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Extant Gymnosperm Phylogeny

Gymnosperms are plants with seeds ( Spermaphytes) but with a naked ovule: the ovule is not included in a carpel that is an apomorphic feature of Angiosperms. A leaf-life structure (homologous to a leaf), a scale or megasporophyll bears the ovule. Gymnosperms are probably monophyletic and include: – Cycadales (Cycas, Zamia) that are the more primitive Gymnosperms (Basal Gymnosperms), – Ginkgoales, a sister-clade of the clade including Conifers and Gnetales, – Gnetales (Ephedra, Gnetum, Welwitschia) are monophyletic and nested within Conifers, – Gnetales are the sister-clade of Pinaceae. Clad_Gymnosperms_engl.jpg