Biological Foundations

Kingdom Plantae

Ferns--flowers--mosses--pines...The Kingdom Plantae is familiar to everyone.  This diverse kingdom encompasses all of the plants, from the simplest mosses to the incredible complexity of the flowering plants.

All plants have a eukaryotic cell type.  The light micrograph at the left shows several cells from an aquatic plant called Elodea .  Notice the clusters of green spheres--these are the chloroplasts, organelles that carry out photosynthesis.  Like all eukaryotic cells, plant cells contain many different organelles, including the chloroplasts, that are responsible for many of the plant's day-to-day functions.

Major characteristics of Kingdom Plantae include:

--all plants are multicellular
--all plants are autotrophic, meaning they can make their own food via photosynthesis
--all plants surround their cells with a cell wall made of cellulose
--most plants have complex organ systems

Examples:

--mosses, clubmosses, horsetails, ferns, ginkgos, conifers, flowering plants
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