Dicots

1. Presented by ItzelBasualdo & Raul Cabrera Dicots Fact: Daisies are dicots

2. Dicots: What are they? Other wise known as dicotyledons, Dicots one of the two classes of angiosperms. Dicots are flowering plants which are known to have two embryonic or seed leaves. Above: An example of a Dicot: Ruelliamacrantha

3. Classification

4. Dicot Characteristics The following things characterize a Dicot plant: • Embryo with two cotyledons (“seed/embryonic” leaves) • The plant has flowers in which the sepals, petals or corolla lobes, and other parts, usually number 4, 5, or multiples of 4 or 5. • Major vein leaves are reticulated (or netted) • Meaning that there are also smaller auxillary veins which are netted within the larger ones • Pollen with three furrows or pores • Furrows are otherwise simply “pores” or small holes in the outer layer of a single polen. • Root develops at the lower end of the embryo

5. What do these characteristics mean? 1. 3. The three numbers are the different furrows or openings – the image shown is a magnified pollen grain. 1 2 3 2. 4. The arrows point at the two cotyledons (embryonic seed leaves)

6. Dicots VS. Monocots Also within the phylum Anthophyta, is another class of flowering plants known as Monocots (Monocotyledonae). • Their main distinction is the number of seed leaves (cotyledons) in the plant embryo. Two cotyledons One cotyledon

7. Reproduction • Angiosperms have flowers which facilitate reproduction – dicots typically have flowers which attract bees, butterflies, and moths to pollenate between the fllowers. • These flowers contain ovaries, which surround and protect the seeds. The plants’ ovaries give them their name: Angiosperms, which means “enclosed seed.” The ovary develops into a fruit after being pollinated. The fruit serves to protect the seed. The fruit gives angiosperms another reproductive advantage- when they are eaten by other organisms, the seeds can potentially travel long distances and thus make a presence and eventually flourish in other regions. • Angiosperms may either self-pollinate when they are perfect (have male and female parts) or cross-pollinate when they are not.What’s important to note about angiosperms is that they undergo both mitosis and meiosis and have alternation of generations: a life cycle that involves both a diploid and a haploid stage.

8. Dicot Diversity There are approximately 300 families of dicots and about 170,000 species , which include almost all deciduous trees and common flowering bushes and vines. • There are some plants though, which botanists struggle to classify as either monocots or dicots due to the fact that they exhibit multiple characteristics of both. • Paleoherbs, for instance, present a problem when it comes to classification; they include Nymphaeales, better known as water lilies (Monocots vs. Dicots) • There are also monocots that closely resemble dicots; a few monocots have leaves in multiples of four – a dicot characteristic.

9. More Dicots ! Dicots aren’t just simply plants… here are some examples of dicotyledons that you may be in contact on a daily basis: • Sunflowers (includes the sunflower family) • Carrot Parsley Family • The families of popular fruits and vegetables including oranges, apples, blackberries, cherries, and plums. • All kinds of trees, shrubs, and grasses • Roses !

10. Bibliography • http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss8/monocotdicot.html • http://www.patentlens.net/daisy/AgroTran/g8/821.html • http://www.backyardnature.net/monodico.htm • Biology (Prentice Hall Textbook)