CLASS XI BIOLOGY

Plant Kingdom reference notes

Systems of classification:

Whittaker (1969) classified living organisms under five kingdoms; Monera, Protista,
Fungi, Plantae and Animalia based on various features such as complexity of cellular
and body structure, mode of nutrition, etc.

There have been various attempts to classify organisms. Aristotle classified plants 2000
years ago as herb, shrub and trees. The various systems of classification are:

1. Artificial system- based on only a few morphological characteristics,

e.g. Linnaeus classified plants based on the structure and number of stamens
present.

2. Natural system- based on morphological as well as anatomical characters such

as cellular ultrastructure, embryology, phytochemistry, etc. Examples
include Bentham and Hooker classification, they divided plants based on the
presence and absence of flowers and seeds into Phanerogamia and Cryptogamia
respectively.

3. Phylogenetic system- based on evolutionary and genetic relationship of plants,

e.g. Whittaker, Engler and Prantl, Eichler, etc.

Various modern taxonomic advancements include:

• Numerical taxonomy- a statistical method using computers, gives equal

importance to various different characters

• Cytotaxonomy- based on cytological information such as chromosome structure,

number, etc.

• Chemotaxonomy- based on chemical constituents

Classification:

Algae
 • The plant body is thallus, which may be filamentous, Colonial, unbranched or
branched and massive

• Some of the special characteristics of the plant body of various algae are:

• Spirogyra (water-silk), Ulothrix- filamentous

• Volvox- colonial, Unicellular- Chlamydomonas, Acetabularia (largest unicellular

algae), also known as the umbrella plant

• Ectocarpus- filamentous branched and epiphytes (grow on other plants)

• Kelps- giant brown algae, profusely branched and massive, may reach up to the
height of 100 metres.

• Brown algae- holdfast attaches the plant to a substratum, the stalk is known
as stipe, frond- leaf-like and carries out photosynthetic

• They have mostly aquatic habitat, that can be marine or freshwater

• Algae are autotrophic and have chlorophyll. Different shapes of chloroplast

present are:

Girdle shaped in Ulothrix, Ribbon-shaped in Spirogyra, Cup-shaped

in Volvox and Chlamydomonas

• Reproduction is by a vegetative, sexual and asexual method

• Vegetative reproduction is by fragmentation

• Asexual reproduction is by various spores formation,

e.g. zoospores (motile), Aplanospores etc.

• Sexual reproduction is by fusion of gametes. Sexual reproduction is of three

types:

Isogamous: male and female gametes are similar in size, e.g. Ulothrix (gametes are
motile or flagellated), Spirogyra (non-motile gametes)

Anisogamous: gametes are dissimilar in size, e.g. Eudorina, Chlamydomonas

Oogamous: female gamete is large and non-motile and male gamete is small and
motile, e.g. Volvox, Fucus

• The life cycle is mostly haplontic, Fucus has a diplontic life cycle, Ectocarpus,
Kelps and Polysiphonia have haplo-diplontic life cycle

• Phycology – the scientific study of algae

• Three main classes of algae are Chlorophyceae (green algae), Phaeophyceae

(brown algae), Rhodophyceae (red algae)

Class Chlorophyceae Phaeophyceae Rhodophyceae

Common Green Algae Brown Algae Red Algae
name

Habitat Mostly freshwater Mostly marine Mostly marine

Type of Chlorophyll a, b Chlorophyll a, c Chlorophyll a, d

Chlorophyll

Other β-carotene, Carotenoids, β- r-phycoerythrin,

pigments xanthophylls carotene, phycocyanin, β-
xanthophylls, carotene
fucoxanthin

Stored Food Starch Mannitol, laminarin Floridean starch

Cell wall Cellulose Cellulose, algin Cellulose,

phosphate esters
and pectin

Vegetative Fragmentation and Fragmentation Fragmentation

reproduction spore formation

Asexual Flagellated Biflagellated Non-motile

reproduction zoospores zoospores (pear- spores
shaped) having
unequal laterally
attached flagella

Sexual Isogamous, Isogamous, Oogamous

reproduction anisogamous or anisogamous or
Non-motile
oogamous oogamous
gametes
Gametes fuse in
water or in the
oogonium

Gametes are
pyriform,
biflagellated
 Examples Volvox, Ulothrix, Fucus, Sargassum, Polysiphonia,
Spirogyra, Ectocarpus, Gracilaria,
Chlamydomonas, Laminaria, Dictyota Porphyra,
Gelidium

Economic Importance of Algae:

• Algae contribute to half of the total carbon dioxide fixation on the Earth. They
increase the oxygen content of their habitat

• They are important primary producers in an ecosystem

• Algae are used as fodder and also in pisciculture

• Algae have medicinal properties and also used to prepare antibiotics,

e.g. Chlorella, Ascophyllum, Polysyphonia, etc.

• Alginates like sodium laminarin sulphate and fucoidan are used as a blood
anticoagulants

• Many algae are used as food, e.g. Laminaria, Sargassum, Porphyra, Ulva (Sea
lettuce), etc.

• Chlorella (unicellular alga) has a rich protein content and frequently used by
space travellers as a food supplement (single-cell protein – SCP)

• Hydrocolloids are commercially produced from certain brown and red algae,
e.g. algin produced by brown algae and carageen is produced by red algae

• Agar (China grass), obtained from red algae such as Gracilaria and Gelidium, is
widely used in laboratories as a growing medium for the tissue culture of
microorganism and to prepare various desserts, jellies and icecreams

• Algae are also used in sewage treatment processes to increase the alkalinity and
reduce bacteria

Bryophytes

• Bryophytes are non-vascular plants (lack xylem and phloem), plant body is not
differentiated into root stem and leaves

• They are found in moist, shady and damp areas

• Bryophyta is categorised into three main classes: liverworts and mosses

• Bryophytes are called “amphibians of plants” because they are terrestrial

plants but need water to complete their life cycle

• The plant body is thallus like and prostrate or erect

• The main plant body is the gametophyte, i.e. haploid

• They lack true roots and attached to the substratum by rhizoids, stem-like and
leaf-like structures are present
 • Vegetative reproduction is by fragmentation, budding, tubers, gemmae, etc.

• Sexual reproduction is by the fusion of male and female gametes (antherozoids

and egg or oospore) in the sex organs, which are multicellular and jacketed

• Antheridium produces biflagellated antherozoids

• Archegonium is flask-shaped and produces a single egg

• The Zygote does not undergo meiosis immediately and a short-lived

multicellular diploid sporophyte develops. Some of the cells undergo meiosis
and produce haploid spores, which develop into a photosynthetic haploid
gametophyte

• The life cycle of bryophytes is haplo-diplontic. The gametophyte (haploid) is the

main plant body, which is photosynthetic and independent. The diploid
sporophyte is short-lived and partially or totally dependent and grows on the
gametophyte

Economic Importance of Bryophytes:

• Bryophytes are of great ecological importance as they are the first organisms,
that colonise on rocks and makes it suitable for the growth of higher plants by
decomposing it

• Mosses form a dense mat on the soil, holds it together and prevent soil erosion
by rainwater

• Mosses play an important role in bog succession

• Bryophytes are used for medicinal purposes, e.g. Sphagnum is used in the
surgical dressing, Marchantia, Sphagnum and Polytrichum species has also
medicinal benefits to cure liver, kidney and skin diseases

• Antibiotics are also extracted from bryophytes

• Mosses provide food for many herbivores

• Peat produced from a moss, Sphagnum is widely used as fuel

• Used as a packaging material due to their water holding capacity

Pteridophytes

• Pteridophytes have a vascular system and the main plant body is the diploid
sporophyte

• The plant body is differentiated into root, stem and leaves

• The xylem of pteridophytes lacks vessels and the phloem lacks companion cells
and sieve tubes

• They are present in damp, cool and shady places and also found in sandy-soil
conditions

• The leaves may be small or large, e.g. Selaginella has small leaves (microphylls),
Ferns have large leaves (macrophylls)
 • Young leaves show circinate vernation (spirally coiled)

• The spore-producing organ is sporangia, which is present on sporophylls (fertile

leaves)

• In Selaginella and Equisetum, sporophylls form a distinct cone known as strobili

• Spores are produced after meiosis and germinate to form the haploid
gametophyte also known as a prothallus

• The gametophyte (prothallus) is heart-shaped, multicellular, small and

inconspicuous. It is mostly green and performs photosynthesis

• The gametophyte bears antheridia and archegonia, water is required for

fertilization

• Young embryos are formed from the development of the zygote within the female
gametophyte, which is the precursor to the development of seed in higher plants

• The zygote develops into a well-differentiated sporophyte, which is the dominant

phase of pteridophytes

• Mostly pteridophytes are homosporous, i.e. spores germinating into male and
female gametophyte are of a similar kind

• Salvinia and Selaginella are heterosporous, i.e. they produce large megaspores
and small microspores, that develop into the female and male gametophyte
respectively

• The life cycle of pteridophytes is haplo-diplontic, the dominant phase is diploid

sporophyte and it alternates with short-lived but independent autotrophic/
saprophytic haploid gametophyte

• Pteridophytes include horsetails and ferns. Main examples are Psilotum,

Lycopodium, Selaginella, Equisetum, Pteris, Dryopteris, Adiantum, etc. classified
into four main classes; Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Sphenopsida and Pteropsida

Economic Importance of Pteridophytes:

• Pteridophytes are used as soil binders. They bind soil even at the slopes of hills

• Pteridophytes are a good source of food, e.g. Marsilea sporocarps are a good
source of starch

• They are used as ornamental plants, leaves are used for the purpose

• Some of the pteridophytes have a medicinal value such as Dryopteris

• Azolla is used as a biofertilizer in the paddy fields due to nitrogen-fixing ability.

It has a symbiotic association with a nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria Anabaena
azollae

• Equisetum stems are used for cleaning utensils

Gymnosperms

• Gymnosperms are characterised by the presence of naked seed. Their ovules are
exposed and not covered by the ovary wall
 • Sequoia (giant redwood) is the tallest, Ginkgo (maidenhair tree) is a living
fossil

• Mostly tap roots are present. In some of the genera like Pinus, symbiotic
association with a fungus known as mycorrhiza is found and in others
like Cycas, symbiotic association with nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria is present and
the roots are known as coralloid roots

• The stem may be branched, as in Cedrus and Pinus or unbranched, as in Cycas

• Ephedra and Gnetum have xylem vessels

• Leaves may be simple or compound, leaves of Cycas are pinnate and fall off after
a few years

• Leaves of gymnosperms have adaptations for extreme environmental conditions.

In conifers, leaves are needle-like with sunken stomata and a thick cuticle to
reduce the water loss

• Male and female spores are different in gymnosperms, i.e. heterosporous, male
and female strobili are found either on the same tree as in Pinus or on different
trees as in Cycas. Microspores are produced in microsporangia of male strobili.
The male gametophyte is developed from microspores. It is made up of a few
cells and known as pollen grains. Megaspores are produced in megasporangia
borne on female strobili. The ovule is made up of nucellus and envelope, one of
the cells of nucellus is differentiated into megaspore mother cell. Four haploid
megaspores are formed after meiotic division in the megaspore mother cell. One
of the megaspores develops into a female gametophyte. Two or more archegonia
are present within the female gametophyte.

• Both the gametophytes (male and female) are not free-living instead retained
within sporangia

• Pollen grains are released and reach the ovules openings by air currents. Pollen
tube having male gamete grows inside the ovule and reaches archegonia, where
it releases its contents

• After fertilization, an embryo develops from the zygote and the ovule forms seeds

• The life cycle of gymnosperms is diplontic, the diploid sporophyte is the

dominant phase

Economic Importance of Gymnosperms:

• Gymnosperms have high medicinal value. It is used to cure various diseases and
many drugs are extracted. Ephedrine- extracted from Ephedra and used to cure
cough and cold and other respiratory problems. Taxol- extracted from Taxus
brevifolia, is an anti-cancer drug. It controls cell division by inhibiting spindle fibre
formation. It is used in chemotherapy to treat lung cancer, ovarian cancer,
pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, etc. Gum of Cycas is used as an antidote against
snake venom and juice of young leaves is used to cure blood vomiting

• Many food products are obtained from gymnosperms. They are a rich source of
starch, e.g. sago is obtained from Cycas, eatable seeds of Pinus (pine nuts or
chilgoza) and Gnetum
 • Gymnosperms are a good source of timber for making furniture, musical
instruments, pencil, etc. the wood is known as softwood and it is lightweight,
durable and resistant to insects and fungus

• Cedrus deodara has scented wood, the wood of Podocarpus is used to prepare
plywood

• Many species are used to extract edible oil and oil for making perfumes and
soaps

• Tannins extracted from the bark is used in the leather industry

• Various useful products such as gum, turpentine, resins such as Canada

balsam, amber are obtained

• Wood pulp is used to make paper, fibres are used to make rope, fishing net, as a
stuffing for pillows

Angiosperms

• Angiosperms are flowering plants and have seeds enclosed in fruits and have
well-developed flowers containing reproductive organs

• The size of angiosperms vary from as small as Wolffia with 0.1 cm to tall trees
of Eucalyptus, which may grow as long as 100 m

• Angiosperms are divided into two classes; Monocotyledons, Dicotyledons