Do All Plants Have Flowers? A Question Answered In Detail

Who doesn’t like the sight of flowers? However, not all plants on this planet have flowers.

Plant vegetation can be basically categorized as flowering and non-flowering plants. From as early as over 400 million years ago, there has been the existence of non-flowering plants. Scientists also have a theory presuming that these flowering plants we see today are a result of evolution of non-flowering plants. Every living organism on Earth has been divided into five kingdoms known as the five kingdom classification, namely the kingdom Animalia (for animals), the kingdom Plantae (for plants), the kingdom Monera (for bacteria, eubacteria and archaebacteria), the kingdom Fungi (for fungi), and the kingdom Protista (for protozoa, algae, slime mounds, seaweeds, and other simple organisms).

The kingdom Plantae is further divided into clusters known as Phyla, on the basis of similar characteristics. As per botanists, non-flowering plants can be categorized as gnetophytes, cycads, conifers, club mosses, mosses, horsetails, hornworts, liverworts, whisk ferns, ferns, and ginkgo. These are further categorized into phylums such as phylum Bryophyta with liverworts and mosses, which produce spores and no flowers; phylum Filicinophyta with ferns, which produce spores and no flowers; phylum Coniferophyta with conifers (female cones and male cones); phylum Cycadophyta with cycads which produce spores; and phylum Ginkgophyta with Ginkgo biloba, which produces spores.

Flowering plants are under the phylum Angiospermophyta. A flower is basically the name given to the reproductive part of a flowering plant. Flowering plants can be further categorized as annual plants and perennials. Perennials have a long life and bloom during specific seasons every year, while, on the other hand, annual plants live only for a year and bloom just for that year.

Corn is a monoecious plant, meaning that it grows its male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flower of a corn plant is called the tassel, while the ear with its corn silk is the female flower.

Are pine trees seed plants? What category do club mosses fall in? How do you find naked seeds on the ground in huge numbers? Read on to know more about the differences between a flowering plant and a non-flowering plant. Afterward, also check out top 100 plant quotes for flora lovers and the lifecycle of a plant explained.

Flowering And Non-Flowering Plants

Read on for a comparison between flowering and non0flowring plants.

Flowering plants: All flowering plants belong to the clade of angiosperms. Some examples of plants from this group are Cornus florida (dogwood) and Rosa spp. (rose bushes). Angiosperm is a Greek word for seed or vessel. Angiosperms are labeled as the largest plant group in the world with the most diverse range of flowering plants with over 300,000 known species. Flowering plants are generally small with some showy and some dull-looking. Flowers produce fruits and seeds. Seeds are encased in a hard case called a seed coat and reside within the fruit. The seed coat is a form of protection until germination conditions are suitable. Flowering plants contain vascular tissues for the transport of nutrition and water. Almost 80% of the plant diversity is of flowering plants.

Non-flowering plants: Non-flowering plants are spread over a range of categories but are most commonly known as gymnosperms. Other non-flowering plants that produce no seeds are seedless nonvascular plants and seedless vascular plants. Gymnosperm is a Greek word for naked seeds. Gymnosperms are believed to be much older than angiosperms. Non-flowering plants are mostly tall and showy. Seeds in gymnosperms are produced in a reproductive part known as cones instead of the fruit. Non-flowering plants also have vascular tissues and produce seeds but no flowers. About 20% of the plant diversity consists of non-flowering plants. Hemlock trees are non-flowering plants that grow from seeds.

Why don't all plants produce flowers?

As it is already clear that not all plants produce flowers, you might want to know why this is the case. Occurring in the plant group angiosperms, flowers are nothing more than a reproductive part of a plant.

With all the different and useful pollination techniques available like wind, water, bees, insects, and birds, plants are able to spread all around the world. Some varieties of non-flowering plants are a result of climate changes and the terrain where they grow, like how conifers need to withstand dry, windy, and cold climates.

Most trees depend on the wind to spread their pollen across a region. For example, pine trees do not have flowers, and thus, use wind for spreading their pollen.

How do plants produce flowers?

If conditions become suitable, the germination process starts. The seed slowly breaks open and with the nutrition and water from the soil, the embryo starts to grow.

The embryo grows to make two parts and it grows in two directions: one upwards and the other downwards. The downward part in the soil ends up making the roots of the plant which provide the plant with nutrition and water from the soil and also helps in holding the plant to the ground strongly. The part that grows upwards is called the shoot which, with the help of food and water, evolves into a stem and leaves.

These leaves have small pores called stomata which trap sunlight to activate chlorophyll to make food for the plant through the photosynthesis process. Once the plant has fully developed and is mature enough to reproduce, it starts producing flowers. Flowers use the process of pollination and fertilization to reproduce. This is the process of carrying the pollen from the stalk of the flower, i.e., the anther (the male part of the flower) to the stigma (the female part) and to the ovaries. When the gametes from the pollen fuse with the ovule in the ovary, this process is termed fertilization.

Why do plants produce flowers?

Flowering plants need flowers to produce seeds. To produce seeds they have to go through the process of fertilization and for fertilization to take place they have to find a way for the pollen to reach the ovaries.

This process of transferring the pollen from the anther to the stigma is called pollination and can be performed in various ways. The most common one includes the help of animals to transfer pollen. Animals such as birds and insects such as bees and butterflies are attracted to the nectar and the aroma flowers produce.

Hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees drink the nectar and sometimes even eat the pollen or carry it along on their wings from one flower to another, transferring the pollen and helping with the fertilization process. Some of these animals and insects can not even survive without flowers. For example, bees, who use the nectar to make honey and hives, need flowers to survive.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for do all plants have flowers then why not take a look at why is the sea salty or 67 interesting facts about the saltiest lake in the world.