UNIT-1

ANGIOSPERMS
 Write about the characteristics feature
of family ranunculaceae with floral
• diagram and floral
The Ranunculaceae familyformula.
belongs to the Angiosperm
division of the Plantae kingdom. These are commonly
known as the buttercup or crowfoots family. These are
primarily herbaceous, annual or perennial plants that grow
in colder regions. These are vastly found in the Himalayan
regions of Pakistan and India. The largest genera of the
Ranunculaceae family are Ranunculus (600 species),
Thalictrum (330 species), Delphinium(365 species),
Clematis (325 species) and Aconitum (300 species). They
have bisexual flowers that are actinomorphic and
pentamerous, with no distinction of calyx and corolla,
found in temperate and other colder regions of the world.
• Morphological Characteristics
• These are predominantly herbs. Few of them are shrubs and very
rarely they are also trees.
• These are perennial or annual plants.
• They exhibit perennation (the ability of plants to survive from
one germinating season to another through rhizomes or by
tuberous roots like in Aconitum).
• The rhizomes or creeping root stalks are simple fleshy
underground stems from the axillary bud. They act as a
storehouse for proteins and starches, enabling the plants to
perennate underground during unfavourable germinating
conditions.
• Roots:
• They have tap root systems in the early stage of
development, replaced by adventitious roots (roots that
develop from any seed part other than radicle) later.
• Stem:
• They have herbaceous, non-woody stems.
• Stems are positively phototropic, negatively geotropic, erect
and branched.
• They have rhizomes or creeping root stalks in certain plant
• Leaves:
• They have simple leaves.
• They exhibit alternate or opposite phyllotaxy (arrangement
of leaves on a stem).These are exstipulate (i.e. stipules, the
leaf-like appendages borne at the petiole base are absent).
• Petioles are rarely sessile.
• Leaves have unicostate or multicostate venation.
• Ranunculus aquatilis, also known as white crowfoot, shows
leaves dimorphism.
• Flower:
• They are pedicellate (flower with a stalk).
• They are ebracteate (have no bracts).
• Flowers are mostly hermaphrodite or bisexual flowers.
• Calyx:
• There is no distinction between calyx and corolla in most of the flowers.
• They have 5 sepals, caducous and polysepalous (sepals are free).
• They have imbricate or valvate aestivation.
• Perianth is dichlamydeous.
• Hypanthium (fusion of bases of petals, sepals and stamens) are absent.
• Corolla:
• It consists of 3-5 petals that are polypetalous, variously coloured to
attract insects for pollination and caducous.
• In Delphinium, the petals are united to form a spur.
• Androecium:
• It consists of free, numerous spirally arranged stamens on the
thalamus.
• Anthers are dithecous (two thecae), extrorse (anthers dehiscence
towards the centre of the flower) and adnate (fusion of one or two
whorls).
• Gynoecium:
• They are polycarpellary (1 in Delphinium and 3-5 in Aconitum).
• They are mostly apocarpous (distinct carpels or pistils).
• They have superior ovaries or hypogynous (i.e. ovary attached to
the receptacle above the attachment of other floral parts).
Fruits:
•The following fruits are found: Aggregate, etaerio of
achenes in Buttercup, etaerio of follicles in Aconitum, also
known as the queen of poison or devil’s helmet, etaerio of
berry (Hydrastis) and simple pod in Xanthorhiza.
Seed:
•They have small, oily, endospermic seeds.
•They have two cotyledons that can be epigeal or
hypogeal.
Pollination:
•Delphinium, Aconitum and Aquilegia are entomophilous;
the transfer of pollen grains occurs with the help of
insects, while Thalictrum is anemophilous (transfer of
pollen grains occurs by the action of air currents).
Floral formula of the family Ranunculaceae can be
deciphered as follows,
Bracteate or ebracteate, bisexual, actinomorphic
flower, epicalyx,
Calyx (K)=5, Corolla-5 petals, polypetalous, Stamens 5
to many, gynoecium - numerous, free carpels and
anatropous ovules.
The floral formula of the family Ranunculaceae is
Give the salient features of the family
caryophyllaceae with floral diagrams and
floral formula.
The members of this family are commonly found in the
temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere.
Certain genera are found in the Southern hemisphere
and few are found in the mountains of tropical regions.
In our country the plants of this family are either
found in the hilly tracts or they grow in the plains
during winter season, e.g., Stellaria, Spergula,
Dianthus, etc.
The family is well represented in the British Flora and
many species are cultivated as ornamental garden
flowers.
Habit:Most of them are annual, while some of them are
perennial herbs. Certain small shrubs, e.g., some species
of Acanthophyllum are also found in the warmer parts of
the world.

Stem:The stem is erect, branched, green, herbaceous,

solid and mostly swollen at the nodes.
Leaves:
The leaves are simple, opposite, entire and exstipulate.
The leaves sometimes possess shortly connate perfoliate
base, e.g., in Dianthus. They are linear to lanceolate in
shape. The development of the leaves is unusual.
At each node one leaf develops earlier than the other. This
leaf bears in its axil a more vigorous bud than on the other
side and frequently it is only this bud which develops later.
Flower::The flowers are pedicellate, actinomorphic, usually
hermaphrodite and pentamerous, but rarely unisexual or
tetramerous. They are regular, complete and hypogynous. Each
typical flower bears five whorls, each consisting of five
members, such as, five sepals, five petals, two pentamerous
whorls of stamens, five carpels, five styles and five double rows
of ovules and sometimes five partition walls in the basal part of
the ovary.
Calyx:
It is composed of five and very rarely of four sepals. The sepals
may be free or united together into a tube. They are usually
persistent with membranous margins. The aestivation is
imbricate (quincuncial).
Corolla:It is composed of five and rarely of four petals. The
petals are always free (polypetalous). The petals are mostly
notched, sometimes bifid, e.g., Stellaria media. Usually the
aestivation is imbricate.

Androecium:Usually it consists often stamens. Sometimes

the number of stamens reduces to eight, five, four, three or
even one. They are polyandrous, obdiplostemonous, i.e., the
stamens are arranged in two whorls of five each, the stamens
of the outer whorl are seen to be opposite the petals and of
Gynoecium:
inner whorl of
It consists alternating the carpels;
two or five petals. syncarpous. The styles are
free. The ovary is superior and unilocular; the ovules are many,
campylotropous and arranged on a central column.
Fruit::Generally the fruit is an unilocular capsule, e.g.,
Stellaria, Arenaria, Spergula, etc. In some cases the fruit,
may be an achene or a nut, e.g., Herniaria, Dysphania,
Scleranthus, etc.

Seeds:
The seeds are small and endospermic. The embryo is curved
in the endosperm. Sometimes the funicle is conspicuous.
They are dispersed by censor mechanism.

Pollination:It usually takes place by means of insects (i.e.,

entomophily).
Give a concise about the classification
system proposed by Bentham and
Hooker.
It is a natural system of classification and is based on
important characters of the plants. Even today this system
is being followed in India, United Kingdom and several
other Commonwealth countries. It is also used in a
number of herbaria and botanical gardens all over the
world. It is a well known and widely accepted
classification of seeded plants. It was proposed by two
English botanists George Bentham (1800-1884) and Sir
Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911). Their system of
classification was published in 'Genera Plantarum' in three
volumes and they had described 97,205 species of seeded
plants in 202 orders (now referred to as families). In
Bentham and Hooker's classification of plants, the present
The outline of Bentham and Hooker's classification of
plants is given below. The seeded plants are divided into
three classes 'Dicotyledonae,Gymnospermae and
Monocotyledonae.
Class I Dicotyledonae:Seeds of dicotyledonous plants contain two
cotyledons. Leaves show reticulate venation. Flowers are tetramerous or
pentamerous having four or five members in various floral whorls
respectively. It includes three sub-classes ' Polypetalae, Gamopetalae and
Monochlamydeae.

Sub-class I Polypetalae: Plants having flowers with free petals come

under polypetalae. The flowers are with distinct calyx and corolla. It is
further divided into three series - Thalamiflorae, Disciflorae and
Calyciflorae.
 Sub-class 2. Gamopetalae :Plants having flowers with petals,
which are either partially or completely fused to one another are
placed under Gamopetalae. The sepals and petals are distinct.
Gamopetalae is further divided into three series ' Inferae,
Heteromerae and Bicarpellatae.

Sub-class 3. Monochlamydeae: Plants having flowers with single

whorl of perianth are placed under Monochlamydeae. Flowers are
incomplete. The sepals and petals are not distinguished and they are
called perianth. Tepals are present in two whorls. Sometimes both the
wholrs are absent. Monochlamydeae includes 8 series and 36 families.
The family Euphorbiaceae is placed in the series unisexuals.
Merits of Bentham and Hooker's classification of plants

1.Bentham and Hooker's classification is the most natural system, based on

actual examination of specimens.

2.The description of plants is quite accurate and reliable.

3.As it is easy to follow, it is used as a key for the identification of plants in

Kew herbarium and several other herbaria of the world.
4 Although this system is natural, most of the aspects
.

of this system show affinity to modern concepts of evolution. For example,

theorder Ranales, which is the first order in the arrangement of plants, has
been given a primitive position in this system. Recent taxonomic findings
also indicate that the members of Ranales are the most primitive living
angiosperms.
Demerits of Engler and Prantl's system of
classification:
1.Monocotyledons were put before dicotyledons in the
system, which contradicts present evolutionary notions,
which were later amended.
2.Achlamydeous flowers are handled crudely in this system,
which may be a derived state.
3.There is greater evidence that unisexual households are
better sophisticated than bisexual families.
4.Some primordial species, such as Helobiae, are
sandwiched between two advanced orders, Pandanales and
Glumiflorae.
5.The inclusion of naturally unrelated species in an
ensemble is not permitted.
6.The system is not strictly phylogenetic in many places
 Briefly describe the natural system of
classification proposed by Bentham and
hooker.
George Bentham and Joseph Dalton Hooker - Two English
taxonomists who were closely associated with the Royal
Botanical Garden at Kew, England have given a detailed
classification of plant kingdom, particularly the angiosperms.
They gave an outstanding system of classification of
phanerogams in their Genera Plantarum which was
published in three volumes between the years 1862 to 1883.
It is a natural system of classification. However, it does not
show the evolutionary relationship between different groups
of plants, in the strict sense. Nevertheless, it is the most
popular system of classification particularly for angiosperms.
The popularity comes from the face that very clear key
These key characters enable the students of taxonomy
to easily identify and assign any angiosperm plant to
its family. Bentham and Hooker have grouped
advanced, seed bearing plants into a major division
called Phanerogamia. This division has been divided
into three classes namely: 1. Dicotyledonae 2.
Gymnospermae and 3. Monocotyledoneae