Angiosperms or flowering plants, the pollen grains and ovules are developed in specialised structures called flowers. Fruits enclose and protect the seeds. The angiosperms are a huge group of plants and occur in a wide range of habitats. Their size ranges from tiny, microscopic Wolfia to tall trees of Eucalyptus.

They are the plants that provide us with food, fodder, fuel, medicines and several other commercially important products. We can divide them into two classes: the dicotyledons and the monocotyledons. The dicotyledons are those that have two cotyledons in their seeds. On the other hand, the monocotyledons have only one. Let us now look at the classification of flowering plants in more details.

Classification of Flowering Plants
The classification of flowering plants is done into two major groups: Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons.

Dicotyledons
They show the following distinguishing characteristics

• They have tap roots.
• The leaves in members of this class, exhibit reticulate (netlike) venation.
• The flowers are tetramerous or pentamerous. They have four or five members in the various floral whorls, respectively.
• The vascular bundles in these plants are arranged in a ring.
• They are numbered 2-6, are open and with cambium.
• The seeds of dicotyledons are with two cotyledons.
• They exhibit epigeal germination.

Monocotyledons

They show the following characteristics:

• They have adventitious roots (fibrous roots).
• The leaves are simple with parallel venation.
• The flowers are trimerous having three members in each floral whorl.
• The vascular bundles are scattered in the ground tissue, are many in number and without cambium.
• The seeds of monocotyledons are with one cotyledon. Examples include Cereals, bamboos, sugarcane, palms, banana, lilies and orchids.
• They exhibit hypoigeal germination.