Plants Used By People

Whittaker's original reclassification was based on the fundamental difference in nutrition between the Fungi and the Plantae. Unlike plants, which are generally autotrophic multicellular phototrophs which gain carbon through photosynthesis, fungi are generally heterotrophic uni- or multi-cellular saprotrophs, obtaining carbon by breaking down and absorbing surrounding materials. In addition, the substructure of multicellular fungi takes the form of many chitinous microscopic strands called hyphae, which may be further subdivided into cells or may form a syncytium containing many eukaryotic nuclei. Fruiting bodies, of which mushrooms are most familiar example, are the reproductive structures of fungi.
Diversity
About 350,000 species of plants, defined as seed plants, bryophytes, ferns and fern allies, are estimated to exist currently. As of 2004, some 287,655 species had been identified, of which 258,650 are flowering plants, 16,000 bryophytes, 11,000 ferns and 8,000 green algae.