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Vascular plant
Vascular plants (from Latin vasculum: duct), also known as
tracheophytes (from the equivalent Greek term trachea), form a large Vascular plants
group of plants (c. 308,312 accepted known species[5]) that are defined as
land plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and
minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified
tissue (the phloem) to conduct products of photosynthesis. Vascular plants
include the clubmosses, horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms (including conifers)
and angiosperms (flowering plants). Scientific names for the group include
Tracheophyta,[6][2]:251 Tracheobionta[7] and Equisetopsida sensu lato. Some
early land plants (the rhyniophytes) had less developed vascular tissue; the
term eutracheophyte has been used for all other vascular plants. Silurian–Holocene,[3] 425–0 Ma[4]
PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K PgN
Scientific classification
Contents
Kingdom: Plantae
Characteristics
Clade: Embryophytes
Phylogeny
Clade: Polysporangiophytes
Nutrient distribution
Transpiration Clade: Tracheophytes
Absorption Sinnott, 1935[1] ex
Conduction Cavalier-Smith, 1998[2]
See also Divisions
References † Extinct
Bibliography
Non-seed-bearing plants

Characteristics †Cooksonia
†Rhyniophyta
Botanists define vascular plants by three primary characteristics:
†Zosterophyllophyta
1. Vascular plants have vascular tissues which distribute resources through Lycopodiophyta
the plant. Two kinds of vascular tissue occur in plants: xylem and phloem.
Phloem and xylem are closely associated with one another and are †Trimerophytophyta
typically located immediately adjacent to each other in the plant. The Polypodiophyta
combination of one xylem and one phloem strand adjacent to each other
is known as a vascular bundle.[8] The evolution of vascular tissue in †Progymnospermophyta
plants allowed them to evolve to larger sizes than non-vascular plants, Superdivision Spermatophyta
which lack these specialized conducting tissues and are thereby
restricted to relatively small sizes. †Pteridospermatophyta
2. In vascular plants, the principal generation phase is the sporophyte,
which produces spores and is diploid (having two sets of chromosomes Pinophyta
per cell). (By contrast, the principal generation phase in non-vascular Cycadophyta
plants is the gametophyte, which produces gametes and is haploid - with
one set of chromosomes per cell.) Ginkgophyta
3. Vascular plants have true roots, leaves, and stems, even if some groups Gnetophyta
have secondarily lost one or more of these traits.
Magnoliophyta
Cavalier-Smith (1998) treated the Tracheophyta as a phylum or botanical (angiosperms)
division encompassing two of these characteristics defined by the Latin
phrase "facies diploida xylem et phloem instructa" (diploid phase with xylem and phloem).[2]:251

One possible mechanism for the presumed evolution from emphasis on haploid generation to emphasis on diploid
generation is the greater efficiency in spore dispersal with more complex diploid structures. Elaboration of the
spore stalk enabled the production of more spores and the development of the ability to release them higher and to
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broadcast them farther. Such developments may include more photosynthetic area for the spore-bearing structure,
the ability to grow independent roots, woody structure for support, and more branching.

Phylogeny
A proposed phylogeny of the vascular plants after Kenrick and Crane 1997[9] is as follows, with modification to the
gymnosperms from Christenhusz et al. (2011a),[10] Pteridophyta from Smith et al.[11] and lycophytes and ferns by
Christenhusz et al. (2011b) [12] The cladogram distinguishes the rhyniophytes from the "true" tracheophytes, the
eutracheophytes.[9]

  Pteridospermatophyta † (seed
  ferns)

 
  Cycadophyta (cycads)

 
  Pinophyta (conifers)
Spermatophytes
 
Lignophytes  
    Ginkgophyta (ginkgo)

 
  Gnetophyta

 
  Magnoliophyta (flowering plants)
Euphyllophytina
  G
 
  Progymnospermophyta †
Eutracheophytes
 
  Tracheophytes  
  Pteridopsida (true ferns)
   

 
Polysporangiates
  Marattiopsida
 

Pteridophyta     Equisetopsida (horsetails)

     

 
  Psilotopsida (whisk ferns & adders'-tongues)

 
  Cladoxylopsida †

 
  Lycopodiophyta
Lycophytina
 
 
  Zosterophyllophyta †

 
  Rhyniophyta †

 
  Aglaophyton †

 
  Horneophytopsida †

This phylogeny is supported by several molecular studies.[11][13][14] Other researchers state that taking fossils into
account leads to different conclusions, for example that the ferns (Pteridophyta) are not monophyletic.[15]

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Nutrient distribution
Water and nutrients in the form of inorganic solutes are drawn up
from the soil by the roots and transported throughout the plant by
the xylem. Organic compounds such as sucrose produced by
photosynthesis in leaves are distributed by the phloem sieve tube
elements.

The xylem consists of vessels in flowering plants and tracheids in

other vascular plants, which are dead hard-walled hollow cells
arranged to form files of tubes that function in water transport. A
tracheid cell wall usually contains the polymer lignin. The phloem Photographs showing xylem elements in the
however consists of living cells called sieve-tube members. Between shoot of a fig tree (Ficus alba): crushed in
the sieve-tube members are sieve plates, which have pores to allow hydrochloric acid, between slides and cover slips.
molecules to pass through. Sieve-tube members lack such organs as
nuclei or ribosomes, but cells next to them, the companion cells,
function to keep the sieve-tube members alive.

Transpiration

The most abundant compound in all plants, as in all cellular organisms, is water which serves an important
structural role and a vital role in plant metabolism. Transpiration is the main process of water movement within
plant tissues. Water is constantly transpired from the plant through its stomata to the atmosphere and replaced by
soil water taken up by the roots. The movement of water out of the leaf stomata creates a transpiration pull or
tension in the water column in the xylem vessels or tracheids. The pull is the result of water surface tension within
the cell walls of the mesophyll cells, from the surfaces of which evaporation takes place when the stomata are open.
Hydrogen bonds exist between water molecules, causing them to line up; as the molecules at the top of the plant
evaporate, each pulls the next one up to replace it, which in turn pulls on the next one in line. The draw of water
upwards may be entirely passive and can be assisted by the movement of water into the roots via osmosis.
Consequently, transpiration requires very little energy to be used by the plant. Transpiration assists the plant in
absorbing nutrients from the soil as soluble salts.

Absorption

Living root cells passively absorb water in the absence of transpiration pull via osmosis creating root pressure. It is
possible for there to be no evapotranspiration and therefore no pull of water towards the shoots and leaves. This is
usually due to high temperatures, high humidity, darkness or drought.

Conduction

Xylem and phloem tissues are involved in the conduction processes within plants. Sugars are conducted
throughout the plant in the phloem, water and other nutrients through the xylem. Conduction occurs from a source
to a sink for each separate nutrient. Sugars are produced in the leaves (a source) by photosynthesis and transported
to the growing shoots and roots (sinks) for use in growth, cellular respiration or storage. Minerals are absorbed in
the roots (a source) and transported to the shoots to allow cell division and growth.[16]

See also
Fern allies
Non-vascular plant
Pteridophyte
“Higher plants” or “vascular plants”? (https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/68161/higher-plants-or-vasc
ular-plants)

References
1. Sinnott, E. W. 1935. Botany. Principles and Problems, 3d edition. McGraw-Hill, New York.

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2. Cavalier-Smith, T. (1998), "A revised six-kingdom system of life" (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ee41/d705db

1da8998a988671d085ed5ee97186b7.pdf) (PDF), Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society,
73 (3): 203–266, doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.1998.tb00030.x (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1469-185X.1998.tb0003
0.x)
3. D. Edwards; Feehan, J. (1980). "Records of Cooksonia-type sporangia from late Wenlock strata in Ireland".
Nature. 287 (5777): 41–42. doi:10.1038/287041a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F287041a0).
4. Parfrey, Laura Wegener; Lahr, Daniel J. G.; Knoll, Andrew H.; Katz, Laura A. (August 16, 2011). "Estimating the
timing of early eukaryotic diversification with multigene molecular clocks" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti
cles/PMC3158185). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 108
(33): 13624–13629. doi:10.1073/pnas.1110633108 (https://doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.1110633108).
PMC 3158185 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3158185). PMID 21810989 (https://pubmed.ncb
i.nlm.nih.gov/21810989).
5. Christenhusz, M. J. M. & Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual
increase" (http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/download/phytotaxa.261.3.1/20598). Phytotaxa. 261 (3): 201–
217. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 (https://doi.org/10.11646%2Fphytotaxa.261.3.1).
6. Abercrombie, Hickman & Johnson. 1966. A Dictionary of Biology. (Penguin Books)
7. "ITIS Standard Report Page: Tracheobionta" (https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TS
N&search_value=564824). Retrieved September 20, 2013.
8. https://basicbiology.net/plants/physiology/xylem-phloem
9. Kenrick, Paul; Crane, Peter R. (1997). The Origin and Early Diversification of Land Plants: A Cladistic Study.
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-730-8.
10. Christenhusz, Maarten J. M.; Reveal, James L.; Farjon, Aljos; Gardner, Martin F.; Mill, R.R.; Chase, Mark W.
(2011). "A new classification and linear sequence of extant gymnosperms" (http://www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/
content/2011/f/pt00019p070.pdf) (PDF). Phytotaxa. 19: 55–70. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.3 (https://doi.org/1
0.11646%2Fphytotaxa.19.1.3).
11. Smith, Alan R.; Pryer, Kathleen M.; Schuettpelz, E.; Korall, P.; Schneider, H.; Wolf, Paul G. (2006). "A
classification for extant ferns" (http://www.pryerlab.net/publication/fichier749.pdf) (PDF). Taxon. 55 (3): 705–
731. doi:10.2307/25065646 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F25065646). JSTOR 25065646 (https://www.jstor.org/sta
ble/25065646).
12. Christenhusz, Maarten J. M.; Zhang, Xian-Chun; Schneider, Harald (2011). "A linear sequence of extant
families and genera of lycophytes and ferns" (http://www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/content/2011/f/pt00019p054.p
df) (PDF). Phytotaxa. 19: 7–54. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.2 (https://doi.org/10.11646%2Fphytotaxa.19.1.2).
13. Pryer, K. M.; Schneider, H.; Smith, AR; Cranfill, R; Wolf, PG; Hunt, JS; Sipes, SD (2001). "Horsetails and ferns
are a monophyletic group and the closest living relatives to seed plants". Nature. 409 (6820): 618–22.
doi:10.1038/35054555 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F35054555). PMID 11214320 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.go
v/11214320).
14. Pryer, K. M.; Schuettpelz, E.; Wolf, P. G.; Schneider, H.; Smith, A. R.; Cranfill, R. (2004). "Phylogeny and
evolution of ferns (monilophytes) with a focus on the early leptosporangiate divergences". American Journal of
Botany. 91 (10): 1582–1598. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1582 (https://doi.org/10.3732%2Fajb.91.10.1582).
PMID 21652310 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21652310).
15. Rothwell, G.W. & Nixon, K.C. (2006). "How Does the Inclusion of Fossil Data Change Our Conclusions about
the Phylogenetic History of Euphyllophytes?". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 167 (3): 737–749.
doi:10.1086/503298 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F503298).
16. Chapters 5, 6 and 10 Taiz and Zeiger Plant Physiology 3rd Edition SINAUER 2002

Bibliography
Cracraft, Joel; Donoghue, Michael J., eds. (2004). Assembling the Tree of Life (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=6lXTP0YU6_kC). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-972960-9.
Cantino, Philip D.; Doyle, James A.; Graham, Sean W.; Judd, Walter S.; Olmstead, Richard G.; Soltis, Douglas
E.; Soltis, Pamela S.; Donoghue, Michael J. (1 August 2007). "Towards a Phylogenetic Nomenclature of
Tracheophyta". Taxon. 56 (3): 822. doi:10.2307/25065865 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F25065865).
JSTOR 25065865 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/25065865).
Kenrick, P. (29 June 2000). "The relationships of vascular plants" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PM
C1692788). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 355 (1398): 847–855.
doi:10.1098/rstb.2000.0619 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frstb.2000.0619). PMC 1692788 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.n
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Pryer, Kathleen M.; Schneider, Harald; Magallon, Susana. The radiation of vascular plants (http://pryerlab.biolo
gy.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/pryer-et-al-tol-2004.original.pdf) (PDF). pp. 138–153., in Cracraft &
Donoghue (2004)

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