Because conifers are familiar plants, they will be discussed first. they are diverse and all are trees of moderate to gigantic size.
Conifers are never vines, herbs, or annuals, and they never have bulbs or rhizomes.
Seed cones are more complex than pollen cones: they are compound cones, each consisting of a shoot with axillary buds. The short axis bears leaves called cone bracts.
The axillary bud is microscopic, and its megasporophylls are fused laterally, forming an ovuliferous scale.
A zygote does not immediately form an embryo in conifers; instead some of the first cells elongate as a suspensor. These other cells, called the proembryo, develop into the embryo.
