Let’s get this straight…
Eudicots
- there was a time when all flowering plants
- also called angiosperms
- were divided into two groups
- the monocots and the dicots
- the monocots have a single cotyledons as embryos
- meaning that when they first sprout, they are but a single leaf
- the floral parts of monocots come in multiples of three
- three leaves, three stamens, etc.
- the easiest way to look at a plant and immediately know it’s a monocot is if it’s leaves have parallel veins
- they are also usually herbaceous
- meaning they don’t have any sort of woody growth on them
- think grasses or orchids or palm trees
- dicots differ in that they have two cotyledons as embryos
- the floral parts of dicots come in multiples of four or five
- and dicot leaves do not display parallel venation
- their veins are in more of a net like arrangement
- woody growth is much more often present in dicots
- think maples or birches or alders
- think three quarters of all plant species, actually
- but here’s where the wrench comes in
- recent molecular phylogenetic evidence has arisen
- indicating that dicotyledons are a natural evolutionary group
- this means that they all come from one branch on a phylogenetic tree
- but
- through the constant shuffling that is taxonomy and the naming of things
- a different evolutionarily natural group has been discovered that contains the majority
- but not all
- of what were once considered dicots
- this new group is called the eudicots
- meaning “true dicots”
- the eudicots are believed to be one of the earliest evolutionary expansions of flowering plants
- and they are one of the most diverse groups of plants on this planet
- ranging from poppies to potatoes
You’ve probably seen hundreds of eudicots just today and were likely unaware of the taxonomic dance that goes on behind the scenes as we try to figure out how to group plants in the most parsimonious possible way. If we see something often enough, a maple tree, a sparrow, we often take them for granted or tune them out entirely. How unfortunate we do not stop to marvel at all living things. Unfortunately, we live for far too short a time to be able to do that, but perhaps by taking a little time every once in a while to stop and smell the angiosperms, we’ll be able to connect with the natural world at a deeper level.
Happy spring.
Source
“Eudicots — Biology Encyclopedia — Cells, Plant, Body, Animal, System, Specific, Common, Species, Form”.Biologyreference.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
“Monocots Vs. Dicots”. Ucmp.berkeley.edu. N.p., 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.
