Published February-16-2015

Largest group of the Plant Kingdom

Plants that have flowers make up the largest group of the Plantae Kingdom. The Angiosperms or flowering plants produce fruits with seeds and they are adapted to all ecosystems over the Earth except the polar regions. Cacti in the deserts, …

Category: Bocas del Toro Panama, Photographs, Wildlife
Ramon

Ramon

Spanish biologist guide at Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge

Largest group of the Plant Kingdom

Plants that have flowers make up the largest group of the Plantae Kingdom. The Angiosperms or flowering plants produce fruits with seeds and they are adapted to all ecosystems over the Earth except the polar regions. Cacti in the deserts, Posidonia plants submerged on the seas or the edelweiss at the top of the mountains are some extreme examples but in the tropical regions like here in Bocas del Toro, the biodiversity explodes. A nearby example in Costa Rica where there are 6000 angiosperms. Costa Rica’s number is more than the number of all European angiosperms.

The flowering plants have conquered the world by developing an incredible diversity of reproductive structures, the flowers. The first fossil record of a flowering plant is dated 125 millions of year ago (Archaefructus liaoningensis) This means that all the amazing number of flowers that we enjoy today around the world have evolved in a relatively short geological time since only 65 million years ago the dinosaurs were ruling the Earth.