Distinguishing Characteristics Between Monocots & Dicots: Leaves

 

 

Angiosperms, flowering plants, are typically divided into two distinctive categories, which are monocots and dicots. The two names refer to the number of cotyledons in the embryo of the plant. Monocots have one cotyledon, and dicots have two cotyledons. This is the major distinction between the two categories. However, there are many other distinctions that set them apart. For example, botanists can set apart the two different types of plants during research by identifying the structure of the plant’s leaf veins. Monocots are known to have parallel major leaf veins, while dicots are known to have scattered and miscellaneous major leaf veins. However, this difference is only one of the many that botanists use to set the two groups apart from each other. In the photo above, the plant is identified as a monocot because of its parallel veins. 

-Jude Alawa