Plant Kingdom Overview
Plants include: algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Let’s explore!
🌿 Algae
- Simple green plants that make their own food
- Live mostly in water 💧
- Three types based on color and food storage:
- Chlorophyceae (green algae)
- Phaeophyceae (brown algae)
- Rhodophyceae (red algae)
- Reproduce three ways:
- Breaking apart (vegetative)
- Spores (asexual)
- Sex cells (sexual: isogamy/anisogamy/oogamy)
🍃 Bryophytes (Mosses & Liverworts)
- Grow on soil but need water for reproduction 💦
- Have simple root-like (rhizoids), stem-like, and leaf-like parts
- Two groups: liverworts (flat bodies) and mosses (upright with spiral leaves)
- Main plant makes sex organs:
- ♂ Antheridia (male)
- ♀ Archegonia (female)
- Sperm + egg → zygote → new plant that makes spores
🌿 Pteridophytes (Ferns)
- Have true roots, stems, and leaves ✔️
- Main plant makes spores in sporangia
- Spores grow into small plants that make:
- ♂ Antheridia (male organs)
- ♀ Archegonia (female organs)
- Water carries sperm to egg → zygote → new fern plant
🌲 Gymnosperms (Pine trees)
- Have “naked seeds” not covered by fruit 🥜
- Make two spore types:
- Microspores (male) in microsporangia
- Megaspores (female) in megasporangia
- Spores grow on cones 🎯
- Pollen tube delivers sperm to egg → seed develops
🌸 Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)
- Seeds enclosed in fruits 🍎
- Reproductive parts in flowers 🌸
- Grow everywhere – from tiny Wolffia to 100m Eucalyptus trees!
- Two main classes:
- Dicotyledons (two seed leaves)
- Monocotyledons (one seed leaf)
- Dicotyledons (two seed leaves)
- Give us food, medicine, fuel, and more! 🥖💊🔥
NEET Must-Knows ✨
- Gymnosperms vs Angiosperms: Naked seeds vs seeds in fruits
- Plant Life Cycles: Where reduction division happens in liverworts, mosses, ferns, gymnosperms & angiosperms
- Archegonia-bearers: Bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms have female archegonia
- Ploidy Levels: Haploid vs diploid cells in different plants
- Algae Classification: Based on pigments and food storage
Fun Activities!
Spot these in nature: Moss on rocks, Pine cones, Flowers in gardens!
