Planting Equity: Using What We Know to Cultivate Growth as a Plant Biology Community

Crop cultivation has a long history in human civilization, with records showing the cultivation of cereal plants beginning at around 8000 BC. This early plant breeding was developed primarily to provide a steady supply of food.

From Water to Land

Most plants are seed plants—characterized by seeds, pollen, and reduced gametophytes. Seed plants include gymnosperms and angiosperms.

Plants grow throughout their lives; this is called indeterminate growth, and it distinguishes plants from most animals. Although certain parts of plants stop growing (e.g., leaves and flowers), others grow continuously—like roots and stems.

Plant tissue culture is widely used in both primary and applied science. Applications range from plant development studies to functional gene studies, crop improvement, commercial micropropagation, virus elimination, and conservation of rare species.

Seedless Vascular Plants Were the First Tall Plants on Earth