Gymnosperms are a group of vascular plants whose seeds are not enclosed by a ripened ovary ( fruit). Gymnosperms are distinguished from the other major group of seed plants, the angiosperms, whose seeds are surrounded by an ovary wall. The seeds of many gymnosperms ( literally, " naked seed") are borne in cones and are not visible. Taxonomists now recognize four distinct divisions of extant gymnospermous plants ( Coniferophyta, Cycadophyta, Ginkgophyta, and Gnetophyta).

In bot., plants having naked seeds- that is, whose seeds are not enclosed in a pericarp.

On account of their higher organization, they are easily distinguished from both Monocotyledons and Gymnosperms; and they present features which clearly differentiate them amongst themselves. – The Old Riddle and the Newest Answer by John Gerard

Gymnosperms, akin to the cycads, were also present in the Carboniferous forests. – The Elements of Geology by William Harmon Norton

The discoveries of the last few years throw light especially on the relation of the Angiosperms to the Gymnosperms, on that of the Seed- plants generally to the Ferns, and on the interrelations between the various classes of the higher Cryptogams. – Darwin and Modern Science by A.C. Seward and Others

But we now learn that there is no incompatibility in the co- existence of a vegetation like that of the present globe, and some of the most remarkable forms of the extinct reptiles of the age of gymnosperms. – The Student's Elements of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell

The family Bennettiteae thus presents an extraordinary association of characters, exhibiting, side by side, features which belong to the Angiosperms, the Gymnosperms and the Ferns. – Darwin and Modern Science by A.C. Seward and Others

Unless the latter are an artificial group, a view which does not commend itself to the writer, it would appear probable that the Gymnosperms generally, as well as the Angiosperms, were derived from an ancient race of Cryptogams, most nearly related to the Ferns. – Darwin and Modern Science by A.C. Seward and Others

It is thought by some that the gymnosperms had their station on the drier plains and higher lands. – The Elements of Geology by William Harmon Norton

As it is now known that many of the cycad- like Mesozoic plants bore flowers- as the modern botanist scarcely hesitates to call them- the gap between the Gymnosperms and Angiosperms is very much lessened. – The Story of Evolution by Joseph McCabe

The conifer or cone- bearing tree, to which belong the pines, larches, and firs, is one of the three natural orders of Gymnosperms. – Seasoning of Wood by Joseph B. Wagner

Some of the Palaeozoic Lycopods, in fact, went further, and produced bodies of the nature of seeds, some of which were actually regarded, for many years, as the seeds of Gymnosperms. – Darwin and Modern Science by A.C. Seward and Others

A new link was thus established between the Gymnosperms and the Cryptogams. – Darwin and Modern Science by A.C. Seward and Others

All recent work has tended to separate the Angiosperms more widely from the other seed- plants now living, the Gymnosperms. – Darwin and Modern Science by A.C. Seward and Others

But these in turn are broadly divided into a less advanced group, the Gymnosperms, and a more advanced group, the Angiosperms or flowering plants. – The Story of Evolution by Joseph McCabe

We next find that the Mesozoic is by no means purely an age of Gymnosperms. – The Story of Evolution by Joseph McCabe