P3 Classifying Plants (Concept Map)

Grouping plants by what they share

Plants are sorted by their flowers, seeds, where they grow and how their parts look

Plants are grouped by flowers, seeds or spores, where they grow and how their parts look.

Flowering plants reproduce by seeds; non-flowering plants such as ferns and mosses by spores.

Leaves are compared by shape, edge (jagged or smooth) and vein pattern (net or parallel).

Stems are either strong (the plant holds itself up) or weak (it clings or crawls).

The same plant belongs to several groups at once — always say which feature you are grouping by.

Flowering or not

Flowering plantsplants that bear flowers when fully grown, such as the hibiscus and the rose

Non-flowering plantsplants that do not bear flowers, such as ferns and mosses

How they reproduceflowering plants reproduce by seeds, while ferns and mosses reproduce by spores

Where they grow

Land plantsplants that grow on land

Water plantsplants that grow in water — some rest on the surface, others root under water with leaves above

Under the watersome water plants grow completely under the water

Safe or harmful

Poisonous partssome plants have parts that are poisonous; handling or eating them causes rashes, vomiting or worse

Parts we eatother plants are grown for food — we eat parts such as the root of the carrot or the stem of the potato

Looking at leaves

Shapeleaves of different plants differ in shape

Edgesa leaf edge can be jagged or smooth

Veinsa leaf has either a net vein pattern or a parallel vein pattern

Flowers, fruits and stems

Flowersflowers grow either singly or in clusters

Fruits: seedsa fruit can have one seed, like the mango, or many seeds, like the watermelon

Fruits: skin and usefruit skin can be smooth or rough and hairy, and some fruits can be eaten while others cannot

Stemsa strong stem holds the plant upright; a weak stem must cling to something or crawl along the ground

Why we group them

Similarities firstplants in the same group share features that plants in other groups do not

More than one groupone plant can belong to several groups at once — a rose is a flowering land plant with jagged leaves