Flowering Plants The plant family is a very large one and of the 3,55,000 different species of plants known to man, over 2,10,000 are of the flowering type. Flowering plants have better methods of forming and dispersing their seeds, which explains why they are larger in number. Flowering plants differ from others not only because of their flowers but also because they have a different kind of reproductive organs located in...

Life in the Gardens While tending to the plants in our garden or while digging in the flower beds, we see earthworms or many other insects hidden in the soil. If we dig into a heap of compost, we often find small insects or centipedes creeping out of it. Our gardens provide home to a large species of animals and insects, like moles, slugs, snails, earthworms, centipedes, spiders etc. These small...

Do Plants Breathe? Like human beings plants take in air, the difference though is that they use both Carbon dioxide and Oxygen, one for making food and the other fur respiration. In the process of manufacturing food through Photosynthesis. plants build up a lot of sugars. With the help of oxygen, they break up these sugars into water and Carbon dioxide and in the process release a lot of energy. This...

The Birth of a Plant   A plant seed has a soft inner core covered with a hard outer shell. When a seed is allowed to remain in contact with water for some time, the water seeps into the inner core through the outer shell and the process of germination begins. The seed swells and the hard outer coat cracks open, as time goes by a small root, also called a...

Flowers Flowers are one of nature’s most beautiful gifts to man and it would not be wrong to say that the blooming of a flower in itself symbolises life. plants produce flowers because they contain the male and female reproductive organs. Like human beings plants also need to transfer Pollen from the male reproductive organs to the female ones. Unlike human beings and animals, plants cannot move so they need to...

Lowly Plants Much before the first flowering plants came into being, we had the lowly plants. These plants did not produce flowers and they have not changed much in shape for millions of years, though they may have developed some new species. They are called lowly plants because they don’t have supporting fibre inside them and as such they can’t grow much in size. However one exception to this rule is...

Scattering of Seeds   For maintaining it’s balance, nature has its own unique way of ensuring that plants constantly multiply. Plants produce seeds, which help them in reproduction. It is important that these seeds get the right environment, including moisture, oxygen and warmth so that they can grow. Nature has provided plants with seeds having different features and shapes, some have spines or barbs on their outer covering which allow them...

The First Plants There was a time when there were no plants on earth. As millions of years passed, tiny specs of protoplasm were formed. The formation of protoplasm was probably the first step towards the formation of plants. Today protoplasm is found both in animals and plants. These specks of protoplasm then developed thick walls and began to fix themselves in one place. Next came the development of Chlorophyll, which...