Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Plantae
Thallophyta (Algae)
They are simple, autotrophic non-vascular plants. They have unicelled
sex organs and no embryo formation. These grow in specialized
habitats:
Cryophytes: These grow on snow or ice.
Thermophytes: These grow in hot water.
Epiphytes: These are those algae that grow on other plants (algae,
angiosperms). Examples include Oedogonium, Cladophora,
Vaucheria, etc.
Endophytes: Some blue-green algae grow as endophytes inside other
plants e.g., Anabaena growing inside the leaf of Azolla (fern).
Parasites: The alga Cephaleuros virescens grows a parasite on the tea
leaves.
Bryophyta
Bryophyta (Gk: Bryon = moss; phyton = plants) is the grouping that
consists of the simplest and primitive land plants. We also regard these
as ‘the amphibians of the plant kingdom’. Bryophytes are most common
in moist and shady places. Some bryophytes also grow in diverse
habitats like extremely dry or watery habitats. They reproduce sexually.
Antheridium is the male sex organ. On the other hand, archegonium is
the female sex organ.
Pteridophyta
The pteridophytes (Gk. Pteron = feather and phyton = plants) refers to
all those plants with feathers like fronds of ferns. They do not have
flowers or seeds. These plants are mostly terrestrial. They prefer shady
habitats. They have a Sporophytic plant body. The pteridophyte usually
has a single apical cell with three cutting faces in the shoot apex. Let us
now look at the sub-phyla of this group.
Angiosperms
The angiosperms, or flowering plants, are the most dominant and
ubiquitous vascular plants of present-day flora. These plants are
primarily responsible for changing the green and yellow melancholy of
the earth’s vegetation. They do so by their beautiful and colorful
brightness and fragrance of their flower.
Dicotyledons
They show the following distinguishing characteristics: