Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Who Knew.... Angiosperms Are Flowering Plants!

Well before googling the term Angiosperm I had no idea they were actually flowing plants... then I vaguely began to form a dim memory of my BIO 202 class in which I might have actually heard this information.  Problem is, the memory is not complete.  I don't know much about any topic even remotely related to botany... and I don't pretend to.  But I decided to grin and bare it and perhaps even do a little research on the subject.  Maybe this information will benefit me later on down the road?

Here goes:

Flowers are what actually makes angiosperms different from other seed plants.  They serve as their reproductive structure and allow them to form a broad range of evolutionary relationships.  You know what else is cool?  Their stamens prevent them from performing self-fertilization which broadens the niches they effect.

The fact that angiosperms lay seeds sooner and faster than gymnosperms makes it hard for me to believe that these flowering plants aren't everywhere.  In a way, however, they kind of are everywhere: they dominate terrestrial ecosystems, they are the most diverse and numerous land plant, and they are the most commercially significant plant to humans.

So with that I leave you with one final thought:

Watch out gymnosperms... here come the angiosperms!

1 comment:

  1. Ahhh. I see you have not had the full Botany experience. I am completely down with the angiosperm though!

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