(măg'nōlēŏf'ətə) , division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem). The ovules, which develop into seeds, are enclosed within an ovary, hence the term angiosperm, meaning “enclosed seed.” The flowering plants are the source of all agricultural crops, cereal grains and grasses, garden and roadside weeds, familiar broad-leaved shrubs and trees, and most ornamentals.

Class Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons)

Plants of this class usually have two seed leaves, or cotyledons, and cambium tissue in the stems (see meristem). Much the larger of the two classes of flowering plants, dicots are divided into many families, among which several of the more conspicuous and easily recognized are the willow, buttercup, pink, mustard, saxifrage, rose, pea, heather (see heath), gentian, bluebell, and aster families.

Class Liliopsida (Monocotyledons)

Plants of this class generally have only one seed leaf, or cotyledon, and generally lack cambium tissue. The most common families are the grass, palm, arum, sedge, lily, and orchid families.