Learn what vascular plants are. Understand through various examples how vascular plants work. See the types of vascular plants and their characteristics.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Vascular Plants | Characteristics, Types & Examples
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Vascular Plants Word Scramble Activity
For this activity, study the scrambled letters and try to unscramble or rearrange the letters to form a word or phrase that fits the given clues. To do this, you must right-click and print this page. With a pencil and an eraser, neatly write your answers in the blank space provided.
Scrambled Words
_________________________1. SNGYRPMOEMS
_________________________2.OOOTNCMS
_________________________3. ERIASR OEDROWD
_________________________4. RPSOES
_________________________5. LCORCRAUTIY
_________________________6. YMLXE
_________________________7. OSTOR
_________________________8. LOUNWEFRS
_________________________9. OTIEDSCU
_________________________10. SVARALCU
Clues
- Any plant, such as pine and cedar, whose seeds are enclosed cones rather than in an ovary.
- A class of flowering plants recognized by the single embryonic leaf within the seed.
- This tree is considered as the largest vascular plant in the world.
- A reproductive particle, usually a single cell, released by a fungus, alga, or plant that may germinate into another.
- Vascular vessels resemble this type of system found in humans.
- Refers to a vascular tissue primarily responsible for the distribution of water and minerals are taken up by the roots.
- The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchor and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients.
- This is an angiosperm whose floral head has the form of a large disk surrounded by yellow flower petals.
- A group of flowering plants whose vascular vessels are arranged in a ring towards the outside edge of the plant.
- Pertains to vessels that conduct or circulate fluids through the body of a plant.
Answers
- GYMNOSPERMS
- MONOCOTS
- SIERRA REDWOOD
- SPORES
- CIRCULATORY
- XYLEM
- ROOTS
- SUNFLOWER
- EUDICOTS
- VASCULAR
What does vascular mean in plants?
Vascular means in possession of organic transport tissue such as a xylem or phloem, usually bundled together into a vascular bundle.
What plants are vascular plants?
Vascular plants are plants that have vascular tissue such as xylem or phloem. The two are often paired together, resulting in a vascular bundle.
What is the most common vascular plant?
Angiosperms are considered the most common vascular plant in the entire world, both in distribution and in the number of species.
Table of Contents
ShowMany scientists are curious about how plants came to be. What were the first plants and how did plants evolve into what they are today? How will plants change in the future? These are questions that many scientists are curious about, and looking at the fossil records, they theorize that one of the key evolutions that happened in the universe of plants involves a complex network of living tubes. The bigger an organism is, the more structural support it needs. Plants like moss and lichens, and even bacteria like pond scum and cyanobacteria, are small. Those organisms do not grow tall but often clump together, forming living mounds. People can see these clumps on rocks and on the water surface of some bodies of water. Yet, if these plants could grow taller or grow into the ground, they could outcompete other plants by getting more sunlight, increasing their range of getting nutrients, and increasing their sturdiness.
For these reasons, scientists think that plants developed vascular tissues, organic tissue tubing that transports water, nutrients, and other molecules up and down the plant. This tissue is usually divided into two main types: the xylem and the phloem. The xylem is an organic tissue tubing that transports water and nutrients dissolved in that water to the rest of the plant. The phloem is the organic tissue tubing that transports glucose, sucrose, and other complex food molecules from the leaves of the plants to the rest of the plant. The xylem and phloem together make up an intertwined structure called the vascular bundle. This vascular bundle was among the first true structural supports found in plants. It allowed for the formation of roots, leaves, and stems, and drove the plant diversity found today.
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Vascular Plant Characteristics
The larger an organism is, the more complex and efficient the nutrient and water transport systems need to be. Small moss mounds can transport nutrients from cell to cell and that can be efficient when the structure is small. Trees cannot survive by moving water and glucose from cell to cell when it may be a 40-foot distance from the root tip to the leaves. Efficient transport is necessary for survival.
Vascular plants are defined by having tissue that can transport water, glucose, sucrose, and other molecules. Organisms such as liverworts, hornworts, mosses, cyanobacteria, and lichens can not be considered vascular. Moonwarts, ferns, and brakes are considered to be some of the simplest organisms that have vascular tissue. Depending on the family or genus, the only major significant difference between organisms like lichens and liverworts is the vascular tissue. From this point onward the fossil records suggest that cycads, ginkgos, gnetophytes, and all following plants became more complex and could become more complex because of vascular tissue.
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Most plants are vascular and very few are not; therefore, this lesson will cover the types of vascular plants in broad generalizations. Plants like ferns, cycads, ginkgos, gnetophytes, conifers, angiosperms, monocots, and dicots comprise over a million species and can be difficult to understand as a broad group. The four main groups are: ferns, gymnosperms, angiosperm monocots, and angisperm dicots. Ferns are seedless, vascular plants that spread by roots, cuttings, or spores, among other ways. Plants under the categories of gnetophytes, moonwarts, brakes, ginkos, and cycads usually get grouped under ferns due to their "unevolved" and simple characteristics. Gymnosperms are basically the conifer branch of plants that have shells protecting their seeds (such as pinecones). Hemlocks, spruces, and junipers are also considered gymnosperms.
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Angiosperms are often called flowering plants as they produce their seeds inside flowers and usually form a covering over their seeds. Angiosperms are a broad category, being the most common vascular plant in existence. Many people will then split this group in two, forming the monocots and the eucodots/dicots. Angiosperm monocots are plants that germinate with only one leaf, tend to have fibrous roots, usually have parallel veins in their leaves, and tend to have a flower petal count like 3, 6, 9, and onwards. Grasses like wheat and corn are examples of these plants, although many orchids are also monocots. Angiosperm diocots are plants that germinate with two leaves, tend to have taproots, usually don't have parallel veins in their leaves, and tend to have a flower petal count in multiples of 4, 5, and even 7 in rare cases. Beets, carrots, and pumpkins are all dicots (but don't discount nettles and tomatoes!).
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Most plants are vascular and it's easy to be overwhelmed by their variety. Due to there being so many species in most groups, only a few examples are listed here. This is by no means a comprehensive species list.
Ferns and related plants
Ferns: common horsetails, water clover, common moonwart, cliff brake, and mountain ferns
Cycads: Japanese sago palm, Mexican horn cone, and burrawong
Gnetophytes: welwitschia, melinjo, and Chinese ephedra
Ginko: one species only
Gymnosperms
Conifers: Colorado blue spruce, Chinese pine, Lawson cypress, European yew, Scandinavian juniper, and Caucasian fir
Angiosperms
Monocots: white water lily, black pepper, sassafras, and Joshua tree
Dicots: cactus, pitcher plants, peonies, nightshade, and watermellon
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Fossil records have shown that photosynthesizing organisms like moss, lichens, and cyanobacteria were growing in separate cells or in small clumps and mounds. In order to grow larger, increase stability, and obtain more water/nutrients, a change was necessary. Vascular tissue was developed, yielding organic tissue tubing that transports water and nutrients very efficiently. The two main types of vascular tissue include the xylem, which transports water, and the phloem, which transports food. They often grow together to form a vascular bundle.
Due to vascular plants being more efficient in transporting water and nutrients, plants can grow larger and support various structures such as complex leaves, flowers, and intricate root structures. Plants like liverworts and hornworts are not vascular plants due to a lack of vascular tissue. Plants like ferns are considered the simplest vascular plants and all other plants are considered more complex vascular plants.
The main groups of plants are ferns, which are seedless vascular plants, gymnosperms (conifers), and angiosperms, which are flowering plants. Angiosperms are split again into two groups: monocots, which germinate with 1 leaf, fibrous roots, parallel leaves, and petal counts in multiples of 3, and dicots, which germinate with 2 leaves, have a taproot, and contain petal counts in multiples of 4, 5, and 7.
It all comes together to form a complex and dynamic world that got its start long ago.
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Video Transcript
Definition
Think about the largest tree you have ever seen. How do you think the tree moves water and food through that very tall trunk? Some types of plants, known as vascular plants, have a system of vessels within them that carry water and food throughout the plant. These vessels are found in the roots, stems, and leaves of the plant.
The vascular vessels are divided into two types based on what they transport. The phloem are vessels on the outer layer of the stem that transport food materials, such as sugars from the leaves where they are produced or from storage tissues, to the rest of the plant. If a tree is cut, you can often see sap seep out of the tree, and this is the contents of the phloem. If you have ever had maple syrup, it is the processed form of the sap that is found in the phloem of maple trees. The second type of vascular vessel is the xylem; these are the vessels that transport water throughout the plant. The xylem vessels carry water from the roots up the plant and to the leaves.
Not only do vascular vessels help plants move water and food more efficiently throughout the plant, they also make it possible for the plant to grow larger. By having these vessels, plants can move necessary supplies farther and therefore grow larger. These vascular vessels are similar to the closed circulatory system of humans, because both systems transport nutrients and allow the organisms to grow larger due to the ability to transport farther.
Common examples of vascular plants include trees, shrubs, grasses, flowering plants, and ferns. In Grand Canyon National Park, in the United States, there are over 1,700 known species of vascular plants. Many of these plants are also endemic to this park, meaning that they are only known to exist in this specific area.
Types of Vascular Plants
The general characteristics associated with vascular plants incorporate a broad range of plants, and therefore these plants can be divided further into more specific categories. Vascular plants can be divided by their method of reproduction. Vascular plants that reproduce by the use of spores are characterized as ferns. This type of vascular plant is often referred to as a seedless vascular plant.
The majority of vascular plants reproduce by creating seeds rather than spores and are classified as either gymnosperms or angiosperms. Gymnosperms are vascular plants that create cones to house their seeds. Common gymnosperms include large trees, such as cedars, hemlocks, pines, and spruces.
Angiosperms are vascular plants that create their seeds inside fruits or flowers and are often referred to simply as flowering plants. Some common examples of angiosperms include sunflowers, dogwood trees, elm trees, lilies, and maple trees.
Being that angiosperms are a very large group of plants, with over 250,000 known species, they are often further classified into monocots and eudicots. Monocots are known for having one original leaf from their seed, parallel veins in their leaves, flower parts in multiples of three, and a fibrous root system.
Eudicots vary from monocots because they have two original leaves from their seed, branched veins, flower parts in multiples of four or five, and a taproot. Monocots and eudicots can also be distinguished from one another based on the arrangement of their vascular vessels. Eudicots have their vascular vessels arranged in a ring towards the outside edge of the plant, while monocots have a more complex arrangement with bundles of vascular vessels spread throughout the entire plant.
Size Variations
Vascular plants come in many different shapes, colors, and sizes. The largest vascular plants in the world are Sierra redwood trees, with the tallest individual tree being around 325 feet tall! Not only are these trees enormous in height, they are also very wide at their base. On average, the base of a Sierra redwood tree is around 30 feet across and 95 feet around.
Although having vascular vessels makes it possible for vascular plants to grow very large, some vascular plants prefer to remain small. The smallest vascular plant is an aquatic plant known as a water-meal. It is about the size of a candy sprinkle and the flowers are so small that they only have one pistil and one stamen. Water-meal is commonly found floating on the surface of lakes and marshes.
Lesson Summary
From microscopic flowers to towering trees, vascular plants are a diverse and interesting group of plants. Their vascular vessels used to transport food and water set them apart from other types of plants. Due to the large number of plants in this group they are often organized by how they reproduce, including creating spores, seeds within cones, and seeds within flowers or fruits. The wide diversity of vascular plants makes it possible for each environment to have a unique look even when most of the plants have the same basic design.
Learning Outcomes
After reading or viewing this lesson, put your knowledge to the test:
- Describe the purpose of vascular vessels
- Discuss the two types of vascular vessels
- Give an example of an angiosperm and a gymnosperm
- Compare and contrast eudicots and monocots
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