Themes > Science > Botanical Sciences > Classification of Plants > Spermatophyta (Seed Plants) > Angiosperms (flowering Plants) > Liliopsida - 'monocots'
Since
the two elements of the Magnoliophyta diverged early in the evolutionary
history of the group, they are fairly distinct and, in terms flowering
plant identification, they represent the the first level of recognition.
Key characters used to circumscribe the two classes include:| Character | Magnoliopsida | Liliopsida |
| Cotyledons | Usually 2 | Usually 1 |
| Leaves | Often reticulate veined | Often parallel veined |
| Vascular Cambium | Often present (ca. 50% woody) | Absent |
| Primary Vascular Bundles | Arranged in a ring | Often scattered |
| Pollen | Various types | Monosulcate |
| Floral Parts | Often in 4s or 5s | Usually sets of 3 |
| Root System | Primary and adventitious | Adventitious only |
| Subclass | Features | Orders | Families | Species |
| Alismatidae | Aquatics with archaic, many-parted flowers | 4 | 16 | 500 |
| Arecidae | Specialized inflorescences | 4 | 5 | 5,600 |
| Commelinidae | Mostly herbs with reduced flowers | 6 | 16 | 16,200 |
| Zingiberidae | Epigynous herbs of the tropics | 2 | 9 | 3,800 |
| Liliidae | Showy with petaloid sepals | 2 | 19 | 25,000 |
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