Fertilisation 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). Their naked condition stands in contrast to the seeds and ovules of flowering plants (angiosperms), which are enclosed within an ovary. Gymnosperm seeds develop either on the surface of scales or leaves, often modified to form cones, or at the end of short stalks as in Ginkgo. After being fertilised, the ovary starts to swell and develop into the fruit. With multi-seeded fruits, multiple grains of pollen are necessary for syngamy with
Evolutionary history of plants billion years ago, and that communities of complex, multicellular photosynthesizing organisms existed on land in the late Precambrian, around . Evidence of the emergence of embryophyte land plants first occurs in the mid-Ordovician (~), and by the middle of the Devonian (~), many of the features recognised in land plants today were present, including roots and leaves. Late Devonian (~) free-sporing plants such as "Archaeopteris" had secondary vascular tissue that produced wood and had formed forests of tall trees. Also by late Devonian, "Elkinsia", an early seed fern, had evolved seeds. Evolutionary innovation continued into the Carboniferous and still continues