Editing Flowering plant (section)

== Distinguishing features ==

Angiosperms are terrestrial vascular plants; like the gymnosperms, they have [[root]]s, [[plant stem|stems]], [[leaves]], and [[seed]]s. They differ from other [[Spermatophyte|seed plants]] in several ways.

{|class="wikitable"
! Feature !! Description !! Image
|-
|[[Flower]]s ||The [[reproductive organ]]s of flowering plants, not found in any other [[seed plants]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Angiosperms {{!}} OpenStax Biology 2e |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-osbiology2e/chapter/angiosperms/ |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=courses.lumenlearning.com |archive-date=19 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719225359/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-osbiology2e/chapter/angiosperms/ |url-status=live}}</ref> || [[File:Daffodil flower in section, labelled.svg|thumb|none|A ''[[Narcissus (plant)|Narcissus]]'' flower in section. [[Petal]]s and [[sepal]]s are replaced here by a fused tube, the corona, and tepals.]]
|-
|Reduced [[Gametophyte#Seed plants|gametophytes]], three [[cell (biology)|cells]] in male, seven cells with eight nuclei in female (except for basal angiosperms)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=William E. |last2=Ryerson |first2=Kirsten C. |title=Reconstructing the ancestral female gametophyte of angiosperms: Insights from Amborella and other ancient lineages of flowering plants |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=96 |issue=1 |date=2009 |doi=10.3732/ajb.0800311 |pages=129–143|pmid=21628180 |bibcode=2009AmJB...96..129F }}</ref> ||The gametophytes are smaller than those of gymnosperms.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Raven, Peter H. |author2=Evert, Ray F. |author3=Eichhorn, Susan E. |title=Biology of Plants |url=https://archive.org/details/biologyofplants00rave_0 |url-access=registration |year=2005 |publisher=W. H. Freeman |isbn=978-0-7167-1007-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/biologyofplants00rave_0/page/376 376]–}}</ref> The smaller size of the [[pollen]] reduces the time between pollination and [[fertilization]], which in gymnosperms is up to a year.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=Joseph H. |title=The evolution of pollen germination timing in flowering plants: Austrobaileya scandens (Austrobaileyaceae) |journal=AoB Plants |volume=2012 |pages=pls010 |date=2012 |pmid=22567221 |pmc=3345124 |doi=10.1093/aobpla/pls010 }}</ref>  
|rowspan=2 | [[File:Angiosperm embryo sac with female gametophyte.JPG|thumb|none|[[Embryo sac]] is a reduced female [[gametophyte]].]]
|-
|[[Endosperm]] ||Endosperm forms after fertilization but before the [[zygote]] divides. It provides food for the developing [[embryo]], the [[cotyledon]]s, and sometimes the [[seedling]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baroux |first1=C. |last2=Spillane |first2=C. |last3=Grossniklaus |first3=U. |title=Evolutionary origins of the endosperm in flowering plants |journal=Genome Biology |volume=3 |article-number=reviews1026.1 |year=2002 |issue=9 |pages=reviews1026.1 |doi=10.1186/gb-2002-3-9-reviews1026 |pmid=12225592 |pmc=139410 |doi-access=free }}</ref> <!--cell/image shared with row above-->
|-
|Closed [[carpel]] enclosing the [[ovule]]s. ||Once the ovules are fertilised, the carpels, often with surrounding tissues, develop into fruits. Gymnosperms have unenclosed seeds.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gonçalves |first=Beatriz |title=Case not closed: the mystery of the origin of the carpel |journal=EvoDevo |volume=12 |issue=1 |date=2021-12-15 |page=14 |issn=2041-9139 |doi=10.1186/s13227-021-00184-z |pmid=34911578 |pmc=8672599 |doi-access=free }}</ref> || [[File:Alternating peas in peapod (cropped).jpg|thumb|none|Peas (seeds, from ovules) inside pod (fruit, from fertilised carpel).]]
|-
| [[Xylem]] made of [[vessel element]]s || Open vessel elements are stacked end to end to form continuous tubes, whereas gymnosperm xylem is made of tapered [[tracheids]] connected by small [[Pit (botany)|pits]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Baas | first=Pieter | title=New Perspectives in Wood Anatomy | chapter=Systematic, phylogenetic, and ecological wood anatomy — History and perspectives | series=Forestry Sciences | publisher=Springer Netherlands | publication-place=Dordrecht | year=1982 | volume=1 | isbn=978-90-481-8269-5 | issn=0924-5480 | doi=10.1007/978-94-017-2418-0_2 | pages=23–58}}</ref> || [[File:Herbaceous Dicot Stem Xylem Vessels Cucurbita (35463815631).jpg|thumb|none| [[Xylem]] vessels (long tubes).]]
|}