Plant Kingdom – Plantae

Plantae is the plant kingdom which includes all plants on the earth. They are multi-cellular eukaryotes. They consist of cell walls and chlorophyll. Plants are photosynthetic. Hence, they have an autotrophic mode of nutrition. The plant kingdom is a vast group; therefore, the kingdom is further classified into subgroups. Level of classification is based on the following three criteria:

1.Plant body– whether the body has well-differentiated structures or not.

2 Vascular system-whether the plant has vascular system for transportation of substances or not.

3.Seed formation– whether the plant bears flowers and seeds or not; if it does, then whether it is enclosed within fruits or not.

Considering all these factors, the plant kingdom has been divided into two groups and five subgroups.

The two subgroups are:-

Cryptogams- reproduction through spores and no seed formation. They include subgroups Thallophyta, Bryophyta and Pteridophyta

Phanerogams-they have specialised reproductive organs and they produce seeds. Gymnosperms and Angiosperms belong to this group.