Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the flowering plants or angiosperms. The unique features of angiosperms are described, and based on these features, the evolutionary and phylogenetic history of angiosperm is traced. The chapter also gives details on distribution, phytogeography, growth habit, life form classes, root and shoot systems, leaves, inflorescence, flower and reproductive biology. An account is also provided on the details of genetic diversity and species diversity found in angiosperms. Emphasis is laid on the recent APG system of classification. Plant genomes, model plants and a brief information on economic importance are also given.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Akeroyd J, Synge H (1992) Higher plant diversity. In: Groombridge B (ed) Global biodiversity – status of the earth’s living resources. Chapman Hall, London, pp 64–87
Anderson E (1934) Origin of the angiosperms. Nature 133:462
APG II (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II) (2003) An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants. APG II. Bot J Linn Soc 141:399–436
APG III (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group III) (2009) An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants. APG III. Bot J Linn Soc 161(2):399–436
Arber EAN, Parkin J (1907) On the origin of angiosperms. J Linn Soc Bot 38:29–80
Baum DA, Hileman LC (2006) A developmental genetic model for the origin of the flower. In: Ainsworth C (ed) Annual plant reviews, flowering and its manipulation, vol 20. Blackwell, Sheffield, pp 3–27, 304 pp
Becker A, Theissen G (2003) The major clades of MADS-box genes and their role in the development and evolution of flowering plants. Mol Phylogenet Evol 29:464–489
Bennett MD, Leitch I (2005) Genome size evolution in plants. In: Ryan Gregory T (ed) The evolution of the genome. Academic, Burlington, pp 90–112
Bible Bernad B (1976) Non-equivalence of left handed and right handed phyllotaxy in tomato and pepper. Hortic Sci 11:601–602
Burger WC (1981) Heresy revived: the monocot theory of angiosperm origin. Evol Theory 5:189–225
Campbell DH (1928) The phylogeny of angiosperms. Bull Torrey Bot Club 55:479–496
Chambers PA, Lacoul P, Murphy KJ, Thomaz SM (2008) Global diversity of aquatic macrophytes in freshwater. In: Balian EV, Lévêque C, Segers H, Martens K (eds) Freshwater animal diversity assessment. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp 9–26
Christopher NT, Benfey PN (2012) Growth control of root architecture. In: Altman A, Hasegawa PM (eds) Plant biotechnology and agriculture:prospects for the 21st century. Academic, New York, pp 387–404
Corner EJH (1949) The Durian theory of the origin of the modern tree. Ann Bot 52:367–414
Cronquist A (1981) An integrated system of classification of flowering plants. Columbia University Press, New York
Darwin C (1865) The movements and habits of climbing plants. J Linn Soc (Bot) 9:1–118
Donoghue MJ, Doyle JA (2000) Seed plant phylogeny: demise of the anthophyte hypothesis? Curr Biol 10(3):R106–R109
Doyle J (1945) Developmental lines in pollination mechanism in the Coniferales. Sci Proc R Dublin Soc 24:43–62
Eichler AW (1875) Blüthendiagramme. W. Engelmann, Leipzig
Endress PK (1994) Diversity and evolutionary biology of tropical flowers. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Engler A (1892) Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien. Gebruder Borntraeger, Berlin
Engler A, Prantl K (1924) Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien, 2nd ed. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig
Fagerlind F (1947) Strobilus und Blute von Gnetum und die Moglichheit, aus ihrer struktur den Blutenbau der angiospermen zu deulen. Ark Bot 33A:1–57
Friedman WE (1994) The evolution of embryogeny in seed plants and the developmental origin and early history of endosperm. Am J Bot 81:1468–1486
Friedman WE, Moore RC, Purugganan MD (2004) The evolution of plant development. Am J Bot 91:1726–1741
Frohlich MW (2003) An evolutionary scenario for the origin of flowers. Nat Rev Genet 4:559–566
Groombridge B (ed) (1992) Global biodiversity- status of the earth’s living resources. Chapman & Hall, London
Halle F, Oldeman RAA (1970) Essai sur L’architecture et la dynamique de croissance des arbres tropicaux. Masson, Paris
Hennig W (1966) Phylogenetic systematics. (Engl. Transl., D.D. Davis & R. Sangerl). University of Illinois press, Urbana
Hogan CM, Taub DR (2011) Introduction to plants. In: Cleveland CJ (ed) Encyclopedia of earth. Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington, DC [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth July 19, 2010; Last revised Date August 15, 2011; Retrieved September 27, 2012]
Hornby RJ (1992) Grasslands. In: Groombridge B (ed) Global biodiversity: status of the earth’s living resources. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 280–292
Imaichi R, Hiratsuka R (2007) Evolution of shoot apical meristem structure in vascular plants with respect to plasmodesmatal network. Am J Bot 94:1911–1921
Jean RV (1994) Phyllotaxis: a systematic study of plant pattern morphogenesis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Kihara H (1972) Right and left handedness in plants: a review. Seiken Ziho 23:1–37
Krishnamurthy KV (2003) Textbook of biodiversity. Science Publishers, Enfield, England
Krishnamurthy KV (2007) In pursuit of understanding the tension wood riddle. J Indian Bot Soc 86:14–26
Krishnamurthy KV (2015) Growth and development in plants. Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur
Leroy J-F (1983) The origin of angiosperms: an unrecognized ancestral dicotyledon, Hedyosmum (Chloranthales), with a strobiloid flower is living today. Taxonomy 32:169–175
Litschitz E, Eshed Y (2006) Universal florigenic signals triggered by FT homologues regulate growth and flowering cycles in perennial day-neutral tomato. J Exp Bot 57:3405–3414
Markgraf F (1930) Monographie der Gattung Gnetum. Bull Jard Bot Buitenzorg 10:253–310, Ser 3
McGovern PJ et al (1995) Dendrochronology. science in archaeology: a review. Am J Archeol 99(1):79–142
Meeuse ADJ (1961) The Pentoxylales and the origin of the monocotyledons. Koninkl Nederl Acad Van Wetenschappen Amsterdam C 64:543–559
Melville R (1969) Leaf venation patterns and the origin of angiosperms. Nature 224:121–125
Melville R (1983) Glossopteridae, Angiospermidae, and the evidence for angiosperm origin. Bull J Linn Soc 96:279–323
Myers N (1990) The biodiversity challenge: expanded hot spot analysis. Environment 10:243–256
Nair PKK (1979) The palynological basis for the triphyletic theory of angiosperms. Grana 18:141–144
Narsaiah G, Bahadur B (1984) Twining handedness in flowering plants. Indian J Bot 8:41–49
Oldeman RAA (1974) L’architecture de la foret guyanaise. Mem ORSTOM 73:1–204
Ornduff R (2004) Handedness in twining tracheophytes. In: Ramaswamy N, Reddy PN, Pullaiah T, Murthy GVS, Rao GP (eds) Gleanings in plant sciences. Regency Publications, New Delhi, pp 1–20
Palmer JD (1991) Plastid chromosomes: structure and evolution. In: Bogorad L, Vasil IK (eds) Cell culture and somatic cell genetics of plants, vol VIII A. Academic, San Diego, pp 5–53
Parkin J (1923) The strobilus theory of Angiosperm descent. Proc Linn Soc Lond 153:51–64
Prain D, Burkill IH (1936) An account of the genus Dioscorea in the East Part 1. The species which twine to the left. Ann Roy Bot Gdn Calcutta 14:1–210
Prain D, Burkill IH (1939) An account of the genus Dioscorea in the East Part 1. The species which twine to the right with addenda to part 1, summary. Ann Roy Bot Gdn Calcutta 14:211–528
Pullaiah T, Lakshminarayana K, Hanumantha Rao B (2008) Plant reproduction. Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur
Raunkiaer C (1934) The life-forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Raven PH (1986) Evolution of plant life forms. In: Givnish TJ (ed) On the economy of plant form and function. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 421–492
Raven PH, Axelrod DI (1974) Angiosperm biogeography and past continental movements. Ann Mo Bot Gdn 61:539–673 (1981 republication)
Reinhardt D, Kuhlemeir C (2002) Plant architecture. EMBO Rep 3:846–851
Rendle AB (1904) The classification of flowering plants, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England. (1930)
Retallack GJ, Dilcher DL (1981) Arguments for a glossopterid ancestry of angiosperms. Paleobiology 7:54–67
Saenger P, Hegerl EJ, Davis JDS (1983) Global status of mangrove ecosystems, Commission on ecology papers no. 3. IUCN, Gland
Simpson GG (1961) Principles of animal taxonomy. Columbia University Press, New York
Soltis PS, Soltis DE, Chase MW (1999) Angiosperm phylogeny inferred from multiple genes as a tool for comparative biology. Nature 402:402–404
Soltis DE, Soltis PS, Chase MW, Mort ME, Albach DC, Zanis M, Savolainen V, Hahn WJ, Hoot SB, Fay MF, Axtell M, Swensen SM, Prince LM, Kress WJ, Nixon KC, Farris JS (2000) Angiosperm phylogeny inferred from 18S rDNA, rbcL, and atpB sequences. Bot J Linn Soc 133:381–461
Soltis DE, Soltis PS, Albat VA, Oppenheimer DG, Depamphilis CW, Ma H, Frohlich MW, Theissen G (2002) Missing links: the genetic architecture of flowers and flower diversification. Trends Plant Sci 7:22–31
Stebbins GL (1974) Flowering plants: evolution above the species level. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Stewart WN, Rothwell GW (1993) Paleobotany and the evolution of plants, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 521 pp
Stuessy TF (2004) A transitional-combinational theory for the origin of angiosperms. Taxonomy 53(1):3–16
Sun G, Zheng S, Dilcher DL, Wang Y, Mei S (2001) Early angiosperms and their associated plants from Western Liaoning, China. Scientific and Technological Education Publishing House, Shanghai, 227 pp
Swamy BGL (1973) Contributions to the monograph on Gnetum 1. Fertilization and proembryo. Phytomorphology 33:176–182
Swamy BGL (1974) Contributions to the monograph on Gnetum III. Some observations on microsporogenesis and germination of pollen. Phytomorphology 24:206–210
Takhtajan A (1969) Flowering plants origin and dispersal (trans: Jeffrey C). Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh
Taylor DW, Hickey LJ (1992) Phylogenetic evidence for the herbaceous origin of angiosperms. Plant Syst Evol 180:137–156
Taylor DW, Hickey LJ (eds) (1996) Flowering plant origin, evolution, and phylogeny. Chapman and Hall, London, 403 pp
Taylor TN, Taylor EL, Krings M (2009) Palaeobotany the biology and evolution of fossil plants, 2nd edn. Academic, Amsterdam
Theissen G, Melzer R (2007) Molecular mechanisms underlying origin and diversification of the angiosperm flower. Ann Bot 100(3):1–17
Theissen G, Becker A, Winter KU, Muenster T, Kirchner C, Saedler H (2002) How the land plants learned their floral of BCs: the role of MADS-box genes in the evolutionary origin of flower. In: Cronick AC, Bateman RM, Hawkins JM (eds) Developmental genetics and plant evolution. Taylor & Francis, London, pp 173–206
Thomas HH (1936) Palaeobotany and the origin of Angiosperms. Bot Rev 2:397–418
Tomlinson PB (1980) Biology of trees native to tropical Florida. Published by the author, Petersham, Ma, USA
Tomlinson PB (1983) Tree architecture. Am Sci 71:141–149
Tomlinson PB (1986) The botany of mangroves. Cambridge University Press, New York
UNEP (1995) Global biodiversity assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Vavilov N (1949–1950) The origin, variation, immunity and breeding of cultivated plants. Chronica Botanica. Waltham
von Wettstein R (1901) Handbuch der Systematischen Botanik. Gerbruder Borntraeger, Berlin
Wu Z-Y, Lu A-M, Tang Y-C, Chen Z-D, Li W-H (2002) Synopsis of a new “polyphyletic-polychronic-polytopic” system of the angiosperms. Acta Phytotaxonomica Sin 40:289–322
Zanis MJ, Soltis PS, Qiu Y-L, Zimmer E, Soltis DE (2003) Phylogenetic analyses and perianth evolution in basal angiosperms. Ann Mo Bot Gdn 90:129–150
Zhang HD (1995) Florology. Zhongshan University Press, Guangzhou, 234 p. (in Chinese)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer India
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bahadur, B., Pullaiah, T., Krishnamurthy, K.V. (2015). Angiosperms: An Overview. In: Bahadur, B., Venkat Rajam, M., Sahijram, L., Krishnamurthy, K. (eds) Plant Biology and Biotechnology. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2286-6_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2286-6_15
Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi
Print ISBN: 978-81-322-2285-9
Online ISBN: 978-81-322-2286-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)