CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS

INTRODUCTION

There are millions of different plant species. In order to study the wide variety of plants, botanists tried to find ways to
categorize that many diverse species. They classified plants into groups that have similar characteristics. Plants within
a group are more closely related to the members of their own group than to members of another group,

The practice of identifying, naming and grouping of living organisms is called classification or Taxonomy.

Plant taxonomy deals with the identification, classification, and description of plants.

The plant kingdom has the following characteristic features:

a) They are non-motile.

b) They make their own food and hence are called autotrophs.
c) They reproduce asexually by vegetative propagation or sexually.
d) These are multicellular eukaryotes. The plant cell contains the outer cell wall and a large central vacuole.
e) Plants contain photosynthetic pigments called chlorophyll present in the plastids.
f) They have different organelles for anchorage, reproduction, support and photosynthesis.

We will discuss about the classification of plants in this project.

Plants are classified in following ways

1) Based on size and shape as herbs, shrubs, and trees

2) Based on life span as annuals, biennials, and perennials
3) Based on producing flowers as flowering or non-flowering plant

CLASSIFICATION

Plants can be classified into two main categories- flowering and non-flowering plants

A] NON-FLOWERING PLANTS

Non-flowering plants do not bear flowers. They are further divided into:

1) Thallophyta

a) Thallophytes lack a well-differentiated body structure and the plant body is thallus like.

b) Thallophyta includes plants with primitive and simple body structures. The plant body is thallus, they may be
filamentous, colonial, branched or unbranched.

c) Examples include green algae, red algae and brown algae. Common examples are Volvox, Fucus, Spirogyra, Chara,
Polysiphonia, Ulothrix, etc.
 2) Bryophyta

a) These include mosses.

b) They are called the amphibians of the plant group because they can grow on land but need water to reproduce

c) They have stems and leaves, but no roots Instead, they have thread-like structures called rhizoids which help them
to stick to the surface and also absorb water

d) They can be seen in damp places as green velvety layers

e) Bryophytes do not have vascular tissues.

f) Bryophyta includes mosses, hornworts and liverworts. Some of the common examples are Marchantia, Funaria,
Sphagnum, Antheoceros, etc.
 3) Pteridophyta

a) Pteridophyta is the first terrestrial plant.

b) They have well-defined plant bodies that are differentiated into roots, leaves, and stems.

c) Leaves are made up of leaflets. Leaflets bear spores which are also known as Sporophylls.

d) Well-developed reproductive organs are hidden.

e) Specialized tissue for food and water conduction is present i.e. vascular tissue is present. Found in cracks of rock,
moist and shady places.

B] FLOWERING PLANTS

Flowering plants bear flowers. They are further divided into:

1) Gymnosperms

a) Gymnosperms have a well-differentiated plant body and vascular tissues.

b)

c) They bear naked seeds, i.e. seeds are not enclosed within a fruit.

d) Some of the common examples of gymnosperms are Cycas, Pinus, Ephedra, etc.
2) Angiosperms

a) Angiosperms are seed-bearing vascular plants with a well-differentiated plant body.

b) The seeds of angiosperms are enclosed within the fruits.

c) Angiosperms are widely distributed and vary greatly in size, e.g. Wolffia is small measuring about 0.1 cm and
Eucalyptus trees are around 100 m tall.

d) Angiosperms are further divided into monocotyledons and dicotyledons according to the number of cotyledons
present in the seeds.

e) Some of the common examples are mango, rose, tomato, onion, wheat, maize, etc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Concise Biology Class 7

2) https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Plant