gymnosperm

n. plants whose seeds are exposed (Botany)

The gymnosperms (Gymnospermae) are a group of spermatophyte seed-bearing plants with ovules on the edge or blade of an open sporophyll, the sporophylls usually arranged in cone-like structures. The other major group of seed-bearing plants, the angiosperms, have ovules enclosed in a carpel, a sporophyll with fused margins. The term gymnosperm comes from the Greek word gumnospermos, meaning "naked seeds" and referring to the unenclosed condition of the seeds, as when they are produced they are found naked on the scales of a cone or similar structure.
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Noun
1. plants of the class Gymnospermae having seeds not enclosed in an ovary
(hypernym) spermatophyte, phanerogam, seed plant
(hyponym) progymnosperm
(member-holonym) Gymnospermae, class Gymnospermae, Gymnospermophyta, division Gymnospermophyta

(n.)
A plant that bears naked seeds (i. e., seeds not inclosed in an ovary), as the common pine and hemlock. Cf. Angiosperm.
  

(Gr. gymnos=naked; sperm=seed): Woody plants whose life histories include alternation of generations and ovules are not enclosed in a carpel. The pollen typically germinates on the surface of the ovule. A superclass in the sperm plants (Spermatophyta) division. Examples are cycad, conifer and gingko. Cycads are the most primitive ones evolved in the Devonian period about 400 Mya. There are about 700 extant species in Gymnosperms. Link to a lecture on Gymnosperms.