UNIT 3 PLANT CLASSIFICATION

Plant kingdom can be broadly classified into two types based on their reproductive system. 

1. Spore bearing plants
2. Seed bearing plants

The following flow diagram shows you how plants are classified based on this criteria.

This chart compares the ways in which mosses, ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms have adapted to a land environment.

The following information is taken from a beautiful blog named:

Jessica´s wonderful world of plants

 

GYMNOSPERMS

Gymnosperms literally means "naked seed". In gymnosperms a number of their leaves have evolved into scales. These scales are used in reproduction. Scales are grouped into larger structures called male and female cones. Fertilization is by pollen, not from mobile sperm.The female cones produce the eggs, while the male cones produce the pollen. Gymnosperms are the most ancient surviving seed plants.

 

 

ANGIOSPERMS

Angiosperms are flowering plants, that only reproduce sexually through pollination taking place in flowers. Seeds of angiosperms are contained within a protective barrier called a fruit.

 

 

MOSSES

Mosses need to live in a wet environment to survive. They develope and grow most abundantly in  bogs, swamps, moist woods, and near streams. Mosses vary in appearance, but most are less than a few centimetres tall. They haven´t got the water conducting tubes that are found in more complex plants and also they haven´t got true roots, stems or leaves.

FERNS
Ferns develope in wet and seasonally wet environments like tropical rainforests. Ferns have specialized tissues called vascular tissues. These tissues transport water and products of photosynthesis throughout the plant. Ferns have true roots, stems called rhizomes, and large leaves called fronds.