Vascular plants develop a specific system of vascular tissue to transport materials within the plant. This transport system would include xylem and phloem. Many early forms of vascular plants are now extinct and only a few still exist today such as whisk fern, club mosses, horse tails and ferns.
Non vascular plants require a moist environment for two main reasons. They cannot reproduce unless a film of moisture is available to carry gametes between plants and they do not have vascular tissue to carry water and dissolved substances through the plant. Non vascular plants have root-like structures to anchor the plant but do not have vascular tissue and therefore do not absorb water. They also have stem-like structures that hold the leaves up to the light but cannot transport food or water. The leaf-like structures that non vascular plants have do carry out photosynthesis however the food must diffuse to other parts of the plant. Non vascular plants are restricted in size because they are not strong enough to support a bigger structure and have no way to transport food and water over a distance.
Vascular and non vascular plants have a common ancestor with one group of plant-like protists-The green algae. Plants and algae both use starch as a primary food source, have cellulose in their cell walls and use chlorophyll A and B during photosynthesis. Members of the plant kingdom live in terrestrial environments.
Non vascular plants require a moist environment for two main reasons. They cannot reproduce unless a film of moisture is available to carry gametes between plants and they do not have vascular tissue to carry water and dissolved substances through the plant. Non vascular plants have root-like structures to anchor the plant but do not have vascular tissue and therefore do not absorb water. They also have stem-like structures that hold the leaves up to the light but cannot transport food or water. The leaf-like structures that non vascular plants have do carry out photosynthesis however the food must diffuse to other parts of the plant. Non vascular plants are restricted in size because they are not strong enough to support a bigger structure and have no way to transport food and water over a distance.
Vascular and non vascular plants have a common ancestor with one group of plant-like protists-The green algae. Plants and algae both use starch as a primary food source, have cellulose in their cell walls and use chlorophyll A and B during photosynthesis. Members of the plant kingdom live in terrestrial environments.