3 Important Plant Families – Imaluop

Now we are going to discuss 3 important plant families, their characteristics and economic importance in our everyday life. Angiosperms is a very diverse group of flowering plants and a large number of families but we will only discuss 3 major families and their economic importance in our life – family poaceae, family asteraceae and family brassicaceae. 

Family Poaceae: 

Characteristics of Family Poaceae: 

• Members of family poaceae are annual or perennial plants and they may be herbaceous or shrub but sometimes they have tree-like appearance. 
• Their root system also shows great diversity in some cases stilt root present, adventitious root and fibrous root also common in them. 
• Shoot systems also show great variety; some have soft herbaceous stems, some have woody stems, some present in underground rhizome form. 
• Their leaves have tubular sheath and they are simple exstipulate, distichous and alternate types. 
• Fruits are nut, caryopsis or berry types while their seeds have endosperm and they are monocotyledons.  

Economic Importance of Family Poaceae: 

Source of Food: 

Zea Mays, Oryza Sativa, Avena Sativa are some important members of family poaceae which are common sources of our food. 

Source of Fodder: 

Cynodon, poa, Cymbopogon are some grasses of the family poaceae which we can use as source of fodder. 

Medicine: 

Some members of family poaceae like Claviceps purpurea and Phragmites karka have great medicinal value so they are very useful for recovery of some diseases. 

Sugar: 

We use different types of sweetener to our food on a daily basis like jaggery, sugar which is obtained from a member of family poaceae Saccharum officinarum. 

House Making: 

We often see huts in some villages and they are generally made of bamboo which comes from the member of family poaceae Bambusa sp.  

Family Brassicaceae: 

Characteristics of Family Brassicaceae: 

• Members of family brassicaceae are generally herbaceous like soft and pliable but some of them are shrubs, generally annual or biennial. 
• Generally their root system is tap root system and they are known for storing food which makes them have a swollen appearance. 
• Their leaves are generally simple and exstipulate, opposite or alternative and they are generally herbaceous but woody stems also seen in some rare cases. 

Economic Importance of Family Brassicaceae: 

Medicine: 

The Seeds of some members of the family brassicaceae are used as medicine for bronchitis, stems of some plants are used to treat asthma and flowers of some plants are used to cure paralysis. 

Food: 

Many plants of the family Brassicaceae are used as vegetables and they are cultivated on a large scale as a source of food like Brassica oleracea var. Caulorapa. 

Oils: 

Brassica campestris is a member of family Brassicaceae which has a great economic importance because their seeds are used to extract mustard oil which is generally used in cooking and after extraction the remaining are used as cattle food. 

Family Asteraceae: 

Characteristics of Family Asteraceae: 

• They may be present in tree, herb or shrub form and their tap root system is modified into tuber. 
• Some of them are xerophytic and hydrophytic, stems maybe woody or pliable and in some cases latex is observed. 
• They show cypsela type fruits with endospermic seed and their leaves are petiolate, radicle or exstipulate. 
• Their flowers are tubular or ligulate and androecium is absent but gynoecium may be present or absent. 

Economic Importance of Family Asteraceae: 

Source of Rubber: 

We can extract rubber from some members of the family asteraceae, for example latex of Solidago leavenworthii is a great source of rubber. 

Medicinal plants: 

Some members of family asteraceae have great economic importance due to their medicinal value, for example juice of some plants are used to treat bowel disorders. 

Food: 

Some members of the family asteraceae are a great source of food for example, Helianthus tuberosus is used as a source of food. 

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