Plant Kingdom — NEET UG practice

1. Recall how pteridophytes are classified.

Pteridophytes (vascular, spore-bearing plants) are traditionally divided into four classes based on their structural features: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Sphenopsida, and Pteropsida.

2. Identify what Sphenopsida represents.

Sphenopsida consists of plants with jointed stems and small, scale-like leaves arranged in whorls, e.g., Equisetum.

3. Match this to the plant groups given in the options.

Since Sphenopsida is one of the four classes under Pteridophyta, it cannot belong to bryophytes, angiosperms, or gymnosperms.

Hence, the answer is Option A, pteridophytes.

1. Identify the plant group being described.

A plant whose ovules are not enclosed by an ovary wall and remain exposed before and after fertilisation belongs to the gymnosperms.

2. Classify each option based on the plant group it belongs to.

Funaria is a moss, which is a bryophyte.

Selaginella is a spore-bearing vascular plant, a pteridophyte.

Wolffia is a flowering plant, an angiosperm, where the ovule is enclosed inside an ovary.

Pinus is a well-known conifer and belongs to the gymnosperms, so its ovules stay exposed.

3. Match with the required feature.

Only Pinus fits the description of having naked, exposed ovules.

Hence, the answer is Option B, Pinus.

1. Check whether Statement I is true by recalling how gymnosperm gametophytes behave.

In gymnosperms, the male and female gametophytes are highly reduced and cannot survive independently — they remain enclosed within the sporangium, which itself stays attached to the parent sporophyte.

So, Statement I is correct.

2. Check whether Statement II is true by recalling the meaning of the term "gymnosperm".

The word gymnosperm literally means "naked seed" (gymnos = naked, sperma = seed), because the ovules in these plants are not enclosed by any ovary wall and stay exposed both before and after fertilisation.

Since the ovule is never covered, the seed that forms after fertilisation is also naked/uncovered.

So, Statement II is correct.

3. Combine both conclusions.

Since both Statement I and Statement II are true, the option that says both statements are correct is the right choice.

Hence, the answer is Option B.