Hi, sanjeevmonga-ga:
No, actually clover is a dicotyledon or "dicot" for short. See for example:
[Clover]
http://www.4reference.net/encyclopedias/wikipedia/Clover.html
"Class: Dicotyledon"
[Stat-Tele Research - Phylogentic Trees]
http://www.bioss.sari.ac.uk/tele/topics/phylogeny.html
"For this purpose, we use 10 angiosperm DNA sequences coming from four
dicotyledon species (clover, peal potato and strawberry) with one
available ADH gene, and three monocotyledon species (barley, maize and
rice) with two ADH genes."
Clover can refer to any of various plant species in the genus
Trifolium, lit. "three leaf" after the familar clover shape. See here
for some of the species/varieties and their classification among the
dicotyledon genera, in particular:
[Leguminosae - Pea Family : Clover]
http://www.backcountryrangers.com/edibles/plants_soloframe.html?TRIFOLIUM.html
What makes a plant a monocot versus a dicot? Well a cotyledon is a
specialized "seed" leaf, and as present in the plant embryo the
monocotyledons use the "one" cotyledon in a different manner than
dicotyledons use their "two":
[cotyledons]
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/fieldday/kids/crops/cotyledons.htm
But there are also other "taxonomic" distinctions to be noticed:
[Flowering Plant Diversity]
http://scitec.uwichill.edu.bb/bcs/bl14apl/flow2.htm
"Very early in the evolution of the flowering plants there was a split
into two major groups - the monocotyledonous plants (monocots) and
dicotyledonous plants (dicots). Most angiosperms are dicotyledonous.
There are several characteristics which separate these two groups.
"Monocotyledon - One cotyledon (seed leaf). Leaves parallel-veined.
Scattered vascular bundles. Flower parts in 3's or multiples of 3..."
"Dicotyledon - Two cotyledons (seed leaves). Leaves with reticulate
(net) venation. Vascular bundles in a ring. Flower parts not in
multiples of 3..."
Although the number of flower parts on clover(!) might be difficult to
decide, the other characteristics can be observed with some care. The
texture of the venation of the leaves is probably the easiest
observation for a casual classification.
regards, mathtalk-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
mathtalk-ga
on
21 May 2004 19:34 PDT
Hi, sanjeevmonga-ga:
If you are asking whether I can post pictures of clover plants here, I
cannot. The format of the Google Answers site is based around text
only Answers, but these can include links to other sites where you may
find such pictures.
Here are pictures of the flowering portion of three clover species:
[Flowering Red Clover]
http://altnature.com/Herbs2003/pages/redclover0037C.html
[Flowering Yellow Sweet Clover]
http://altnature.com/Herbs2003/pages/yellowcloversweet6892.html
[Flowering Giant Clover]
http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/1414.htm
This picture shows more of the whole plant, including the
characteristic three-lobed green leaves:
[Strawberry-headed Clover]
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/16836/
[White Clover]
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/12251/
As you can see, clover is a rather small plant, commonly considered a
ground cover plant. The flowering head is at the end of a vascular
stalk, whose development is proceeded by the appearance of the typical
clover leaves.
These leaves lack parallel venation (they have reticulated or "net"
venation), which is why I picked that characteristics as perhaps the
simplest one for you to use in classifying these plants as dicots.
regards, mathtalk-ga
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