1. Kingdom Plantae
The Story of the Plants

2. Consider an aquatic green algae:
In water:
Materials are transported into and out of the organism through simple osmosis and diffusion
Cells won’t dry out
Reproductive products (egg/sperm/spores) are just released and get dispersed by the currents
Buoyancy holds algae upright in the water

3. Making the move to dry land…
Plants needed to overcome some problems in order to be able to survive on land
They needed to address:
How to move materials into, out of, and throughout body
How to prevent drying out
How to support their structure
How to disperse reproductive products without water

4. Mosses Rely on surrounding moisture
Nonvascular – have no effective way of transporting water and nutrients so size is limited.
Are restricted to moist environments like swamps/bogs.

5. Moss

6. Tannic acid from decaying peat moss makes bogs acidic.

7. Ferns
Vascular – have a way of transporting water and materials throughout themselves.
Xylem – tissues that transport water and dissolved materials up from the roots
Phloem – tissues that transport sugars down from leaves
Reproduce with spores, not seeds

8. Ferns

9. Reproduce by spores Spores are produced in sori on the underside
of the leaf.

10. Gymnosperms (Conifers)
Reproduce from seeds and are not dependent on water – next level of complexity
Seeds are considered to be “naked”, meaning unprotected.
Also have a waxy cuticle to prevent moisture loss from leaves

11. Gymnosperms

12. Angiosperms Considered to be the most advanced plants.
Also reproduce by seeds, but seeds are protected inside a flower or fruit. This provides an energy source for the developing embryo
Range of colors, nectars, scents attract insects which aid in cross-pollination.

13. Angiosperms

14. Honey bee with pollen sacs full as it sips nectar
Honey bee with pollen sacs full as it sips nectar. Hummingbird sipping nectar from a flower.