The pollen grain germinates in the ovule, forming a pollen tube that begins to digest its way through the nucellus. Two or three archegonia, each with an egg, then develop within the multicellular gametophyte.
Fertilization occurs when one of the sperm nuclei unites with the egg nucleus.
All eggs in an ovule may be fertilized, but usually only one zygote develops into an embryo. The pine embryo, or new sporophyte, has a rudimentary root and several embryonic leaves. It is embedded in the female gametophyte, which nourishes the embryo until it is capable of photosynthesis. Scales of the ovulate cone separate, and the winged seeds are carried by the wind to new locations. Note, that with the seed plants, the seed has replaced the spore as the mode of dispersal.