A plant is a flowering plant and any cultivated plant, harvested for food, feeding of livestock, medicine, clothing, biofuel, and other uses.
Crop plants consist of two main parts below:
A. Monocotyledon Plants:
These plants have one seed leaf or cotyledon.
Cotyledon means the seed leaf of a plant. The common trees in this group are; oil palm, coconut palm, royal palm, raffia palm, and banana. The food crops include; rice, wheat, millet, maize, and guineas corn. The industrial crop is sugar cane.
Characteristics of Monocotyledon Plants:
1. They have one seed leaf.
2. Their leaves are long and narrow.
3. They have parallel-veined leaves.
In parallel venation, the veins run parallel to each other from base to tip.
4. They have a fibrous root system.
5. Absence of leaf stalk (Petiole)
6. Their germination is by Hypogeal, that is, the cotyledon is returned below the soil.
B. Dicotyledon Plants:
These are plants with two seed leaves or cotyledons.
They include most trees such as silk cotton, iroko, kola, mango, grapefruits, pawpaw, and guava trees. The food crops in this group include; groundnut, melon, soya bean, cowpea, sweet potatoes, and yam. Industrial crops in the group are; cotton, cocoa, cashew, and some fruits.
Characteristics of Dicotyledon Plants:
1. They have two seed leaves.
2. They grow with seeds on each cotyledon.
3. They have several branches.
4. They have broad leaves.
5. Their leaves are short and reticulate venation is present.
When the leaves show a network or web-like arrangement, all over the leaf blade or lamina, it is called reticulate or net venation.
6. They have a tap root system.
7. Presence of leaf stalk (petiole)
8. Their germination is by Epigeal, that is, the cotyledons shoot out to the soil surface.
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