From among the sets of terms given below, identify those that are associated with the gynoecium. (a) Stigma, o

NCERT Exemplar · Q7

Q. From among the sets of terms given below, identify those that are associated with the gynoecium.

(a) Stigma, ovule, embryo sac, placenta

(b) Thalamus, pistil, style, ovule

(d) Ovule, stamen, ovary, embryo sac

Mahe DhseMCQ· 1mImportance★★★★★

48% · 43/90 Questions

🔒 Locked · start free trial →

You're viewing a preview — the full solution, concept, methods & PYQ mapping are locked.

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

Concept understanding — Male And Female Gametophyte

Let’s start with something you already know. Think of a plant like a mango tree. It produces flowers, and those flowers eventually turn into mangoes. How does that happen? The flower is the plant’s reproductive organ, and inside it, two tiny but crucial structures are made: the male gametophyte and the female gametophyte. These are not the “male” and “female” parts of the flower themselves (like the stamen and pistil) — they are the microscopic, single-generation cells that actually carry the genetic material to form the next plant.

The everyday intuition

Imagine you are baking a cake. The male gametophyte is like the packet of dry yeast — it’s small, mobile, and needs to be added to the mixture. The female gametophyte is like the bowl of flour, eggs, and sugar — it’s larger, stationary, and provides the environment where the yeast works. Without the yeast reaching the bowl, no cake rises. Without the bowl, the yeast has nothing to act on. In a flower, the male gametophyte (pollen grain) must travel to the female gametophyte (embryo sac) for fertilisation to happen.

The precise meaning

In NCERT biology, the male gametophyte is the pollen grain. It develops inside the anther (the top part of the stamen). A mature pollen grain contains two cells: a tube cell and a generative cell. The tube cell will grow a long tube down the style of the pistil, and the generative cell will divide to form two sperm cells. So the male gametophyte is not the whole stamen — it’s the tiny, single-celled (or two-celled) structure that carries the male genetic material.

The female gametophyte is the embryo sac. It develops inside the ovule, which is located in the ovary of the pistil. The embryo sac is a seven-celled, eight-nucleate structure (though you don’t need to memorise numbers for a prose subject — just know it’s a small, organised sac). It contains the egg cell (the female gamete) and other cells that help in fertilisation and nourishment. The female gametophyte is not the whole pistil — it’s the microscopic sac inside the ovule.

Important

The male gametophyte (pollen grain) is haploid — it has only one set of chromosomes. The female gametophyte (embryo sac) is also haploid. When they fuse during fertilisation, they form a diploid zygote, which grows into the seed. This is why both are called “gametophytes” — they produce gametes (sperm and egg).

Why it matters …

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

The gynoecium is the female reproductive part of a flower, and the terms that belong to it are stigma, ovule, embryo sac, placenta, pistil, style, and ovary — but not tapetum, stamen, or thalamus.

To answer this question, you first need a clear picture of what the gynoecium actually is. In a flower, the gynoecium is the innermost whorl of floral organs — the female reproductive structure. It is made up of one or more carpels, and each carpel typically has three parts: the stigma (which receives pollen), the style (a stalk connecting stigma to ovary), and the ovary (which contains ovules). Inside the ovule, the female gametophyte — called the embryo sac — develops. The ovules are attached to a cushion of tissue inside the ovary called the placenta. So all of these — stigma, style, ovary, ovule, embryo sac, placenta — are directly part of or associated with the gynoecium.

Now look at each option carefully.

Option (A) gives: Stigma, ovule, embryo sac, placenta. Every single one of these belongs to the gynoecium. Stigma is the top part of the carpel. Ovule is inside the ovary. Embryo sac is inside the ovule. Placenta is the tissue that bears the ovules. This set is entirely correct.

Option (B) gives: Thalamus, pistil, style, ovule. Pistil is another name for the gynoecium (especially when it consists of a single carpel or fused carpels), and style is part of the pistil, and ovule is inside the ovary of the pistil. So those three are fine. But thalamus is the receptacle — the thickened part of the flower to which all floral whorls (sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels) are attached. The thalamus is not part of the gynoecium; it is a separate structure that supports the entire flower. So this set is incorrect because it includes a term that does not belong to the gynoecium. …

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

←Previous questionQ6 — During microsporogenesis, meiosis occurs in: (a) Endothecium (b) Micro…→Next questionQ8 — Starting from the innermost part, the correct sequence of parts in an …

Q.From among the sets of terms given below, identify those that are associated with the gynoecium.

🎓Unlock everything free for 14 days

Unlock everything free for 14 days