Q.The male and female reproductive organs of several pteridophytes and gymnosperms are comparable to floral structures of angiosperms. Make an attempt to compare the various reproductive parts of pteridophytes and gymnosperms with reproductive structures of angiosperms.

Pteridophytes and gymnosperms bear their reproductive structures on sporophylls, which can be compared loosely to the floral parts of angiosperms.

• Sporophylls, the leaf-like structures bearing sporangia, correspond broadly to the floral leaves (stamens and carpels) of a flower.
• In gymnosperms, microsporophylls bear microsporangia that produce pollen grains, comparable to stamens producing pollen in a flower.
• Megasporophylls bear the ovules (megasporangia), comparable to the carpels of a flower that enclose the ovules. …

In pteridophytes, the sporophyte bears sporangia supported on leaf-like appendages called sporophylls; in some genera, such as Selaginella and Equisetum, these sporophylls cluster together into compact cone-like structures called strobili. In gymnosperms this pattern becomes more elaborate and consistently organised: microsporophylls carry microsporangia in which pollen grains (the reduced male gametophyte) develop, while megasporophylls carry the ovules, or megasporangia. Both kinds of sporophylls are arranged spirally along an axis, forming male and female cones. …