Plants that produce seeds that are not enclosed in fruits, typically borne on cones or similar structures. This group includes conifers, cycads, and ginkgoes.
From Greek 'gymnos' (naked) and 'sperma' (seed), meaning 'naked seed,' coined in the 1830s to contrast with angiosperms. The term highlights that these seeds develop exposed on cone scales rather than enclosed in protective fruits.
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