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In most gymnosperms the male pollen cones, called microstrobili, contain reduced leaves called microsporophylls. Microsporangia, or pollen sacs, are borne on the lower surfaces of the microsporophylls. The number of microsporangia may vary from two in many conifers to hundreds in some cycads. Within the microsporangia are cells which undergo meiotic division to produce haploid microspores.
In most conifers the pollen-bearing and ovule-bearing components (the microsporangia and megasporangia, respectively) are borne on the same plant. A pollen-bearing cone, the microstrobilus, consists of a central axis on which are borne, in a close helical arrangement, reduced fertile leaves (the microsporophylls). On the lower surfaces of the microsporophylls are borne elongated microsporangia;...
...female cones are borne on the same tree). A cone is a modified shoot with a single axis, on which is borne a spirally arranged series of pollen- or ovule-bearing scales or bracts. The male cone, or microstrobilus, is usually smaller than the female cone (megastrobilus) and is essentially an aggregation of many small structures (microsporophylls) that encase the pollen in microsporangia.