gymnosperms importance

Gymnosperms Importance:

Here is the impotance of  Gymnosperms
Gymnosperm consists of about 700 species of woody plants with seeds which are not enclosed by fruits. It is a group of seed-producing plants that includes Ginkgo, conifers, and cycads, which is an opposed to an angiosperm whose seeds are enclosed fruits or by mature ovaries.

Generations in Gymnospermic plants.

Gymnosperms, like all vascular plants have a sporophyte-dominant life-cycle like the Conifers which are far the most abundant extant group of gymnosperms with six to eight families. It’s a woody plant and most are evergreen, there leaves are long, thin and needle-like not like an ordinary plant leaves. Seeds which are not borne inside a fruit are said to be “naked”. The name of the class comes from the Greek words gymnos which means naked and sperma which means seed. Gymnosperm includes two phyla plants which are the Phylum Cycadophyta and Phylum Coniferophyta   

 Gymnosperms As Ornamentals.

Gymnosperms plants are widely used as ornamentals. Conifers are often featured in formal gardens and are used for bonsai. Yews and junipers are often low-growing shrubs cultivated for ground cover and hedges. Conifers are effective windbreaks, especially those that are evergreen. Cycads are used as garden plants in warmer latitudes, and some may even thrive indoors. Their leathery green foliage and sometimes colourful cones are striking. Ginkgo is a hardy tree, and although it once approached extinction, it is now cultivated extensively and survives such challenging habitats as the streets of New York City. 
Some gymnosperms are weedy in that they invade disturbed areas or abandoned agricultural land. Pines and junipers are notorious invaders, making the land unusable for growing crops    source of Lumber
Most of the commercial lumber in the Northern Hemisphere is derived from the trunks of conifers such as pine, Douglas fir, spruce, fir, and hemlock. Araucaria, kauri, and Podocarpus are important conifers of the Southern Hemisphere used for lumber. The wood is straight-grained, light for its strength, and easily worked. Wood of gymnosperms is often called softwood to differentiate it from the hardwood angiosperms. Wood of angiosperms typically has more kinds of elements than does softwood of gymnosperms. In addition to its use in building construction, gymnosperms wood is used for utility poles and railroad ties. Aromatic wood of cedar is frequently used in the construction of closets or clothes chests and apparently repels cloth-eating moths. Most plywood is gymnosperms. Fibres of conifers make up paper pulp and may occasionally be used for creating artificial silk or other textiles. Conifers are frequently planted in reforestation projects. Conifer bark is often the source of compounds involved in the leather tanning industry. Bark is also used extensively as garden mulch.

Manufacture of paints and varnish.

From conifer resins are derived turpentine, rosin, and wood alcohol (methanol). A hardened form of resin from a kauri (Agathis australis), called copal, is used in the manufacture of paints and varnishes. Some resins, such as balsam (from hemlock) and dammar (from Agathis) are used in the preparation of mounting media for microscope slides. Many types of amber are derived from fossilized resin of conifers.

Source of Oil use in Scents.

 Commercially useful oils are derived from such conifers as junipers, pines, hemlock, fir, spruces, and arborvitae. These oils serve as air fresheners, disinfectants, and scents in soaps and cosmetics.
•    Source of Food
Seeds are often food sources. Roasted pine seeds are a delicacy eaten plain or used as a garnish on bakery products. Seeds of Ginkgo and cycads may be poisonous unless detoxified. “Berries” (in reality the fleshy cones) of juniper are used to flavour gin.
Although gymnosperm consist of about 500 species only, the rank among most economically important plant; many species of the group are significant as timber trees, food and medicinal plants. In forest, gymnosperms are important in erosion control, protection of water sheds and enhancement of aesthetic value of natural communities.

Biological Importance.

Gymnosperms are of great biological importance because of their diversity of form and structure, and of their well documented fossil record. Of interest, too, to naturalist is the tallest tree representative of the gymnosperm, the Giant redwood ( Sequoia-dendron giganteum )which rise to more than 100 meters above the ground. Gymnosperms have major economic uses like the fir; spruce, Pine, and cedar which are all examples of conifers that are used for lumber. Some other common uses for gymnosperms are soap, varnish, nail polish, food, gum, and perfumes.

The tallest flora in the world

The giant redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) a coniferous plant is the reigning tallest living organism in the world. The tallest redwood tree is more than 112 meters in height. It can be found in the Redwood National park in California. Coast redwood is one of the most valuable timber species in the lumbering industry which is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Which is the tallest tree living now on Earth.
Gymnosperms account for approximately 75 percent of the world's timber and a large amount of the wood pulp used to make paper. In North America the white spruce, Picea glauca, is the main source of pulpwood used for newsprint and other paper. Other spruce wood is used by to manufacture violins and similar string instruments because the wood produces a desired resonance. The Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, provides more timber than any other North American tree species and produces some of the most-desirable lumber in the world. The wood is strong and relatively free of knots. Uses for the wood include house framing, plywood production, structural beams, pulpwood, railroad ties, boxes, and crates. Since most naturally occurring areas of growth have been harvested, the Douglas fir is being grown in managed forests. The wood from the redwood Sequoia sempiternal is used for furniture, fences, posts, some construction, and has various garden uses.

Importance in paper industry.

In addition to the wood and paper industry, gymnosperms are important in making resin and turpentine. Resin, the sticky substance in the resin canals of conifers, is a combination of turpentine, a solvent, and a waxy substance called rosin. Turpentine is an excellent paint and varnish solvent but is also used to make deodorants, shaving lotions, medications, and limonene-a lemon flavoring used in the food industry. Resin has many uses; it is used by baseball pitchers to improve their grip on the ball and by batters to improve their grip on the bat; violinists apply resin to their bows to increase friction with the strings; dancers apply resin to their shoes to improve their grip on the stage.