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Lecture 4. Varieties of the living nature. The world of plants.

The nature of our planet Earth is unique and diverse. Forests, steppes, mountains, rivers and lakes
are rich in a variety of flora and fauna, where plants and animals have their own pecularities, types and
characteristics.
Different areas located on the continents are characterized by their own natural zones, which
depend on the climate and geographic location. Nevertheless, all plants and animals live in ecosystems
that are united by the nature of the globe.
Plants (derived from Latin word “plantae”, or “vegetabilia”) is a biological kingdom, one of the
main groups of multicellular organisms, including mosses ([mɔs] - mamır, yosun), ferns ([fəːn]-
ayıdöşəyi, qıjı), horsetails (qatırquyruğu), gymnosperms (çılpaqtoxumlular) and flowering plants. Often
all algae or some of their groups are also referred to as plants. Plants (primarily flowering plants) are
represented by numerous life forms - among them there are trees, shrubs, grasses, etc. Plants are the
subject of research in the science of botany.
Plant cells have dense cellulose membranes. The cells contain green plasmas - chloroplasts, they
contain the green pigment chlorophyll, so photosynthesis is possible (obtaining energy from inorganic
substances in the light with the participation of photosynthetic pigments). Thanks to chloroplasts, most
plants have a green color. Mostly they lead an attached lifestyle. Storage substances in cells accumulate in
the form of starch ([stɑːtʃ]- nişastа). They grow throughout life. Vital activity is regulated by
phytohormones ([faɪ'tɔ'hɔːməun]).
There is no single answer to the question of what to call a plant. The first to try to answer this
question was the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle, placing plants in an intermediate state
between inanimate objects and animals. He defined plants as living organisms that are not able to move
independently (as opposed to animals). Later, bacteria and archaea ([ɑː'kiːə]) were discovered, which did
not in any way fall under the generally accepted concept of plants. Already in the second half of the 20th
century, fungi and some types of algae were separated into separate categories, since they do not have the
vascular (['væskjulə]- damarlı) and root systems that are present in other plants.
Plants are producers. They produce organic matter using carbon dioxide and energy from the sun
through photosynthesis ([ˌfəutəu'sɪnθɪsɪs]- фотосинтез). Fungi and most of the bacteria have recently
belonged to separate kingdoms. In the past, fungi and bacteria were considered plants.
Other signs of plants - immobility, constant growth, alternation of generations, and others - are not
unique, but in general they make it possible to distinguish plants from other groups of organisms.
As of the beginning of 2010, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN), about 320 thousand species of plants were described, of which about 280 thousand species of
flowering, 1 thousand species of gymnosperms ([ˌdʒɪmnə'spəːm]), about 16 thousand bryophytes ([braɪ'ɔ
[faɪt]- mamırşəkilli), about 12 thousand species of higher spore plants.
Importance. The existence of the animal world, including humans, would be impossible without
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plants, which determines their special role in the life of our planet. Of all organisms, only plants and
photosynthetic bacteria are capable of accumulating the energy of the Sun, creating, through it, organic
matter from inorganic substances; the plants extract CO2 from the atmosphere and release O2. It was the
activity of plants that created the atmosphere containing O2, and by their existence it is maintained in a
state suitable for breathing.
Plants are the main, defining link in the complex food chain of all heterotrophic organisms,
including humans. Land plants form steppes, meadows (['medəu]- çəmənlik, otluq), forests and other
plant groupings, creating the landscape diversity of the Earth and an endless variety of ecological niches
([nɪtʃ]- uy]un yer) for the life of organisms of all kingdoms. Finally, with the direct participation of plants,
soil arose and is formed.
Domestication of plants. More than 200 plant species belonging to more than 100 botanical
genera ('dʒenərə]- sinir, növ) have been domesticated by man. Their wide taxonomic spectrum
(['spektrəm]- spektr) reflects the diversity of the places where they were domesticated. The main food
plants currently used in culture have been domesticated in the countries of Southwest Asia. Currently,
these are the territories of Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. Probably, the ancient farmers knew the
advantages of vegetative reproduction (cloning) and close-related crossing (inbreeding ['ɪn'briːdɪŋ]-
qohumluq).
Examples of plants reproduced by cloning: potatoes, fruit trees. Almost all the nutrients that people
get from food in these countries came from high-carbohydrate grains with a fairly high protein content
(wheat, barley ['bɑːlɪ]- arpa). However, cereal (['sɪərɪəl]- taxıl) proteins are not completely balanced in
amino acid composition. Ancient farmers supplemented these cereals with legumes (['legjuːm]) - peas,
lentils, vetch (çölnoxudu (yem otu). The only cultivated cereal - rye appeared much later than wheat and
other cultivated plants.
Modern plant cultures. Of the great variety of the plant kingdom, seed and mainly flowering
plants (angiosperms) are of particular importance in everyday life. Almost all plants introduced by man
into culture belong to them. The first place in human life belongs to grain crops (wheat, rice, corn, millet,
sorghum, barley, rye, oats) and various cereal crops. An important place in the human diet is occupied by
potatoes in countries with a temperate climate, and in more southern regions - sweet potatoes, yams, oka,
taro, etc. Widely used are legumes rich in vegetable proteins (beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, etc.), sugar
(sugar beets and sugar cane), numerous oilseeds (sunflowers, peanuts, olives, etc.), fruit, berry, vegetable
and other cultivated plants.
It is difficult to imagine modern society without tonic plants - tea, coffee, cocoa (['kəukəu]), as
well as without grapes - the basis of winemaking, or without tobacco.
Livestock raising is based on the use of wild and cultivated forage plants.
Cotton, flax (kətan), hemp (çətənə), ramie (['ræmi]- rami (isti ölkələrdə bitən lifli bitki), jute ([dʒuːt]- cut
(hind kəndiri), and many other fibrous (['faɪbrəs]- lifli, fibralı) plants provide clothing and technical
fabrics.
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Woodworking industry. A huge amount of wood is consumed annually - as a building material, a

source of cellulose, etc.
Energy. One of the main sources of energy is very important for a person - coal, as well as peat,
about which we can say that they represent the energy of the Sun accumulated in plant residues of the
past.
Medicine and chemistry. Until now, natural rubber extracted from plants has not lost its
economic importance. Valuable resins, gums, essential oils, dyes and other products obtained as a result of
plant processing occupy a prominent place in human economic activity. A large number of plants are the
main suppliers of vitamins, while others (foxglove, rauwolfia, aloe, belladonna, pilocarpus, valerian and
hundreds of others) are the source of the necessary drugs, substances and preparations.
Plant ecology. Vegetation cover enriches the atmosphere with oxygen and is the main source of
energy and organic material for almost all ecosystems. Photosynthesis radically changed the composition
of the early Earth's atmosphere, which currently contains about 21% oxygen. Animals and many other
aerobic organisms require oxygen, anaerobic forms are relatively rare. In many ecosystems, plants are the
backbone of food webs. Land plants are key components of the aquatic and other biochemical cycles.
Some plants evolved together with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and are included in the nitrogen cycle. Plant
roots play an essential role in soil development and prevention of soil erosion.
Carnivorous ([kɑː'nɪvərəs]- yırtıcı) plants. There are over 500 species of carnivorous plants.
Carnivorous plants grow usually on soils poor in nutrients and mineral salts. The "predation" of plants is
due to the lack of nitrogen in the soil, which is why predatory plants have adapted to obtain nitrogen from
insects and other animals, which they catch with the help of a variety of ingenious traps.

Literature

1. Zeyniyev N.R. və b. "Həyat bilgisi" Bakı, “Nərgiz” nəşriyyatı, 2014 səh 89-130;
2. H.M Hacıyeva və b."Hə-yat bilgisinin əsasları", Bakı, “ Elm” nəşriyyatı 2012 səh 109-146