Nature is very diverse, there are millions of species of various organisms that live in different parts of the Earth. According to taxonomy, they are all divided into two empires: non-cellular and cellular. Only viruses belong to the first, and the second group, in turn, combines two domains: prokaryotes (organisms whose cells do not contain a nucleus, namely archaea and bacteria), as well as eukaryotes (the nucleus is present). The usual animals and flowers belong to the second species. Eukaryotes are divided into five kingdoms: chromists, protists, animals, mushrooms and plants. It is about the latter that will be discussed in this article.
The role of plants
Without them, it is impossible to imagine life on the planet. Plants perform the most important function - photosynthesis, in which oxygen is released. It is thanks to these organisms that the Earth’s atmosphere has become what we know it now - with a high oxygen content and an ozone ball that protects against the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation.
They also serve as an essential source of organic matter. Plants, one might say, “feed” the entire planet, because in any food chain they are the first link.
Scientific classification
Everyone is interested in knowing what plants are, so let's start by looking at their scientific classification.
All of them are divided into two large groups: higher and lower. The latter include algae (four sections: red, brown, blue and blue-green). Higher plants include six divisions: fluvoid, horsetail, bryophyte, fern, gymnosperms and angiosperms (flowering). The classification of plants is as follows: department — class — order — family — genus — species.
History of the study of plants
From ancient times, what plants are of interest to many people - both scientists and just curious personalities.
The Greek scientist Theophrastus, who lived in 370-285, deserves to be called the "father of botany". BC e. He was one of the first to start exploring what plants are. He divided them into various groups according to their appearance, flowering period, etc.
Also, a large-scale study related to plants was conducted by the ancient Roman scientist Dioscorides. He lived in the first century BC. e. He owns a work in which the properties of about six hundred medicinal plants are described.
The scientist who created the first classification of all living organisms was Karl Linnaeus. His life lasted from 1708 to 1778. In his work "Systems of Nature" there are also materials about what plants are. He systematized flowering by the number of stamens in them.
Also outstanding researcher who devoted his work to the study of plants was Augustine Piram Decandol (1778-1841). He owns the work "Harbinger of the natural system of the plant kingdom", which describes about 60 thousand different species.
Adolf Heinrich Gustav Engler (1844-1930), who was engaged in improving the classification of plants, also made a great contribution to science. He owns such works as The Natural System of Plant Families, The Plant Kingdom, The Flowering Plant Families Program, which were created in collaboration with other botanists. They describe in detail what groups of plants are. In addition to classification, Engler was also engaged in phytogeography. Known for his work in this industry are “Earth Vegetation” in fifteen volumes and “The World of Plants of East Africa and Nearby Regions”.
More on different classes of plants
Each department of plants is divided into classes. The arachnids have only one of the same name. The horsetail class belongs to the horsetail. Mossy are divided into sphagnum, leaf-stem, andreev, polytrich, tetrafis, takakievye mosses. The fern-shaped department includes the class of the same name, as well as salvinium and psilotoid. Gymnosperms unite ginkgoid, cypress, opiate and coniferous or pine.
Classes of flowering plants: dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous. This includes most of the familiar flora representatives. The first class includes legumes, rosaceae, birch, walnut, pumpkin, willow, umbrella, and many other families.
To the second - lily, orchid, cereal, banana, onion, iris, palm and others.
Classification of plants by the structure of their vegetative parts
Previously, according to this principle, three groups were distinguished: grasses, bushes and trees. Now it is customary to divide plants into seven life forms. These are herbs, succulents (with very fleshy stems, which contain a large amount of water, this includes cacti, aloe, Kalanchoe, agave and others), creepers, shrubs, shrubs, trees.
Other plant classification methods
They can also be divided into cultivated, wild-growing and weeds. The first - those plants that are grown by humans for specific purposes, they can also be systematized. Famous researcher N.I. Vavilov wrote about what groups of cultivated plants are. This topic is interesting to many others. Cultivated plants can be divided into thirteen groups. We will discuss them below.
So what groups of cultivated plants are there?
- Inuliniferous. Plants that contain a polysaccharide called inulin. This substance is used in medicine and is also used as a sugar substitute for patients with diabetes. This group includes dahlias, chicory, Jerusalem artichoke.
- Oily. These are plants used to make various oils. This includes sunflower, sesame seeds, rapeseed, safflower, etc.
- Food: juicy, woody solid and juicy-seed. This group combines pears, apple trees, plums, apricots, grapes, currants, hazel, cherries, palm trees, etc.
- Protein. Plants with a high protein content in fruits. These are soybeans, peas, beans, lupins, and other legumes.
- Starchy. First of all, these are potatoes, corn, oats, wheat, buckwheat, rice, millet, rye, sorghum, yams, and sweet potato.
- Fibrous. Plants that are used to make filaments. This is cotton, hemp, flax, jute.
- Sugar-bearing. This group includes only reeds and beets.
- Vegetable. This tomato, cucumber, pumpkin, eggplant, pepper, cabbage, carrots, radishes, celery, parsley, garlic, onions, eggplant and much more.
- Stimulating and narcotic. These are tea, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, poppy and more.
- Feed. These include clover, turnip, turnip, swede, alfalfa.
- Rubber bearing. Hevea, wormwood, dandelion, euphorbia are included in this group.
- Wood technical and medicinal. This includes eucalyptus, hindu tree, bamboo.
- Decorative. This group includes ficus, roses, maples, some types of ferns and palm trees, and indoor plants can also be included here.
You can learn more about cultivated plants from the book by P. Zhukovsky, “Cultivated Plants and Their Kindred,” written in 1964.