Evolutionary History:
– Extant spermatophytes form five divisions
– Gymnosperms have unenclosed, naked seeds
– Flowering plants have seeds enclosed in a fruit
– Fossil record shows many extinct seed plant taxa
– Seed ferns were prevalent in the late Paleozoic
Phylogeny:
– Seed-bearing plants are a clade within vascular plants
– Relationships between seed plant groups not fully settled
– Various studies contribute to understanding seed plant phylogeny
References:
– Multiple academic sources provide in-depth information on seed plants
– Studies on plant systematics, phylogeny, and evolution are available
– Research on seed plants spans various scientific disciplines
Further Reading:
– “Paleobotany: The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants” by Taylor et al. (2008) offers detailed insights into ancient plants
– Classification of Archaeplastida or Plantae is discussed in scholarly works
Description:
– Cycadophyta, Ginkgophyta, Pinophyta, Gnetophyta, and Angiosperms are the five divisions of extant spermatophytes
– Seed plants evolved from a whole genome duplication event around 319 million years ago
– Fossils like Runcaria shed light on the evolutionary path to modern seed plants
References:
– Academic journals, books, and studies provide comprehensive information on seed plant evolution and phylogeny
– Research spans from genome analysis to fossil evidence
– Various scientific disciplines contribute to the understanding of seed plant history and development
A seed plant or spermatophyte (lit. 'seed plant'; from Ancient Greek σπέρματος (spérmatos) 'seed', and φυτόν (phytón) 'plant'), also known as a phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or a phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds. It is a category of embryophyte (i.e. land plant) that includes most of the familiar land plants, including the flowering plants and the gymnosperms, but not ferns, mosses, or algae.
| Seed plants Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, a member of the Pinophyta | |
| |
| Sycamore maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, a member of the Eudicots | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Spermatophytes |
| Extant divisions | |
| Synonyms | |
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The term phanerogam or phanerogamae is derived from the Greek φανερός (phanerós), meaning "visible", in contrast to the term "cryptogam" or "cryptogamae" (from Ancient Greek κρυπτός (kruptós) 'hidden'), together with the suffix γαμέω (gaméō), meaning "to marry". These terms distinguish those plants with hidden sexual organs (cryptogamae) from those with visible ones (phanerogamae).