Kingdom Plantae Examples, Classification and Characteristics

The classification of the plant kingdom or the Kingdom Plantae, based on characteristics, along with examples is as follows:

• Primary classification
  • Flowering plants – Plants that bear flowers
    • Angiosperms – mango, peas, apple, sugarcane, and grass.
    • Gymnosperms – pine, fir, cedar, and spruce trees
  • Non-flowering plants – Plants that do not bear flowers
    • Algae – Chlamydomonas, and Spirogyra
    • Bryophyta – mosses
    • Pteridophyta – ferns
• Classification and examples of plant kingdom based on habit
  • Herbs – Mustard, pea, paddy, and ladyfinger
  • Shrubs – China-rose, and oleander
  • Trees – mango, cedar, and spruce
• Classification and examples of the kingdom Plantae based on lifecycle
  • Annual – Wheat, peas, and rice
  • Biennial – Reddish, carrot, and turnip
  • Perennial – Guava, palm, and coconut.
• Classification and examples of plant kingdom based on the mode of nutrition
  • Autotrophs – plants that prepare their food – Most green-colored plants
  • Heterotrophs – Plant which does not prepare food
    • Parasites – Cuscuta, and Viscum
    • Saprophytes – yeast, and fungi.
• Classification and examples of kingdom Plantae based on habitat
  • Mesophytes – mango, and apple
  • Hydrophytes – Lotus, and water-lily
  • Xerophytes – Cactus

Click here to download – Classification of the Kingdom Plantae with characteristics and examples

Topics Covered:

• Introduction
• Primary classification and examples of the plant kingdom
  1. Non-flowering Plants
  2. Flowering Plants
• Other classifications and examples of the Kingdom Plantae
  1. Habit
  2. Life Cycle
  3. Mode of Nutrition
  4. Habitat

INTRODUCTION

The Plant Kingdom or the Kingdom Plantae comprises 17% of the total species studied by mankind to date. In number, it comes out to be nearly 2,21,000. Isn’t it large? Interestingly, this number is only 15% of the total species of plants present on the planet Earth.

Plants exhibit great diversity in characteristics. Some of them are microscopic and invisible to the eyes and then there are others as huge as a banyan tree. Due to their large number and varying characteristics, it is impossible to study them individually. So, to help, all members of the plant kingdom with similar characteristics are clubbed together to form groups. We call this process – the classification of the plant kingdom or the kingdom Plantae. In this post, we will learn about the different bases used for classification in the Kingdom Plantae, along with examples and characteristics of each group. For classification of the animal kingdom, click here.

Click here to download – Classification of the Kingdom Plantae with characteristics and examples

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PRIMARY CLASSIFICATION OF THE PLANT KINGDOM WITH EXAMPLES

Plants are useful to all of us. They provide us with useful products, for example – (i) cereals like wheat and, rice (ii) fruits like bananas, apples, and mangoes (iii) vegetables like potato, spinach, beans, and tomato (iv) sugar, tea, coffee (v) wood for our home (vi) medicines and numbers of other items. How have these large numbers of products become available to us? It is because there is a great variety of plant life on the planet Earth. They differ in habitat, types of plants, size, habit, duration of life cycles, mode of nutrition, and various other characteristics. Many plants have also developed special organs for performing special functions like climbing and protection.

We can classify the Kindom Plantae in numerous ways, however, the most common one is the division in a group of non-flowering and flowering plants.

• Non-flowering plants do not bear flowers. Examples are Chlamydomonas, Spirogyra, mosses, and ferns.
• Flowering plants, as the name suggests, bear flowers. Examples are mango, rose, sunflower, sugarcane, grass, pine, fir, and cedar.

Due to the varying characteristics of flowering plants, they are further classified based on habit, duration of the life cycle, mode of nutrition, and habitat.

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1.0 NON-FLOWERING PLANTS

Nonflowering plants have three classifications – Algae, Bryophyta, and Pteridophyta

ALGAE

Algae is aquatic in habitat and found both in marine and freshwater. They are usually green and have chlorophyll. Mostly they are found on the surface of the ponds where they get ample sunlight for preparing food. Algae may be single-celled or multi-celled. Examples are – Chlamydomonas single-celled algae and Spirogyra which is a multi-celled filament-shaped algae commonly found in ponds.

Click here to download – Classification of the Kingdom Plantae with characteristics and examples

BRYOPHYTA (MOSSES)

Bryophyta or mosses grow as green, velvety layers in moist and shady places such as damp soil, on the bark of trees, and on damp walls. These plants have peculiar characteristics in that they have stems and leaves, but no roots. Instead, they have threadlike structures called rhizoids that stick to the surface and absorb water and minerals.

PTERIDOPHYTES (FERNS)

Pteridophytes or ferns are grown in most of the gardens for their beautiful leaves. They bear well-formed leaves, stems, and roots, but do not produce flowers and seeds. Their leaves produce small rounded bodies on their under surface. These bodies contain tiny spores, which are capable of producing plants. When leaves fall or these spores get scattered and reach the soil, they produce new plants. It is important to note that spores are not seeds.

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Click here to download – Classification of the Kingdom Plantae with characteristics and examples

2.0 FLOWERING PLANTS

Flowering plants are also known as seed-bearing plants. They further have two classifications – Gymnosperms and Angiosperms.

GYMNOSPERMS

The Gymnosperms are the group of plants that bear seeds, but no fruits. Their seeds are thin and naked, not enclosed in fruits (‘gymno’ means ‘naked’; sperm means ‘seed’). Most gymnosperms are evergreen i.e. they do not shed all their leaves at one time. Some examples are pine, fir, cedar, and spruce trees that grow in hilly areas. Pine and fir are usually big trees. They do not bear true flowers, but they carry seeds inside the cones.

ANGIOSPERMS

Angiosperms are a group of plants that bear flowers, fruits, and seeds (‘angios‘ means ‘case‘ referring to the fruit;  ‘sperm‘ means ‘seed‘). One of the most important characteristics of angiosperms is that their seeds are enclosed in a fruit. Some common examples are mango, peas, apples, sugarcane, grass, etc. In angiosperms, the seeds develop within the female part of the flower, called the ovary. The ovary grows into fruit and ovules inside the ovary grow to form seeds.

Think of the plants such as sugar cane and mint or even the lawn grass. Do they bear flowers? They are flowering plants indeed. If you observe the lawn grass, you can, at times, see tiny flowers on it. Similarly, sugarcane, and mint bear flowers. Since these plants are cut for human use before they mature to produce flowers, we do not see their leaves.

Angiosperms can be further classified into two groups – monocotyledons and dicotyledons. If you observe a germinating gram seed, you will notice two thick “seed-leaves“. These leaves store food and form the bulk of the seed. Similarly, when you eat peeled groundnuts, you find two thick bits in a single seed. We call these bits – cotyledons. Cotyledons store food required by the seedlings during germination. Monocotyledons are plants that bear seeds with a single cotyledon or one seed leaf in their seeds. For example, maize and carrots. Dicotyledons are plants that bear seeds with two cotyledons or two seed leaves in their seeds. For example, gram and pea.

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CLASSIFICATION OF PLANT KINGDOM BASED ON CHARACTERISTICS FEATURES

Other than the classification of the kingdom Plantae on the basis of flowering and non-flowering plants. The Plant kingdom classification is also based on characteristics features like – habit, types of plants, size, duration of life cycles, mode of nutrition, and habitat.

Click here to download – Classification of the Kingdom Plantae with characteristics and examples

1.0 Classification and Example of Kingdom Plantae Based on Habit

Under this classification, flowering plants are divided into three groups based on their habits or physical features – herbs, shrubs, and trees.

HERBS

Herbs are small plants with a soft stem. They do not grow more than three to four feet in height. Examples – Mustard, sunflower, pea, coriander, paddy, and ladyfinger.

SHRUBS

Shrubs are medium-sized plants with hard and woody stems. Many branches are seen rising just above the ground. Examples – China-rose, rose, and oleander.

TREES

Trees are tall plants with hard and woody stems. They have the main trunk from which branches and leaves arise. Trees generally survive for several years. Examples – mango, coconut, neem, and banyan.

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Click here to download – Classification of the Kingdom Plantae with characteristics and examples

2.0 PLANT KINGDOM CLASSIFICATION AND EXAMPLES BASED ON LIFE CYCLE

Based on the life cycle, flowering plants can be classified as annual, biennial, and perennial plants.

ANNUAL PLANTS

These plants complete their life cycle in one year from seed to flower. They grow from seeds, produce flowers, seeds, and die in the same years. Examples – Wheat, peas, rice, tomato, pulses, etc.

BIENNIAL PLANTS

These plants have a two-year life cycle. In the first year, they produce leaves and roots. In the winter, the leaves die. The root survives and new leaves, flowers, and seeds are produced in the second year. The plant then dies. Examples – radish, carrot, beetroot, and turnip.

PERENNIAL PLANTS

These plants live for many years and produce roots that store food. Food is also sometimes stored in other parts of the plant. The root survives the winter and the plant produces leaves, flowers, and seeds year after year. Examples – Mango, guava, palm, and coconut.

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3.0 CLASSIFICATION AND EXAMPLES OF KINGDOM PLANTAE BASED ON MODE OF NUTRITION

Like animals, plants need food. Based on their nutrition, the plants are classified into two groups – autotrophs and heterotrophs.

AUTOTROPHS

As discussed in the post, classification of living things, autotrophs are those plants that prepare their own food. These plants are green-colored due to the presence of green pigment, chlorophyll. With the help of chlorophyll in the presence of sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide they prepare food by the process of photosynthesis. Examples – Most green-colored plants.

HETEROTROPHS

Heterotrophs are non-green plants and are dependent on other plants or animals for obtaining food. They are of two types, depending upon the source from which they obtain their nutrition – parasites, and saprophytes.

• Saprophytes feed on the dead and decomposed bodies of plants and animals. Examples – are yeast, mushrooms, and fungi.
• Parasites are those plants that obtain their food from other living organisms without killing them. Examples – Cuscuta, Viscum, and Orobanche.

For a better understanding of parasitic plants, go through a fascinating YouTube video from Twig Education

Click here to download – Classification of the Kingdom Plantae with characteristics and examples

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4.0 PLANT KINGDOM CLASSIFICATION AND EXAMPLES BASED ON HABITAT

Plants are also classified based on their natural place of occurrence (habitat) as – mesophytes, hydrophytes, and xerophytes.

MESOPHYTES

Mesophytes are plants living on land with sufficient water. Examples – herbs, trees (mango, apple).

HYDROPHYTES

Hydrophytes are plants that live in water. Examples – lotus and water lily.

XEROPHYTES

Xerophytes are plants that live on land with a scarcity of water, as in a desert. Examples – cactus

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