Kinds of Vascular & Non-Vascular Plants

Based on the classification system for all living things, as first developed by Carolus Linnaeus, all plants fall into the kingdom Plantae. This kingdom is divided into 10 smaller groups, known as phyla. One of the phylum contains all the non-vascular plants, or those without structures to conduct water. The other nine phyla contain different types of vascular plants.

Mosses are typical non-vascular plants. They belong to the phylum bryophyta, which includes liverworts and hornworts. Because they do not have specialized tissues to conduct water or nutrients, mosses cannot grow to great heights like flowering plants, conifers or even ferns. They must grow very close to water or in highly misty environments. Mosses do use photosynthesis, using small leaves to convert sunlight into usable energy or "food."

Ferns are vascular plants, using specialized tissues to move water and nutrients among their leaves, shoots and roots. They are an extremely old kind of vascular plant, closely related to non-vascular mosses and liverworts, having existed for about 300 million years. Ferns differ from many other vascular plants as they have no fruits or flowers, instead reproducing with spores that line the undersides of their leaves. Generally, they grow best in partial or complete shade, with relatively moist, loamy soil and humid air. However, there are a range of ferns acclimatized to different environments, from dry, rocky places to damp marshlands.

Gymnosperms are vascular plants that comprise three different phyla: cycadophyta, composed of cycads; ginkgophyta, composed of ginkgos; and coniferophyta, composed of conifers. All of these plants reproduce by seeds, unlike ferns. However, they do not have shelled seeds like flowering plants, but "naked seeds," the literal translation of the Latin term gymnosperm. Instead of protecting seeds within ovaries, these plants use cones. A pine cone is a common example of this structure.

All plants that reproduce with flowers belong to the phylum magnoliophyta. On an evolutionary time line, these represent the most recent advance in plant structure. There are about a quarter of a million individual species of flowering plants, whether found in aquatic environments and high forest canopies. Flowering plants may be monocots or dicots, a differentiation that primarily refers to their seed structures. They may have woody treelike trunks or soft, herbaceous stems. The great range of flowering plants includes annuals, biennials and perennials; succulents; vines; and parasitic and carnivorous types. They share a true flower form, with some arrangement of sepals, petals, stamens or carpels. Through pollination, the flowers produce seeds, protected within ovaries.