CHAPTER 20: Origin and
Diversity of Plants
20.1 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS
- Systematics of the Plantae
- Take a look at the branching on this family tree to see how
the members of the plant Kingdom are related to one another and
to green algae. Click on any of the photos to get in-depth coverage
of a particular type of plant or to explore other facets of plants
at this University of California Museum of Paleontology site.
- Photosynthetic Pigments
- These colorful molecules were some of the first clues scientists
used to figure out the evolutionary history of plants. Find out
which pigments are used by which photosynthetic organisms at
this University of California Museum of Paleontology page. You
can also link to any of these organisms--plants, algae, and cyanobacteria--from
this page.
- Embryophytes: Land Plants
- This phylogenetic tree of land plants links to a few members,
including hornworts, ferns, and seed plants.
- The Plant Kingdom: An Approximate Phylogeny
- This phylogenetic tree from Washington State University shows plant evolution from green algae to seed plants. This page also links to an explanation of how cladograms are constructed.
20.2 MOSSES
- Bryophytes
- Take a look at the moss, hornwort, and liverwort divisions at this Southern Illinois University site. You'll find photos representing different classes within the classification section and links to further bryological resources.
20.3 FERNS
- Lower Vascular Plants
- A handy table of the characteristics of the lower vascular
plants can be found at this Eastern Connecticut State University
site. The table covers whisk ferns to true ferns and is a handy
reference to the similarities and differences among the lower
plant divisions.
- Tree of Life: Filicopsida
- This page has handy links to fern resources on the web as well as detailed information for one branch of the ferns, the leptosporangiate ferns. It is just one page of the Tree of Life, a distributed Internet project headquartered at the University of Arizona.
20.4 CONIFERS
- Pine Life History
- This page is an illustrated explanation of gymonosperm reproduction
and development from a plant biology class at Eastern Connecticut
State University.
- Common Conifers Genus Page
- This Web site from Oregon State University lists 15 common
conifers found in Oregon. Click on each name to see a description
and photograph of each tree.
- Introduction to the Spermatophytes
- The seed plants, or spermatophytes, include the gymnosperms, cycads, ginkgoes, and flowering plants. Find out more about the fossil records and the defining characteristics of selected members of this group by clicking on the buttons of this page from the University of California Museum of Paleontology.
20.5 FLOWERING PLANTS
- Introduction to the Anthophyta
- The flowering Anthophyta are probably the most familiar of
all plants. Nevertheless, you'll get to know them even better
on this Web page, which includes their life history, fossil record,
and phylogenetic relationships. The University of California
Museum of Paleontology also hosts this site as well as one called
Monocots
versus Dicots.
- Flowering Plant Family Identification
- Do you have a flowering plant whose identity is unknown to
you? Narrow your search by using the checklist on this Colby
College Web page. It will try to match your plant's characteristics
to the 411 flowering plant families in their database.
- Taxonomy of Flowering Plants
- This Colby College Web page links to a multitude of photographs of flowering plants organized into the subclasses of monocots and dicots. If you know the classification of a certain angiosperm, you are likely to find a picture of it here.
Learning Links
Chapter 17 || Chapter 18 || Chapter 19 || Chapter 20In the News || Link and Think
Spotlight on Careers || Teachers' LoungeIn the Community
Chapter 17 || Chapter 18 || Chapter 19 || Chapter 20
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall. All rights reserved.
Privacy Statement, Terms of Use, Permissions