Family Relationships

 Dicot Characteristics:

• the seeds have two cotyledons
• the flowers usually have four or five floral parts
• three pores of furrow in pollen grains
• vascular bundles arranged like a ring in the stem
• In monocot plants, the first shoot that emerges from the ground or from the seed is the epicotyl, from which the first shoots and leaves emerge.
•  The Tap root system is deep with a long primary root.  Less important secondary roots branch off.
• net array of leaf veins

Monocot Characteristics:

• the seeds have only one cotyledon
• the flowers usually have three floral parts
•  In the Fibrous root system of Monocots, the primary root is almost non-existent. The secondary roots are important in absorption, but are not as deep as the primary root of most dicots.  
• In dicots, the hypocotyl is what appears to be the base stem under the spent withered cotyledons, and the shoot just above that is the epicotyl. 
• vascular bundles distributed ground tissue of a stem
• one pore or furrow in pollen grain
• parallel array of leaf veins

 Related Species:

• Dicot-figs, daisies, tomato plants, and celery
• Monocot- ginger, orchid, banana, and wheat 

Side Note:  Even though my two babies are very different in the way they grow into darling plants we are all one big happy family thanks to Jonah at the plant adoption agency.  These babies are my world and I think they have grown up to be beautiful plants.