3 Plant Kingdom
3 Plant Kingdom
3 Plant Kingdom
Eukaryotic, multicellular, chlorophyll containing and having cell wall, are grouped the
kingdom Plantae, popularly known as plant kingdom.
Phylogenetic system of classification based on evolutionary relationship is presently used for
classifying plants.
Numerical Taxonomy use computer by assigning code for each character and analyzing the
features.
Cytotaxonomy is based on cytological information like chromosome number, structure and
behavior.
Chemotaxonomy uses chemical constituents of plants to resolve the confusion.
Plant
kingddom
Cryptogamae
Phanerogamae
(Plants without
seeds) (Plants with seeds)
a. Thallophyta d. Gymnosperms
b. Bryophyta e. Angiosperms
c. Pteridophyta
Thallophyta- Comprises the simplest plants which possess undifferentiated or thallus like
forms, reproductive organs single celled called gametangia. It includes only Algae.
Characteristic of Algae
• Plant body is thallus, which may be unicellular, colonial, filamentous or parenchymatous.
• Usually aquatic but a few are also found in moist terrestrial habitats like tree trunks, wet
rocks, moist soil etc.
• Vascular tissues and mechanical tissues are absent.
• Reproduction is vegetative by fragmentation, asexual by spore formation (zoospores) and
sexual reproduction by fusion of two gametes which may be Isogamous (Spirogyra),
Anisogamous (Chlamydomonous) or Oogamous (Volvox).
• Life cycle is various- haplontic, diplontic or diplohanlontic.
Algae
Bryophytes
Hepaticopsida Bryopsida
(Liverworts)
(Mosses)
Liverworts
The thallus is dorsiventral flattened, dichotomously branched with or without leaf-like
appendage.
Unicellular rhizoids, multicellular scales and completely parasitic sporophyte or sporangium.
Asexual reproduction takes place by fragmentation thallus or formation of specialized
structure called gemmae. Gemmae are green, multicellular, asexual buds, which develops in
small receptacles called gemma cups. The gemmae becomes detached from the parent body
and germinate to form new individuals.
During sexual reproduction male and female sex organs are produced on same thallus or
different.
The sporophyte is differentiated into foot, seta and capsule.
Gymnosperms
• Gymnosperms are those plants in which the ovules are not enclosed inside the ovary wall
and remain exposed before and after fertilisation.
• They are perennial and woody, forming either bushes or trees. Some are very large (Sequoia
sempervirens) and others are very small (Zamia pygmia).
• Stem may be unbranched(Cycas) or branched(Pinus). Root is tap. Leaves may be simple or
compound.
• They are heterosporous, produce haploid microspore and megaspore in male and female
Strobili respectively.
• Male and female gametophytes do not have independent free-living existence. Pollination
occurs through air and zygote develops into embryo and ovules into seeds.
• Example- Pines, Cycus, Cedrus, Ginkgo etc.
Angiosperms
Pollen grain and ovules are developed in
specialized structure, flower. Seeds Angiosperms
enclosed inside the fruits.
Size varies from almost microscopic Wolfia
(0.1cm)to tall tree Eucalyptus (more than
100m). Monocotyledons Dicotyledons
Monocotyledons Dicotyledons
a. Single cotyledons. a. Two cotyledons.
b. Parallel venation. b. Reticulate venation.
c. Fibrous root system. c. Tap root system.
d. Closed vascular bundle. d. Open vascular bundle.
e. More number of vascular bundles. e. Less number of vascular bundles.
f. Banana, wheat, rice. f. Gram, mango, apple.
Double fertilisation- Each pollen grain produce two male gametes. One gametes fuse with egg
to form embryo, Syngamy and other gametes fuse with two polar nuclei to form endosperm,
triple fission. Since fertilisation takes place twice so, it is called double fertilisation.
Alternation of generation
Different plant groups complete their life cycles in different patterns. Angiosperms complete
their life cycle in two phases- a diploid sporophytes and haploid gametophyte. The two
follows each other. This phenomenon is called alternation of
generation.
(a) Haplontic- Saprophytic generation is represented by only the
one-celled zygote. Meiosis in zygote results into haploid
spores to form gametophytes, which is the dominant
vegetative phase. Example- Volvox, Spirogyra etc.