Read the following statements:

a. The male or female cones or strobili may be borne on same tree in Pinus.

b. In Cycas, male cones and megasporophylls are borne on different trees.

c. Stem of Cycas is branched and of Pinus and Cedrus is unbranched.

d. In gymnosperms, generally tap roots are found.

Select the correct statements:

a, b, d

The correct answer is Option (3) – a, b, d

The gymnosperms (gymnos : naked, sperma : seeds) are plants in which the ovules are not enclosed by any ovary wall and remain exposed, both before and after fertilisation. The seeds that develop post-fertilisation, are not covered, i.e., are naked. Gymnosperms include medium-sized trees or tall trees and shrubs . One of the gymnosperms, the giant redwood tree Sequoia is one of the tallest tree species.

The roots are generally tap roots. Roots in some genera have fungal association in the form of mycorrhiza (Pinus), while in some others (Cycas) small specialised roots called coralloid roots are associated with N₂ - fixing cyanobacteria

The gymnosperms are heterosporous; they produce haploid microspores and megaspores.

The two kinds of spores are produced within sporangia that are borne on sporophylls which are arranged spirally along an axis to form lax or compact strobili or cones. The strobili bearing microsporophylls and microsporangia are called microsporangiate or male strobili. The microspores develop into a male gametophytic generation which is highly reduced and is confined to only a limited number of cells. This reduced gametophyte is called a pollen grain.

The development of pollen grains take place within the microsporangia. The cones bearing megasporophylls with ovules or megasporangia are called macrosporangiate or female strobili.

The male or female cones or strobili may be borne on the same tree (Pinus). However, in cycas male cones and megasporophylls are borne on different trees.

The stem in Cycas is unbranched while it is branched in Pinus .