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Is a Maple Tree a Dicotyledon?

In the world of plants, angiosperms -- or flowering plants -- are the most prolific and most recent on the planet, a mere 125 million years old. As a flowering plant, the maple family, Aceraceae, belongs to this group. Flowering plants can further be divided into 2 taxa: monocotyledons, often referred to as monocots, and dicotyledons, or dicots, referring to the number of leaves emerging from the seed on germination.

  1. Monocotyledons

    • Trilliums found in the northeast American maple woods are monocotyledons, as shown by the number of flower parts and parallel veins.

      Monocotyledons are the second largest group of flowering plants, with approximately 60,000 members. They can be simply identified by the emergence of a single leaf on germination and more precisely by a single furrow on the pollen. The other identifying characteristics are parallel veins in the leaves, lack of a woody stem and flower parts that come in 3s. The root systems of monocots typically do not thicken and spread, the vascular bundles are scattered rather than forming a continuous cambium layer, and there is no secondary growth. Common members of the monocotyledon taxon are lilies, iris, orchids, grasses and sedges.

    Dicotyledons

    • The veins on the maple leaf are not parallel like the monocot leaves.

      Dicots comprise the majority of the angiosperms, with approximately 190,000 species, and include most flowering plants, trees and grasses. The maples, or Aceraceae family, are dicotyledons, having 2 leaves on germination and pollen that is triporate, or has 3 furrows. They have a vein structure to the leaf that is net-like, with the main veins diverging from the base of the leaf, and a woody secondary growth to the trunk. The vascular bundles form a continuous ring, and flower parts generally number 4 or 5. The roots, unlike those of the monocots, continue to branch and grow as the tree grows.

    Variations

    • While most plants can be clearly identified as either monocot or dicot, some are a little deceptive. Palms are a group of plants that are monocots, but can give the appearance of dicots. Coconut palm stems have the rough, woody appearance of a dicot trunk, but it is only an appearance resulting from the dead front stems. As with other moncots, the vascular bundles are spread throughout the stem.

    Horticultural Application

    • In the 1940s auxin was discovered as a phytotoxic herbicide that affected dicotyledons due to the continuous vascular layer in the dicots' phloem tissue. Monocotyledons have scattered vascular bundles and lack a cambium layer, and so cannot take up the auxin. In this way the difference between monocots and dicots allows cereal growers to spray for broadleaf (dicot) weeds without affecting the cereal (monocot) crops.

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Landscaping Trees
  1. Maple Tree & Shrub Varieties
  2. Flowering Quince Trees
  3. Flowering Cherry Tree Varieties
  4. Purple Flowering Trees
  5. Flowering Plant Types
  6. Flowering Bedding Plants
  7. Fall & Winter Flowering Plants
  8. Flowering Grass Plants
  9. Submerged Flowering Water Plants
  10. Tall Flowering Plants
  11. What Is a Hard Maple?
  12. What Is the Lifespan of a Maple Tree?

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