Ovules

Ovule main Plant ovules: Gymnosperm ovule on left, angiosperm ovule (inside ovary) on right After fertilization the ovules develop into the seeds.

The team used different wild varieties of thale cress to examine the genetic processes taking place behind the initiation of ovules—the primordia from which seeds emerge after fertilization—and the growth of the pod.

In bitegmic ovules (e.g. Gossypium described here) both inner and outer integuments contribute to the seed coat formation.

Plants generally produce ovules of four shapes: the most common shape is called anatropous, with a curved shape.

Some flowers are functionally staminate (where a pistil may be present but has no ovules capable of being fertilized) while others are functionally pistillate (where stamens are present but their anthers do not produce viable pollen).

The female gametes of plants are contained within ovules ; once fertilized by pollen these form seeds which, like eggs, contain the nutrients necessary for the development of the embryonic plant.

Their naked condition stands in contrast to the seeds and ovules of flowering plants (angiosperms), which are enclosed within an ovary.

The more familiar female cones are typically more durable, containing ovules within them.

The term "gymnosperm" comes from the Greek composite word γυμνόσπερμος (γυμνός gymnos, "naked" and σπέρμα sperma, "seed"), meaning "naked seeds", after the unenclosed condition of their seeds (called ovules in their unfertilised state).