Introduction to the Plant Kingdom

1. Introduction to the Plant Kingdom

2. Aquatic Ancestor • Plants evolved from green algae and they first evolved in water Chara

3. Aquatic Ancestor • Algae & Land Plant Similarities • Both contain chlorophylls • Have chloroplasts with stacks of thylakoids • Store starch in plastids • Cellulose in cell walls

4. Plant Characteristics • Multicellular • Autotrophic (photosynthesis) • Surrounded by cell walls containing cellulose (polysaccharide) • Store reserve food as (starch)

5. Taxonomy • Plants are divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of an internal transport system for water and dissolved materials, called Vascular System Vascular Bundles

6. Vascular System • Xylem tissue carries water and minerals upward from the roots • Phloem tissue carries sugars made by photosynthesis from the leaves to where they will be stored or used

7. Nonvascular Plants • Probably the earliest land plants • Do not have vascular tissue for support or conduction of minerals and water • Examples are mosses, liverworts and hornworts

8. Vascular Plants • Have transportation tubes • Have true roots, stems and leaves • Waxy outer covering called the cuticle protects from drying out

9. Vascular Plants • Subdivided into two groups -- Seedless vascular plants and Seed-bearing vascular plants Club Moss

10. Seed-Producing Vascular Plants • Includes two groups – Gymnosperms and Angiosperms • Gymnosperms: which means “naked” seed, are plants that have no protective coat on their seeds- like pine trees • Angiosperms: flowering plants whose ovules are enclosed in an ovary, which is the protective seed coat

11. Angiosperms • Flowering plants • Seeds are formed when an egg or ovule is fertilized by pollen in the ovary • Ovary is within a flower • Fruits are frequently produced from these ripened ovaries (to help disperse seeds)

12. Flowers Female Part Male Part