Vascular plants: what are, characteristics and examples

The Vascular plantsalso known as tracheophytes or mormophytesbelong to the group Tracheophyta. These plants have as the main characteristic that have fabrics that conduct fluids Through the plant and others that grant a support to allow them to get a great development individually. Vascular plants are also generally named upper plants.

In general, we can say that vascular plants are all those that have certain parts differently. These are the main parts of vascular plants:

• Root.
• Stem.
• Leaves.
• Flowers.

Therefore, as you can see, the vast majority of the plants you know are within this classification. Here you can better consult the parts of a plant and its functions.

These are the main characteristics of vascular plants:

• All vascular plants have root, usually underground, an aerial stem and leaves.
• The fabrics through which nutrients, mineral salts and water that need for the development vascular plants They are distributed throughout the structure of these.
• Due to these vascular fabrics, these types of plants do not need a very specific environment to grow, that is, it can vary in certain ranges.
• Vascular tissues are composed of The xylem and the phloem. The xylem will be in charge of conducting the water and the mineral salts collected from the soil to take them to the leaves, while the phloem is responsible for transporting the food synthesized to all parts of the plant.
• In addition to conductive or vascular tissues, vascular plants also have structures to hold and support both this network of conductive vessels and the rest of the plant. Therefore, they achieve a larger size than non -vascular plants. If you want to learn more about the types of plant tissues, we recommend this other ecology article.
• Vascular plants have a unique anatomy that does not exist in other organisms of the plant kingdom less evolved. This is the case of the cuticle, which is an outer layer with protective function and stomata, indispensable organs to perform the exchange of gas.
• Vascular plants have an age of almost 400 million years. Numerous studies place their genesis in the periods of the siluric and the devonic.

Stages of vascular plants

The stages of vascular plants are what we know in most plants where it occurs:

• Growth.
• Reproduction.
• The dispersion.
• Germination.

Although it does not differ much from the process of non -vascular plants if it is necessary to emphasize the presence of True flowers, seeds and fruits with which these plants do.

Next, we want to show you some examples so that it is much easier to know What are vascular plants that surround you and, thus, expand your general knowledge about botany. We have made a simple classification where examples of vascular plants are easy to recognize or commonly used in parks and gardens.

Pteridophytes or filicine

The plants belonging to the group of filicines were the First vascular plants. These do not produce flowers, so they reproduce with spores and need wet climates to grow and reproduce. This group belongs mainly, ferns. Here are some examples:

• Horsetail.
• Featheious fern.
• Arborescent ferns.
• Acebo fern.

Learn more about them with this other post about pteridophyte plants: what are, types and examples.

Angiosperms

The plants that belong to the angiosperm group are vascular plants whose reproductive system is protected. These have true flowers and produce fruits and seeds. They are classified as monocotyledons and dicotyledons and here we mention some examples:

• Monocotyledonous vascular plants: Arce, Buganvilla, Gladiolo and Tulipán.
• Dicotyledonous vascular plants: Algarrobo, apple, orange, drunk stick and tobacco.

If you want to learn more about these plants, here you can see an article about angiosperms plants: what are, characteristics and examples.

Gymnosperms

The plants belonging to the gymnosperms group produce false flowers that are not protected and whose seeds usually have a “wing”, called Samara, with which they can disperse thanks to the action of the wind.

• Cypress
• Juniper
• Pine
• Secuoya
• Yew

In this link you can find all the information about the gymnosperms plants: what are, characteristics and examples.

These are the main differences between vascular and non -vascular plants:

• The biggest difference between vascular and non -vascular plants lies in the presence of stem, leaves, flowers and fruits in the case of vascular.
• Because of this, only vascular plants are the main source of food for the vast majority of living beings, while non -vascular plants have the main function of environmental humidity.
• Non -vascular plants, not producing seeds, only reproduce only by spores in favorable conditions.
• In addition, in the case of non -vascular plants these are species that do not stand out for their size or coloration, since they are usually small and intense green.
• Vascular, on the other hand, represent most of the species that we know as common plants, such as trees, shrubs and herbaceous.

If you want to read more articles similar to Vascular plants: what are, characteristics and exampleswe recommend that you enter our biology category.