Short Notes:

Many of the plants alive today belong to one of two groups that reproduce from seeds. These two groups, the gymnosperms and the angiosperms, produce seeds from fertilized ovules, which consist of embryonic sacs and their protective tissues. Gymnosperms, which include fir, spruce, hemlock, pine, larch, and ginkgo trees, produce "naked seeds" - seeds that are not surrounded by an ovary. Most are produced inside cones, though juniper and yew seeds are covered with flesh resembling that of a berry. Angiosperms, of flowering plants, occur in an almost endless variety and include nearly all the world's major crops. All flowering plants produce seeds within an ovary, or fruit, as shown here. Apples and oranges are fruits; so, too, are cucumbers and maize.