seed-bearing plant
Americannoun
plural
seed-bearing plants-
A plant that produces seeds. The gymnosperms and the angiosperms together form the seed-bearing plants. The seed-bearing plants have been an enormously successful group in the history of life, owing to the evolution of seeds and pollen. The seed is a superior unit of dispersal to the naked spore, since it includes a food reserve and, among angiosperms, a protective layer. Also, seedless plants are dependent upon the presence of liquid water for sperm dispersal. Pollen makes water unnecessary for sperm transport. Instead, eggs are fertilized after male nuclei have been transported within the protective pollen grain to the female reproductive parts, usually by pollinating agents such as insects or the wind.
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Also called seed plant spermatophyte
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the second genus, Miadesmia, the seed-bearing plant was herbaceous, and much like a recent Selaginella.
From Darwin and Modern Science by Seward, A. C. (Albert Charles)
Whichever may be the seed-bearing plant, the cross is probably between different forms of the two species; for we have seen that legitimate hybrid unions are more fertile than illegitimate hybrid unions.
From The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species by Darwin, Charles
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