THE PLANT KINGDOM (I)

FLOWERING PLANTS

Flowering plants are the biggest group of plants on Earth. Most flowering plants use sexual reproduction. They grow flowers which are their reproductive organs. These plants reproduce through seeds and produce them in two different ways.

• In ANGIOSPERMS pollinated flowers produce fruits with seeds inside. Angiosperms include not only roses or daffodils, but also trees such as cherry trees or fig trees. Bushes like blackberries and raspberries, and grasses, such as wheat and rice, are also angiosperms.

• GYMSNOSPERMS have small flowers. They don´t produce any fruit and their seeds develop in cones. Many gymnsperms, such as pine trees, have long thin leaves called needles.

NON-FLOWERING PLANTS

Non-flowering plants do not produce seeds. They produce asexually using spores. There are 2 main groups of non-flowering plants: ferns and mosses.

FERNS

• They have roots and strong stems which grow under the ground.
• They have large leaves called fronds.
• They produce spores inside sori on the underside of the fronds.
• Ferms are one of the oldest plants on Earth. They evolved more than 300 million years ago.

MOSSES

• They have very simple stems and leaves. Their roots are called rhizoids.
• They produce spores inside capsules.