Looking out the window or walking along the street, you can endlessly admire the beauty of the surrounding nature. And all this charm is mainly plants. Such diverse, vibrant, vibrant and juicy, they simply attract you to touch them, enjoy their aroma and admire plenty of splendor.
The diversity of plant organisms
Ah, what a variety of plants exist! In total, today there are over 350 thousand species of these unique creations of nature. All of them are unequal both in the external structure and in the way of life and internal features.
In the system of the organic world, plants occupy a whole kingdom. The simplest classification for these organisms will be:
- lower (the body is not divided into organs, these are algae and lichens);
- higher (the body is divided into organs, these are those that have a root, stem and leaves).
In turn, the species diversity of plants of the highest category is manifested in the division into the following groups:
- Spore (mosses, ferns, horsetails, crowns).
- Gymnosperms (coniferous, ginkgy, cypress).
- Angiosperms, or flowering.
Each systematic group has its own classes, genera and species, which is why the diversity of plants on our planet is so great.
Life forms
One of the most important signs by which representatives of the flora differ from each other is the appearance. It is this feature that underlies the classification of life forms. A variety of plants can be seen if you classify them into groups:
- Trees (conifers: pine, spruce, fir and others; deciduous: birch, oak, poplar, apple tree and others).
- Shrubs (lilac, hazel, honeysuckle, etc.).
- Shrubs (currants, rose hips, raspberries).
- Shrubs (wormwood, astragalus, teresken, solyanka).
- Shrubs (lavender, sage).
- Grasses (feather grass, sedge, forget-me-nots, bought, lilies of the valley and so on).
This classification covers only the highest angiosperms, which are the majority on the planet.
Seaweed
The variety of plants and animals in the seas and oceans has always been admired by all researchers and just lovers of the underwater world. Beautiful and unusual, bright, dangerous and defenseless, they make up the whole world, not fully explored, and therefore alluring and mysterious.
What flora representatives are found here? These are algae and aquatic plants that stay at the surface of the water or are immersed in it with roots and part of the stems.
Algae are divided into several departments:
- Blue-green (e.g. cyanobacteria).
- Green unicellular (chlamydomonas, volvox).
- Green multicellular (ulotrix, spirogyra, ulva).
- Brown algae (fucus, kelp, sargassum).
- Reds (porphyry, radimeria).
The main distinguishing features of these plants are that their body (in multicellular representatives) is not divided into organs. It is represented by thallus and rhizoids, which perform the function of attachment to the substrate.
Blooming water species
The diversity of plant species related to the aquatic environment is not limited to algae. A lot of beautiful flowering representatives delight with their splendor, swimming on the surface of the water or immersing in it only partly.
These include:
- different types of water lilies;
- wingbell;
- ordinary water-coat;
- bulrush;
- tail
- loosestrife monetized;
- host
- needle swamp;
- manna;
- urut water;
- Siberian iris;
- buttercup;
- calamus marsh and many others.
The variety of plants in salt and fresh water bodies is so great that you can create whole landscapes, both artificial and natural. People use representatives of flora to decorate aquariums, design ponds and other artificial sources.
Spore
This group includes about 43 thousand species from various departments of higher plants. The main ones are as follows:
- Bryophytes (hepatic mosses, anthocerotic, bryophytes);
- Lapid-like (plunoids);
- Horsetail (horsetail).
The main feature is the method of reproduction, which boils down to the formation of specialized cells - spores. It is also interesting that these plants live by alternating generations in the development cycle: the sex generation of the gametophyte is replaced by an asexual sporophyte, and vice versa. Such representatives are not able to bloom and form seeds and fruits, and therefore belong to the category of spore. Their life is very dependent on water, since reproduction occurs only in a humid environment.
Representatives are of great economic importance and are widely used not only in nature, but also in human life. Decorative, medicinal use is their significance for people.
Conifers
Conifers include plants that have the following features:
- the leaves are modified into a special needle shape and are called "needles";
- the life form of these plants is trees and shrubs;
- the inner composition is replete with essential oils, resins and terpenes;
- seeds are formed, but there are never flowers;
- the seed is enclosed in cone scales and is exposed, hence another name - Gymnosperms.
There are a lot of species of conifers, about 630. They make a great contribution to the general diversity of the plant world, are long-livers and valuable tree species. According to some reports, there are pine trees that are more than 5000 years old! The appearance of conifers very animates any area, delights and fascinates with its grandeur. The most common types are:
- pine trees;
- ate;
- cedars;
- larch trees;
- cypress trees;
- thu;
- juniper;
- yew.
One of the main attractive features of these plants is that they are evergreen and do not drop leaves during the winter cold season (the exception is larch).
Flowering, or angiosperms
This is the largest of all known plant groups today, which numbers more than 280 thousand species. The main feature is the formation of the reproductive organ of the flower, in which there are special structures adapted for reproduction.
The ovary and seed are formed in the flower, which is then protected by the fetal tissue. That is why these plants are called angiosperms. The flowers themselves are so diverse in appearance, shape, color of the corolla, size, which can only be admired and surprised.
Of great importance among flowering is given to medicinal plants. They help people and animals in the fight against various diseases, have an effect on almost all body systems.
The classification of flowering is extensive, therefore, we consider only the most common families of the two main classes - monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous.
- Monocotyledons: cereals (rye, wheat, oats, sorghum, millet, corn), lily (tulips, lilies, hazel grouse), bulb (onions, garlic, perennial meadow herbs).
- Dicotyledons: rosaceae (rosehip, pear, plum, apples, raspberries, strawberries, roses), moths, or legumes (peanuts, lupins, acacia, soybeans, peas, clover, beans, beans), cruciferous (cabbage, rape, mustard, horseradish , radish), nightshade (tomatoes or tomatoes, peppers, nightshade, eggplant, petunia and others), Asteraceae (dandelions, chamomiles, cornflowers, sunflowers, coltsfoot and others).
The variety of flowering plants is so great that to cover them all with one article, of course, is impossible. After all, each family is estimated at hundreds and thousands of species, has its own individual characteristics in structure and appearance.
Poisonous plants
Unfortunately, despite the unsurpassed beauty, many plants have strong toxic properties, that is, are poisonous, contain substances in various concentrations that can paralyze or kill humans, animals, and any other living creatures.
Such representatives should be introduced to children from childhood, so that they understand how dangerous the world can be. The variety of plants related to poisonous is quite large, there are thousands of species. We will name only a few common representatives:
- snowdrop snow;
- eastern hyacinth;
- Colchicum autumnum;
- daffodils;
- Amaryllis
- May lily of the valley;
- sleeping pills;
- the dicenter is magnificent;
- common buttercup;
- killer whales;
- dieffenbachia;
- rhododendrons;
- oleanders and many others.
Obviously, medicinal plants can be attributed to the same group. In an increased dose, any medicine can become poison.
Insectivorous flowers
Some plants of the tropics and the equatorial part of the planet are interesting in terms of nutrition. They are insectivorous and produce not a pleasant and exciting aroma, but a fetid odor. The main types:
- Venus flytrap;
- sundew;
- nepentes;
- Sarracenia
- pemphigus;
- fat girl.
Outwardly, they are very interesting in shape and bright in color. They have different mechanisms and devices for capturing and digesting insects and small rodents.