Why are some plants called higher. higher plants

Higher plants are a sub-kingdom of the plant kingdom; complex differentiated multicellular organisms adapted to life in a terrestrial environment, with the correct alternation of sexual (gametophyte) and asexual (sporophyte) generations. There are spore and seed higher plants.

The subkingdom of higher plants includes the divisions: rhinophytes, bryophytes, lycopsids, horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms (flowering).

higher seed plants - higher plants propagated by seeds. Seed plants include gymnosperms and angiosperms.

2. Leaves evergreen, scaly or needle-shaped (needles)

3. Propagated by seeds

4. Seeds lie open (bare) on the seed scales of cones

5. Seeds are formed from ovules as a result of pollination and fertilization, without the participation of water

6. The sporophyte predominates in the development cycle

7. Wind pollination Representatives : trees: pine, spruce, fir, thuja, cypress , larch , bush-juniper

Department Flowering (Magnoliphyta) Flowering plants represent the largest division flora. From all other departments of higher plants, with the exception of gymnosperms, flowering plants differ in the formation of seeds.

1. The body is divided into vegetative (root and shoot) and generative organs.

2. Generative organs - a flower and a fruit with seeds.

3. Double fertilization, without the participation of water.

4. The seeds are inside the fruit (surrounded by the pericarp).

5. Represented by herbs, shrubs, lianas, trees.

6. Pollination by wind, insects, water, birds (self-pollination, cross).

7. Vegetative organs are diverse in structure and function, have modifications.

8. The sporophyte predominates in the development cycle, the gametophyte is reduced (male to pollen grain, female to eight-core embryo sac).

9. All types of tissues are developed (educational, integumentary, mechanical, conductive, basic, excretory).

10. Divided into two classes: Dicotyledonous and Monocotyledonous plants.

higher spore plants- Higher plants spread by spores. Disputes include:

Rhiniophytes (Department Rhiniophytes) - mosses (Department Bryophytes);

Club mosses (department Lycopsoid); - horsetails (hortiform department); and

Ferns (Department Ferns).

Department of Rhyniophyta (Rhyniophyta) Rhyniophytes (Rhyniophyta) are classified as equisporous plants. Numerous spores developed in the sporangia of rhinophytes, the structure of the shell being typical of higher plants. The spores developed in tetrads and were equipped with a three-beam tetrad scar. The opening of the shell of such a spore occurred along the rays of the tetrad scar.

Department Bryophytes (Bryophyta). Bryophytes (Bryophyta) are also equisporous plants. Spores are usually single-celled formations that serve for asexual reproduction of mosses and their distribution. The size of the spores varies greatly.

1. The body is represented by a thallus (hepatic) or divided into a stem and leaves(leafy)

2. Live in wet places

3. Reproduce in the presence of drop-liquid moisture

4. The gametophyte (leafy plant) predominates in the development cycle

6. Organs of sexual reproduction about archegonium, about antheridium

7. Reproduce by spores and vegetative reproduction is common

8.Specialized fabrics available

9. They are attached to the substrate by rhizoids. Representatives : hepatic - riccia, marchantia; leafy- cuckoo flax, sphagnum.

Department Lycopodiophyta. Among Lycopodiophyta, there are equally and heterosporous plants. Heterosporous plants have leaves with tongues. Lycopsoid spores usually with a three-beam scar. Gametophytes of heterosporous lycopsids are unisexual, non-green, usually develop within a few weeks due to the nutrients contained in the spore, and upon reaching maturity do not protrude outside the spore shell. These include the orders: Selaginellales (Selaginellales), lepidodendrales (Lepidodendrales) and hemispheres (Isoetales), moreover, the lepidondras have completely died out, and the other two orders are also represented by living plants. having a tongue, and with adventitious roots, usually extending from a thin stem; some fossil representatives had a well-developed rhizophore. Sporangia are located on the stem near the leaf axil or in the leaf axil. The sporophylls are collected in strobili. Gametophytes are unisexual, small, develop during the year, without leaving the spore membrane, due to the reserves of nutrients in the dispute. Spermatozoa are biflagellated. Modern representatives are included in the genus Selaginella, club moss. The main method of reproduction of Selaginella is asexual reproduction with the help of spores. Strobili are located at the ends of the side branches. They are either quite sharply demarcated from the rest of the leafy shoot, or outwardly almost indistinguishable from it. Sporophylls sit on the axis of the strobilus in a spiral or crosswise opposite manner in 4 longitudinal rows. perennial, herbaceous evergreens with simple, narrow leaves. Haploid isospore spores develop in sporangia collected in spikelets. Representatives: club-shaped club, boranets, selago.

Department Horsetail (Equisetophyta) The vast majority of horsetails (Equisetophyta) are isosporous plants, and only a few fossil forms were heterosporous. Perennial, short, tough herbs with whorled lateral shoots and small, whorled, scaly leaves, stems impregnated with silica.

Haploid spores, heterospores, are formed in spore-bearing spikelets consisting of scutes on spring shoots. Representatives: Horsetail, meadow

Division Ferns (Polypodiophyta)

1. The body is divided into shoot (leaf and stem-rhizome) and adventitious roots

2. There are integumentary, mechanical, conductive tissues

3. Conductive tissue forms a central cylinder represented by phloem and xylem

4. Reproduce by spores that form in sporangia

5. The life cycle is dominated by sporophyte (shooting plant)

6. The gametophyte (growth) is small, feeds and develops independently in a humid environment, has chlorophyll. 7. Water is necessary for fertilization.

  1. The presence of tissues and the division of the body into organs.
  2. Multicellular organs of sexual and asexual reproduction. Organs of asexual reproduction - sporangia, organs of sexual reproduction - gametangia (female - archegonia, male - antheridia).
  3. In higher plants, the zygote gives rise to a group of undifferentiated cells - the embryo, from which the organism develops by cell differentiation.
  4. All higher plants are characterized by the presence of two life phases that replace each other: sporophyte and gametophyte. Together they form the life cycle of a plant.
  5. In all higher plants, except for bryophytes, the sporophyte predominates in the life cycle.
  6. higher plants subdivided into spore and seed.

In spore plants, the processes of sexual and asexual reproduction are separated and occur on different plants. The spore consists of a single zygote cell and contains a small supply of nutrients; the cell is surrounded by two shells: outer and inner. Germination of the spore depends on favorable conditions.

Seed plants reproduce by seeds, which are formed as a result of successive processes of asexual and sexual reproduction on the same plant. The seed is a multicellular formation containing an embryo - a young sporophyte. Contains a supply of nutrients and protective covers.

bryophytes

Bryophytes (about 25 thousand species) are among the higher spore plants, which are characterized by the division of the body into organs. Mosses are found everywhere, but mainly in areas with a temperate and cold climate: in dense forests, swamps, on the bark of trees, on the walls and roofs of wooden buildings, in the water of rivers and lakes, on rocks. Mosses are able to endure great frosts and extreme heat. The most primitive of the higher land plants.

General characteristics of mosses.

  1. The body of low-organized mosses is represented by a thallus; in highly organized mosses, the body is divided into a stem and leaves.
  2. Moss cells are differentiated and form specialized tissues. In the center of the stem in the form of bundles there is a conducting system through which solutions of mineral salts and organic substances pass. The conducting system consists of hydroids and leptoids. Hydroids are plumbing dead cells in the mature state with thin walls. Leptoids are living cells that conduct organic substances. The stalk of mosses is called caulidium.
  3. The leaves are represented by linear-lanceolate green plates, consisting of several layers of cells. Special cells - assimilation - contain chlorophyll and carry out photosynthesis.
  4. The function of the roots is performed by colorless transparent outgrowths of the epidermis - rhizoids, located at the bottom of the stem and resembling root hairs in appearance.
  5. In the life cycle of mosses, the gametophyte is a leaf-stemming plant. The gametophyte develops archegonia and antheridia.
  6. The moss sporophyte is called sporogon, it consists of a box in which spores develop, legs and feet, providing a connection with the gametophyte.
  7. Water is required for fertilization.

The Bryophytes department includes 3 classes: Anthocerotes, Liver and Leafy mosses.



Characteristics of leafy mosses on the example of cuckoo flax and sphagnum.

Kukushkin flax - perennial plant, a representative of green mosses. It is found in swamps and spruce forests; has a brown-green stem 15-20 cm high, on which narrow green leaves are spirally arranged. Kukushkin flax is fixed in the soil by rhizoids that absorb water with mineral salts dissolved in it, and the process of photosynthesis takes place in the chloroplasts of the leaves.

Life cycle moss: there is an alternation of two generations - sporophyte and gametophyte. The haploid spore germinates, forming a green branching filament (protonema). From this thread grow leafy plants - haploid gametophytes. on female gametophytes archegonia - eggs are formed, in males - antheridium - spermatozoa. Fertilization is possible only in the presence of moisture, which ensures the promotion of male gametes to the egg, a diploid zygote is formed. A year later, a diploid sporophyte develops from it - a box on a long stalk. The box is a sporangium, has a lid and a felt cap. Meiosis produces haploid spores in the sporangium. When ripe, the spores spill out of the box and, once in favorable conditions, germinate, giving rise to a new gametophyte. The filaments that develop from moss spores are similar in structure to filamentous green algae, which indicates the relationship of these two groups of plants.

Thus, in the cycle of development of bryophytes, the gametophyte stage predominates and the sporophyte is reduced.

The representative of white, or peat, mosses is sphagnum.

Sphagnum- a perennial plant, a permanent inhabitant of the marshes of the temperate zone. The stem of sphagnum, highly branched, does not have vascular bundles. There are no rhizoids. The leaves contain two types of cells arranged in one layer. Some of the cells are narrow, long, contain chloroplasts, they carry out the process of photosynthesis. Between these cells and in the places where the leaves are attached to the stem, there are large colorless cells with holes in the shells - catchment cells. They are able to absorb large amounts of water and retain it for a long time. Where sphagnum appears, waterlogging of the soil occurs.

Sphagnum reproduces in the same way as cuckoo flax, but unlike it, it is a monoecious plant.

Sphagnum grows slowly (up to 3 cm per year) top escape. The lower sections of the stem die off, compact, slowly decompose with little oxygen and form peat. The antiseptic substance sphagnol and carbolic acid secreted by mosses inhibit decay, and stumps and roots of trees, leaves and pollen of plants are preserved in peat layers without being destroyed.

Representatives:

The meaning of mosses.

  1. In nature, they act as moisture accumulators and regulators of the water balance of forests and adjacent territories,
  2. They are pioneers of vegetation, they settle in places devoid of life.
  3. They accumulate many substances, including radioactive ones.
  4. Mosses lead to waterlogging of the soil and make it unsuitable for crops.
  5. The main value of mosses is the formation of peat. Peat is a mineral. It is used as a fuel, fertilizer, raw material for the chemical industry (to obtain wood alcohol, carbolic acid, plastics, insulating tapes and other substances).
  6. Dried sphagnum moss due to its antiseptic properties, it can serve as a good dressing material.

FERN

Ferns are higher spore-bearing, mostly herbaceous, plants that are quite widespread: there are about 10 thousand species. They are found in deserts, dry pine forests, swamps, lakes, and brackish waters. Tropical tree ferns reach a height of up to 20 m. Liana-like ferns and epiphytes growing on tree trunks and branches predominate in mountain forests. Typical ferns are plants of damp and damp places. AT temperate climate the most common are the bracken, the shield, the bladderwort, the ostrich.

Character traits.

  1. The fern has roots, a short stem and leaves (fronds).
  2. Roots adnexal, they develop from the stem instead of the dead root of the embryo.
  3. The stem is short woody rhizome and has epidermis, mechanical and conductive (vascular bundles) tissues. The stems are perennial, new leaves grow from them every year. The growing point is at the top of the rhizome, and in the spring a bunch of new leaves comes out of it.
  4. Young leaves are snail-shaped and densely covered with brown scales. Leaf development is slow. The leaves of the fern are large, dissected, bipinnate. Maximum length the leaf can reach up to 30 m. In autumn, the leaves die off.
  5. Integumentary tissues with stomata are well developed, conducting tissues are collected in bundles. Xylem elements are represented by tracheids.
  6. The fern leaf combines the functions of photosynthesis and sporulation. In summer, brown tubercles appear on the underside of the leaf - sori(groups of sporangia) in which haploid spores are formed and mature. Ripe spores are carried by the wind, germinate, forming a heart-shaped green plate - sprout, which has a diameter of 2-4 mm. The plant is attached to the soil by rhizoids. On its lower side, genital organs are formed: archegonia - female, antheridia - male; female and male gametes mature in them. Fertilization occurs in the presence of moisture (rain or heavy dew), which lingers under the growth. From the zygote, an embryo develops, which has a primary root, stalk and leaf. Initially, the embryo is attached to the growth and receives nutrients from it. Then it strengthens in the soil and gives rise to an adult plant.
  7. Fertilization is possible only in the presence of water.
  8. Thus, during the development of a fern, there is an alternation of two generations that differ sharply from each other. The leafy plant that produces spores is called the sporophyte and is an asexual generation. It prevails in the fern. The sexual generation - the outgrowth (gametophyte) - is represented by a small green plate (outgrowth).
  9. Ferns are subdivided into equal-spored and heterosporous. In isospores, all spores are the same and the gametophyte germinating from them is monoecious. Such spores are formed in the sporangium from the mother cells of the spores, which, by dividing meiosis give rise to a tetrad (four) of exactly the same spores. In heterosporous, two types of sporangia are formed - microsporangia and megasporangia. In microsporangia from the mother cells of spores, tetrads of small spores are formed in large quantities - microspores, from which male gametophytes with antheridia subsequently germinate. In megasporangia, also as a result of meiosis, one or several very large megaspores are formed from the mother cells of the spores.

The meaning of ferns.

  1. Some types of ferns are used as ornamental plants(maidenhair, polypodium, nephrolepis).
  2. Young leaves of certain species are eaten.
  3. Decoctions of rhizomes and tinctures of some ferns are used in medicine as painkillers, anti-inflammatory, antihelminthic agents, for the treatment of pulmonary diseases, rickets, and gastric disorders.
  4. Extinct ferns formed deposits hard coal.

Does everyone know which plants are called higher? This species has its own characteristics. To date, higher plants include:

  • Club mosses.
  • ferns.
  • Horsetails.
  • Gymnosperms.
  • Angiosperms.

There are more than 285 species of such plants. They are distinguished by a much higher organization. Their bodies contain a shoot and a root (except for mosses).

Characteristics

Higher plants live on earth. This place of residence is different from the aquatic environment.

Characteristics of higher plants:

  • The body is made up of tissues and organs.
  • Via vegetative organs nutrition and metabolic functions are carried out.
  • Gymnosperms and angiosperms reproduce using seeds.

Most of the higher plants have roots, stems and leaves. Their organs are complex. This species has cells (tracheids), vessels, and their integumentary tissues form a complex system.

The main feature of higher plants is that they pass from the haploid phase to the diploid one, and vice versa.

Origin of higher plants

All signs of higher plants indicate that they may have evolved from algae. Extinct representatives belonging to the highest group have a very great resemblance to algae. They have a similar alternation of generations and many other characteristics.

There is a theory that higher plants appeared from or freshwater. The rhinophytes arose first. When the plants moved to land, they began to develop rapidly. Mosses were not as viable, as they need water in the form of drops to exist. Because of this, they appear in places where there is high humidity.

To date, plants have spread throughout the planet. They can be seen in the desert, the tropics and in cold areas. They form forests, swamps, meadows.

Despite the fact that when thinking about which plants are called higher, one can name thousands of options, but still they can be combined into some groups.

mosses

When figuring out which plants are called higher, we must not forget about mosses. In nature, there are about 10,000 of their species. Outwardly it small plant, its length does not exceed 5 cm.

Mosses do not bloom, they do not have a root, a conducting system. Reproduction occurs with the help of spores. The haploid gametophyte dominates the moss life cycle. This is a plant that lives for several years, it may have outgrowths that look like roots. But the moss sporophyte does not live long, it dries out, has only a leg, a box where spores mature. The structure of these representatives of wildlife is simple, they do not know how to take root.

Mosses play such a role in nature:

  • They create a special biocenosis.
  • The cover of moss absorbs radioactive substances, retains them.
  • Regulate the water balance of landscapes due to the fact that they absorb water.
  • They protect the soil from erosion, which allows you to evenly transfer the flow of water.
  • Some types of mosses are used for medicines.
  • With the help, peat is formed.

Lycian plants

In addition to mosses, there are other higher plants. The examples may be different, but they are all somewhat similar to each other. For example, mosses resemble mosses, but their evolution is more advanced, since they are vascular species. They consist of stems that have covered small leaves. They have roots and vascular tissue through which nutrition occurs. By the presence of these components, club mosses are very similar to ferns.

In the tropics, epiphytic club mosses are isolated. They hang from the trees, giving the appearance of a fringe. Such plants have the same spores.

Some club plants are listed in the Red Book.

psilotoid plants

This type of plant lives for more than one year. This includes 2 genera of representatives of the tropics. They have erect stems similar to a rhizome. But they have no real roots. The conducting system is located in the stem, consists of phloem, xylem. But water does not enter the leaf-like appendages of plants.

Photosynthesis occurs in the stems, spores are formed on the branches, turning them into cylindrical branches.

Ferns

What plants are called higher still? These include ferns, which are part of the vascular department. They are herbaceous and woody.

The composition of the body of a fern includes:

  • Petiole.
  • Leaf plates.
  • Roots and shoots.

Fern leaves were called fronds. The stem is usually short, it is developed. From the buds of the rhizome, fronds grow. They reach large sizes, perform sporulation, photosynthesis.

The sporophyte and gametophyte alternate in the life cycle. There are some theories that say that ferns evolved from club mosses. Although there are scientists who believe that many higher plants appeared from psilophytes.

Many types of ferns are food for animals, and some are poisonous. Despite this, such plants are used in medicine.

horsetail

Horsetails also belong to the higher plants. They consist of segments and nodes, which distinguishes them from other plants of a higher species. Horsetail representatives resemble some conifers and algae.

This is a kind of representative of wildlife. They have vegetative characteristics similar to cereals. The length of the stems can be several centimeters, and sometimes grows up to several meters.

Gymnosperms

Gymnosperms are also isolated from higher plants. There are only a few varieties today. Despite this, various scientists argued that angiosperms originated from gymnosperms. This is evidenced by various plant remains found. DNA studies were carried out, after which some scientists deduced theories that this species belongs to a monophyletic group. They are also divided into many classes and departments.

Angiosperms

These plants are also called flowering plants. They are referred to superior view. They differ from other representatives in the presence of a flower that serves for reproduction. They have a feature - double fertilization.

The flower attracts pollinating agents. The walls of the ovary grow, change, turn into a fetus. This happens if fertilization has occurred.

So, there are different higher plants. Examples of them can be listed for a long time, but they were all disbanded into certain groups.

The plant kingdom is striking in its greatness and diversity. Wherever we go, in whatever corner of the planet we find ourselves, everywhere you can meet representatives of the plant world. Even the ice of the Arctic is no exception for their habitat. What is the plant kingdom? Its species are varied and numerous. What is general characteristics plant kingdom? How can they be classified? Let's try to figure it out.

General characteristics of the plant kingdom

All living organisms can be divided into four kingdoms: plants, animals, fungi and bacteria.

The signs of the plant kingdom are as follows:

  • are eukaryotes, that is, plant cells contain nuclei;
  • they are autotrophs, that is, they form organic substances from inorganic organic substances in the process of photosynthesis due to the energy of sunlight;
  • lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle;
  • unlimited in growth throughout life;
  • contain plastids and cell walls made of cellulose;
  • as a spare nutrient use starch;
  • the presence of chlorophyll.

Botanical classification of plants

The plant kingdom is divided into two sub-kingdoms:

  • lower plants;
  • higher plants.

Sub-kingdom "lower plants"

This sub-kingdom includes algae - the simplest in structure and the most ancient plants. However, the world of algae is very diverse and numerous.

Most of them live in or on water. But there are algae that grow in the soil, on trees, on rocks and even in ice.

The body of algae is a thallus or thallus, which has neither root nor shoots. Algae do not have organs and various tissues; they absorb substances (water and mineral salts) through the entire surface of the body.

The sub-kingdom "lower plants" consists of eleven divisions of algae.

Significance for humans: release oxygen; are used for food; used to obtain agar-agar; are used as fertilizers.

Sub-kingdom "higher plants"

Higher plants include organisms that have well-defined tissues, organs (vegetative: root and shoot, generative) and individual development(ontogenesis) of which is divided into embryonic (embryonic) and postembryonic (post-embryonic) periods.

Higher plants are divided into two groups: spore and seed.

Spore plants spread by means of spores. Reproduction requires water. Seed plants are propagated by seeds. Reproduction does not require water.

Spore plants are divided into the following sections:

  • bryophytes;
  • lycopsid;
  • horsetail;
  • ferns.

Seeds are divided into the following departments:

  • angiosperms;
  • gymnosperms.

Let's consider them in more detail.

Department "bryophytes"

Bryophytes are low-growing herbaceous plants whose body is divided into a stem and leaves, they have a kind of roots - rhizoids, the function of which is to absorb water and fix the plant in the soil. In addition to photosynthetic and basic tissue, mosses have no other tissues. Most mosses are perennials and grow only in damp places. Bryophytes are the oldest and simplest group. At the same time, they are quite diverse and numerous and are inferior in the number of species only to angiosperms. There are about 25 thousand of their species.

Bryophytes are divided into two classes - hepatic and leafy.

Liverworts are the most ancient mosses. Their body is a branched flat thallus. They live mainly in the tropics. Representatives of the liverworts: mosses merchantsia and riccia.

Leafy mosses have shoots that consist of stems and leaves. A typical representative is moss cuckoo flax.

Mosses can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Asexual can be either vegetative, when the plant reproduces by parts of stems, thallus or leaves, or spore. During sexual reproduction in mosses, special organs are formed in which immobile eggs and motile spermatozoa mature. Spermatozoa move through the water to the eggs and fertilize them. Then a box with spores grows on the plant, which, after maturation, crumble and spread over long distances.

Mosses prefer wet places, but they grow in deserts, and on rocks, and in tundra, but they are not found in the seas and on highly saline soils, in loose sands and glaciers.

Significance for humans: peat is widely used as a fuel and fertilizer, as well as for the production of wax, paraffin, paints, paper, in construction it is used as a heat-insulating material.

Divisions "lycosform", "horsetail" and "fern"

These three divisions of spore plants have a similar structure and reproduction, most of them grow in shady and humid places. Woody forms of these plants are very rare.

Ferns, club mosses and horsetails are ancient plants. 350 million years ago they were big trees, it was they who made up the forests on the planet, in addition, they are the sources of coal deposits at the present time.

A few species of plants of the fern-like, horsetail and lycopsform divisions that have reached today can be called living fossils.

Externally different types club mosses, horsetails and ferns are different from each other. But they are similar internal structure and reproduction. They are more complex than bryophytes (they have more tissues in their structure), but simpler than seed plants. They belong to spore plants, since they all form spores. They can also reproduce both sexually and asexually.

The most ancient representatives of these groups are club mosses. Today, in coniferous forests, you can find club-shaped club moss.

Horsetails are found in the Northern Hemisphere, now they are represented only by herbs. Horsetails can be found in forests, swamps and meadows. The representative of horsetails is field horsetail, which usually grows on acidic soils.

Ferns - enough large group(about 12 thousand species). Among them there are both herbs and trees. They grow almost everywhere. Representatives of ferns are the ostrich and the common bracken.

Significance for humans: the ancient ferns gave us deposits of coal, which is used as fuel and valuable chemical raw materials; some species are used for food, used in medicine, used as fertilizers.

Department "angiosperms" (or "flowering")

Flowering plants are the most numerous and highly organized group of plants. There are more than 300 thousand species. This group makes up the bulk of the planet's vegetation cover. Almost all representatives of the plant world that surround us in ordinary life, both wild and garden plants, are representatives of angiosperms. Among them you can find all life forms: trees, shrubs and grasses.

The main difference angiosperms is that their seeds are covered with a fruit formed from the ovary of the pistil. The fruit is the protection of the seed and promotes their spread. Angiosperms form flowers - the organ of sexual reproduction. They are characterized by double fertilization.

Flowering plants dominate the vegetation cover as the most adapted to modern conditions life on our planet.

Value for the person: are used in food; release oxygen into environment; are used as building materials, fuel; are used in the medical, food, perfume industries.

Department "gymnosperms"

Gymnosperms are represented by trees and shrubs. There are no herbs among them. Most gymnosperms have leaves in the form of needles (needles). Among the gymnosperms, a large group of conifers stands out.

About 150 million years ago coniferous plants dominated the plant cover of the planet.

Significance for humans: form coniferous forests; allocate a large number of oxygen; used as fuel, building materials, shipbuilding, furniture manufacturing; are applied in medicine, in the food industry.

Diversity of the plant world, plant names

The above classification has a continuation, the departments are subdivided into classes, classes into orders, then families, then genera, and finally plant species.

The plant kingdom is huge and diverse, so it is customary to use botanical plant names that have double name. The first word in the name means the genus of plants, and the second - the species. Here is how the taxonomy of the well-known chamomile will look like:

Kingdom: plants.
Department: flower.
Class: dicot.
Order: astrocolor.
Family: aster.
Genus: chamomile.
Type: chamomile.

Classification of plants according to their life forms, description of plants

The plant kingdom is also classified according to life forms, that is, according to the external appearance of the plant organism.

  • Trees are perennial plants with lignified aerial parts and a pronounced single trunk.
  • Shrubs are also perennials with woody aboveground parts, but, unlike trees, they do not have a clearly expressed one trunk, and the branching begins at the very ground and several equivalent trunks are formed.
  • Shrubs are similar to shrubs, but undersized - no higher than 50 cm.
  • Semishrubs are similar to shrubs, but differ in that only the lower parts of the shoots are lignified, while the upper parts die off.
  • Lianas are plants with clinging, climbing and climbing stems.
  • Succulents are perennial plants with leaves or stems that store water.
  • Herbs are plants with green, succulent and non-woody shoots.

Wild and cultivated plants

Man also had a hand in the diversity of the plant world, and today plants can also be divided into wild and cultivated.

Wild-growing - plants in nature that grow, develop and spread without human help.

Cultivated plants originate from wild plants, but are obtained by selection, hybridization or genetic engineering. These are all garden plants.

, lycopsids, gymnosperms and angiosperms).

Higher plants in some classification systems are considered as a taxon of subkingdom rank.

The wide variety of conditions for the existence of terrestrial life explains the extraordinary richness of plant forms. But despite the diversity appearance, all higher plants are characterized by one type of sexual process (oogamy) and two variants of one type of nuclear phase change, or “generational change” (heteromorphic development cycles with a predominance of either sporophyte or gametophyte). In all cases, both "generations" - hematophyte and sporophyte - differ morphologically, cytologically and biologically. In the evolution of almost all departments of higher plants (with the exception of bryophytes), the sporophyte predominates in development cycles.

mosses

Among higher plants, Bryophytes have the most primitive structure ( Bryophyta sensu lato) - they do not have a root (there are rhizoids), and the marchantia, anthocerot and some Jungermann mosses do not have a division into a leaf and a stem - they are thalliform, like algae or lichens. The stomatal apparatus is extremely primitive, the conducting system is not developed, the conducting functions are performed by the parenchyma.

Vascular spores

seed plants

An important evolutionary breakthrough of plants on the way to the conquest of land was the appearance of the seed and the shell of the pollen grain. Due to the fact that henceforth the gametophyte (now consisting of only a few cells) began to completely fit inside the moisture-retaining shell, plants were able to master desert and cold regions.

In some gymnosperms and in almost all flowering plants, vessels and sieve tubes appear in the conductive structures - hollow conductive elements consisting of the walls of dead cells, due to which their conductive systems operate extremely efficiently.

Notes

Literature

  • Elenevsky A. G. Botany. Systematics of higher, or terrestrial, plants: textbook. for stud. higher ped. textbook institutions / A. G. Elenevsky, M. P. Solovyova, V. N. Tikhomirov. - Ed. 4th, rev. - M .: Publishing Center "Academy", 2006. - 464 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-7695-2141-4- UDC 596(075.8)

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See what "Higher Plants" is in other dictionaries:

    Germinal plants (Embryobionta, Embryophyta), shoot, leafy plants (Cormophyta, Cormobionta), telome plants (Telomophyta, Telomobionta), one of the two sub-kingdoms of the plant kingdom. Unlike lower plants V. r. complex... ... Biological encyclopedic Dictionary

    - (telome plants) sub-kingdom of the plant world. Unlike lower plants, the body of higher plants is divided into specialized bodies leaves, stem and root. St. 300 thousand species. Departments: rhinophytes, bryophytes, psilotoids; lycopsform, ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    Modern Encyclopedia

    higher plants- HIGHER PLANTS, a sub-kingdom of the plant world. Unlike lower plants, the body of higher plants is divided into specialized organs - leaves, stem and root. Over 300 thousand species. Higher plants include mosses, ferns, gymnosperms, ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

    - (telome plants), a sub-kingdom of the plant world. Unlike lower plants, the body of a higher plant is divided into specialized organs - leaves, stem and root. Over 300 thousand species. Departments: rhinophytes, bryophytes, psilotoids; ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    Germinal plants (Embryobionta, Embryophyta), shoot plants (Cormophyta, Cormobionta), telome plants (Telomophyta, Telomobionta), one of the two sub-kingdoms of the plant world. It unites at least 300 thousand plant species ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

    higher plants- ▲ a plant with a stem, higher plants, shoot plants, cormophytes are divided into vegetative organs and a well-defined stele (skeleton, stem); The body is made up of various plant tissues... Ideographic Dictionary of the Russian Language

    higher plants- plants whose body is differentiated into organs and tissues, with multicellular organs of asexual and sexual reproduction and a relatively well-defined embryo. Higher spores are distinguished (departments: Bryophyta - Bryophyta, Psilotoid - ... ... Plant anatomy and morphology

    - (telome plants), the sub-kingdom grows. peace. Unlike lower plants, V.'s body r. divided into specializations leaf, stem, and root organs. St. 300 thousand species. Departments: rhinophytes, bryophytes, psilotoids, lycopsids, horsetails, ... ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

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