A seed plant or spermatophyte (lit. 'seed plant'; from Ancient Greek σπέρματος (spérmatos) 'seed', and φυτόν (phytón) 'plant'), also known as a phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or a phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds. It is a category of embryophyte (i.e. land plant) that includes most of the familiar land plants, including the flowering plants and the gymnosperms, but not ferns, mosses, or algae.
The term phanerogam or phanerogamae is derived from the Greek φανερός (phanerós), meaning "visible", in contrast to the term "cryptogam" or "cryptogamae" (from Ancient Greek κρυπτός (kruptós) 'hidden'), together with the suffix γαμέω (gaméō), meaning "to marry". These terms distinguish those plants with hidden sexual organs (cryptogamae) from those with visible ones (phanerogamae).
