Plants probably evolved from algae found in the vast, mineral-rich oceans billions of years ago. From these first primitive water plants, that survived by soaking up nutrients from the water, arose the first land plants. The first land plants were probably ferns, which reproduce with open spores instead of seeds. Later these plants would evolve into gymnosperms and angiosperms and from this divergence arose the major flowering plant families. Gymnosperms reproduce with naked seeds that get carried about by wind while angiosperms reproduce with seeds enclosed within their ovary and typically have flowers that are pollinated by bees. And these flowers were their complex parts that enable them to live off of sunlight and nutrients found in soil. Its these flowering angiosperm plants that we see brightening our fields and parks.
Aster family. The Asteraceae family is one of the biggest flowering plant families right after the Orchid family. It includes the subfamilies of artichoke, ragweed, chamomile, boneset, sunflower, and the common dandelion. Common wild members of the aster family are chicory, burdock, salsify, and yarrow. Members you can find in your garden our daisy, cone-flower, golden feverfew, lettuce, and zinnia. There are at least 20,000 species worldwide with most being perennials. They are the plants most commonly pollinated by bees.
Parsley family. Umbelliferae is a large family that contains many of our most flavorful, aromatic biennial herbs. You can typically find them growing in moist soils throughout sunny areas. It includes such species as wild carrot, parsnip, caraway, angelica, sweet cicely, yampah, water hemlock, and poison hemlock. The last two are some of the most poisonous plants in the United States. Its usually easy to identify the parsley family by its white clustered, umbrella-shaped flowers.
Rose family. Rosaceae is perhaps one of the best known flowering families that is most common in temperate climates. Its been around for nearly 36 million years and contains female and male parts with its many-petaled flowers designed for attracting pollinating bees. Many of our common grocery store fruits originate from the Rose family such as strawberry, raspberry, plum, and apples. Non-fruit members of the Rose family are agrinomy, cinquefoil, burnet, alchemilla, and spiraea.
Heath family. The Ericaceae has about 3000 species throughout the world and they include the showy subfamily of rhododendrons and azalea along with the subfamily that produces our blueberries and cranberries. It includes many hardy perennials that can sometimes survive really cold temperatures and poor soil quality. Some plants that belong to this family are sheep laurel, manzonita, pink wintergreen, and heather.
Mustard family. This family includes many aromatic herbs and common vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, kale, and brussel sprouts. Herbs include horseradish, watercress, mustard, wintercress, and shepherd’s purse. With its sharp taste and long seed pods (on some plants) it can be found mostly within northern climates where its an important agricultural crop. Mustard has a long-standing place in history as a popular culinary spice with its origins in the Mediterranean region.
Pink family. This family can be seen throughout northern climates and is commonly planted for ornamental purposes. It includes flowers such as soapwort, chickweed, moss campion, sandwort, and baby’s breath. Many members of this family are hardy perennial plants that can survive in different soil types.
Mint family. Lamiaceae contains many of our most aromatic and useful herb plants despite how invasive the plant can become if not pruned back throughout the growing season. It contains nearly 7000 species that include skullcap, self-heal, bugle-weed, horehound, ground ivy, motherwort, and garden varieties like spearmint, peppermint, catnip, rosemary, and pennyroyal.
