The spermatophytes (from the Greek word "") (also known as phanerogams) comprise those plants that produce

seeds. They are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants.

Contents [hide] 1 Description 2 Evolution 3 Relationships and nomenclature 4 References

Description[edit]
The living spermatophytes form five groups: cycads, a subtropical and tropical group of plants with a large crown of compound leaves and a stout trunk, Ginkgo, a single living species of tree, conifers, cone-bearing trees and shrubs, gnetophytes, woody plants in the genera Ephedra, Gnetum, and Welwitschia angiosperms, (or magnoliophyta) the flowering plants, a large group including many familiar plants in a wide variety of habitats. In addition to the taxa listed above, the fossil record contains evidence of many extinct taxa of seed plants. The so-called "seed ferns" (Pteridospermae) were one of the earliest successful groups of land plants, and forests dominated by seed ferns were prevalent in the late Paleozoic. Glossopteris was the most prominent tree genus in the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana during the Permian period. By the Triassic period, seed ferns had declined in ecological importance, and representatives of modern gymnosperm groups were abundant and dominant through the end of the Cretaceous, when angiosperms radiated. Another Late Paleozoic group of probable spermatophytes were the gigantopterids.

Evolution