see monocotyledon.
| Monocotyledons | |
|---|---|
| |
| Wheat – an economically important monocotyledon | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Type genus | |
| Lilium L.
| |
| Orders | |
| Synonyms | |
Monocotyledons (/ˌmɒnəˌkɒtəlˈiːdən/), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae sensu Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of the major groups into which the flowering plants have traditionally been divided, the rest of the flowering plants having two cotyledons and therefore classified as dicotyledons, or dicots. However, molecular phylogenetic research has shown that while the monocots form a monophyletic group or clade (comprising all the descendants of a common ancestor), the dicotyledons do not. Monocotyledons have almost always been recognized as a group, but with various taxonomic ranks and under several different names. The APG III system of 2009 recognises a clade called "monocots" but does not assign it to a taxonomic rank.
The monocotyledons include about 60,000 species. The largest family in this group (and in the flowering plants as a whole) by number of species are the orchids (family Orchidaceae), with more than 20,000 species. About half as many species belong to the true grasses (Poaceae), which are economically the most important family of monocotyledons. In agriculture the majority of the biomass produced comes from monocotyledons. These include not only major grains (rice, wheat, maize, etc.), but also forage grasses, sugar cane, and the bamboos. Other economically important monocotyledon crops include various palms (Arecaceae), bananas and plantains (Musaceae), gingers and their relatives, turmeric and cardamom (Zingiberaceae), asparagus (Asparagaceae), pineapple (Bromeliaceae), water chestnut (Cyperaceae), and leeks, onion and garlic (Amaryllidaceae). Many houseplants are monocotyledon epiphytes. Additionally most of the horticultural bulbs, plants cultivated for their blooms, such as lilies, daffodils, irises, amaryllis, cannas, bluebells and tulips, are monocotyledons.