Monocots

The Monocots have only one seedling leaf (cotyledon) and usually have scattered vascular bundles, parallel veined leaves, and flower parts borne in multiples of three. There are no truly "woody" monocots, as they are incapable of secondary growth that would produce wood, but Monocot "trees" such as bananas and palms manage to form trunks via other mechanisms, such as lignified vasculature or leaf bases. Monocots include the grass family, the most economically and evolutionarily important plant family to humans (corn, wheat, rice, oats, barley, etc.). Some relationships between Monocot families are still somewhat unresolved, even with all current molecular and morphological data, but a much clearer picture of Monocot phylogeny has emerged in the last 8 years. Morphologically, it has been historically problematic to classify Liliales, Asparagales, and other orders with similar basic monocot floral structure (see discussion under Liliaceae). Within Monocots, there are many interesting modifications to the angiosperm flower, from the highly reduced, wind-pollinated grasses and sedges, to the highly specialized and elaborate flowers seen in orchids.

The genus Acorus is the sister group to all other Monocots and produces ethereal oils with a similar "primitive" odor to Magnoliids and Austrobaileyales. Like the basal angiosperms, monocots produce monosulcate or monoporate pollen (pollen with only one groove or pore).

More information coming soon...