modern-day plants, angiosperms, which are the flowering plants.

• Boreal Forests and Arctic Tundra

  • When conifer needles are dropped, they decompose more slowly than do broad leaves; therefore, fewer nutrients are returned to the soil to fuel plant growth.
  • The boreal forest (taiga) has low-lying plants and conifer trees; it often consists of only a tree layer and a ground layer.

• Mycorrhizae: The Symbiotic Relationship between Fungi and Roots

  • This type of mycorrhizae is found in forest trees, especially conifers, birches, and oaks.

• Characteristics of Gymnosperms

  • Conifers have sperm that do not have flagella, but instead are conveyed to the egg via a pollen tube.

• Pollination by Bats, Birds, Wind, and Water

  • Most species of conifers and many angiosperms, such as grasses, maples, and oaks, are pollinated by wind.