Vital to our survival!

Plants are living organisms that cover large amounts of the surface of our planet. They come in many shapes, sizes and colours and include trees, shrubs, grasses, herbs, vines, ferns, mosses and green algae. Most plants have roots, stems and leaves and they either produce flowers or cones for reproduction.

Plants can live in water and on land, usually with their roots firmly secured in soil. However, some live off other host plants and don’t need soil – these are ‘air plants’ and ‘epiphytes’ (e-pee-fites).

Botanists (scientists who study plants) have identified about 391,000 living species of plants across the world.

Plants are special because they all have green parts within their cells called ‘chlorophyll’ (klor-o-fill) that helps them turn sunlight (energy) and carbon-dioxide (what animals breathe out) into oxygen (what animals breathe in) and sugar (the food that helps plants grow). This process is known as photosynthesis. Without plants, we could not survive because the oxygen in the atmosphere would not be replenished.

Wonders of Plants

• Plants provide habitat for other animals and plants to live in.
• Plants provide us with many of the ingredients we need to make our medicines.
• Plants provide us with building materials that humans use.
• Plants provide us with fuel.
• Plants maintain the soil quality as when they die and decompose, they fertilise the soil, enabling other plants to grow and thrive.
• Plants keep the soil together preventing erosion.
• Plants provide oxygen for us and all the other animals. Through photosynthesis they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen which gives us the air that allows all animals on the planet to breathe.
• Plants are an essential part of the water cycle. They absorb water from the soil and release it into the atmosphere through their leaves (transpiration). This atmospheric water vapour builds up and then comes down as rain (precipitation).
• Plants provide us with many of the materials we use for clothes.
• Plants provide food for us and the animals we eat (crops, pastures and foraging).
• Plants provide food for animals.
• Plants make our landscapes beautiful as without them the world would be a barren rock.
• Plants help keep our climate stable as they fight against global warming by removing carbon from the atmosphere and releasing oxygen.
• Native plants on farms help with pest control as many native birds and insects eat pests on the crops and pastures. This means less money spent on pesticides and less harmful chemicals entering the environment.
• Native plants on farms (native bush areas/wildlife corridors) helps encourage native animals that are great pollinators meaning more successful crops and pastures.