Why do we need vegetative organs of plants

The advancement of plants to land was accompanied by a number of aromorphoses (qualitative evolutionary changes), one of which was the emergence of differentiated organs - shoot and root. These are the vegetative organs of plants participating in all the vital processes of the vital activity of the organism, except for sexual reproduction (generative organs are responsible for it). Their main functions are nutrition and metabolism with the outside world. The life of a plant simultaneously in two environments - the atmosphere and the lithosphere - is associated with the need to master both soil and air. Special organs interact with each of these media.

Vegetative organs of higher plants are divided into underground (roots) and above-ground (shoots). With the help of the root, the plants are fixed in the soil, absorb moisture and nutrients from it, store them and transport them to the shoot, and in some cases carry out vegetative propagation. Rooted tubers (Jerusalem artichoke, dahlia), root crops, (beets, carrots), roots-supports (pandanus, banyan), air roots (orchid), respiratory roots (taxodium), roots-suckers (ivy) are modified roots. Initially, these vegetative organs were intended for mineral nutrition, but in some cases they perform the most unusual functions. The air roots of some orchids store atmospheric moisture, while the taxodium performs a respiratory function. Many epiphytes hang in the air, due to the presence of chlorophyll they have a green color and participate in photosynthesis.

The main function of escape is carbon nutrition. Unlike the root, it is a complex organ consisting of separate interconnected parts - the stem, leaves and kidneys. In this regard, the escape is sometimes regarded as a special system, which includes separate but interconnected parts. In some sources one can even meet the statement that the stem, leaves and kidneys are also vegetative organs of plants. Shoots are vegetative (covered with leaves) and generative (bearing leaves, flowers and fruits).

The basis of the shoot is the stem, which connects the roots and the leaf device, supports generative organs and carries the water and nutrients dissolved in it. Sometimes the stem participates in vegetative reproduction, and at a young age - and in photosynthesis. The leaf performs the functions of photosynthesis, transpiration, gas exchange, storage of substances and vegetative propagation. The kidney is a rudimentary shoot.

In the course of ontogeny (individual development), the vegetative organs of plants can undergo profound transformations in structure (metamorphosis). This may be due to the specific characteristics of the climate, for survival in which some parts of plants change their original functions. For example, in arid habitats, the leaves of many species turn into spines or scales to reduce the evaporating surface. In stem succulents (African milkweed, cacti), the fleshy stem is a water-preserving and photosynthesizing organ on which short shoots with bundles of thorns grow in the axils of undeveloped leaves. Insectivorous plants (rosolist, capricorn, sundew) have leaves transformed into real traps, which passively or actively capture insects. In some lianas (passionflower, grapes), the above-ground shoots are transformed into climbing organs (antennae) - this is also a metamorphosis.

The vegetative organs of plants participate in asexual reproduction, which consists in the formation of a young organism from any part of the parental. This method of reproduction is widespread in the wild and actively used in plant growing. At the same time, specialized organs (rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, stolons) are used as well as unspecialized (stems, leaves).

In lower plants, the vegetative organs are all of their body, for example, the mycelium of the fungus.