Classification of Plants into Major groups

Introduction

Salient Features And Classification Of Plants Into Major Groups can be a vast topic to cover as there are around 374,000 plant species that exist today. Plants are immensely diverse and complex, and there are thousands of species that have yet to be fully found and investigated! Botanists must develop a means to categorise the numerous distinct species to continue studying and organising plants. We will now go into the details for Salient Features And Classification Of Plants Into Major Groups study material. Major classifications of plants and their salient features:

1) Classification based on Tissue structure:

They are divided into two groups based on tissue structure: non-vascular (mosses) and vascular (plants) (all others):-

• Vascular Plants- During the Silurian epoch, the first vascular plants evolved. Now, there are about 3,08,312 species of vascular plants in the world. Xylem, a specialised supporting and water-conducting tissue, and Phloem, a food-conducting tissue, are found in these plants. Lignin, a hardening chemical that strengthens the cellulose cell wall, stiffens non-living cells (tracheids and vessel components) in the Xylem

Features of vascular plants –

a) Vascular tissues are found in vascular plants and are in charge of transferring nutrients throughout the plant. Xylem and phloem are the two forms of vascular tissue found in plants.
b) The sporophyte, which releases spores and is diploid, is the first generation or phase of vascular plants.
c) Even if some groups have lost some of these characteristics, vascular plants have real roots, leaves, and stems.

•  Non-vascular plants-  Internal water and food conduction and support are not provided by these plants’ vascular tissue (xylem and phloem).

Features of non-vascular plants:-

a) The majority of bryophytes lack vascular structures, as well as genuine leaves, seeds, and flowers.
b) They have hair-like rhizoids instead of roots to bind them to the earth and absorb water and minerals.
c) Bryophytes inhabit moist ecological niches, however, they are inefficient at absorbing water due to their lack of vascular structure.

2) Classification based on Seed structure:

The next classification is based on the seed structure of the plants:

Seed plants

Seed Plants are further split into the following categories:

a) Gymnosperms- Gymnosperms generate both a female and a male cone, known as seed and pollen cones.

Features of Gymnosperms:-

The lack of blossoms and the existence of bare, open seeds distinguishes them. As they can not have flowers, resultantly, fruits also are absent in these kinds of plants

The source of both pollination and dispersal is wind. These are mostly medium to large trees, with a few shrub species thrown in for good measure

As with conifers, the leaves look like needles having a thick cuticle and depressed stomata. This feature aids in the decrease of transpiration-related water loss

b) Angiosperms- Angiosperms are flowering plants whose seeds are protected by an outer covering called a ‘Fruit.’ The Angiosperms Phyla has about 2,95,383 flowering plant species, making this the most diversified of any Plant Phyla.

Angiosperms are classified into two groups namely, monocots and dicots. These names refer to how many seed leaves, or Cotyledons, a plant has when it germinates.

Features of Angiosperms:-

For the transport of water, minerals, and nutrients, every angiosperm plant has a vascular bundle comprising xylem and phloem tissues

Angiosperms can be located in a range of locations and a variety of sizes

Based on the habitat in which they thrive, these plants have several adaptations in their roots, stems, and leaves

Seedless Plants

Seedless Plants are those that do not generate seeds. Spores are used to propagating this plant group. Ferns, for example, produce spores on the bottom of their fronds.

Features of Seedless plants-

These sorts of plants do not produce seeds

They proliferate using spores

Some of them have stems, leaves, and roots, but the individual parts may be difficult to recognise

The xylem and phloem, for example, are complex tissues found in plants

3) Classification based on Stature structure –

This is classified into :-

a) Cacti (Cactus) – By retaining water in their succulent stems, cactus plants are well adjusted to hot and dry environments.

b) Biennials – A Biennial Plant requires 2 years to mature from seed to fruition, bloom, and die, or one that lasts two years.

c) Perennials are flowering plants that live for a long time and continue to bloom. It takes most of them two years to reach flowering age.

4) Classification based on Phylum structure

This is further classified into any parts, the main ones being;

a) Bryophyta – The most primitive group of plants, lacking vascular tissues for water transport. Bryophytes are plants without a root, leaves, or stalks. Liverworts, Hornworts, and Mosses are popular names for these plants. There are around 25,000 Bryophyta species.

b) Psilophyta – Psilophyta is a basic Vascular Plant that lacks genuine roots and, in some cases, leaves. Spores are used for replicating. Whisk Ferns is its common name.

Conclusion

Plant classification is the process of grouping and categorising plants based on their features. Because the usage of generic names can be extremely erroneous, a system of plant categorization is necessary to prevent problems or confusion in recognising a plant’s identity. The Linnaean system, which is regarded as the international language for naming plants, evolved into the binomial system that we use today.