Differences between higher plants and lower ones.

All plants on our planet are divided into two groups: lower and higher.

Lower plants do not have real tissues and organs and can be both unicellular and multicellular. Their body is called the thallus. The lower plants include algae.

Higher plants have tissues (educational, conductive, integumentary, basic, mechanical) and organs (shoot and root). These include mosses, moss, horsetails, ferns – higher spore plants; and gymnosperms, angiosperms – higher seed plants.

The difference between lower plants and higher
In the modern world, scientists rarely use the term “lower plants” and only in relation to algae, as mentioned above. Since these organisms live in water, their entire body (thallus) consists of one type of tissue that performs all functions, such as:

Reproduction;
Photosynthesis;
Synthesis of nutrients from water.

The density of the water allows them to stick to the surface or to attach to the bottom, but not lose shape.

With the release to the surface, environmental conditions forced the plants to follow a different evolutionary path. For example, on land, water and nutrients are concentrated in the soil to which the plants are attached, but the sun’s rays do not penetrate there. Therefore, in higher plants, the roots are specialized in the absorption of water and minerals, while the leaves, on the contrary, are engaged in photosynthesis. To resist the wind, the stem became hard, and many plants formed vessels to connect roots to leaves.

Higher plants currently include:

Mosses;
Fern-like;
Gymnosperms;
Angiosperms.

Of these types, mosses are the most primitive and are closest to algae. Their body is not divided into a large number of departments, therefore they are often called lower spore plants.