Dicots and Monocots Case
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Have you ever wondered about the different leaves on plants and what they represent? Most people find it hard to differentiate between them and they normally mix them up. Although they seem so similar in appearance, they certainly have numerous dissimilarities too. The Anthophyta phyla, also called the flowering plants, are classified into two distinct classes. The first is the Monocots, which are scientifically called Monocotyledons, are one of the groups of flowering plants. The second group is called the Dicots or Dicotyledons. These two classes of flowering plants are distinct and different in their basic composition. The monocots consist of one seed leaf, which is called the cotyledon, while the dicots are made up of two embryonic leaves. Despite the new concepts, when you look at a plant with the idea of identifying it, its still helpful to resolve this question first: “Is this a monocot or a dicot?” Conrad (2010)
Based physical appearance of the flowers, the monocot flowers would have petals that are usually divisible by three. Hence, its petal counts are commonly at around three or six. The dicot plants would have petal counts of around four, five or more. This distinction, however, is not that reliable, as some dicot plants have only three petals. Monocots have only one seed leaf inside the seed coat. The endosperm to feed the new plant is not inside the seed leaf. Dicots, on the other hand, have two seed leaves inside the seed coat. They are usually rounded and fat; because the endosperm, that feeds the embryo, is inside.
Plants have this vascular stem arrangement that is called the vascular bundles. The appearance of the bundles is circular. To see this clearly, a cut across the stem would show the ring of spots appearing in a cylindrical motion. For monocots, these bundles would appear scattered all throughout the stem with the stem periphery being found in the center. The dicots would have the vascular bundles centralized in concentric circles. The leaves of monocots are often long and narrow, with their veins in straight lines up and down the leaf. Leaves of dicots come in many different shapes and sizes. The veins go from the central midrib to the edge of the leaf, crossing and joining to form a netted pattern all over the leaf.
To distinguish them further, you can refer to the root development. In dicots, it would start at the bottom of the embryos that are called the radicle. Eventually, the production of the radicle will create a root tissue that will be present much for the life term of the plant. In monocots, the radicle is eradicated from the plant. The development will adventitiously begin from the nodes of the stem. Consequently, it is known as prop rots as they are usually clustered in the bottom of the stem. The leaves of monocots are often long and narrow, with their veins in straight lines up and down the leaf. Leaves of dicots come in many different shapes and sizes. The veins