Why are gymnosperm seeds called naked seeds?

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Cluster of bright red seeds emerging from the cone-shaped fruit of a magnolia grandiflora, surrounded by large, glossy green leaves. — Seed Fruit and seeds of the southern magnolia (*Magnolia grandiflora*). The fruit is an aggregate of follicles, and each follicle bears a single red seed.

Gymnosperm seeds are referred to as "naked seeds" because they are not enclosed within an ovary or protected by a fruit, which is the standard reproductive structure found in angiosperms (flowering plants).123

Instead of developing inside a fruit, the ovules of gymnosperms lie exposed on specialized, leaflike structures known as megasporophylls. In many gymnosperm species, such as conifers, these seeds are borne in cones, where they remain exposed rather than being encased in the protective tissue that characterizes the seeds of flowering plants.123