Gnetophyta


The plant division Gnetophyta or gnetophytes comprise three related families of woody plants grouped in the gymnosperms. The gnetophytes differ from other gymnosperms in having vessel elements as in the flowering plants (Angiosperms or Magnoliophytes), and on the basis of morphological data it has been suggested that Gnetophytes may be the group of spermatophytes most closely related to the flowering plants. Molecular data have suggested a closer relationship to other gymnosperms than to angiosperms, and the conflict between morphological and molecular data has not yet been resolved.