Kingdom Plantae

Description- Plants are a kingdom of organisms that includes trees, herbs, bushes, mosses, ferns, and more. They are generally stationary, and many plants get their energy from the light of the sun. Land plants also receive a large percentage of their nutrients from the soil, and reproduce through flowering, or spreading their pollen to other members of the species. Plants are a very common organism on the earth’s surface, and make up a significant percentage of the biomass.

Body Plan- Plants are multicellular, being complex eukaryotes that have many intracellular organelles and specialized tissues.

Divergent Event- Plants are descendants of the first eukaryotes, which evolved from prokaryotes about 1-2.5 billion years ago. The photosynthetic properties of plants result from traits that were originally acquired through endosymbiosis, with eukaryotes engulfing simpler photosynthetic organisms which eventually became the organelles that plants possess today

Metabolism-Plants are autotrophic in general, but there exist a few exceptions to this rule: Venus flytraps, for example, supplement their photosynthetic nutrition by consuming other organisms. An example of an autotrophic plant would be grass.

Digestion-Digestion in plants is extracellular.

Circulation- Vascular plants possess structures called the xylem and phloem, which transport water and nutrients from the plant’s leaves to its roots. Together, these structures make up the plant’s vein, which acts as its circulatory system.

Respiration- Plants perform cell respiration, which releases oxygen, but possess no respiratory organs.

Nervous system-Plant possess no nervous system

Reproduction-Plant can reproduce asexually and sexually. An example of sexual reproduction would be pollination, while an example of asexual reproduction is the binary fission that algae perform when reproducing.

Examples- Microsorum pteropus is a common fern used in many aquariums due to its small size and pleasing appearance.

A dandelion, or Taraxacum officinale, is a very common weed worldwide despite its beneficial properties to soil and natural health benefits.