NEET (UG) · Botany, Class 11
Plant Kingdom: NEET PYQ, 2018–2026
Plant Kingdom (Botany, Class 11) has been asked 22 times in the 7 NEET papers from 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026: about 3.1 questions a paper, 7% of all Botany questions. It is the 7th most-asked of 17 Botany chapters. NEET 2026 had 2 from it. Last checked 28 October 2026.
Questions per paper
Year by year.
| Year | Questions |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 3 |
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2023 | 3 |
| 2024 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 |
| 2026 | 2 |
From 2021 to 2024 each paper had 200 questions (a Section B with a choice); the others had 180.
Inside the chapter
Topics asked most.
- Bryophytes and pteridophytes10
- Algae7
- Gymnosperms5
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10 Plant Kingdom questions to practise.
Our own questions, written in the NEET pattern and checked, each with an explanation. Pick an option to see the answer.
Q1 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
In mosses, the first stage of the gametophyte, which develops directly from a spore, is the:
Answer: (A)
The predominant stage of a moss is the gametophyte, which has two stages. The first, the protonema, develops directly from a spore and is a creeping, green, branched, often filamentous stage. The second, the leafy stage, grows from it as a lateral bud.
Q2 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
Dinoflagellates, a group of biflagellate unicellular algae, are most often associated with red tides in marine waters. Which feature of their flagella is characteristic of this group?
Answer: (A)
Principle: dinoflagellates (Dinophyceae) are mostly marine, have two unequal flagella seated in a transverse and a longitudinal groove, and their rapid blooms cause red tides. Identify the group from the flagellar pattern and the bloom behaviour, not from colour alone.
Q3 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
In the red alga Polysiphonia, which statement correctly describes the ploidy of the phases that follow fertilisation in its triphasic life cycle?
Answer: (B)
Polysiphonia shows a triphasic life cycle: gametophyte, carposporophyte and tetrasporophyte. Fertilisation of the female gamete by the spermatium gives a diploid zygote, which develops on the female gametophyte into the carposporophyte. Its carpospores are diploid and germinate into the free-living tetrasporophyte. Only the tetrasporangia on the tetrasporophyte undergo meiosis, so tetraspores are haploid and grow into the gametophyte. The key principle is that meiosis is delayed until the tetrasporangia, not immediately after the zygote forms.
Q4 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
Alginic acid, used commercially as a thickening and stabilising agent in foods such as ice creams, is obtained from which group of algae?
Answer: (A)
Principle: alginic acid is a hydrocolloid obtained from the cell walls of brown algae. Brown algae are the Phaeophyceae. Red algae give agar and carrageenan, which are a different hydrocolloid source. The correct answer is therefore Phaeophyceae, and the distractors come from confusing this with other commercially used algal groups.
Q5 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
Spirogyra, a filamentous green alga, reproduces sexually by scalariform conjugation. Which statement correctly describes this process?
Answer: (A)
Principle: in Spirogyra the vegetative filaments are haploid, and the only diploid stage is the zygote. Gametes are non-motile and are formed in cells that join by conjugation tubes; in scalariform conjugation the filaments lie side by side and the protoplasm passes across. The zygote forms a thick-walled zygospore, which undergoes meiosis when it germinates, producing haploid filaments again. Option A combines these facts correctly.
Q6 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
In the triphasic life cycle of the red alga Polysiphonia, the carpospores are produced after fertilisation on the female gametophyte. Which statement correctly gives the generation that produces tetraspores and the ploidy of those tetraspores?
Answer: (A)
Principle: in the triphasic life cycle of red algae, fertilisation produces a diploid zygote that develops into a carposporophyte. Carpospores are diploid and germinate into a diploid tetrasporophyte. Meiosis occurs in the tetrasporangia of the tetrasporophyte, producing four haploid tetraspores, each of which grows into a haploid gametophyte. The key steps are to locate the meiotic event and then follow the ploidy forward from the zygote.
Q7 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
Which bryophyte is widely used as a fuel after drying, as a packing material for live plants, and as a water-retaining horticultural medium?
Answer: (A)
Sphagnum grows in cold, wet areas and forms peat deposits. Peat is dried and burnt as fuel. Its large water-holding cells also make it useful for packing live plants during transport and as a horticultural medium. Funaria, Marchantia and Equisetum are not used in these ways, and Equisetum is not a bryophyte.
Q8 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
In Pinus, the endosperm that nourishes the developing embryo is formed:
Answer: (A)
Principle: in gymnosperms the female gametophyte (megagametophyte) develops from the megaspore inside the ovule before fertilisation. It is haploid and stores food, so it functions as the endosperm. Application: the endosperm of Pinus is therefore formed before fertilisation and is haploid. Only angiosperms show double fertilisation producing a triploid endosperm, and the seed coat comes from integuments, not from the food tissue.
Q9 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
In the filamentous green alga Spirogyra, which statement correctly describes the ploidy and the timing of meiosis in its life cycle?
Answer: (B)
Spirogyra is haplontic. The vegetative filament is haploid and produces gametes by mitosis. Scalariform conjugation fuses two gametes into a diploid zygospore with a thick wall. The zygospore is the only diploid stage. It undergoes meiosis when it germinates, and the haploid nuclei form new haploid filaments. Students who assume a diploid vegetative body, or who place meiosis at gamete formation, will reach the wrong answer.
Q10 · Botany · Plant Kingdom
The term 'gymnosperm' is derived from Greek words meaning naked seed. What does this name indicate about the ovules of these plants?
Answer: (A)
Principle: gymnosperms are seed plants whose ovules are not enclosed in an ovary; the seeds are therefore naked. Applying this to the etymology gives 'exposed ovules'. Option B describes an angiosperm feature, option C wrongly removes the seed coat, and option D misreads the name as absence of reproductive organs.
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All 22 real NEET questions from Plant Kingdom.
The questions from the actual papers, with the official answer and an explanation for each — chapter by chapter, or as full timed papers.
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About Plant Kingdom in NEET.
How many questions come from Plant Kingdom in NEET?
Plant Kingdom (Botany, Class 11) has been asked 22 times in the 7 NEET papers from 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026: about 3.1 questions a paper, 7% of all Botany questions. It is the 7th most-asked of 17 Botany chapters. NEET 2026 had 2 from it.
Which topics of Plant Kingdom are asked most in NEET?
Bryophytes and pteridophytes (10), Algae (7), Gymnosperms (5), counted over the papers from 2018–2026.
Is Plant Kingdom important for NEET 2027?
It is in the syllabus in force, so it can be asked. By past papers it ranks 7 of 17 in Botany; use that to decide how much time it gets, not whether to study it.
Where can I solve Plant Kingdom NEET previous year questions?
On Nikaalle, free: sign up and practise every past NEET question from Plant Kingdom with an explanation for each, or sit the full papers timed. The ten questions on this page are our own, written in the same pattern.
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