Gymnosperms — NEET Biology MCQs with Solutions
Free NEET Biology Gymnosperms MCQs with step-by-step solutions (42 questions). Part of Plant Kingdom. Practise online on Prepizo — no login needed.
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Questions with solutions
Q1 — Gymnosperms · easy · theory
Gymnosperms are plants in which the ovules/seeds are:
A. Enclosed in a fruit
B. Enclosed in a carpel
C. Naked (not enclosed in an ovary) ✓ Correct
D. Absent
Solution: In gymnosperms the ovules are not enclosed by an ovary wall and remain exposed (naked) before and after fertilisation.
Q2 — Gymnosperms · easy · theory
Which of the following is a gymnosperm?
A. Marchantia
B. Dryopteris
C. Cycas / Pinus ✓ Correct
D. Funaria
Solution: Cycas, Pinus, Cedrus, Ginkgo are gymnosperms; the others are pteridophytes/bryophytes.
Q3 — Gymnosperms · medium · theory
Gymnosperms lack ______, which distinguishes their wood/vascular tissue arrangement from angiosperms:
A. Tracheids
B. Vessels in the xylem (and companion cells/sieve tubes in phloem) ✓ Correct
C. Cambium
D. Cell walls
Solution: Gymnosperm xylem generally lacks vessels (has tracheids) and phloem lacks companion cells and sieve tubes.
Q4 — Gymnosperms · medium · theory
The specialised coralloid roots of Cycas harbour ______ for nitrogen fixation:
A. Frankia only
B. Rhizobium
C. Mycorrhizal fungi only
D. Cyanobacteria (e.g. Nostoc/Anabaena) ✓ Correct
Solution: Coralloid roots of Cycas contain N-fixing cyanobacteria; Pinus roots often have mycorrhizae.
Q5 — Gymnosperms · hard · theory
Gymnosperms are heterosporous, producing haploid microspores and megaspores. The male and female cones bear, respectively:
A. Fruits; seeds
B. Prothalli; spores
C. Microsporophylls with microsporangia; megasporophylls with ovules ✓ Correct
D. Ovules; pollen
Solution: Microsporophylls bear microsporangia (pollen); megasporophylls bear ovules containing the megaspore/female gametophyte.
Q6 — Gymnosperms · hard · theory
In gymnosperms, the female gametophyte is retained on the sporophyte and pollination occurs directly by:
A. Self-motile sperm swimming to a separate plant
B. Insects to a stigma
C. Wind carrying pollen to the exposed ovule (no stigma) ✓ Correct
D. Water to an archegonium on the ground
Solution: Being naked-seeded, gymnosperm pollen is carried by wind directly to the ovule; there is no ovary/stigma.
Q7 — Gymnosperms · easy · numerical
The giant redwood Sequoia, among the tallest of all trees, is a member of the:
A. Gymnosperms ✓ Correct
B. Pteridophytes
C. Bryophytes
D. Angiosperms
Solution: Sequoia is a coniferous gymnosperm and one of the tallest living tree species.
Q8 — Gymnosperms · easy · numerical
Young leaves showing circinate vernation (coiled like a fern crozier) are characteristic of:
A. Ginkgo
B. Cycas ✓ Correct
C. Pinus
D. Mango
Solution: Among gymnosperms, the young pinnate leaves of Cycas unroll from a coiled (circinate) condition, a feature it shares with ferns.
Q9 — Gymnosperms · easy · numerical
Among the following, motile (flagellated) male gametes are found in:
A. Cycas ✓ Correct
B. Wheat
C. Apple
D. Pinus
Solution: Cycas, like Ginkgo, retains large motile (multiciliate) sperms; Pinus lacks motile sperm and the angiosperms wheat and apple have non-motile male gametes.
Q10 — Gymnosperms · medium · numerical
Assertion (A): Double fertilisation does not occur in gymnosperms. Reason (R): Gymnosperms lack an ovary and an organised embryo sac.
A. A is false but R is true
B. Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
C. A is true but R is false
D. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A ✓ Correct
Solution: Gymnosperms have no ovary and no embryo sac with polar nuclei, so the triple fusion needed for double fertilisation cannot occur; R correctly explains A.
Q11 — Gymnosperms · medium · numerical
Which statement about the vascular tissue of gymnosperms is correct?
A. The xylem is composed only of vessels
B. The xylem lacks vessels and the phloem lacks companion cells ✓ Correct
C. The xylem has vessels and the phloem has companion cells
D. The phloem contains sieve tubes with companion cells
Solution: Gymnosperm xylem has tracheids but no vessels, and their phloem has sieve cells but lacks companion cells and sieve tubes.
Q12 — Gymnosperms · medium · numerical
Which statement about Cycas is correct?
A. It bears true flowers and fleshy fruits
B. It is dioecious, has an unbranched stem and pinnately compound leaves ✓ Correct
C. It is monoecious with much-branched stems
D. It has broad simple leaves with reticulate venation
Solution: Cycas is dioecious with an unbranched columnar stem crowned by large pinnately compound leaves; it bears cones, not flowers or fruits.
Q13 — Gymnosperms · medium · numerical
The gymnosperm regarded as a living fossil, with fan-shaped leaves and only one surviving species, is:
A. Ephedra
B. Ginkgo ✓ Correct
C. Pinus
D. Cycas
Solution: Ginkgo biloba, the only surviving species of its group, has distinctive fan-shaped leaves and is famous as a living fossil.
Q14 — Gymnosperms · medium · numerical
Assertion (A): In gymnosperms the male and female gametophytes are not free-living. Reason (R): They remain dependent on and retained within the sporophyte.
A. Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A ✓ Correct
B. A is false but R is true
C. A is true but R is false
D. Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
Solution: The reduced gametophytes of gymnosperms are never independent; they develop within and are nourished by the sporophyte, so R correctly explains A.
Q15 — Gymnosperms · easy
The endosperm of gymnosperm represents-
A. Triploid structure
B. (1) and (3)
C. Female gametophyte ✓ Correct
D. Diploid structure
Solution: In gymnosperms the endosperm is the haploid female gametophyte tissue formed before fertilization, unlike the triploid endosperm of angiosperms.
Q16 — Gymnosperms · medium
Read the following statements and choose the incorrect response with respect to reproduction in Gymnosperm.
A. Pollen grains are carried by air currents
B. Ovule develops into seed
C. Pollen tube carries the male gametes to archegonia
D. Following fertilization, zygote develops but embryo stage is lacking ✓ Correct
Solution: After fertilization the zygote develops into an embryo; an embryo stage is not lacking, so this statement is incorrect.
Q17 — Gymnosperms · medium
All the given structures of Pinus and Cycas are haploid, except-
A. Endosperm
B. Pollen grain
C. Nucellus ✓ Correct
D. Egg
Solution: Nucellus is the diploid megasporangium (sporophytic tissue), whereas pollen grain, egg and endosperm (female gametophyte) are haploid.
Q18 — Gymnosperms · easy
Gymnosperm is an example of-
A. Non-vascular, non-embryophyte
B. Vascular, embryophyte ✓ Correct
C. Vascular, embryophyte with ovule enclosed in ovary
D. Vascular, non-embryophyte
Solution: Gymnosperms are vascular embryophytes with naked ovules that are not enclosed in an ovary.
Q19 — Gymnosperms · hard
Vascular archegoniates with diplontic life-cycle are-
A. Bryophytes
B. Gymnosperms ✓ Correct
C. (2) & (3)
D. Pteridophytes
Solution: Gymnosperms are vascular archegoniates with a diplontic life cycle; pteridophytes are haplo-diplontic and bryophytes are haplontic.
Q20 — Gymnosperms · easy
Gymnosperms are plants in which-
A. Ovules are enclosed by an ovary wall before fertilization but not after fertilization
B. Ovules are not enclosed by any ovary wall before fertilization but after fertilization
C. Ovules are not enclosed by any ovary wall both before and after fertilization ✓ Correct
D. Ovules are enclosed by an ovary wall both before and after fertilization
Solution: In gymnosperms the ovules are naked, not enclosed by any ovary wall either before or after fertilization.
Q21 — Gymnosperms · easy
Tallest tree species belongs to-
A. Gymnosperms ✓ Correct
B. Angiosperms
C. Algae
D. Pteridophytes
Solution: The tallest tree, the giant redwood Sequoia, is a gymnosperm.
Q22 — Gymnosperms · medium
Fungi show symbiotic association with gymnosperm in the form of-
A. Mycorrhiza in Pinus ✓ Correct
B. Coralloid roots in Pinus
C. Mycorrhiza in Cycas
D. Coralloid roots in Cycas
Solution: Fungi form mycorrhiza in the roots of Pinus; coralloid roots of Cycas are associated with N2-fixing cyanobacteria, not fungi.
Q23 — Gymnosperms · medium
The stem of-
A. Pinus is branched
B. All of these ✓ Correct
C. Cycas is unbranched
D. Cedrus is branched
Solution: Cycas has an unbranched stem while Pinus and Cedrus have branched stems, so all statements are correct.
Q24 — Gymnosperms · easy
Needle-like leaves, thick cuticle and sunken stomata are characters of-
A. Gnetum
B. Ginkgo
C. Cycas
D. Pinus ✓ Correct
Solution: Pinus shows xerophytic adaptations: needle-like leaves, thick cuticle and sunken stomata.
Q25 — Gymnosperms · medium
Gymnosperms are-
A. Homosporous, both spores are haploid
B. None of these
C. Heterosporous, haploid microspores and haploid megaspore ✓ Correct
D. Heterosporous, both spores (microspores & megaspores) are diploid
Solution: Gymnosperms are heterosporous, producing haploid microspores and haploid megaspores.
Q26 — Gymnosperms · medium
Choose the correct statement-
A. The male and female cones are borne on the same plant as in Cycas
B. The male and female cones are borne on the same plant as in Pinus ✓ Correct
C. Both (1) and (3)
D. The male and female cones are borne on different plants as in Cycas
Solution: Cycas is dioecious (cones on different plants) while Pinus is monoecious (male and female cones on the same plant).
Q27 — Gymnosperms · hard
Choose the correct statement about the female cone of gymnosperm:
A. The nucellus is protected by a bitegmic structure
B. The megaspore mother cell divides mitotically to form four megaspores
C. One of the four megaspores, enclosed within the megasporangium, develops into a multicellular female gametophyte that bears one archegonium
D. Ovule is unitegmic ✓ Correct
Solution: Gymnosperm ovules are unitegmic; the megaspore mother cell divides meiotically and the female gametophyte bears two or more archegonia.
Q28 — Gymnosperms · medium
Statement-I: The cones bearing megasporophylls with ovules are female cones. Statement-II: The strobili bearing microsporangia are called male cones.
A. Both stated statements are incorrect
B. Both stated statements are correct ✓ Correct
C. Statement-I is incorrect while Statement-II is correct
D. Statement-I is correct while Statement-II is incorrect
Solution: Megasporophyll-bearing cones with ovules are female cones and microsporangia-bearing strobili are male cones; both statements are correct.
Q29 — Gymnosperms · medium
How do the gametophytes of bryophytes and gymnosperms differ?
A. None of these
B. Gametophyte of gymnosperm remains within the sporangia retained on the sporophyte
C. Bryophytic gametophytes are independent free-living structures while gametophytes of gymnosperm are dependent
D. Both (1) & (2) ✓ Correct
Solution: Bryophyte gametophytes are free-living and independent, whereas the gymnosperm gametophyte is dependent and retained within the sporangium on the sporophyte, so both statements are correct.
Q30 — Gymnosperms · medium
Anthoceros thallus and coralloid root of Cycas:
A. Perform N2-fixing ✓ Correct
B. Presence of vascular bundle
C. (2) and (3)
D. Similar in morphological structure
Solution: Both harbour N2-fixing cyanobacteria (Nostoc/Anabaena) and hence perform nitrogen fixation; they are not morphologically similar nor is a vascular bundle common to both.