The Plant

Kingdom

The plant kingdom is one of the five

kingdom classifications of living things. The
other four are the animal. protist, fungus, and
moneran kingdoms. All the organisms of the
plant kingdom are multicellular, or consisting
of many cells. They evolved from the
multicellular algae. They can make their own
food. Plants are further classified into four
smaller divisions, called phyla. They are the
angiosperms, gymnosperms, ferns, and
bryophytes. The first three are vascular
plants, while the last is a group of nonvascular
plants. Knowledge of plant classification helps
us to protect, propagate, and use them for the
benefit of mankind.

Vascular Plants. A vascular plant has true

roots, stems, and leaves; meaning it contains
fibrovascular bundles for conducting food and
water. Vascular plants are classified according
to their reproductive structures.

Angiosperms are flowering plants. In this

phylum, reproduction takes place in the
flower. It is in the flower where fertilization
takes place and where seeds and fruits begin
to develop. The seeds are enclosed in the
fruit. The term angiosperm is derived from the
Greek words that mean "enclosed seed".

Gymnosperms (from the Greek words that mean

"naked seed") are so called because their seeds are
exposed and borne in cones. So they are also called
conifers, or cone-bearing plants. Gymnosperms
have no attractive flowers to gather insects, but they
have an enormous amount of pollen that can be
dispersed by the wind.

Ferns reproduce by spores. They have

no seeds but contain groups of round
organs
on
their
underside,
called
sporangia, which contain the spores.

Nonvascular Plants. Mosses, liverworts,

and hornworts are called bryophytes. They
are nonvascular plants. They may contain
structures that look like leaves, stems, and
roots, but lack the fibrovascular bundles for
transporting food and water. Instead, food and
water are diffused from cell to cell.

Flowering Plants.
Flowering plants are the most dominant,
and obviously the most attractive plants in our
biosphere. There are different kinds of
flowering plants according to their structures.
These are: trees, shrubs, vines, and herbs.

Trees, like mango, narra, chico, and quava, are

the tallest and have the hardest woody
structures.
Shrubs, like rose, gumamela, rosal, and
poinsettia, have many branches but no distinct
trunk.
Vines, like grapes, beans, upo, and patola,
crawl and climb along a supporting structure.
Herbs, like tomato, onion, garlic, peanuts,
oregano, and grasses are short but erect and
have soft tissues.

Most flowering plants are terrestrial plants,

or living on land.
a. Some, like the water lily, water hyacinth,
hydrilla, and elodea are aquatic, or living in
ponds, lakes, and rivers.
b. Others are aerial; they are not rooted in

soil. Orchids are found in nature clinging on

branches and trunks of trees of the rainforests
in order to get sunlight. They are using the
trees only for their support, not for food. They
are not parasites.

There are two groups of flowering plants, namely

monocotyledons (monocots) and dicotyledons
(dicots). This classification is based on their number of
cotyledons or seed leaves.

a. Monocots have one (the prefix mono means one)

cotyledon while dicots have two (the prefix di means
two).
b. They also differ in the venation of their leaves. In
monocots, the veins are parallel while in dicots the
veins are netted.
c. Another difference is in the number of petals of their
flowers, which may occur singly or in clusters.
Monocot flowers have three petals, or in a multiple
of three. Dicot flowers have four or five petals, or a
multiple of four or five.
d. The fibrovascular bundles in monocots are scattered
while in dicots they are arranged in rings. Each ring in
the trunk of a dicot is called an annual ring or growth
ring; it represents a year of growth.

Application/Integration

The advances in modern agriculture and

horticulture in the area of plant classification
gave us the means of improving the quality and
quantity of plants that we grow. The quality of
our lives depends very much on the quality of
the plants we produce.

Flowering plants do not only make our

environment green and beautiful, they are our
endless resource of food and material things. By
protecting them, we protect ourselves.

Multiple Choice.
Each of the following items is followed by
four
options. Choose the correct answer.
1. All of the following are organisms of the plant kingdom. They
are all green and can make their own food. All can be grouped
into one except
a. angiosperms.
c. ferns.
b. gymnosperms.
d. bryophytes.
2. Bryophytes do not have true roots, leaves, and stems.
Therefore they do
not have
a. fibrovascular bundles for transporting food and water.
b. the necessary structure to perform photosynthesis.
c. the ability to live on dry land.
d. the capacity to reproduce.
3. Vascular plants are so called because their parts contain
a. structural adaptations for photosynthesis.
b. bundles of tiny tubes for conducting water and food.
c. structural adaptations for reproduction.
d. cellular structures adapted for diffusion of food and water
through the cell membranes.

4. These types of plants have seeds.

a.ferns and mosses c.ferns and gymnosperms
b.angiosperms and conifers d. conifers and
mosses
5. The seeds of the _______ are exposed.
a. liverworts
c. mosses
b. angiosperms
d. gymnosperms
6. They do not have attractive flowers so they are
pollinated by the wind.
a. conifers.
c. angiosperms.
b. hornworts.
d. liverworts.

7. They are reproduced by spores.

a. flowers.
c. ferns.
b. algae.
d. conifers.
8. It is here where fertilization takes place.
a. flower.
c. seed.
b. fruit.
d. pollen.
9. Which is not a flowering plant ?
a. cactus
c. grass
b. moss
d. All of these.

Activity 18

The Green Plants

1. Problem.
How are flowering plants grouped?
2. Materials.
various flowering plants
3. Procedure.
3.1 Visit a garden. Look for the different flowering
plants. Observe their structures.
3.2 Classify them as trees, shrubs, vine, or herbs.

4. Observations and Inferences.

What flowering plants have you observed and what type of

plant is each one ?
Name of flowering plant

Type of plant

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5. Generalization.
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Activity 19

The Green Plants

1. Problem.
What do leaves and flowers tell about the plant?
2. Materials.
various leaves and flowers in a garden
3. Procedure.
3.1 Visit a garden. Observe the flowers and leaves
of different plants. Count their number of petals.
Identify the venation of their leaves.
3.2 Infer whether the plant is a monocot or dicot.
.

4. Observations and Inferences.

What plants have you observed ? How many petals do their
flowers have? What is the venation of their leaves ? Is the plant a
monocot or dicot ?
Name of Plant No. of Petals
Flowering Plant

VenationType of

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5. Generalization.
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