|
|
Article: Plant
- Article from:
- Biology
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Plant
Plants (of the kingdom Plantae) are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms that develop from an embryo and that have cell walls and chloroplasts. Plants are distinguished from algae (from which they are descended) by a higher degree of multicellular complexity and from fungi by the ability to photosynthesize (those few plants that have lost this ability evolved from others that could).
Characteristics of Plants
Almost all plants live on land and have adapted to the conditions on land through the development of a waxy cuticle to prevent drying out, structures to absorb and transport water throughout their bodies (the bryophytes are an exception), and rigid internal support to ...