Seeds vs Spores
A seed is an embryo of a plant encased in a protective
covering and surrounded by a food supply.
A spore is a haploid reproductive cell.
Seeds
•Includes flowers
And gymnosperms
•Do not need water
• Can live anywhere
•Protected by a seed coat
• Provides a food source
for the embryo.
• Can disperse in
different ways.
Spores
•Includes mosses and
ferns.
• Need water for
reproduction.
•Must live near water
•No protection from harsh
conditions.
•New plant must make its
own food.
• Must grow where it
lands.
How can seeds be dispersed?
Animals – ingesting
and excreting the
seeds.
Animals carrying the
seeds.
Wind
Water
Seed plants are organized into 2 categories:
•Cone-bearing plants
(Gymnosperms)
•Seeds are found on
the surface of the cones,
not included in a fruit
•Seed bearing structures
are woody cones.
•Flowering plants
(Angiosperms)
•Seeds are enclosed in
some type of a fruit
• Seed bearing structures
are fruit
•Seed plants do not need water to reproduce,
the transfer of sperm is by pollen.
Embryos are protected in the seeds.
Plumule
Embryonic root
Radicle
Embryonic stem
Seed coat or
testa
Micropyle
Hilum
Only in plants
with fruit
Cotelydon
containing
the endosperm