Life Cycle in Angiosperms

  INTRODUCTION Angiosperm also called flowering plants and are vascular seed plants in which the ovule (egg) is fertilized and develops into a seed in an enclosed hollow ovary. The ovary itself is usually enclosed in a flower. Angiosperm contains male or female reproductive organs or both. Fruits are derived from the maturing floral organs of the angiospermous plant.  LIFE CYCLE IN ANGIOSPERMS The angiosperm life cycle consists of a sporophyte phase and a gametophyte phase. The gametophyte arises when cells of the sporophyte in preparation for reproduction, undergo meiotic division and produce reproductive cells that have only half the number of chromosomes. A two-celled called a pollen grain germinates into a pollen tube and through division produces the haploid sperm. An eight-celled megagametophyte (called the embryo sac) produces the egg. Fertilization occurs with the fusion of a sperm with an egg to produce a zygote, which eventually develops into an embryo. After fertili...