Yahoo Answers is shutting down on 4 May 2021 (Eastern Time) and the Yahoo Answers website is now in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
What is the difference between a male and female pinecone?
I am curious to know what is the difference between the two, I have heard that there are male and female pinecones but I cannot tell them apart
1 Answer
- jacob sLv 71 month ago
Pine is a gymnosperm. It exhibits diplontic life cycle.
i.e. The sporophyte is the dominant generation and gametophyte is complete dependnet on sporophyte.
The male gametophyte = Pollen grain
The male cone contains microsporophylls. Each microsporophyll contains several microsporangia. Each microsporangium contains diploid sporogenous tissue which undergoes meiotic division to produce pollen grains.
Each pollen grain contains only four haploid cells. It is released into the air for pollination.
The female gametophyte is slighly larger than the male gametophyte.
The female cone contains megasporophylls. Each megasporophyll contains several megasporangia. Each megasporangium contains diploid sporogenous tissue which undergoes meiotic division to produce megaspores.
Mega spore undergoes several mitotic divisions to produce multicellular feamle gametophyte. The feamle gametophyte is retaiend on the parent plant (Inside the naked ovule). The feamle gametophyte contains several archegonia. Each archegonium contains a single egg cell which develops produces zygote upon fertilization.
