Kingdom Fungi
Fungi include mushrooms, moulds and yeast. Their bodies are made of thread-like hyphae and their cell walls contain chitin. They have no chlorophyll, so they cannot make food. Most feed on dead or decaying matter (saprophytes); some are parasites. Fungi reproduce by tiny spores.
| Example | Importance |
|---|---|
| Yeast | makes bread rise and ferments drinks |
| Mushroom | food |
| Bread mould (Rhizopus) | spoils food; decomposes waste |
| Ringworm fungus | causes skin infection |
Kingdom Plantae
Plants are multicellular organisms with cellulose cell walls and chloroplasts. They make their own food by photosynthesis. Plants are grouped by whether they have flowers, seeds and vascular tissue.
| Group | Features | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Bryophytes | no true roots, stems or leaves; reproduce by spores; live in damp places | mosses, liverworts |
| Pteridophytes | true roots, stems and leaves; spores on the underside of leaves | ferns |
| Gymnosperms | seeds that are not in fruits; often cones | pine, cypress |
| Angiosperms | flowers; seeds inside fruits | maize, mango, beans |
The angiosperms are divided into monocotyledons (one seed leaf) and dicotyledons (two seed leaves). They differ in several features.
Compare the features of the two flowering-plant groups. Change the numbers of features to see how many each group has on its own and how many they share.
| Feature | Monocotyledon (e.g. maize) | Dicotyledon (e.g. bean) |
|---|---|---|
| Seed leaves | one | two |
| Leaf veins | parallel | branched network |
| Flower parts | in threes | in fours or fives |
| Roots | fibrous | tap root |
Key terms
- Hyphae
- The thread-like parts of a fungus.
- Saprophyte
- An organism that feeds on dead matter.
- Angiosperm
- A flowering plant with seeds in fruits.
- Cotyledon
- A seed leaf.
Summary
- Fungi have chitin walls, no chlorophyll and reproduce by spores.
- Plant groups: bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms, angiosperms.
- Angiosperms are monocots (one seed leaf) or dicots (two seed leaves).