Pinophyta

Jessamine Chong Lower 6 4 (2011) Pn. Suriani

Coniferophyta
Pinophyta are the scientific division for conifers. Also known as Coniferophyta. The division has 8 families, 68 genera and 630 species

They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants,the great majority being trees with just a few being shrubs. Examples are : cedars, firs, junipers, pines and redwoods

They exists in the the boreal forests of the northern hemisphere but also in similar cool climates in mountain further south. Boreal conifers have many winter time adaptations

The narrow conical shape of northern conifers and their downward-drooping limbs help them shed snow.
Many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing, called hardening They are also of great economic value primarily for timber and paper production; the wood of conifers is known as softwood

Dominant in colder and arctic regions

Taxonomy and naming

Kingdom : Plantae Phylum : Coniferophyta Class : Pinopsida Order : Pinales or Coniferae (also known as Coniferales) Family : Pinaceae (the pine family) Genus : Pinus

Species : monticola (Western White Pine)

Morphological

Characteristics

All conifers are woody plants ,majority having monopodial growth (a single, straight trunk with side branches) with strong apical dominance Many have distinctly scented resin, secreted to protect the tree against insect infestation and fungal infections on wounds Fossilized resins hardens into amber The worlds tallest is the Coast Redwood(Sequoia sempervirens) with a height of 115.5 meters The largest is the Giant Sequoia(Sequoiadendron giganteum) with a volume of 1486.9 cubic meters

The thickest which is the Montezuma Cypress(Taxodium mucronatum) with a 11.42 meters in diameter
The oldest is the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) is 4700 years old The worlds tallest, largest,thickest and oldest living things are all conifers

Description
Needle-shaped leaves or scalelike leaves
Straight trunks with horizontal branches Staminate (pollen producing ) cones

Most also bear ovulate or seed-bearing cones

Coniferous Leaves

Life Cycle
To fertilize the ovum, the male cone releases pollen that is carried on the wind to the female cone. (Male and female cones can be found on the same plant) The pollen fertilizes the female gamete (located in the female cone).* A fertilized female gamete (called a zygote) develops into an embryo

Along with integument cells surrounding the embryo, a seed develops containing the embryo. This is an evolutionary characteristic of the gymnosperms. Mature seed drops out of cone onto the ground.

Seed germinates and seedling grows into a mature plant.

When the plant is mature, the adult plant produces cones and the cycle continues.

Reproduction

Reproduction structures are the cones Large female and smaller male cones are found on the same plant The ovules are not enclosed by the ovary wall After fertilisation, the seeds formed are not enclosed by the fruit wall (pericarp) Thus, they are in the Gynosperm group. Slow to reproduce

Reproduction

CONFIERS AND THEIR CONES

While there are male and female mosses, conifers produce two types of cones on the same tree. One of the cone types gives off pollen (the staminate cone). The other type of cone catches the pollen if the wind is moving in the right direction. Better yet, the wind blows the pollen to another conifer of the same species, and a cone (called the ovulate cone) catches the pollen. Again, the pollen and megaspore (receiving haploid cell) are haploid and combine to form a diploid cell. That diploid cell grows into a zygote (baby conifer) that eventually lives in a seed.

Conifer Cones

Korean Pine Cones