Question

Are cycas bryophytes?

Answer 1

Cycas is a genus of plants belonging to the Cycadophyta, a very ancient plant lineage that is not related to palms, ferns, trees, or any other modern plant species.

Complete answer:
The primary connection between Bryophytes and Cycads (cycas) is that they are both known as plants. Except for their gametes, they all have green chlorophyll to capture sunlight and are ‘rooted' into soil. Both are made up of plant cells.

Cycas is a gymnosperm because it has a naked ovule. Because of the naked ovule, all gymnosperms produce naked seed, distinguishing them from angiosperms. Fruit and motile sperms are characteristics shared by gymnosperms and angiosperms.Seeds and vascular system are absent in bryophyte,whereas they are present in gymnosperms.So cycas being a gymnosperm cannot be grouped under bryophytes because of this reason.

No, Cycas are not bryophytes.They are classified under gymnosperms.

Cycas is a genus of 105 palmlike tropical and subtropical ornamental cycads (family Cycadaceae), with some trees reaching a height of 12 metres (40 feet). Their leaves are dark green and circinate (uncoiling like fern leaves), with a midrib but no lateral veins, unlike those of other members of the family.

Cycads are gymnosperms that have broad pinnately compound leaves on their crowns and cones at the ends of their branches. Some cycads have armour-like tall unbranched trunks, while others have partly buried stems with swollen (tuberous) trunks.

A big pith is surrounded by a small zone of soft woody tissue on the stem. Pollen from male cones is carried by the wind to female cones (borne on different plants), where fertilisation takes place.

Many species of cycads have been overharvested from the wild due to their popularity as specimen and ornamental plants in gardens and greenhouses. As a result, some species are on the verge of extinction, while others are critically endangered. In their native countries, most cycads are protected by conservation rules.

Thus, Cycas are not bryophytes.

Note: Cycads are slow-growing conservatory plants, but some may live outside in temperate climates (see Cycas). After an alkaloid is extracted by thorough cooking, the starch from the stems of some cycads is edible. Other species' young leaves and seeds are also edible.