1. Angiosperns
Phylum Anthophyta

2. General Characteristics
Most general features shared with gymnosperms
Flowering plants
Considered the most evolved
Flower is the reproductive structure
Male parts: stamen - anther (makes pollen) and filament
Female parts: pistil – stigma, style and ovary (contains ovules which make seeds)

3. General Characteristics Continued
Two subclasses based on number of cotyledons (seed leaves)
Dicotyledons (dicots) – two cotyledons
Monocotyledons (monocots) – one cotyledon

4. Fertilization Pollination by insect and winds must occur first
The pollen grain (male gametophyte) lands on the sticky stigma
Pollen tube grows down the style into the ovary
Sperm nuclei unites with egg and a diploid zygote is formed
Food storage tissue is fertilized separately (double fertilization)
The zygote becomes a seed enclosed in a fruit

6. Adaptations Seed is enclosed in a protective fruit
Have evolved methods of seed dispersal like animal vector
Contain vascular tissue
Fruit remains bitter until the seed is mature
Angiosperms have coevolved with pollinator (symbiotic relationships)

7. Growth
In gymnosperms and certain types of angiosperms, the only type of tissue that divides for growth is called meristem
There are two types of growth
Primary growth – apical meristem divides at branch and root tips (height)
Secondary growth – cork cambium and vascular cambium increase root and branch diameter (width)