What is a plant?
Plants are living beings that can grow on land or in water. Some plants flower and some plants do not. Some plants make fruits and others make vegetables. What all plants do have in common is that they all use sunlight to make food. This is called photosynthesis.
The study of plants is called botany.
Parts of a plant
Just as humans have different parts of the body, plants have body parts too.
There are three main parts of a plant:
Roots: roots absorb water and minerals from the soil and help anchor the plant into the ground. To help absorb more water, roots have tiny hairs on them.
Stem: carries water and minerals from the roots to the leaves. The stem gives the plant support. Some stems are woody and some are bendy. Woody stems of trees are called trunks.
Leaves: collect energy from the Sun so the plant can make food.
Other parts of a plant are:
Flowers: found only in flowering plants. Flowers are used for reproduction (to make babies). Flowers are often brightly coloured to attract insects to help with pollination. Pollination is when pollen gets transferred from one flower to another.
Fruits: contain seeds inside.
Seeds: contain new plants.
Did you know?
- Roots of plants can store extra food for future use.
- Some plants like lotus flowers can float on water.
- The fastest-growing woody plant in the world is bamboo. It can grow up to 35 inches in one day.
- There are nearly 600 different types of carnivorous plants that eat insects and small animals.
- Tree resin that becomes a fossil is called amber. Amber can have insects trapped inside it.
