Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm

Angiosperms, also called flowering plants, have seeds that are enclosed within an ovary (usually a fruit), while gymnosperms have no flowers or fruits, and have unenclosed or “naked” seeds on the surface of scales or leaves. Gymnosperm seeds are often configured as cones. The characteristics that differentiate angiosperms from gymnosperms include flowers, fruits, and endosperm in the seeds.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, gymnosperms were the only kind of plant life on Earth. Between 250 and 200 million years ago, angiosperms started to evolve. Now, angiosperms are more widely distributed and populous, and can be considered the dominant plant life on the planet. Angiosperms comprise a far more diverse range of plants, with a range of 250,000 to 400,000 species. They inhabit every kind of land and aquatic environment except the most extreme habitats. Angiosperms may be dicots or monocots.

Examples of Angiosperms and Gymnosperms

Examples of angiosperms are monocots like lilies, orchids, agaves (known for agave nectar) and grasses; and dicots like roses, peas, sunflowers, oaks and maples.

Gymnosperm examples include non-flowering evergreen trees such as pine, spruce and fir.

Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm

Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm

Apple tree, a flowering, fruit-bearing angiosperm

Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm

Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm

Everyday flowering garden plants are angiosperms

Gymnosperm species number only in the thousands, with a little more than 1,000 extant species. They are found in desert to semi-desert habitats.

Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm

Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm

Pine tree, a gymnosperm with needle-like leaves and a cone

Anatomical Differences

Since gymnosperms and angiosperms are both vascular plants, they have a sporophyte-dominant life-cycle.

Tissue formation in angiosperms exceeds the amount and complexity found in gymnosperms. Angiosperms have a triploid vascular tissue, flat leaves in numerous shapes and hardwood stems. Because of the innumerable varieties of the fruit and/or flower-bearing plants, they have variegated colors and shapes of leaves, flowers and fruits.

Gymnosperms are haploid, have spiky, needle-like leaves and are softwood. Gymnosperms are "simpler" anatomically because they do not bear flowers or fruit, and although of different species, are usually only tall evergreens with brown cones.

More details about the anatomical differences between angiosperms and gymnosperms are explained in the following video:

Reproduction

Reproduction in angiosperms can be unisexual or bisexual. The gametes are spread by wind and by insect and animal pollinators attracted by their flowers. Flowers often have both female and male gametes inside them, and after fertilization, the ovules develop into a fruit.

The gametes of gymnosperms are found in cones. Fertilization is described as single; the pollen grains fall and germinate directly on the ovules. Pollen spores are spread by wind alone.

Uses

Angiosperms provide virtually all plant-based food, as well as most livestock feed. Grains, fruit, legumes, nightshades (including potatoes and tomatoes), gourds, and cabbages are all angiosperms. Other angiosperms like cotton and flax provide paper and textiles. The hardwood of angiosperms is used to make hardwood floors.

Gymnosperms from the conifer group like pine, spruce, and fir are commonly used for lumber. Other gymnosperms are processed into other products like soap, varnish, and perfumes.

References

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Home Science Plants Flowering Plants

angiosperm, also called flowering plant, any of about 300,000 species of flowering plants, the largest and most diverse group within the kingdom Plantae. Angiosperms represent approximately 80 percent of all the known green plants now living. The angiosperms are vascular seed plants in which the ovule (egg) is fertilized and develops into a seed in an enclosed hollow ovary. The ovary itself is usually enclosed in a flower, that part of the angiospermous plant that contains the male or female reproductive organs or both. Fruits are derived from the maturing floral organs of the angiospermous plant and are therefore characteristic of angiosperms. By contrast, in gymnosperms (e.g., conifers and cycads), the other large group of vascular seed plants, the seeds do not develop enclosed within an ovary but are usually borne exposed on the surfaces of reproductive structures, such as cones.

Learn how the angiosperm and gymnosperm plants store their seeds

Video presentation describing the differences in seed storage between angiosperms and gymnosperms.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.See all videos for this article

Unlike such nonvascular plants as the bryophytes, in which all cells in the plant body participate in every function necessary to support, nourish, and extend the plant body (e.g., nutrition, photosynthesis, and cell division), angiosperms have evolved specialized cells and tissues that carry out these functions and have further evolved specialized vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) that translocate the water and nutrients to all areas of the plant body. The specialization of the plant body, which has evolved as an adaptation to a principally terrestrial habitat, includes extensive root systems that anchor the plant and absorb water and minerals from the soil; a stem that supports the growing plant body; and leaves, which are the principal sites of photosynthesis for most angiospermous plants. Another significant evolutionary advancement over the nonvascular and the more primitive vascular plants is the presence of localized regions for plant growth, called meristems and cambia, which extend the length and width of the plant body, respectively. Except under certain conditions, these regions are the only areas in which mitotic cell division takes place in the plant body, although cell differentiation continues to occur over the life of the plant.

Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm

Plants: From Cute to Carnivorous

You may know that rice is the seed of a plant, but what is the world’s oldest known plant? Which kind of plant can be an annual, biennial, or perennial? Dig deep and unearth the answers in this quiz.

The angiosperms dominate Earth’s surface and vegetation in more environments, particularly terrestrial habitats, than any other group of plants. As a result, angiosperms are the most important ultimate source of food for birds and mammals, including humans. In addition, the flowering plants are the most economically important group of green plants, serving as a source of pharmaceuticals, fibre products, timber, ornamentals, and other commercial products.

Although the taxonomy of the angiosperms is still incompletely known, the latest classification system incorporates a large body of comparative data derived from studies of DNA sequences. It is known as the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group IV (APG IV) botanical classification system. The angiosperms came to be considered a group at the division level (comparable to the phylum level in animal classification systems) called Anthophyta, though the APG system recognizes only informal groups above the level of order.

honeysuckle

A yellow-orange honeysuckle (Lonicera tellmanniana).

© Juergen Bosse—Photodisc/Getty Images

Throughout this article the orders or families are given, usually parenthetically, following the vernacular or scientific name of a plant. Following taxonomic conventions, genera and species are italicized. The higher taxa are readily identified by their suffixes: families end in -aceae and orders in -ales.

Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm
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Which of the following would best allow you to identify a particular plant as an angiosperm

The current U.S. flag was designed by a high-school student in 1958. (He got a B−.)

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For a comparison of angiosperms with the other major groups of plants, see plant, bryophyte, fern, lower vascular plant, and gymnosperm.