Megasporophyll (Noun)
Meaning
In non-flowering plants, a sporophyll that bears only megasporangia.
Classification
Nouns denoting plants.
Examples
- The megasporophyll of the fern is modified to produce a single large megasporangium that contains many megaspores.
- In the life cycle of a fern, the megasporophyll is a critical structure that allows for the production of female gametes.
- The megasporophyll of the cycad is a large and showy structure that bears many megasporangia.
- The anatomical structure of a plant's megasporophyll can provide clues to its evolutionary history and relationships to other species.
- Megasporophylls are typically found on the female plants of coniferous species, where they produce the megasporangia that contain the female gametes.