Dicots and Monocots
Monocots and dicots are the two major groups of flowering plants.
Jim Conrad's site, "Backyard Nature Home" explains the difference well.
MONOCOTS or Liliopsida include the grasses, wheat, barley, rice, corn - in fact a fourth of all flowering plants, one source says 199,350 species. Monocot seedlings usually have only one seed leaf or cotyledon when the seed sprouts. Their flowers have three petals or multiples of three petals.
DICOTS or Magnoliopsida
When you plant seeds of dicot plants, the first leaves to emerge will be 2 cotyledons or embryonic leaves. Dicots usually have four or five petaled flowers.
Monocotyledonae ("one cotyledon") and Dicotyledonae ("two cotyledons").
Didn't know this bit about the leaf veins "Leaf veins -- In monocots, there are usually a number of major leaf veins
which run parallel the length of the leaf; in dicots, there are usually numerous
auxillary veins which reticulate between the major ones. As with the number of
floral parts, this character is not always reliable, as there are many monocots
with reticulate venation, notably the aroids and Dioscoreales."
Thanks to UC Berkeley for the chart
MONOCOTS
| DICOTS |
Embryo with single cotyledon
| Embryo with two cotyledons |
Pollen with single furrow or pore
| Pollen with three furrows or pores |
Flower parts in multiples of three
| Flower parts in multiples of four or five |
Major leaf veins parallel
| Major leaf veins reticulated |
Stem vascular bundles scattered
| Stem vascular bundles in a ring |
Roots are adventitious
| Roots develop from radicle |
And this tidbit "Pines are conifers, and are neither monocots nor dicots. Only flowering
plants are considered to be members of these two classes. This question is
similar to asking whether a chicken is a monocot or a dicot; it is neither." Never thought to ask it about chickens, myself.
Princeton WordNet provided these examples of Dicots (ckick on any to be taken to the plant)
Acer | Achras | Acokanthera | Adenium | Aesculus | Aldrovanda | Allamanda | Alstonia | Amsonia | Anacardium | Anagallis | Anemopsis | Apocynum | Araujia | Ardisia | Argyreia | Aristolochia | Armeria | Artocarpus | Asarum | Asclepias | asterid dicot genus | Astronium | Banksia | Beaumontia | Bertholletia | Blighia | Boehmeria | Broussonetia | Bryonia | Buddleia | Bumelia | Buxus | Calocarpum | Calystegia | Cannabis | Cardiospermum | Carissa | Carya | caryophylloid dicot genus | Casuarina | Catharanthus | Cecropia | Celastrus | Celtis | Centaurium | Centunculus | Chionanthus | Chloranthus | Chrysophyllum | Citrullus | Clethra | Cliftonia | Colubrina | Combretum | Comptonia | Conocarpus | Conospermum | Convolvulus | Cordia | Cotinus | Cucumis | Cucurbita | Cuscuta | Cyclamen | Cynancum | Cyrilla | Daphne | Darlingtonia | Dichondra | dilleniid dicot genus | Dimocarpus | Dionaea | Diospyros | Dipteronia | Dirca | Dodonaea | Drosera | Drosophyllum | Ecballium | Elaeagnus | Embothrium | Empetrum | Eriogonum | Eucalyptus | Eugenia | Euonymus | Eustoma | Exacum | Fagopyrum | Feijoa | Ficus | Forestiera | Forsythia | Frasera | Fraxinus | Fuchsia | Gelsemium | Gentiana | Gentianella | Gentianopsis | Glaux | Goodenia | Grevillea | Grias | Guevina | Hakea | Halenia | Halesia | hamamelid dicot genus | Hamamelidanthum | Hamamelidoxylon | Hamamelites | Harpullia | Heliamphora | Helxine | Holarrhena | Hottonia | Houttuynia | Hoya | Humulus | Ilex | Ipomoea | Jacquinia | Jambos | Jasminum | Juglans | Knightia | Lagenaria | Lambertia | Laportea | Leitneria | Leucadendron | Ligustrum | Limonium | Litchi | Lobelia | Logania | Lomatia | Luffa | Lysimachia | Lythrum | Macadamia | Maclura | magnoliid dicot genus | Malosma | Mandevilla | Mangifera | Manilkara | Melicoccus | Menyanthes | Momordica | Monardella | Morus | Myrcia | Myrciaria | Myrica | Myriophyllum | Myrsine | Myrtus | Nepenthes | Nephelium | Nerium | Nopalea | Nyssa | Oenothera | Olea | Orites | Osmanthus | Pachysandra | Palaquium | Paliurus | Parietaria | Parthenocissus | Payena | Peperomia | Periploca | Persoonia | Phillyrea | Pilea | Pimenta | Piper | Pipturus | Pistacia | Planera | Plantago | Plumbago | Plumeria | Polygonum | Pomaderris | Pouteria | Primula | Protea | Psidium | Pterocarya | Punica | Rauvolfia | Rhamnus | Rheum | Rhizophora | Rhodosphaera | Rhus | ribbonwood tree | Roridula | rosid dicot genus | Rumex | Sabatia | Salvadora | Samolus | Sapindus | Sarcostemma | Sarracenia | Saururus | Schinus | Spondias | Stapelia | Staphylea | Stenocarpus | Stephanotis | Strophanthus | Styrax | Swertia | Symplocos | Syringa | Syzygium | Tabernaemontana | Telopea | Thevetia | Toxicodendron | Trachelospermum | Trapa | Trema | Ulmus | Urtica | Vinca | Vincetoxicum | Vitis | Xylomelum | Ziziphus
So there you have it!~
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