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Gymnosperm

Initial thoughts on how to improve article:

Many sentences would be difficult to understand for someone not studying plant biology.
Simplification of the article is needed. Many of the sentences need to be reworded for clarification and
Need to edit the hyperlinks as some are mentioned more than once/the hyperlink is placed after the word is used the first time. (I need to review rules for this.)
More pictures would be great as the article is rather bland to look at currently.

(picture for the beginning of the article replaced)

The gymnosperms are a group of seed-producing plants (

angiosperms), which are enclosed within an ovary. Gymnosperm seeds develop either on the surface of scales or leaves, which are often modified to form cones

, or at the end of short stalks as in Ginkgo.

The gymnosperms and

spermatophytes

or seed plants. The gymnosperms are comprised of six phyla. Organisms that belong to the Cycadophyta, Ginkgophyta, Gnetophyta, and Pinophyta (also known as Coniferophyta) phyla are still in existence while those in the Pteridospermales and Cordaitales phyla are now extinct.

By far the largest group of living gymnosperms are the conifers (pines, cypresses, and relatives), followed by

Ephedra and Welwitschia), and Ginkgo biloba

(a single living species).

Classification

In early classification schemes, the gymnosperms (Gymnospermae) were regarded as a "natural" group. There is conflicting evidence on the question of whether the living gymnosperms form a

glossopterids

are considered, it is clear that angiosperms are nested within a larger gymnosperm clade, although which group of gymnosperms is their closest relative remains unclear.

For the most recent classification on extant gymnosperms see Christenhusz et al. (2011). There are 12 families, 83 known genera with a total of ca 1080 known species.

Subclass Cycadidae

Order Cycadales
- Family Cycadaceae
  : Cycas
- Family Zamiaceae: Dioon, Bowenia, Macrozamia, Lepidozamia, Encephalartos, Stangeria, Ceratozamia, Microcycas, Zamia.

Subclass Ginkgoidae

Order Ginkgoales
- Family Ginkgoaceae: Ginkgo

Subclass

Gnetidae

Order Welwitschiales
- Family Welwitschiaceae: Welwitschia
Order Gnetales
- Family Gnetaceae
  : Gnetum
Order Ephedrales
- Family Ephedraceae: Ephedra

Subclass Pinidae

Order Pinales
- Family Pinaceae: Cedrus, Pinus, Cathaya, Picea, Pseudotsuga, Larix, Pseudolarix, Tsuga, Nothotsuga, Keteleeria, Abies
Order Araucariales
- Family Araucariaceae: Araucaria, Wollemia, Agathis
- Family Podocarpaceae: Phyllocladus, Lepidothamnus, Prumnopitys, Sundacarpus, Halocarpus, Parasitaxus, Lagarostrobos, Manoao, Saxegothaea, Microcachrys, Pherosphaera, Acmopyle, Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Falcatifolium, Retrophyllum, Nageia, Afrocarpus, Podocarpus
Order Cupressales
- Family Sciadopityaceae: Sciadopitys
- Family Cupressaceae: Cunninghamia, Taiwania, Athrotaxis, Metasequoia, Sequoia, Sequoiadendron, Cryptomeria, Glyptostrobus, Taxodium, Papuacedrus, Austrocedrus, Libocedrus, Pilgerodendron, Widdringtonia, Diselma, Fitzroya, Callitris (incl. Actinostrobus and Neocallitropsis), Thujopsis, Thuja, Fokienia, Chamaecyparis, Callitropsis, Cupressus, Juniperus, Xanthocyparis, Calocedrus, Tetraclinis, Platycladus, Microbiota
- Family Taxaceae: Austrotaxus, Pseudotaxus, Taxus, Cephalotaxus, Amentotaxus, Torreya

Diversity and origin

There are more than 1000

extant

or currently living species of gymnosperms in 88 plant genera belonging to 14 plant families.

It is widely accepted that the gymnosperms originated in the late

progymnosperms of the late Devonian period around 383 million years ago. It has been suggested that during the mid-Mesozoic era, pollination of some extinct groups of gymnosperms was by extinct species of scorpionflies that had specialized proboscis for feeding on pollination drops. The scorpionflies likely engaged in pollination mutualisms with gymnosperms, long before the similar and independent coevolution of nectar-feeding insects on angiosperms. Evidence has also been found that mid-Mesozoic gymnosperms were pollinated by Kalligrammatid lacewings, a now-extinct genus with members which (in an example of convergent evolution

) resembled the modern butterflies that arose far later.

Conifers are by far the most abundant extant group of gymnosperms with six to eight families, with a total of 65-70 genera and 600-630 species (696 accepted names). Conifers are woody plants and most are evergreens. The leaves of many conifers are long, thin and needle-like, other species, including most Cupressaceae and some Podocarpaceae, have flat, triangular scale-like leaves. Agathis in Araucariaceae and Nageia in Podocarpaceae have broad, flat strap-shaped leaves.

Cycads are the next most abundant group of gymnosperms, with two or three families, 11 genera, and approximately 338 species. A majority of cycads are native to tropical climates and are most abundantly found in regions near the equator.

The other extant groups are the 95-100 species of Gnetales and one species of Ginkgo.

(moved picture from intro, will get different picture for intro)

Uses

Gymnosperms have major economic uses. Pine, fir, spruce, and cedar are all examples of conifers that are used for lumber, paper production, and resin. Some other common uses for gymnosperms are soap, varnish, nail polish, food, gum, and perfumes.

Life cycle

(added picture of life cycle of gymnosperms)

flagella that are moved along a pollen tube to the egg. After syngamy

(joining of the sperm and egg cell), the zygote develops into an embryo (young sporophyte). More than one embryo is usually initiated in each gymnosperm seed. The mature seed comprises the embryo and the remains of the female gametophyte, which serves as a food supply, and the seed coat.

Genetics

The first published sequenced genome for any gymnosperm was the genome of Picea abies in 2013.

Heterospory Reviewing

Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?

Each section and paragraph seem to be well cited with at least one source per paragraph.
I did not find any facts that appeared to need a source, nor did I find any sections that had a [citation needed]

Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

Everything appears to be very relevant and describes the topic well.

Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

The article is neutral, and when there is a specific model mentioned (the Haig-Westoby model, for example), it is referenced and mentioned

Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?

The information comes from a variety of sources, such as books and various scientific articles
The sources are appropriate and none of them seem to be unofficial or biased

Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

The information from the sources comes from sources dating from 1989-2017; however, the information from the older sources appears to be relevant and still correct

Check the talk page. What kinds of discussion is going on in the Wikipedia community about how to represent this topic?

There's only one comment on the talk page and it's about correcting the wording of something that is not considered a fact

My general thoughts about the article:

There appears to be quite a bit of complicated wording that someone not well versed in plant biology would be confused. Perhaps provide short, basic descriptions of some words that are used often in the article?
Seems to be a good article the covers the topic well

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