alleryStart learning →In gymnosperms, roughly how long does the pollen tube take to grow towards the female gametophyte?
AAbout one day
BAbout one week
CAbout one month
DAbout one year
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. About one year
1. Pollen landing on a female cone forms a pollen tube through which the generative cell migrates towards the micropyle.
2. That growth takes approximately one year in gymnosperms.
3. Seed development then takes another one to two years, so the whole cycle is slow.
4. The scales of the cones stay closed during seed development and open only for dispersal.
5. Timescales of days or weeks would fit a fast angiosperm rather than a conifer.
6. No fruit forms around a gymnosperm seed, because such seeds have no covering.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 32 "Plant Reproduction", section 32.1 Reproductive Development and Structure_
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