gymnosperm

/ˌdʒɪmnəˈspʌrm/

Other forms: gymnosperms

Definitions of gymnosperm

1. noun

   plants of the class Gymnospermae having seeds not enclosed in an ovary
   types:

   progymnosperm

   an ancestral fossil type from which modern gymnosperms are thought to have derived

   Welwitschia mirabilis, welwitschia

   curious plant of arid regions of southwestern Africa having a yard-high and yard-wide trunk like a turnip with a deep taproot and two large persistent woody straplike leaves growing from the base; living relic of a flora long disappeared; some may be 700-5000 years old

   cycad

   any tropical gymnosperm of the order Cycadales; having unbranched stems with a crown of fernlike leaves

   pteridosperm, seed fern

   an extinct seed-producing fernlike plant of the order Cycadofilicales (or group Pteridospermae)

   Cycas revoluta, sago palm

   dwarf palmlike cycad of Japan that yields sago

   zamia

   any of various cycads of the genus Zamia; among the smallest and most verdant cycads

   ceratozamia

   a small cycad of the genus Ceratozamia having a short scaly woody trunk and fernlike foliage and woody cones; Mexico

   dioon

   any cycad of the genus Dioon; handsome palmlike cycads with robust crowns of leaves and rugged trunks

   encephalartos

   any of numerous cycads of the genus Encephalartos having stout cylindrical trunks and a terminal crown of long often spiny pinnate leaves

   Encephalartos caffer, kaffir bread

   South African cycad; the farinaceous pith of the fruit used as food

   macrozamia

   any treelike cycad of the genus Macrozamia having erect trunks and pinnate leaves and large cones with sometimes edible nuts; Australia

   Macrozamia communis, Macrozamia spiralis, burrawong

   large attractive palmlike evergreen cycad of New South Wales

   type of:

   phanerogam, seed plant, spermatophyte

   plant that reproduces by means of seeds not spores