What Is This Module About?

This is the second part of the module Green World. You may work on this part only after
finishing the first part on Nonvascular Plants. Do you know what vascular plants are? Vascular
plants are plants that contain a network of tiny tubes that carry water and nutrients to all of the
plants’ cells.
This module will give you an idea on what ferns are as well as their relatives. You will also
learn about cone-bearing and flowering plants in this module.
This module is made up of three lessons:
Lesson 1–Ferns and Fern Allies
Lesson 2–Cone-Bearing Plants
Lesson 3–Flowering Plants

What Will You Learn From This Module?

After studying this module, you should be able to:

♦ identify and describe ferns and fern allies;
♦ discuss the economic uses of ferns;
♦ recognize and describe cone-bearing plants;
♦ discuss the economic importance of cone-bearing plants;
♦ recognize and describe flowering plants; and
♦ compare monocotyledonous plants from dicotyledonous plants.

Let’s See What You Already Know

Before you start studying this module, take this simple test first to find out how much you
already know about the topics in this module.
Encircle the letter of the correct answer to each of the following.
1. Which of the following plants can live in dry, warm places?
a. acacia c. algae
b. moss d. fern

2. How do ferns reproduce?

a. by budding c. by producing spores
b. by marcotting d. by bearing seeds

1
 3. Which of the following is a fern ally?
a. liverwort c. whiskfern
b. cypress d. agoho

4. Which of the following plant groups produces naked seeds?

a. mosses c. gymnosperms
b. ferns and fern allies d. angiosperms

5. Which of the following cone-bearing plants are common in Baguio City?

a. gnetophytes c. cypress trees
b. ginkgos d. pine trees

6. Where can you find the tallest tree in the world?

a. Baguio City, Philippines c. Denver, USA
b. California, USA d. Tokyo, Japan

7. What could be the reason why most cone-bearing plants are found in temperate
countries?
a. cool weather c. type of soil
b. dry and hot climate d. altitude

8. How many cotyledons do dicots have?

a. one c. three
b. two d. four

9. Which of the following groups of plants are the most abundant?

a. flowering plants c. ferns and fern allies
b. cone-bearing plants d. mosses

10. Which of the following is not a flowering plant?

a. santan c. gumamela
b. cypress d. grass

Well, how was it? Do you think you fared well? Compare your answers with those in the
Answer Key on page 30 to find out.
If all your answers are correct, very good! This shows that you already know much about
the topics in this module. You may still study the module to review what you already know. Who
knows, you might learn a few more new things as well.
If you got a low score, don’t feel bad. This means that this module is for you. It will help you
understand some important concepts that you can apply in your daily life. If you study this module
carefully, you will learn the answers to all the items in the test and a lot more! Are you ready?
You may go now to the next page to begin Lesson 1.

2
 LESSON 1

Ferns and Fern Allies

During special occasions, beautiful flower arrangements are generally used to decorate
arches, rooms, halls, passageways and other areas. One may note roses, orchids,
chrysanthemums and other flowering plants artistically arranged with leaves and other materials as
accents. The most popular plant leaves used in these are the ferns.
This lesson will introduce you to ferns and fern allies. Ferns are flowerless, feathery-leaved
plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. After studying this lesson, you should be able
to:
♦ recognize and describe ferns and their relatives; and
♦ discuss the economic uses of ferns.

Ferns are shade-loving plants. While some of them may be big, they generally do not grow
tall. They usually grow on the ground and are relatively large but short. Some are aerial or
epiphytic, meaning they attach themselves to other plants for survival. There are more than
10000 different species of ferns all over the world. Ferns and fern allies are considered the
first-ever land vascular plants.

Let’s Read

Did you know that more than 300 years ago, during the Carboniferous Age, a great number
of ferns lived which was why this era was referred to as the “Age of Ferns.”

3
 Let’s Try This

Take a look at the picture of ferns and fern allies below. Do they look familiar to you? Have
you ever seen anything like them? Get samples of plants resembling those in the picture. Compare
them with the illustrated ones. Identify whether each of your samples is a fern or not.

Ferns and fern allies

Answer the following questions briefly based on the previous activity.

1. How many specimens were you able to collect?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. Do all your specimens look like the ferns and fern allies in the illustration?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. In what part of your garden or backyard were you able to find your specimens?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

4
 Let’s Learn

There are four groups of seedless vascular plants. These include whiskferns, club mosses,
horsetails and ferns. The first three are collectively known as fern allies. Ferns and fern allies
belong to the division Pteridophyta. Fern allies have smaller leaves compared to ferns or may
have no leaves at all. Let us now discuss the three kinds of fern allies in detail.

Whiskferns
The picture on the right shows a whiskfern.
Whiskferns are vascular plants that lack both roots and
leaves. They are rarely more than a meter tall. Their
branches look like bundles of green forked sticks.
Psilotum nudum is an example of this type of fern ally.
Externally and internally, this plant is very simple. It has a
dichotomously-branched green stick. Instead of leaves it
has tiny scales along the branches. Spores are borne in
infrequently-seen yellow lobes that form at the base of
these scales.

Psilotum

Club Mosses
Despite their name, club mosses are not bryophytes. Instead, they are simple, vascular
plants that belong to the division Lycophyta. They are also called lycopods and are common in
the tropics. But some also live on forest floors in cooler climates. Examples of this include
Lycopodium and Selaginella. Lycopodia are essentially creeping plants with tiny leaves termed
microphylls, spirally arranged around the stem. The leaves at their shoot tips look different from
each other. Their spore-bearing leaves are called sporophylls. Selaginella, on the other hand,
are common in the tropics. They are tender, spreading perennials grown for their pretty, scalelike
foliage. They can be used for edging greenhouse benches, covering pillars, planting in hanging
baskets and decorating terrariums.

Lycopodium Selaginella

Club mosses

5
Horsetails
Like the other spore-bearing vascular plants, horsetails
usually grow in moist or damp areas. They are members of the
genus Equisetum and are the only living representatives of the
common division, Sphenophyta. The word Equisetum means
“horsetail” in Latin. Equisetum appear bushy like horses’ tails.
Horsetails are easily recognized by jointed stems. At each
joint, small leaves encircle the stem. Each stem arises from an
underground rhizome and contains the element silicon, giving the
stem a rough texture.
Horsetail

Let’s Review

Answer the following questions briefly.

1. Which among the fern allies look like tails of horses?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. Which among the fern allies have no roots and no leaves?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. Which among the three groups of fern allies earlier discussed is the most decorative?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 30. How well did you do?

6
 Let’s Learn

Ferns
The ferns belong to the division Pterophyta. Ferns are aquatic, living on the surface of
ponds and lakes. The 12000 species of ferns range in size from tiny water ferns to tropical tree
ferns which may reach heights of 25 m. However, most species do not exceed heights of 1 m.

Cyathea or tree fern

Ferns have true vascular tissues, strong roots, creeping or underground stems called
rhizomes and large leaves called fronds. They undergo alternation of generations. Early in the
development of ferns, fronds are tightly coiled into fiddleheads. In many places, the unfurling
fiddleheads are a sure sign of spring.

Fiddlehead

7
 Let’s Try This

Look for ferns growing in your garden or backyard. Observe the growth of the fiddleheads,
if there are any. Take note of their appearance and how fast they grow. Record their heights and
appearance. Do this until the fiddleheads fully uncoil.
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. How many fiddleheads were you able to find in your garden/backyard?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. Are fiddleheads soft or hard? Why?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. How many days did it take the fiddleheads to uncoil?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Let’s Learn

The fern sporophyte produces thousands of spores within each sporangium. In some ferns,
the sporangia appear as brown spots called sori on the lower surfaces of some fronds.

Blade
Opening to
Indusium “pocket”
of sorus formed by
indusium over
sorus
Vein

Margin

Blade
Vein

Young
Indusium
sorus
splitting open
revealing
sporangia

Fern frond showing the undersurface of the leaf

8
 Let’s Try This

Get a mature fern frond. Look for the brownish sori under its surface. With a needle, try to
prick the sori to see the spores inside them. It is best to examine these with the aid of a hand lens.
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. What is the color of the sori?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. How are they arranged?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. What do you call the structures where the spores are located?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 30. How well did you do?

Let’s Learn

In a suitably moist, shady environment, a fern spore may germinate and form a heart-shaped
gametophyte. As with the whiskferns, the gametophyte is called a prothallium. It is a flat, green
sheet of cells about 3 mm wide. On the lower surface of the gametophyte, sex organs develop,
gametes are produced and fertilization occurs. The fertilized egg divides, grows and develops into
a new sporophyte.
To better understand the life cycle of ferns, refer to the illustration on the next page.

9
 Sporophyte

Frond

Fiddlehead Sorus

Young
sporohyte

Rhizome

Sporangium containing
spore mother cells

2n
Fertilization Meiosis
n
Archegonium

Egg
Sperm Spores

Antheridium

Germinating spore

Gametophyte (Prothallus)
Rhizoid

Life cycle of a fern

Let’s Review

Answer the following questions briefly.

1. Which is bigger—the sporophyte or the gametophyte?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. Which of the two will produce spores?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

10
 3. Which part of the plant produces egg cells? sperm cells?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 30. How well did you do?

Let’s Learn

Just like the other groups of plants, ferns are also useful. A number of ferns have practical
values. These include the following:
♦ In many parts of the world, ferns such as bracken ferns, can be eaten.
♦ Ferns can also be used for decorative purposes as in flower arrangements and the like.
♦ They are also used as folk medicines and insect repellants.
♦ In our country, the young fronds of the edible fern, pako, which grow abundantly near
streams and rivers, are made into salads together with tomatoes, some vinegar and a
dash of salt.
♦ Another local fern called nito is used for binding, making baskets and salakot and
other decorative purposes.
♦ Some fern trunks can be used in building small houses especially in the tropics.

Let’s See What You Have Learned

Match the terms in Column A with their definitions/descriptions in Column B. Write the
letters of the correct answers only in the blanks provided before the numbers.
Column A Column B
______ 1. Whiskferns a. Simple vascular plants that belong to the
division Lycophyta
______ 2. Club mosses b. Belong to the division Pterophyta

______ 3. Horsetails c. Vascular plants that lack both roots and

leaves
______ 4. Ferns d. Members of the genus Equisetum and are
the only living representatives of a once
______ 5. Fern allies common division, Sphenophyta
e. Vascular plants that have smaller leaves than
ferns or have no leaves at all

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 31. How well did you do?

11
Let’s Remember

♦ Ferns are considered the first-ever vascular land plants. They have roots, stems and
leaves.
♦ Ferns do not bear seeds, only spores for reproduction.
♦ A fern’s spores are found inside a spore case called sporangium, found inside the sori
of the leaves. The sori are found on the undersurface of leaves.
♦ A fern’s life cycle is composed of alternating sporophytic and gametophytic stages.
♦ Fiddleheads are coiled, young fern fronds.
♦ Ferns are mostly found in cool, shady places in groups or clusters.
♦ Sori are arranged differently in various kinds of leaves.
♦ Some ferns are highly edible but some are poisonous.
♦ Ferns are used as folk medicines, for decorative purposes and for making baskets.

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 LESSON 2

The Cone-Bearing Plants

What trees do you usually associate with the Christmas season? Pine trees are very popular
during the Christmas season. They are usually cut down and decorated to serve as Christmas
trees in many houses all over the world. Have you ever noticed how different the leaves of pine
trees are from those of the more common trees you see around you? Pine trees have needle-
shaped leaves which make them so unusual. They also have cones that are highly decorative.
These cones can be painted with varnish and made into beautiful Christmas tree ornaments.
This lesson will tell you all about cone-bearing plants or conifers like the pine trees and
more. After studying this lesson, you should be able to:
♦ identify and describe cone-bearing plants; and
♦ discuss the economic importance of cone-bearing plants.

Let’s Try This

Look for a cycad tree and a pine tree near your place. Compare the two plants based on
the following:
♦ height ;
♦ trunk; and
♦ leaves.
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Which one is taller—the cycad or the pine tree?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. Which one has a woody trunk?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. What function as seeds in conifers?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

13
 4. Are these two plants related? Why/Why not?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 31. How well did you do?

Let’s Learn

Pine, spruce and fir trees are members of a large group of plants called gymnosperms.
Gymnosperms represent all seed plants that do not form flowers. Plants in this group are not
related by ancestry.
Members of this group do not develop flowers, thus they do not have seeds enclosed within
a fruit. In fact, the name gymnosperm literally means “naked seed.”

Let’s Read

Did you know that the oldest living tree today is a gymnosperm? It can be found in Eastern
California and is 4900 years old.

Let’s Study and Analyze

Look at the plants in the illustration below. Are you familiar with all of them? Examine each
of them closely. Which among them can be found in your locality? If you live close to Baguio City
or Tagaytay City, you will be very familiar with pine trees.

a b c d

Can you identify what kind of plants are found in your neigborhood?

14
 Let’s Learn

There are four groups or divisions of gymnosperms or cone-bearing plants. These include
the ginkgoes, the gnetophytes, cycads and conifers. Let us discuss each of them in detail.

Ginkgoes
The ginkgo or maidenhair tree is the only surviving species of a once-large group. Ginkgoes
grow to be tall trees, often reaching over 30 m. Their leaves are shaped like fans. The veins in
their leaves are parallel. Ginkgoes are deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves during autumn.
Ginkgoes bear their pollen and ovules on separate trees. The wind transfers pollen from
male to female trees. Ginkgo seeds resemble yellow cherries but have an unpleasant odor.

Ginkgo biloba

Gnetophytes
This small group includes a shrub called Ephedra, which is
common in the southwestern deserts. The leaves of Ephedra
plants are very tiny. Their green stems carry on photosynthesis.
These plants resemble the flowering plants most. They are, in
fact, believed to be the ancestors of the flowering plants. They
have cones that resemble flowers. They are usually smaller
compared to ginkgoes. The veins in their leaves are parallel just
like the leaves of ginkgoes.

Gnetum

15
 Let’s Review

Answer the following questions briefly.

1. How do the leaves of ginkgoes look? How about the leaves of gnetophytes?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. What type of venation do both groups have?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 31. How well did you do?

Let’s Learn

Cycads
Cycads have unbranched stems that are crowned by long, leathery leaves. Like ginkgoes,
cycads produce pollen and ovules on separate plants. The wind also aids in their pollination.
Female cycad plants are distinct from male ones. Cycads have a method of reproduction
that represents, in shortened form, the process found in lower plants. Their pollen grains produce
large sperm. Each sperm is covered with cilia. The cycad egg is surrounded by a drop of water.
The sperm must swim through the drop of water before it can unite with the egg. Examples of
cycad plants include the pitogo and oliva or peace plants.

Male cycad Female cycad

Male and female cycads

16
Conifers
Conifers are by far the most numerous and widespread of the gymnosperms. They are
cone-bearing woody trees and shrubs. Their leaves are usually needle-like. This shape helps
reduce water loss during the dry season. Most conifers are evergreen, they do not drop their
leaves during autumn. However, conifers do shed their leaves but not all at once. Most conifers
replace their needles every two to four years.
Conifers grow in different environments. They thrive in cool climates, poor soil, moist air of
the seashore and harsh conditions of mountains. Among the 600 species of conifers are pines,
firs, spruces, cedars, hemlocks and sequoias.
Conifers produce many useful products.
They are a major source of lumber, paper
and turpentine. The seeds of some pines
called pine nuts are used in cooking.
Examples of conifers found in our country
include the Pinus insularis and the Pinus
merkusii. Some of these can be found not
only in Baguio City but in other parts of the
country too like Zambales, Mindoro and in
some parts of Mindanao.
Let us take a closer look at one
example of conifers—the pine tree. Pine
trees produce two different kinds of cones.
Male pollen cones and female seed cones Male and female cones of a pine tree
are produced on the same tree, although
usually on separate branches.
Pine seeds develop on the shelflike scales of a female seed cone. Inside the seed cones are
megasporangia. Cells in the megasporangia undergo meiosis to produce megaspores. The
megaspores then develop into female gametophytes. The female gametophytes produce eggs that
are ready for fertilization.
On the scales of a male pollen cone, on the other hand, are pollen sacs called
microsporangia. Inside the sacs, reproductive cells undergo meiosis to produce microspores.
The microspores develop into pollen grains.
Pollination occurs each time male cones release millions of pollen grains. Some grains land
between the scales of the female cone directly on the ovule. When this occurs, the pollen grain
then produces a pollen tube. Each pollen tube grows toward a female gametophyte. Within the
tube, sperm are produced. A year may pass before the sperm fertilize the egg.
Inside the seed cone, a fertilized egg develops into a zygote. The zygote absorbs food from
the female gametophyte which develops as an initial food supply. The zygote develops into an
embryo. A seed coat forms around the embryo and food supply. When the seeds are ripe, the
woody cone opens. Each seed has papery wings which help the wind disperse it.
If a seed lands in a good location, it will begin to grow. An embryonic root pushes into the
soil and the young stem pushes upward. A pine seedling absorbs the food stored by the female
gametophyte until it is able to form leaves, make chlorophyll and begin photosynthesis. If
conditions are suitable, it will grow into the familiar pine tree.

17
 To get a better understanding of this process, look at the diagram of the life cycle of a pine
tree below.

Female cone

Meiosis

Fertilization

Megasporangia Pollen
Male cone Meiosis

Microsporangia

Seed

Young
sporophyte

Sporophyte

Life cycle of a pine tree

Let’s Review

Have you ever seen pinecones? How do they look? Do you know how male and female
pinecones look? Refer to the pictures presented beforehand. Compare them with each other.
Then answer the following questions briefly.
1. Which one is bigger—the male pinecone or the female pinecone?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. How many seeds can you usually find in one pinecone?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 31. How well did you do?

18
 Let’s Read

Did you know that the biggest and oldest trees in the world are found in California, U.S.A.?
One tree in Humboldt County, California with a height of 111.6 m or 366.2 ft. is, in fact, believed
to be the tallest conifer in the world. The other species usually referred to as “big tree” or giant
redwood is confined at California’s Sierra Nevada. Its scientific name is Sequiodendron
giganteum or simply sequoia. This tree is, in fact, enough to build 75 five-room houses or make
20 billion toothpicks!

Let’s Learn

Although cone-bearing plants consist of about 500 species only, they rank high among the
most economically important plants. Their uses include the following:
♦ Many species of cone-bearing plants are important sources of timber. They supply 7/8
of the timber needs of the world.
♦ Cone-bearing plants help prevent erosion and protect our watersheds.
♦ They are important sources of resin needed for manufacturing varnishes, waxes and
waterproof containers.
♦ The seeds and stems of cycads are important sources of sago starch.
♦ The beautiful leaves of cone-bearing plants are used as decors and symbols in
numerous religious activities.
♦ Cone-bearing plants, as a whole, are very pleasing to the eyes when grown in one’s
backyard or garden.

19
 Let’s See What You Have Learned

Match the terms in Column A with their definitions/descriptions in Column B. Write the
letters of the correct answers only in the blanks provided for each number.

Column A Column B

______ 1. Gymnosperms a. Seed plants in which seeds develop

unprotected on the scales of cones
______ 2. Ginkgoes
b. Gymnosperms whose green stems carry on
______ 3. Gnetophytes
photosynthesis
______ 4. Cycads
c. Cone-bearing woody trees and shrubs with
______ 5. Conifers needle-like leaves

______ 6. Pollen cones d. Female pine-tree cones

______ 7. Seed cones e. Also known as maidenhair trees

______ 8. Deciduous f. Gymnosperms that have unbranched stems

that are crowned by long, leathery leaves
g. Male pine-tree cones
h. Plants that lose their leaves during autumn

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 31. How well did you do?

Let’s Remember

♦ Cone-bearing plants or gymnosperms produce “naked” seeds or seeds that are not
found inside a fruit.
♦ Gymnosperms are the biggest and tallest plants on earth. They can grow as tall as 350
ft.
♦ The biggest conifers are found in California, U.S.A.
♦ There are more or less 550 different species of cone-bearing plants in the world.
♦ Only two species of pine trees can be found in our country—the Pinus insularis or
the Benguet pine and the Pinus merkusii.
♦ There are four major groups of cone-bearing plants. These include the ginkgoes, the
gnetophytes, the cycads and the conifers.
♦ Cone-bearing plants make up most of the timber sources in our country.

20
 LESSON 3

Flowering Plants

When you bite into a chico or guava, you are eating part of an angiosperm. Angiosperms
or flowering plants are vascular plants with seeds inside fruits. There are around 200000 different
species of flowering plants. Chicos and guavas have seeds inside their fruits. Angiosperms or
flowering plants are classified under the division Anthophyta. More than half of all known plant
species are angiosperms. Are you familiar with the Filipino dish sinigang? It is a dish made with
vegetables coming from flowering plants such as tomatoes, eggplants, kangkong, labanos, sili
and sampalok. Have you ever had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of orange juice
for merienda, then you ate food that came from flowering plants. Nearly all the plants you are
familiar with belong to this division. They have roots, stems, leaves and vascular tissues. What
makes them different from the other groups of plants? Well, these plants come from seeds. A
seed is the reproductive part of the plant that contains a plant embryo or a baby plant and stored
food. After studying this lesson, you should be able to:
♦ identify and describe the flowering plants; and
♦ compare monocot with dicot plants.

Let’s Try This

Get an uncooked peanut with its shell still intact. Open the shell. Remove the thin covering of
the seed. Carefully open the seed and look for a small hump on one half of the seed. This is the
embryo or the baby plant. If you examine this closely you will note the fruit’s future leaves, roots
and stems. For a closer look, refer to the illustration below.

Seed coat

Embryo

Roots

Stems

Cotyledons

Open peanut seed

21
 Answer the following questions briefly.
1. What did you see inside the nut?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. How many seeds were there? How many seed leaves or cotyledons did you find in
each seed?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. What did you see on each half of the seed?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

4. How many leaves did you see?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

5. Were you able to see the other parts mentioned in the diagram?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 32. How well did you do?

Let’s Learn

There are two kinds of flowering plants based on the number of seed leaves in a seed: the
monocots and the dicots. Monocot is the shortened form of monocotyledon and dicot is the
shortened form of dicotyledon. The cotyledon is a seed leaf found inside a seed. It serves as
food for the young plant. Monocots have only one seed leaf inside a seed while dicots have two.

22
 Let’s Try This

Get a branch of a gumamela plant with a flower and an orchid stem with a flower
(preferably the Dendrobium) or any other monocot plant. Start your study with the gumamela.
Closely examine the specimen. Start with the leaf. Observe the veins in it. How are they
arranged? Now, focus on the flower. Notice that it has five petals. Look at their sepals. These
are the green leaflike parts at the base of the petals. Try to count them. Look at its stigma. There
are five of them in the flower. The stigma is located at the tip of the flower. The anther and other
parts of the flower are also visible. In case you have difficulty locating its parts, refer to the
drawing below.

Pollen grain
Stigma
Style Pistil
Anther
Stamen Ovary
Filament

Petals
Sepals Ovule
Receptacle

Cross-section of a perfect flower

After observing the gumamela plant, shift to the orchid plant or any other monocot plant you
were able to collect and do the same thing you did with the gumamela plant.
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. How different is its venation from the gumamela’s?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. How many petals does a gumamela flower have? How about the other flower you
collected?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. How many stigma does each flower have?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

23
 Let us now take a closer look at how different monocots and dicots are. Refer to the table
below.

Comparison Between Monocots and Dicots

Type of Type of Number of Arrangemen

Plant Flower Cotyledon/s of Vascula
Bundles

Monocot floral parts in one scattered

threes, e.g., vascular
number of bundles
petals

Dicot floral parts in two vascular

fours or fives bundles in
rings or
circular

To help you understand better the table above, look at the illustration below.

Type of flower Seedling Leaves

Plant
Seed Stem
Monocot
flower parts
in threes
Soil Parallel veins in
One leaves
Scattered vascular
cotyledon
bundles

Two
Dicot flower cotyledons Vascular
parts in bundles in Netlike
fours or rings veins
fives in
leaves
Soil

Monocots and dicots

24
 Let’s Try This

Collect at least ten flowering plants with complete parts and examine them carefully. Make
sure that your collection includes the two types of flowering plants. Compare them as to:
♦ arrangement of veins;
♦ root system;
♦ number of petals; and
♦ number of cotyledons.
Record your observations in the table below.

Name of Plant Type of Leaf Type of Root N

Venation System

Let’s Learn

The different flowering plants have various economic uses just like the other kinds of plants.
Some of them are given below.
♦ Flowering plants are one of the primary sources of food for humans and other animals.
♦ They are also possible sources of medicines. In fact, most of the plants tapped for
medicines are flowering plants.
♦ They provide shelter for various animals like birds, reptiles and insects.
♦ Flowering plants, being the most abundant of all the kinds of plants, provide the living
world with sufficient amounts of oxygen.
♦ Flowering plants generally beautify the environment.
♦ They are also very important in food production being the primary producers in the
food chain.

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 Let’s Try This

Fill up the concept map below with the correct words or phrases based on what you have
learned from the module on Nonvascular Plants and this module.

Plant kingdom

Seedless plants

Vascular plants

Mosses, liverworts
and hornworts Ferns and
fern allies

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 32. How well did you do?

26
 Let’s See What You Have Learned

Match the items in Column A with their descriptions/definitions in Column B. Write the
letters of the correct answers only in the blanks before the numbers.

Column A Column B

______ 1. Angiosperms a. Flowering plants

b. A multicellular structure containing a diploid
______ 2. Anthophyta embryonic plant and a food supply protected
by a seed coat
______ 3. Seed
c. A seed plant with one seed leaf or cotyledon
______ 4. Embryo d. A modified leaf that encloses the flower before
it opens
______ 5. Monocot e. The part of a flower stamen that bears the
pollen
______ 6. Dicot
f. The division where angiosperms or flowering
plants belong
______ 7. Sepal
g. An organism in the early stages of development
______ 8. Stigma h. A seed plant with two seed leaves or
cotyledons
______ 9. Anther
i. The part of a flower stamen that bears the
pollen

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 33. How well did you do?

Let’s Remember

♦ Flowering plants are the most abundant of all the plant groups comprising more or less
50% of the total number.
♦ Flowering plants produce seeds that are generally enclosed inside their fruits.
♦ There are two types of flowering plants—the monocots and the dicots.
♦ Dicots have two cotyledons while monocots have only one.
♦ Monocots have diffused root systems while dicots have taproot systems.
♦ Dicots have netlike leaf veins while monocots have parallel leaf veins.
♦ The vascular bundles of monocots are scattered while the vascular bundles of dicots
are arranged in a circular form.

27
 ♦ Flowering plants are the most useful of all the plant groups. They provide most of the
food we eat. They are also possible sources of medicines.
♦ Flowering plants are the most decorative of all the plants because most of them bear
attractive flowers.
Well, this is the end of the module! Congratulations for finishing it. Did you like it? Did you
learn anything useful from it? A summary of its main points is given below to help you remember
them better.

Let’s Sum Up

This module tells us that:

♦ Ferns are considered the first-ever vascular land plants. They have roots, stems and
leaves.
♦ Ferns do not bear seeds only spores for reproduction.
♦ A fern’s spores are found inside a spore case called sporangium, found inside the sori
of the leaves. The sori are found on the undersurface of leaves.
♦ A fern’s life cycle is composed of alternating sporophytic and gametophytic stages.
♦ Fiddleheads are coiled, young fern fronds.
♦ Ferns are mostly found in cool, shady places in groups or clusters.
♦ Sori are arranged differently in various kinds of leaves.
♦ Some ferns are highly edible but some are poisonous.
♦ Ferns are used as folk medicines, for decorative purposes and for making baskets.
♦ Cone-bearing plants or gymnosperms produce “naked” seeds or seeds that are not
found inside fruits.
♦ Gymnosperms are the biggest and tallest plants on earth. They can grow as tall as 350
ft.
♦ The biggest conifers are found in California, U.S.A.
♦ There are more or less 550 different species of cone-bearing plants in the world.
♦ Only two species of pine trees can be found in our country—the Pinus insularis or
the Benguet pine and the Pinus merkusii.
♦ There are four major groups of cone-bearing plants. These include the ginkgoes, the
gnetophytes, the cycads and the conifers.
♦ Cone-bearing plants make up most of the timber sources in our country.
♦ Flowering plants are the most abundant of all the plant groups comprising more or less
50% of the total number.

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 ♦ Flowering plants produce seeds that are generally enclosed inside their fruits.
♦ There are two types of flowering plants—the monocots and the dicots.
♦ Dicots have two cotyledons while monocots have only one.
♦ Monocots have diffused root systems while dicots have taproot systems.
♦ Dicots have netlike leaf veins while monocots have parallel leaf veins.
♦ The vascular bundles of monocots are scattered while the vascular bundles of dicots
are arranged in a circular form.
♦ Flowering plants are the most useful of all the plant groups. They provide most of the
food we eat. They are also possible sources of medicines.
♦ Flowering plants are the most decorative of all the plants because most of them bear
attractive flowers.

What Have You Learned?

Fill in the blanks with the correct answers.

1. A fern’s spores are found inside a spore case called the _____________________.
2. The sporangia are found inside the _____________________ of leaves.
3. _____________________ are coiled, young fern fronds.
4. _____________________ produce “naked” seeds or seeds that are not found inside
their fruits.
5. _____________________ are seed plants that have only one cotyledon.
6. _____________________ are seed plants that have two cotyledons.
7. _____________________ are spore-bearing vascular plants that belong to the division
Pterophyta.
8. _____________________ are spore-bearing vascular plants that live in moist areas and
belong to the division Lycophyta.
9. _____________________ are the simplest living vascular plants that lack both true roots
and leaves.
10. _____________________ are spore-bearing vascular plants that live in damp areas and
belong to the genus Equisteum.

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 33. Did you get a perfect
score? If you did, that’s very good. That means you learned a lot from this lesson. If you didn’t,
don’t worry. Just review the parts of the module you didn’t understand very well before studying
another module.

29
 Answer Key

A. Let’s See What You Already Know (pages 1–2)

1. (a)
2. (c)
3. (c)
4. (c)
5. (d)
6. (b)
7. (a)
8. (b)
9. (a)
10. (b)

B. Lesson 1
Let’s Review (page 6)
1. The horsetails look like tails of horses.
2. The whiskferns have no roots and no leaves.
3. The club mosses are the most decorative.

Let’s Try This (page 9)

1. They are brownish or rust colored.
2. They have no definite arrangement.
3. They are called sporangia.

Let’s Review (pages 10–11)

1. The sporophyte is bigger than the gametophyte.
2. The sporophyte produces spores.
3. The gametophytes produce the egg cells and sperm.

30
 Let’s See What You Have Learned (page 11)
1. (c)
2. (a)
3. (d)
4. (b)
5. (e)

C. Lesson 2
Let’s Try This (pages 13–14)
1. The pine tree is taller than the cycad.
2. The pine tree has a woody trunk.
3. Cones function as seeds in conifers.
4. Yes, they are both gymnosperms or cone-bearing plants.

Let’s Review (page 16)

1. Ginkgoes have fan-shaped leaves. Gnetophytes, on the other hand, have leaves
that resemble those of flowering plants.
2. They both have parallel venation.

Let’s Review (page 18)

1. The female pinecone is bigger than the male one.
2. There are more or less 12 seeds in a cone.

Let’s See What You Have Learned (page 20)

1. (a)
2. (e)
3. (b)
4. (f)
5. (c)
6. (g)
7. (d)
8. (h)

31
D. Lesson 3
Let’s Try This (pages 21–22)
1. Inside it were seeds.
2. There were two or three seeds there. Each seed had two cotyledons each.
3. An embryo or a baby plant was on one-half of the seed.
4. There were two leaves on the embryo.
5. The other parts that were visible were the future roots and stems.

Let’s Try This (page 26)

Plant kingdom

Seedless plants Seed plants

Nonvascular plants Vascular plants

Flower-bearing
Mosses, liverworts Cone-bearing plants
and hornworts plants Ferns and
fern allies

32
 Let’s See What You Have Learned (page 27)
1. (a)
2. (f)
3. (b)
4. (g)
5. (c)
6. (h)
7. (d)
8. (i)
9. (e)

E. What Have You Learned? (page 29)

1. sporangia
2. sori
3. Fiddleheads
4. Gymnosperms/Cone-bearing plants
5. Monocots
6. Dicots
7. Ferns
8. Club mosses
9. Whiskferns
10. Horsetails

33
 Glossary

Alternation of generations A life cycle that shows an orderly sequence of haploid and
diploid generations.
Conifer A cone-bearing tree or shrub.
Cotyledon An embryo “leaf” that contains stored food for the young plant.
Frond A fern leaf.
Sporophyll A modified leaf that bears a sporangium or sporangia.
Monocot An angiosperm whose seeds have only one cotyledon.
Rhizoids Rootlike structures found in ferns that absorb nutrients from the soil and serve as
a means of anchoring onto the soil.
Spore A reproductive cell or an aggregate of cells capable of developing directly into a
gametophyte or other body without uniting with another cell.
Sporophyte A spore-producing phase in the life cycle of an organism exhibiting alternation
of generations.
Sorus In ferns, a cluster of sporangia on the undersides of leaves.
Vascular plants Plants with vascular bundles or transport tissues.
Veins The vascular bundles that form a branching network within leaves.

References

Balzer, L. and P. L. Goodson. Introduction to Biology. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman

and Company, 1986.
Daniel, L., E. Ortleb and Alton Biggs. Merill Life Science. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1994.
Mauseth, James T. Botany. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1996.
Miller K. R. Biology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1991.
Stern, K. R. Introduction to Plant Biology. U.S.A.: Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Inc.,
1994.
Wong, H. K. and M. Dolmatz. Biology: The Key Ideas. New York: Globe Book
Company, 1986.

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