Types of Gymnosperms Cycads have leaves that look somewhat like palms, but eventually the plant gets a big cone in the center for reproduction. Ginkgo trees are a very primitive type of tree that were first found high in the mountains of China, all but extinct. Now, thanks to horticultural intervention, they can be found in cultivation world-wide in temperate zone climates. Ginkgo leaves are fan-shaped, thick and leathery with parallel veins, and turn bright yellow in autumn. These include things like pines, firs, spruces, yews, junipers, cedars, cypress, and redwoods.
Many conifers are evergreen , that is they retain their leaves in winter.
The leaves are needle-shaped to conserve moisture, an adaptation for life in drier, more windy areas than ferns can tolerate. Pine is the most commonly-studied example of a gymnosperm. In pine as in other vascular plants, the sporophyte is the dominant generation. It consists of an underground network of roots supporting an upright stem, the trunk, which bears whorls of branches. The sporophyte bears two types of reproductive structures referred to as male and female cones.