The Purpose and Benefits of Plants

Plants are living organisms that have been around since the beginning of time. They range in size from microscopic algae to hundred meter tall redwood trees. New plants are always being discovered and so far there are about 350,000 plant species, which include trees, herbs, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and algae.

Picture a plant in your head. Do you think of plants with leaves, stems, and roots? They are made of cellulose and get energy through photosynthesis. The world has all sorts of plants. The two main types are spore plants and seed plants. Spore plants include algae, mosses, and ferns. Seed plants are trees, flowers, and herbs. Together they are classified as the Kingdom of Plantae.

Every plant is different and each fills a niche in the environment. Plants can be annual, biennial, or perennial. Some grow big and tall and others are slim and flexible or short and thorny. A plant's growth depends on the climate. The climate determines temperature, water, light, and nutrients. Growth can be hindered by competition for space, soil composition, fungi, insects, pests, diseases, and animals. Fortunately, plants adapt because they are one of our planet's most influential organisms.

The environment depends on plants to prevent soil erosion, to assist in the nitrogen cycle, and to be part of the water cycle. Plants are a main source of food, but even more importantly plants produce oxygen. It is vital that plants thrive so that humans can survive. This is why plant conservation is so important.

Besides providing humans with oxygen, plants provide foods, building materials, medicines, fuels, and aesthetic features that enhance our lives. Plants supply humans with wood for building, clothing, renewable fuels, coals, petroleum, herbal supplements, pesticides, drugs, poisons, chemicals, and medicines. Where would we be without those things?

Did you know that there are over 20,000 edible plants? But only about 20 species provide 90% of our food!

Plants help us relax, beautify our homes, provide shade and privacy, block noise, and prevent erosion. People camp in forests, visit botanical gardens, and grow their own food and gardens.

Plants play a role in every home, garden, backyard, culture, and life all over the world.

There are many jobs that are based on plants. The study of plants is called botany. The cultivation of plants is called agriculture and includes agronomy, horticulture, and forestry. Think of all the professions that revolve around plants - farmers, gardeners, groundskeeper jobs, landscapers, horticultural therapist, nursery workers, marine biologist, botanist, agronomist, plant breeders, fruit growers, florists, and arborists.

Everyone is involved with plants. They are impossible to avoid. Next time you see a tree, flower, or moss think about what an impact it has on your lifestyle.

Wheat

Wheat has been cultivated and used for human food for many thousands of years. People have used wheat to make bread throughout recorded history. It is believed that wheat was first cultivated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Wheat is an annual grass in the genus Triticum that comprises a large number of wild as well as cultivated species. It is an annual plant up to 1.2 m in height. The stems are hollow inside except at the nodes. The leaves grow from the nodes. Wheat flowers are gathered in spikes. Each spike consists of a main axis on which the spikelets are distributed laterally. The wheat flowers are not very showy. They do not have petals or sepals.

Fairly dry and mild climates are the most favourable for growing wheat. In general, wheat needs lots of sunshine, 30.5-38 centimeters of water, and temperatures of 21 to 24ºC. Winter wheat is planted in autumn and harvested in summer. It needs a period of cold weather with short days and long nights to flower. When the temperature drops below freezing wheat becomes dormant. Spring wheat is planted in spring and becomes fully ripe in summer. Extreme heat or cold and very wet or very dry conditions will destroy both winter wheat and spring wheat.

Wheat is by far the world’s largest and most widely cultivated food crop: one-seventh of all farmland around the world is used for growing it. Every moment of the year, somewhere a farmer is harvesting this grain as another is planting it.