KINGDOM PLANTAE (VEGETABLE): CHARACTERISTICS, TYPES, EXAMPLES - BIOLOGY - 2025

The plantae kingdom or plant kingdom is that group of living beings that are commonly known as plants and / or vegetables. It is made up of approximately 260,000 species that are distributed in various classifications, such as woody plants, liverworts, mosses, ferns, herbaceous plants and shrubs.

The way of life of plants and vegetables adapts to environments that are in water –aquatic ecosystems– and also on land –terrestrial ecosystems-, apart from being able to survive in extreme hot and cold environments. On the other hand, they are living beings and share their main characteristics.

Therefore, the species of the plant kingdom are called plants or vegetables (both terms are synonymous and can be used equally). Plants are generally divided into many biotypes that are classified according to their shape.

They can also be classified according to other criteria depending on their operation, internal structure and other aspects that are inherent to these living beings, which are very complex in terms of their structure and internal functioning.

Given their great utility in various fields ranging from medicine to biofuels, through cooking and textile products of plant origin, plants have been the subject of many studies.

Main characteristics of the kingdom p

Morphology: root, stem and leaves

In general terms, plants are characterized by having three essential parts: the root, the stem and the leaf.

With the root, the plant is fixed to its substrate, which is normally the soil, and absorbs the nutrients that come with water and that also has the earth.

With the stem, the plant is prolonged --usually upwards- and the organic fluids of the plant pass into its vascular tissue. With the leaves, the plant performs photosynthesis and respiration. In this sense, photosynthetic organisms are essential for maintaining the balance of the planet.

Growth guided by hormones and tropisms

Plants grow by two factors: hormones and tropisms. Hormones comprise the most important mechanism for plants as they are the chemical components without which these living beings would not exist.

In addition, they are also responsible for inhibiting the development of the stem when necessary and preventing the leaves, fruits and flowers from falling before their time.

Hormones, therefore, serve as a biochemical means of regulation, as in animals.

For their part, tropisms are those elements external to plants that, together with hormones, determine their growth.

In this way, plants have biological "clocks" that are properly timed to adjust to their flowering periods, wind, and even gravity.

Of all the tropisms, the best known is the response to light, in which the stem tends to grow towards that part of the environment from where there is more light stimulus.

Cell structure

Plant cells are similar to animal cells, although they have some distinctive characteristics; They are eukaryotic cells with a large central vacuole, cell wall of cellulose and hemicelluloses, plasmodesmata, and plasts.

Life cycle

Plants reproduce mainly through pollen, which can lead to fertilization by two means; one, pollen travels by wind, as in gymnosperms, and two, pollen can start a new plant by fertilization with pollinating animals, as occurs in angiosperms.

In addition, it should be noted that the life cycle of plants includes both mitosis and meiosis in terms of their cell division processes.

Of course, there are many plants that manage to reproduce by themselves, but there are others that play the role of invaders, which is why they are classified as parasites.

This is often seen in weeds, or weeds as it is known, because their life cycle needs plants from which they can absorb their water and nutrients to achieve their full development.

Defense mechanisms

Since plants cannot move, they have no means of fleeing from a threat. However, this is not to say that they have no way of countering potential predators or unwanted guests.

To scare them away, plants can use chemical mechanisms that are in their flowers and fruits, so that they are not eaten, although they can also use the thorns of their stems and branches, such as roses.

Lack of locomotion

As specified before, the specimens of the kingdom Plantae are not able to move. This implies that their reproduction is not done through copulation in the style of more complex animals, such as mammals, but through passive methods, such as pollination by wind or by pollinating animals, such as bees.

Likewise, plants, given their null mobility of the substrate in which they are found, cannot defend themselves except by the secretion of toxic substances or related means.

Autotrophic organism

Plants are autotrophic organisms; that is, they feed on their own without the need to eat or absorb what other living beings produce.

This means that plants obtain organic matter from inorganic substances; from carbon dioxide they obtain carbon and from light they obtain the typical chemical reactions of photosynthesis that produce energy. Therefore, plants have a high level of autonomy.

Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll are green pigments found in cyanobacteria and chloroplasts in algae and plants. It is essential in photosynthesis, which allows plants to absorb energy from light.

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that is used to carry out their activities.

That energy is stored in carbohydrates, such as sugars, which are synthesized from H20 and carbon dioxide.

They have great adaptability

Plants are the living beings with the greatest capacity to adapt to all the ecosystems that exist on Earth. In areas of extreme temperatures, such as deserts and polar regions, there are plant species perfectly adapted to difficult climatic conditions.

Reproduction of

The reproduction of plants is the process by which they generate new individuals or descendants. The reproductive process of the plantae kingdom can be sexual or asexual.

Sexual reproduction is the formation of offspring through the fusion of gametes. Plants that reproduce sexually have female and male organs in their flowers.

During fertilization, a structure called an egg or zygote is produced that later originates a seed. It will germinate to become a new plant.

On the other hand, asexual reproduction occurs without the fusion of gametes (reproductive cells of plants).

The transmission of the genetic content takes place through spores that travel through external agents (water, air and others) to favorable substrates where they germinate in a new plant.

Sexual reproduction can generate genetically different offspring from the parents. In cases of asexual reproduction, the offspring are genetically identical, unless there is a mutation.

On the other hand, in higher plants, the offspring are packed in a protective seed. This can last for a long time and can disperse the offspring some distance from the parents.

In flowering plants (angiosperms), the seed itself is contained within a fruit, which can protect the developing seeds and aid in their dispersal.

Classification of plants (types)

In the beginning, taxonomists adopted a system of classification of plants depending on their physical characteristics. Thus, aspects such as color, type of leaves, among others, were taken into account.

This type of classification, which is called the artificial system, failed when scientists discovered that the environment where plants grow could alter these characteristics.

With each discovery, the specialists developed a natural method of classification. This was also based on physical characteristics but this time on comparable ones, such as the number of cotyledons and floral characteristics.

As expected, this method also underwent modifications, a product of the course followed by research in the plant kingdom.

Currently, the most commonly followed system is the phylogenetic classification system. This is based on the evolutionary relationships between plants.

This is more advanced because it incorporates the knowledge of the common ancestor of the organisms to establish the relationship between them.

Vascular plants or tracheophytes

Vascular plants, also called tracheophytes or cormophytes, are those that have an appreciable and differentiated root, stem and leaves.

In addition, their distinctive feature is a vascular system, made up of xylem and phloem, which internally distributes both water and nutrients.

First, xylem is the main water and mineral conducting tissue in plants. It consists of hollow, tubular cells arranged from one end of the plant to the other.

In this way, the water transported in the xylem replaces that which is lost through evaporation and which is necessary for its internal processes.

For its part, the phloem is what conducts food for the plant. This includes carbohydrates, hormones, amino acids, and other substances for growth and nutrition.

Within the group of vascular plants or tracheophytes can be found the pteridophytes (without seeds) and phanerogams (with seeds). Below is a brief description of each of these.

Pteridophytes

Pteridophyte plants are also known as cryptogams. Their main characteristic is that they do not produce flowers. Its reproduction occurs through spores. For their reproductive process they require humid climates.

Phanerogams or spermatophytes

Spermatophyte plants differ from pteridophytes by the production of seeds. For this reason, they are considered highly evolved. They are divided into the group of gymnosperms and that of angiosperms.

-Gymnosperms

The defining characteristic of this type of plant is that in addition to producing seeds, they also produce flowers.

Its natural habitat is located in regions with a cold or temperate climate. Its leaves are of the evergreen type; that is, they remain alive all year round. Its pollination is carried out through the wind.

-Angiosperms

Angiosperms make up the largest group of vascular plants. These have showy flowers, seeds and, in addition, fruits.

On the other hand, they produce less pollen than gymnosperms. Pollinations are carried out by contact between its flowers and animals (birds, insects and others).

Another characteristic of these representatives of the plantae kingdom is the presence of an ovule enclosed in the fruit.

Depending on how many seeds are contained, there will be monocotyledonous angiosperms (one seed) or dicotyledonous (two seeds).

Non-vascular or talophytic plants

This group of plants is characterized by lacking vascular tissue such as tracheophytes. Additionally, they do not present a defined structure of root, stem and leaves.

For this reason, some biologists consider them to be an intermediate group between algae and ferns. Furthermore, they speculate on the idea that they may have originated from green algae that adapted to the soil.

Examples of the kingdom plantae

Vascular plants

In the group of monocots, flowers such as lilies (Lilium), lilies (Micromesistius poutassou) and tulips (Tulipa) stand out. Some of the grasses are wheat (Triticum), corn (Zea mays), and oats (Avena sativa).

Likewise, fruit plants such as mango (Mangifera indica), pineapple (Ananas comosus) and bananas (Musa acuminata) belong to this group.

In the palm family, there are coconut trees (Cocos nucifera), dates (Phoenix dactylifera) and palm trees (Arecaceae).

Within the dicotyledons, there are flowers such as magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora), sunflowers (Helianthus annuus), and violets (Viola odorata). These also include fruit plants such as vine (Vitis vinifera) and strawberries (Fragaria).

In the same way, this group includes plants that produce edible grains such as beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), lentils (Lens culinaris) and peas (Pisum sativum).

Non-vascular plants

In the kingdom plantae, non-vascular plants are made up of the classes hepaticae (liverworts), anthocerotae (hornworms), and musci (mosses).

Among the liverworts, the source liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha), the ricciocarpus (ricciocarpus natans) and the asterella (Asterella ludwigii) can be considered.

Among the hornworts and mosses are: luminous moss (Schistostega pennata), pleurocarpic moss (Hylocomium splendens) and climacium dendroids (Climacium dendroides.

References

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