Thursday, June 2, 2011

Algae vs. Plants

Diagram of algae
Plants and algae are both photosynthetic. Both are also considered eukaryotes, consisting of cells with specialized components. They both also have the same life cycle called alternation of generations. However, algae are not plants. So, what are they? They are merely members of the Kingdom Protista. Plants compose their own kingdom, Kingdom Plantae. While plants and algae may sometimes appear to be quite similar visually, they in fact have a number of differences between them. In terms of where they live, how they survive and reproduce, and what composes them, plants and algae are vastly different.
Did you know that seaweed is not a plant? First of all, algae may be unicellular, colonial, or multi-cellular. Plants, on the other hand, are only multi-cellular. Holdfasts, stapes and blades compose multi-cellular algae. In comparison, plants have roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds and cones. The roots of plants not only hold them in place, they nourish them. Plants possess vascular systems, which allow for the uptake and transport of water and nutrients. In contrast, each cell in algae must obtain its own nutrients from water for survival.
Diagram of plant vascular system


Clearly, plants cannot move, as they are rooted to the ground. On some algae, holdfasts, which are comparable to the roots of plants, hold them in place. Some algae drift with the water currents. Some algae are actually actively mobile. Dinoflagellates, for instance, whip themselves through the water with a tail-like structures called flagella. Other algae may move by pushing their bodies forward in a crawling motion.
Algae
Typically algae are found in water; although, they may be found on land or snow and, strangely enough, even growing in rocks or marine animals or on the fur of some rainforest animals such as sloth. Plants are generally found on land; however, they can also live in water, such as eelgrass in marine systems and water lilies in fresh water.
Reproduction could not be more different for plants and algae. Plants have complex, multi-cellular reproductive systems and some even require the assistance of wind, birds, or bugs for pollination. Algae, comparatively, can reproduce through tiny spores or even by replication or the growth of broken pieces.
Eelgrass is a submerged aquatic vegetation (plant)
Despite all of their differences, algae and plants can often appear deceptively similar. So, next time you’re on the beach and you come across what appears to be a plant, take a second glance because it may in fact be algae.


~Elizabeth Gooding

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well structured! it really help me to understand difference and similarities between plant and algae!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your help miss

Anonymous said...

Some of this information is not correct. Bryophytes (eg. mosses, liverworts) do not have roots, stems and leaves, nor do they have vascular systems. Also not all plants produce seeds. Only gymnosperms and angiosperms do. Bryophytes, club mosses, Ferns, hosetails and a few other phyla do not produce seeds.

Anonymous said...

if so bryophytes should shift in plant like protista given they are multicellular eukaryotic and reproduce by spores as multicellular algae like spirogyra, ulva and other s do. you should give clear information about comparisons of such two species

Anonymous said...

This is good...but it doesnt answer my question which was "How is the blade of algae diffent than the leaves of plants?"

Anonymous said...

It is very nice, I like the structure, but some of it is incorrect.

Anonymous said...

blah blah all wrong info

Anonymous said...

Very Helpful for my Class in Biology.

Anonymous said...

This very good and helping in information science

Anonymous said...

Old classifications placed diverse algae (and other like fungi I believe) in the Plant Kingdom. A bit of that history would have been helpful, as many are coming with that reference point. Maybe explain why it is in a separate classification. Others want to confirm that it is "non-meat" and in that sense, algae could still be considered a (basic) plant.

Anonymous said...

At least you guys should thanks her..

Anonymous said...

Dinoflagellates are not algea. They are alveolates.

Anonymous said...

You can't say algae vs. plants because green algae are also plants and in the larger sense all algae are plants. Also, it is not true that dinoflagellates are not algae; just because they are alveolates too does not mean they are not algae. And it is true that bryophytes do not have true stems, leaves, nor roots.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! This helped me out so much today!!! I really appreciate it! :-)

Anonymous said...

thank you! you really helps me

Anonymous said...

this was very helpful thank you. But you need to sort out one of your paragraphs because it has split up.

Anonymous said...

WRONG INFORMATIONS !!! Be careful!

Anonymous said...

I think she meant Euglenoids instead of Dinoflagellates. Nice work otherwise, thanks for the read!!

Anonymous said...

The Kingdom Protista no loner exists.

Unknown said...

There is so much misinformation a simple skimming Wikipedia could've thwarted, I don't even know where to begin...

Source: 2nd year's biology BSc, so it's not like some immensily specific knowledge would've been needed to spot these at any rate...

Anonymous said...

This is a great article! To counter other people's rude responses, I think that this is quite accurate. Also, the kingdom Protista does exist, and algae are not plants. Wikipedia is also able to be edited by anyone. Please think about this.

Anonymous said...

It just is ☺

Anonymous said...

every single plant came from algae. they just adapted to the new dryer environment in land.

Anonymous said...

fuck you

Unknown said...

That’s the biggest load of horse shit I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading. It didn’t help me at all to understand the difference between a leaf and a blade.

Anonymous said...

im looking for similarities between algae and plants god dammit, not a shitty 5 year old article with old info, also why would someone be an absolute cunt lord and change information on wikipedia to shit that isnt true, it will get changed back at some point, i could go in any common article and write peepeepoopoo in a random spot with critical information and someone would change it, keyboard warriors rise up!