Classification of VEGETABLES

The vegetables (the plants) They are a very numerous and very ancient set of organisms, since the first plants appeared on planet earth in very early times. Given its age and its great abundance, there is a great variety of vegetables. For this reason it is very useful to classify them into smaller groups with common characteristics. In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we will see what organisms are called plant organisms or plants, what is the classification of vegetables and with what criteria are used to carry it out.

Index

1. What are the most outstanding vegetables and characteristics
2. General classification of vegetables
3. Classification criteria of the plant kingdom

The kingdom is the first level of classification, so it includes all vegetables. Any organism classified within the vegetal kingdom must meet the following characteristics:

They are autotrophic organisms

An autotrophic organism or primary producer is one that uses sunlight or inorganic chemical reactions as a source of inorganic carbon and as an energy source. That is, vegetables are capable of producing the

For this reason they are indispensable organisms from the point of view of ecology, since they are responsible for incorporating matter and energy into the ecosystem. Therefore, without these organisms, any other form of life would be impossible.

Vegetables are the main primary producers in terrestrial ecosystems.

Eukaryotic cells

Vegetables are made up of plant eukaryotic cell (with core) that have two unique characteristics:

1. Cellular wall: It is a rigid structure that forms a protective covering above the plasma membrane, made up of cellulose fibers. The cell wall allows plants to acquire a considerable size without the need for a skeleton, each cell supports itself.
2. Chloroplasts: are the organelles responsible for photosynthesis, accumulate pigments inside photosynthetics that are capable of using light to obtain the energy necessary for the synthesis of new compounds. The most common photosynthetic pigment is chlorophyll, which gives plants their characteristic green color.

Unlimited growth

Vegetables have a type of tissue (meristematic tissues) that are made up of undifferentiated cells. These cells are capable of differentiating into any of the tissues that make up the plant. These tissues are preserved throughout the life of the plant allowing its continuous growth.

They lack their own mobility

Vegetables do not have the ability to move actively, they can only do so dragged by water or wind. However, some plants show phototropism. That is, they can change their orientation by following the path of sunlight.

Plants or vegetables are all eukaryotic organisms (made up of cells with nuclei) that are capable of carrying out photosynthesis. As we will see later, all of them are included within a very large group called the plant kingdom.

The classification of vegetables is the way in which plants are arranged in a hierarchical way (at different levels) in function of their evolutionary origin (phylogenetic classification) and the similarities they present to each other (classification morphological).

All plants are part of the vegetal kingdom or kingdom plantae. This group is very large and very diverse, successively divided into smaller subsets at different levels of classification. Each classification level is divided into smaller groupings in succession.

Due to the large number and diversity of plants and the different aspects on which the classification can be based, there is no unanimous criterion for the classification of plants. However there are three classification criteria that make it possible to distinguish the large types of vegetables and which are the ones that are used in the majority.

To classify vegetables scientifically, three main criteria are used:

1. Presence or absence of vascular system

The vascular system of plants is a network of conduits that carries water with dissolved organic compounds. The tissues that make up these vessels or ducts are the phloem and xylem.

The presence or absence of a vascular system or, what is the same, the presence or absence of phloem or xylem; It is the first criterion for classifying plants and allows us to differentiate two large sub-kingdoms within the plant kingdom:

• Talophyte: non-vascularized plants.
• Tracheophyte (or cormophytes): vascularized plants

2. Presence or absence of seeds

Seeds are tiny plants in their earliest embryonic form, which are protected by a protective outer covering.

Seed production allows a latency period between fertilization and germination. This allows seed-producing plants to wait for environmental conditions to be conducive to germination.

The second criterion for classifying vegetables allows us to differentiate two large groups within vascularized plants (tracheophytes), whether or not seeds are produced:

• Pteridophytes: they do not produce seeds.
• Phanerogams: produce seeds.

3. Presence or absence of flowers

Within the group of vegetables that produce seeds (phanerogams), two large groups are distinguished, in this case the classification criterion is whether or not they produce flowers.

Flowers are reproductive organs that produce male (pollen) and female (ovules) gametes in closed cavities. Once fertilization occurs, the seeds formed remain inside the closed ovary, protected by the carpels. Once fertilization has taken place, the fertilized flower will give rise to a fruit.

The two groups resulting from this classification criterion are:

• Angiosperms: do not have flowers (produce bare seeds)
• Gymnosperms: They have flowers that produce seeds protected by the walls of the ovary (carpels).

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P.Sitte et al. (2002) Strasburger. Botany treatise. Barcelona: Omega