Coniferophyta

__ Coniferophyta __  **//Pookie McGlothern, Hannah Callison, and Brandon Peterson //**

**//The Coniferophyta phylum is a phylum within the Plant Kingdom. //**
 * //Kingdom: //** Plantae
 * //Phylum: //** Coniferophyta
 * //Class: //** Coniferopsida, Cordaitopsida and Pinopsida

- Bull pine - Australian pine - Nut pine - Pacific Silver Fir - Bulgarian Fir - Greek Fir
 * //Coniferophyta Phylum Plants //**

-Cone-bearing trees <span style="color: #002060; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">-Largest organisms on the planet <span style="color: #002060; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">-Intermodal elongation <span style="color: #002060; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">-Needle or scale-like leaves
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Characteristics //**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The most common classes under the Coniferophyta phylum are Coniferopsida, Cordaitopsida, and Pinopsida [3].The most common species in Class Coniferopsida are the Bull pine, Australian pine, and the Nut pine [6].The most common species in the Pinopsida class are the Pacific Silver Fir, the Bulgarian Fir, and the Greek Fir along with many others [2]. In the Phylum Coniferophyta there are many species. These are usually cone-bearing trees. Some examples of these would be pine trees, fir trees, cypruss trees, and redwood trees [4]. Some characteristics of this phylum are that they are the largest organisms on the planet and they are especially present in the northern hemisphere [5]. The Coniferophyta phylum also has a large amount of intermodal elongation which allows them to grow faster than other plants [5]. Another characteristic of conifers are that they usually are shrubs and trees with needle or scale-like leaves [13]. So for example on the pine tree they have the needle-like leaves.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The conifers also usually produce pollen and seeds that are found in cones [13]. This means that Coniferphyta are gymnosperms, because their seeds are not enclosed in a fruit, and are exposed. For example a pinecone is the seed carrier for the pine tree. These cones also have genders. When a male cone disperses the pollen stored in its cone it floats over to land on a female cone it undergoes fertilization [12]. The pollen is carried into a tiny opening on the female cone called the ovule. This is where the germination happens. Then when this is successful the fertilization will occur and then the zygote will develop into an embryo which then turns into a seed. Eventually the seed falls to the ground and it grows into a new plant [12].
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Reproduction //**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Conifers possess a vascular system. The vascular system in plants is major to help them grow tall and help them stay strong. The vascular system, in a plant, consists of many pipe-like vascular tissue that transports the nutrients and things the plant needs throughout the plant to nourish it. Without the vascular system plants would be limited to only growing a few inches tall. For example mosses, hornworts, and liverworts are the only terrestrial non-vascular plants hence them only being a few inches tall, maybe even centimeters, and needing to be moist to flourish [9].The largest vascular system is over 115 m tall because it takes water all the way up to the tallest of trees like the Giant Sequoia [9]. In plants, the vascular system uses more than one cell type. The tissues are divided into two parts: the xylem and the phloem. The xylem is located in the center of the plant, or pretty close, and it transports water to all over the plant. The most commonly known xylem is wood. The xylem mostly consists of dead cells wit tube-like structures. The other part of the vascular system is the phloem which consists of mostly living cells. The phloem is closer to the outside of the plant and is usually just under the bark of trees. The phloem moves things like organic nutrients throughout the plant to also nourish it. The plant really depends on the phloem you could simply kill a tree by removing a circular layer of bark around it and exposing and possibly ruining its phloem [9].The word “venation” when used to describe botany specifies to the distribution of veins in the leaves of a plant.
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Vascular System //**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The plants structure is very basic but also very vital to its survival. Every plant mostly depends on three things its roots, the stem, and the all important leaves.[14] If you find any plant with any of these three missing its dead or dying and its best to move on. But back to the point the roots are very important in the way that they absorb H2O minerals from the earth giving the plant energy for photosynthesis. The roots also store starch. The stem of plants is very important also by keeping the leaves at a high enough point that they get sunlight for photosynthesis. [10] Another function of the stem is a travel way for the H2O and minerals from the roots to the leaves. The stem also creates new living tissue or plant cells for the plant. And finally the leaves, the main life supporter for humans of the three. The most well known function of the leaves is of course photosynthesis, the process of turning CO2 into air using the power and energy of the sun. And our phylum for this (the Conifers) is a great example of a situation that uses all three. The best way to picture this I found is to see the Conifers phylum as a just a very big plant. Phylum Coniferophyta or Conifers have leaves that are needles or scaly needles. They generally have a very simple venation. Since they are needle shaped they only have about two veins running up the middle. The scale like leaves also have several parallel veins [14].So this would make Conifers have parallel venation. Parallel venation is most often found in plants with a single seed or formally known as monocots. The most common monocots are grasses where the veins run from leaf to base to the apex, the apex is the tip of the leaf [14].There are two different margins that the Phylum Coniferophyta species leaves can be. Considering that there are different needle types for conifers like the scale-like ones and the needle ones the conifer margins can be either “Entire” or “Toothed” [10]. “Entire” means that it has a smooth edge with neither teeth nor lobes so the sides of the leaves are smooth. A “Toothed” margin means to have a saw-like look on the side of the leaf, with small teeth that can vary in size, and sharpness on the leaves sides [10]. Most of the trees and plants in this phylum are fascicled like the pine tree [8]. A tree with a fascicled compound is a tree with small bundles or clusters of leaves [7].
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Roots, Stem, and Leaves //**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The phylum Coniferophyta has proved to be evolutionarily successful because they have been around for a very long time. The Coniferophyta also have the greatest longevity which according to means it has the longest life expectancy and had withstand harsh conditions and fluctuations in the environment [5]. The reason why most of the trees and plants in the coniferophyta phylum are so big is because they are so strong and are able to last long and life a good life a great example of this is the redwoods because they are among the biggest trees in the world [15]. However, how they are used in human culture is affecting them. Humans use Conifers to build and construct things, or simply move them out of the way to access land. Conifers are used to build houses, pencils, paper, and other such things. They are greatly affected by human culture because so many of them are being killed.
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">Evolutionary Success //**

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">Works Cited
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