"Flowering Plants" redirects here. For the book by G. Ledyard Stebbins, see Flowering Plants: Evolution Above the Species Level.
Flowering plant
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous (Valanginian)-Recent
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Terrestrial: buttercup
Aquatic: water lily
Wind-pollinated: grass
Insect-pollinated: apple
Tree: oak
Forb: orchid
Diversity of angiosperms
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Clade:
Tracheophytes
Clade:
Spermatophytes
Clade:
Angiosperms
Groups (APG IV)[1]
Basal angiosperms
Amborellales
Nymphaeales
Austrobaileyales
Core angiosperms
Clades
Magnoliids
Monocots
Eudicots
Orders
Chloranthales
Ceratophyllales
Synonyms
Anthophyta Cronquist[2]
Angiospermae Lindl.
Magnoliophyta Cronquist, Takht. & W.Zimm.[3]
Magnolicae Takht.[4]
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (/ˌændʒiəˈspərmiː/),[5][6] commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of broad-leaved trees, shrubs and vines, and most aquatic plants. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ἀγγεῖον / angeion ('container, vessel') and σπέρμα / sperma ('seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. They are by far the most diverse group of land plants with 64 orders, 416 families, approximately 13,000 known genera and 300,000 known species.[7] Angiosperms were formerly called Magnoliophyta (/mæɡˌnoʊliˈɒfətə,-əˈfaɪtə/).[8]
Angiosperms are distinguished from the other seed-producing plants, the gymnosperms, by having flowers, xylem consisting of vessel elements instead of tracheids, endosperm within their seeds, and fruits that completely envelop the seeds.
The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from the common ancestor of all living gymnosperms before the end of the Carboniferous, over 300 million years ago. In the Cretaceous, angiosperms diversified explosively, becoming the dominant group of plants across the planet.
Agriculture is almost entirely dependent on angiosperms, and a small number of flowering plant families supply nearly all plant-based food and livestock feed. Rice, maize, and wheat provide half of the world's calorie intake, and all three plants are cereals from the Poaceae family (colloquially known as grasses). Other families provide materials such as wood, paper and cotton, and supply numerous ingredients for traditional and modern medicines. Flowering plants are also commonly grown for decorative purposes, with certain flowers playing a significant role in many cultures.
Out of the "Big Five" extinction events in Earth's history, only the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event had occurred while angiosperms dominated plant life on the planet. Today, the Holocene extinction affects all kingdoms of complex life on Earth, and conservation measures are necessary to protect plants in their habitats in the wild (in situ), or failing that, ex situ in seed banks or artificial habitats like botanic gardens. Otherwise, around 40% of plant species may become extinct due to human actions such as habitat destruction, introduction of invasive species, unsustainable logging and collection of medicinal or ornamental plants. Further, climate change is starting to impact plants and is likely to cause many species to become extinct by 2100.
^APG 2016.
^Cronquist 1960.
^Reveal, James L. (2011) [or later]. "Indices Nominum Supragenericorum Plantarum Vascularium – M". Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
^Takhtajan 1964.
^Lindley, J. (1830). Introduction to the Natural System of Botany. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. xxxvi. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
^Cantino, Philip D.; Doyle, James A.; Graham, Sean W.; et al. (2007). "Towards a phylogenetic nomenclature of Tracheophyta". Taxon. 56 (3): E1–E44. doi:10.2307/25065865. JSTOR 25065865.
^Christenhusz, M. J. M.; Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. 261 (3): 201–217. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
Floweringplants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (/ˌændʒiəˈspərmiː/), commonly called angiosperms. They include...
as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in floweringplants (plants of the division Angiospermae). Flowers consist of a combination...
reproduction of floweringplants, the first is the timing of flowering and the other is the size or number of flowers produced. Often plant species have...
species of land plants of which some 391,000 species are vascular plants (including approximately 369,000 species of floweringplants), and approximately...
genetic structure of nonclonal plant populations. Christian Konrad Sprengel (1793) studied the reproduction of floweringplants and for the first time it was...
liverworts, mosses, lycophytes, ferns, conifers and other gymnosperms, and floweringplants). A definition based on genomes includes the Viridiplantae, along with...
history of floweringplants records the development of flowers and other distinctive structures of the angiosperms, now the dominant group of plants on land...
known hermaphroditic species among mammals or birds. About 94% of floweringplant species are either hermaphroditic (all flowers produce both male and...
plants, such as wood formation. Biennial plant – Floweringplant that takes two years to complete its biological life cycle Perennial plant – Plant that...
A biennial plant is a floweringplant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle. In its first year...
exceeding two years in the botanical world. Perennials—especially small floweringplants—that grow and bloom over the spring and summer, die back every autumn...
of perennial, floweringplants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known...
between floweringplants and insects in On the Origin of Species (1859). Although he did not use the word coevolution, he suggested how plants and insects...
parasitic plants in approximately 20 families of floweringplants are known. There is a wide range of effects that may occur to a host plant due to the...
star, star of Bethlehem or yellow chincherinchee, is a species of floweringplant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is a South African...
bryophylla is the highest floweringplant in the world, occurring as high as 6,180 m (20,280 ft). To survive, alpine plants are adapted to the conditions...
A rose is either a woody perennial floweringplant of the genus Rosa (/ˈroʊzə/), in the family Rosaceae (/roʊˈzeɪsiːˌiː/), or the flower it bears. There...
crown imperial, imperial fritillary or Kaiser's crown, is a species of floweringplant in the lily family Liliaceae, native to a wide stretch from the Anatolian...
Agave americana, commonly known as the century plant, maguey, or American aloe, is a floweringplant species belonging to the family Asparagaceae. It...
Helichrysum italicum is a species of floweringplant in the family Asteraceae. It is sometimes called the curry plant because of the strong fragrance of...
division of plants, with upwards of 400,000 species. For two-dimensional area, the largest known clonal floweringplant, and indeed largest plant and organism...
more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the floweringplants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the...
A poppy is a floweringplant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful...
sanguineum, the flowering currant, redflower currant, red-flowering currant, or red currant is a North American species of floweringplant in the family...
Monstera deliciosa, the Swiss cheese plant or split-leaf philodendron is a species of floweringplant native to tropical forests of southern Mexico, south...
commonly planted as an ornamental in residential and public areas because of its showy bracts and interesting bark structure. The flowering dogwood is...
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