>INTRODUCTION
●What is a plant?
-It is an eukaryotic specie(species which have membrane bound cells) which forms the kingdom Plantae.
-It obtain energy from sunlight using its chloroplast to produce sugar from carbon dioxide and water with the help of green pigment called chlorophyll, hence it is known to be photosynthetic.
-There are some exceptions like Parasitic plants who doesn't perform photosynthesis because of the absence if chlorophyll,so they fulfill their energy needs from other plants or fungi.
●Statistics on The Plant Species
- There are about 380,000 species of plants out of which 260,000 species produce seeds,ranging in size from tallest trees to single cells.
-80 to 90% of them produce flowers that is they are flowering plants.
-The most primitive of all existing plants are the lowly liverworts.
-The tree in India that is believed to be around 5,000 years old is the Great Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis) located in the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden (formerly known as the Indian Botanic Garden) in Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal.
>TYPES OF PLANTS
●Flowering Plants
- The plants which have the ability to produce flowers,fruits and clade.
-Their clades are known as angiospermae,it is a Greek word
angeion meaning container or vessel
sperma meaning seed. Hence,it basically means seeds are enclosed within the fruit.
- They are the most diverse groups of land plants with 64 orders,416 families, 13,000 genra and 300,000 known species.
-The families of flowering plants supply nearly all plant based foods like rice,maize and wheat, they also provide feed fir livestock feed.
●Trees
- It is a perennial plant with an elongated stem or trunk and it supports branches and leaves.
- They include woody plants with secondary growth, and plants which are above the specific height.
-The majority of them are angiosperms or hardwoods; of the rest, many are gymnosperms or softwoods.
-They tend to live long,some trees reaching several thousand years old. They evolved around 370 million years ago, and it is estimated that there are around three trillion mature trees in the world currently.
●Succulents
-The plants with thickened,engorged and fleshy parts to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions.
-The world succulent is derived from a Latin word sucus meaning juice or sap.
-They store water in various structures like leaves and stems.
-The water content of some succulent organs can get up to 90–95%,such as Glottiphyllum semicyllindricum and Mesembryanthemum barkleyii.
-. The habitats of these water-preserving plants are often in areas with high temperatures and low rainfall, such as deserts, but succulents may be found even in alpine ecosystems growing in rocky or sandy soil.
●Mosses and Ferns
- The primitive,non flowering, seedless plants which reproduce by spores are known as Mosses and Ferns.
-They are found in moist shade conditions and show alternation of generations.
-Although they both have some differences like,
•Mosses are non-vascular while Ferns are vascular.
•Mosses are small and don't have true leaves, stems, or roots while Ferns have well-differentiated leaves, stems, and roots.
•Mosses reproduce asexually by breaking off into new plants with identical genetic information while Ferns reproduce asexually by producing spores that can grow into new plants.
>PLANT STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
●Roots
- It is an organ of the plant which are modified to provide encourage water and nutrients to the plant body to help plants grow taller and faster.
- They are mostly found below the soil but roots can be aerial also that is growing above the ground.
-Root morphology is divided into four zones: the root cap, the apical meristem, the elongation zone, and the hair.
●Stems
- The main stalk of a plant is known as stem which supports leaves,flowers and fruits.
- It is connected with the roots and transports water,nutrients and sugars to other parts of the plants.
-It also aids in producing a new living tissue and sometimes gets modified to look like other part of a plant for example, underground stems that loom like roots.
●Leaves
-These are considered as the main organ for plant to produce food using sunlight having different sizes,shapes and textures.
- They have an abaxial (upper part) and adaxial (lower part) surfaces which differ in colour,hairness, number of stomata(pores that intake and output gases),he amount and structure of epicuticular wax, and other features.
-They are mostly green in color because of the presence of a compound called chlorophyll which is essential for photosynthesis as it absorbs light energy from the Sun.
- A leaf with lighter-colored or white patches or edges is called a variegated leaf.
>IMPORTANCE OF PLANTS
●Oxygen Production- Plants produce oxygen as a a byproduct of photosynthesis,thus cleaning the air of the ecosystem. This proves to be helpful for all the living species like animals,birds and human beings to breathe and survive.
●Food Source - Plants have been proved to have a rich source of fibre and nutrients. They provide these nutrients in the form of fruits,vegetables,cereals,lentils and seeds.
●Medicinal Uses- They help in treating infections,heart health,reducing inflammation and cancers. Coriander,mint,fenugreek,sage,lavender and sage are some of the medicinal plants.
●Environmental Benefits - Plants have many benefits like:
•Maintaing soil stability
•Regulation of water cycle
•Providing Habitat to animals and insects
•Purification of air and water
>CONCLUSION
As we wrap up this interesting plant world, we find the plants indispensable for our existence. In addition to oxygen and food giving plants, they are the grass to which biodiversity and climate can be regulated
Plants are the plants, and they do so much more than just the aesthetics we take for granted — they are biodiverse resources at their finest that have adapted over time to survive pretty much everywhere on planet earth.
Looking to the future, plants will undoubtedly be a key driver in the solution for some of the biggest problems facing our world today (climate change; food security & human health etc.).
The next time a plant invades your view, remind yourself that these organisms is so important and the scope in which many provide life on Earth. So, take good care and save our Plant kingdom for the health of the mother earth as well as all life.