Angiosperms

Angiosperms are flowering seed plants, one of the groups of phanerogams, and they dominate the modern plant world because they are so well adapted to the conditions they grow in. Different angiosperm species show wide variation in their external form and internal structure depending on the habitat they occupy, and these variations allow the plant body to carry out its functions efficiently in that habitat.

On the basis of habitat, angiosperms can be grouped as:

• Hydrophytes — plants growing in an aquatic habitat, e.g. Hydrilla.
• Xerophytes — plants growing in regions with scanty or no rainfall, such as deserts, e.g. Opuntia.
• Psammophytes — plants growing in sandy soil, e.g. Elymus.
• Lithophytes — plants growing on rock surfaces, e.g. Cladopus, Dalzellia, Couchidium.
• Halophytes — plants growing in saline soil, e.g. mangrove plants like Rhizophora.

In angiosperms, once the seed germinates under favourable environmental conditions it produces a seedling, which then develops into a full new plant.