By Plant Kingdom we mean all the variety of plants that exist on the planet, which is also known as the plantae kingdom.
It is estimated that there are more than 300,000 described species of plants and, curiously, half are found in tropical ecosystems, since climatic conditions and the effect of the sun favor this circumstance.
Despite the great diversity, most plants share some similar characteristics: they are predominantly green, carry out photosynthesis, and live almost entirely in the soil.
Regarding their structure, plants have three different parts: the roots, the stems and the leaves. The roots form its underground part and stabilize them in the soil, its main function being to absorb water and minerals from the earth. The stem is the essential part of the plant and its tissues also store water and food (there are herbaceous and woody stems). As for the leaves, it is where photosynthesis takes place (the process of assimilation of sunlight, water and carbon dioxide that become their main nutrients).
Plant classification and taxonomy
The scientific community has created a classification system to be able to understand and catalog all the variety of plants on the planet.
Thus, the plant kingdom is divided into groups that are gradually reduced depending on the similarities between the plants in each group.
The first level or division of the kingdom is the phylum (a total of ten) and each of them is divided in turn into classes, which are also subdivided into orders, then the order is divided again into families and each family into genera . Finally, the genus is subdivided into species.
This classification system is like a genealogical tree of all plants and as a structuring model it allows to know the individual and general aspects of the plant kingdom. For biologists and botanists to share knowledge, it is essential that the classification criteria be unified, which are produced through taxonomy, an auxiliary science that orders and regulates everything that exists in nature and in its different kingdoms. Interestingly, taxonomy is one of the few disciplines in which Latin continues to be used.
Taxonomy as an explanatory system was created in its modern version by the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linnéo in the 18th century, who completely renewed the concepts that served as the ordering of nature, which came from Aristotle's theories of the 4th century BC. C.
