Monocots Vs Dicots Overview
Monocots Definition
Monocotyledons are flowering plants that produce seeds with just one cotyledon, or embryonic leaf. They are also known as monocots.
- Worldwide, there are over 60,000 different species of monocotyledonous plants, with roughly 20,000 different species belonging to the Orchidaceae family, which includes orchids.
- Grass from the family Poaceae, which is all the second most significant monocotyledons in terms of economic importance, is among them.
- In terms of biomass, monocotyledon plants account for the majority, including most cereals like wheat, rice, and barley, as well as forage grasses, sugarcane, and bamboo.
- A monophyletic group, monocots all have a similar evolutionary history.
- The embryo of a seed with parallel-veined leaves often has a single cotyledon, which is the most typical feature associated with monocotyledons.
- Where there is no petiole at the base of the leaves, they are more slender. The veins are connected by even smaller veins and travel parallel to one another despite being smaller in size.
- In addition, they lack a cambium and contain sporadic vascular bundles in the stem of the plant.
- The ability of stems to increase in diameter with height is constrained by a lack of lateral meristem or cambium. As a consequence, the majority of monocotyledons are herbaceous plants, but some, like agaves, palms, and bamboos, are arboraceous.
- Monocots often lack epidermal hairs, but have an epidermis with a thick cuticle. The epidermis and hypodermis do not have concentric rings of cells grouped inside them.
- The components of the flowers often appear in sets of three, which distinguishes flowers from dicots.
- Commonly, there are three or more sepals and petals per flower, but the pistil and stamen might vary in number. Six stamens, or two whorls of three, make up the flower.
- One ovary may sometimes have two carpels rather than three.
- In contrast to other angiosperms, the pollen grains of monocots typically have a single furrow or opening.
- The resultant embryo nearly invariably includes one embryonic leaf that contains an endosperm.
- Bananas, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, asparagus, various houseplants like epiphytes, and ornamental flowers like lilies and tulips are some of the most popular and commercially significant monocots.
Dicots Definition
Dicotyledons are blooming plants that produce seeds that have two cotyledons, or embryonic leaves.
- With around 200,000 species of flowering plants, it is the biggest group of angiosperms.
- Dicots, in contrast to monocots, are thought to have developed from many lineages rather than from a single progenitor.
- Dicots are hence paraphyletic.
- Dicots include a variety of plants, including broadleaf plants like roses and geraniums, as well as garden plants, shrubs, and herbs.
- Peas, beans, roses, daisies, and oak trees are examples of dicots, as are other significant plants for the economy.
- The existence of two embryonic seed leaves, or cotyledons, together with reticulately veined leaves, is the most crucial trait of all dicots.
- Dicots have wider than longer leaves and reticulate venation that resembles a net. Through the leaf blade, the veins create a highly branching network, with smaller veins positioned in between the larger ones.
- Dicots have a lateral meristem or cambium, which allows for secondary development. The cambium continues to create new cells in a circular pattern, increasing the plant’s circumference.
- In dicots, the stem is made up of multicellular epidermal hairs that cover the whole epidermis and concentric rings of vascular tissues.
- The vascular bundles are generally grouped into groups of four to eight at the stem’s edge.
- Dicots have tap roots that have a long, deep main root that develops into smaller, more delicate subsidiary roots.
- Tetramerous (four or five parts) or pentamerous (five parts) blooms are seen in dicots.
- The pistil and stamen may be many, although the number of petals and sepals is typically four, five, or their multiples.
- Tricolpate refers to the pollen grains’ three ridges or furrows that cut through the outer covering.
- Dicots produce more seeds per plant than monocots, where the endosperm may or may not be present.
- The two cotyledons provide the seed with the essential nutrients in the absence of endosperm.
Key Differences (Monocotyledons vs Dicotyledons) |
||
| Basis for Comparison | Monocotyledons (Monocots) | Dicotyledons (Dicots) |
| Definition | Monocotyledons are flowering plants or angiosperms bearing seeds with a single cotyledon or embryonic leaf. | Dicotyledons are flowering plants or angiosperms bearing seeds with two cotyledons or embryonic leaves. |
| Also called | Monocotyledonous plants are also referred to as monocots. | Dicotyledonous plants are also referred to as dicots. |
| Species | Monocotyledon is a smaller group of flowering plants with 60,000 species of plants. | Dicotyledon is a larger group of flowering plants with about 200,000 species of plants. |
| Root | Monocots have an adventitious or fibrous root system. | Most dicots have a tap root system. However, some dicots have an adventitious root system. |
| Vascular bundles | In monocots, the root has about 8-10 vascular bundles. | In dicots, the root has about 2-4 vascular bundles. |
| Stem | The stem in most monocots is herbaceous. But, some plants have arboraceous stems. | The stems in dicots are either herbaceous or arboraceous. |
| The Monocot stem is unbranched and fleshy. | Dicot stem is branched and hard. | |
| Within the stem of monocots, the vascular bundles are scattered in no particular pattern. | Within the stem of dicots, the vascular bundles are arranged in concentric circles. | |
| Most monocot stems lack a lateral meristem or cambium. | A lateral meristem or cambium is present in the stems of dicot plants. | |
| Cambium, if present, is not differentiated into cortex or stellar regions. | The cambium is differentiated into the cortex and stellar regions. | |
| Epidermal hairs are absent. | Epidermal hairs are present. | |
| Secondary growth | Monocots do not undergo secondary growth due to the absence of cambium. | Secondary growth occurs in dicots as the cambium is present. |
| Leaf | The leaf in monocots is isobilateral in symmetry. | The leaf in dicots is dorsoventrally flattened. |
| Monocots usually have long, narrow, and slender leaves. | Dicots usually have broad leaves, but the shape and size of the leaves vary according to the species. | |
| Monocot leaves have stomata on both upper and lower surfaces and thus are termed amphistomatous. | Dicot leaves have stomata only on one of the surfaces of the leaf and thus, are termed epistomatous. | |
| Venation | The leaves have a parallel venation system. | The leaves have a reticulate venation system. |
| Flowers | Monocot flowers are usually trimerous, meaning the number of parts of the flowers is either three or it’s multiple. | Dicot flowers are usually tetramerous or pentamerous, meaning the number of the flower parts is either five or four or their multiple. |
| In some monocot plants, calyx and corolla are undifferentiated, and a perianth is present instead of them. | The calyx and corolla in dicot plants are differentiated completely. | |
| The flowers in monocots are usually wind-pollinated. | The flowers in dicot plants are usually insect-pollinated. | |
| Pollen grains | The pollen grain is monocolpate with a single furrow or ridge on the pollen tube. | The pollen grain is tricolpate with three or more furrows or ridges on the pollen tube. |
| Germination | The seed germination in the monocot embryo is hypogeal. | The seed germination in the dicot embryo is either hypogeal or epigeal. |
| Embryo | The embryo in monocots contains only one cotyledon or seed leaves. | The embryo in dicots contains two cotyledons or seed leaves. |
| Embryo produces a single leaf that grows as a long and narrow structure during germination. | Embryo produces two seeds that develop into different shapes than their true leaf. | |
| Endosperm | The endosperm is always present and is usually large. | The endosperm may or may not be present and is usually small. |
| Fruit | Trilocular fruit is found in monocotyledons. | Pentalocular fruit is found in dicotyledons. |
| Examples | Bamboos, bananas, asparagus, ginger, tulips, lilies, palms are some examples of monocots. | Roses, oak trees, daisies, peas, beans, cactus are some examples of dicots. |
Examples of Monocots
Grasses
- A category of flowering plants known as grasses produces tiny blooms and monocotyledonous seeds.
- Grasslands include some of the most commercially significant subgroups of flowering plants; grasses include cash crops including rice, wheat, and barley.
- These plants produce seeds with a single cotyledon, or embryonic leaf.
- Grasses feature tall, thin leaves and fibrous root systems, which are all traits of monocotyledonous plants.
- Due to the absence of petals and sepals, grass flowers are not the most noticeable. But they have little blooms and are blooming plants.
- The Poaceae family, the second-largest group of flowering plants among all monocots, includes grasses.
Lilies
- Lilies are monocotyledonous flowering plants that only have one cotyledon in the embryo or seed.
- Lilies feature parallel venation on their leaves and an adventitious root system, which are all traits of monocots.
- Lilies also have trimerous blooms, which have sepals and petals that are a multiple of three.
- As with other monocots, the plant is small and herbaceous.
- However, some lilies have distinctive blossoms that make it challenging to tell them apart from other dicots.
- There are occasions when a flower seems to be made up of only one petal. The actual petals are located underneath the spathe, a modified leaf.
Examples of Dicots
Legumes
- One of the most significant subgroups of dicotyledonous plants is the legumes.
- These are blooming plants that are members of the Leguminosae family, where the seeds of the plants serve as the fruit.
- Pulses are another name for dry legumes.
- Most legumes are planted for human nourishment, animal feed, or as fertilisers to improve the soil.
- These plants, like the majority of dicots, have tap roots that coexist with bacteria that fix nitrogen in the form of root nodules.
- Crop rotation is a significant agricultural phenomenon made possible by the symbiotic relationship.
- The fruit of legumes is physiologically distinct in that it develops from a single carpel into a straightforward dry fruit.
- Peas, beans, lentils, soybeans, chickpeas, clover, and other types of legumes are among the most popular ones.
Cactus
- Cacti are dicotyledons as well, and they have tiny, transient pentamerous blooms as part of their life cycle.
- The desert plant known as the cactus, or cacti, can survive with little to no water.
- Since certain flowers are known to have several petals and stamens, the blooms on cacti could not always be the same.
- On closer inspection, certain cacti do, however, exhibit pentamerous blooms with five petals and sepals.
- Additionally, the cactus has a tap root system, which has a main root that is split into several secondary and tertiary roots. Due to their branching, plants are able to absorb some water that may be available deep inside the soil.
- Due to modifications made to the leaves to reduce and avoid water loss, the venation in the leaves cannot be distinguished.
References and Sources
- 1% – https://www.diffen.com/difference/Dicot_vs_Monocot
- 1% – https://www.britannica.com/plant/monocotyledon
- 1% – https://www.bartleby.com/solution-answer/chapter-37-problem-8tyu-biology-mindtap-course-list-11th-edition/9781337392938/in-plants-that-lack-endosperm-in-their-mature-seeds-the-cotyledons-function-to-a-enclose-and/3fc1445b-560f-11e9-8385-02ee952b546e
- 1% – https://db0nus869y26v.cloudfront.net/en/Epidermis_(botany)
- 1% – https://biologydictionary.net/dicot/
- <1% – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlwgdcqgImM
- <1% – https://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-monocots.htm
- <1% – https://www.toppr.com/guides/biology/anatomy-of-flowering-plants/anatomy-of-dicotyledonous-and-monocotyledonous-plants/
- <1% – https://www.quora.com/What-plant-have-tap-roots
- <1% – https://www.quora.com/What-are-monocotyledon-plants
- <1% – https://www.quora.com/What-are-calyx-and-corolla
- <1% – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28304126
- <1% – https://www.first-learn.com/types-of-root-system.html
- <1% – https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-vascular-cambium-and-vs-cork-cambium/
- <1% – https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-plants-in-the-family-Fabaceae-2021803
- <1% – https://www.britannica.com/plant/dicotyledon
- <1% – https://www.bartleby.com/solution-answer/chapter-25-problem-4sa-biologyconceptsappllooseleaf-10th-edition/9781305967359/all-of-the-vascular-bundles-inside-a-typical-_______-are-arranged-in-a-ring-a-monocot-stem-c/3dfbdd96-8510-11e9-8385-02ee952b546e
- <1% – https://www.answers.com/Q/What_type_of_venation_do_monocot_leaves_show
- <1% – https://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_function_of_a_vascular_cambium
- <1% – https://www.answers.com/Q/What_are_all_of_the_sepals_together_called
- <1% – https://www.allinterview.com/showanswers/35001/why-does-secondary-growth-not-occur-in-monocot-plants.html
- <1% – https://vivadifferences.com/difference-between-monocot-and-dicot-seeds-with-examples/
- <1% – https://study.com/academy/lesson/dicot-cross-section-definition-plant-examples.html
- <1% – https://mammothmemory.net/biology/plants/classification-of-plants/monocots-and-dicots-stem-vascular-bundles.html
- <1% – https://localexam.com/search/examples-of-dicots-flowers
- <1% – https://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-tell-true-leaf-cotyledon-96067.html
- <1% – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicotyledon
- <1% – https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-biology/chapter/roots/
- <1% – https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_General_Biology_(Boundless)/32%3A_Plant_Reproductive_Development_and_Structure/32.2%3A_Pollination_and_Fertilization/32.2F%3A_Development_of_Fruit_and_Fruit_Types
