Plants fact sheet | Field of Mars EEC

What are plants?

Plants are living things that usually make their own food using sunlight, water, air and nutrients. This process is called photosynthesis. Plants are producers because they provide energy at the beginning of many food chains.

Plants come in many shapes and sizes. Some are tall trees with trunks, branches and bark. Others are shrubs, grasses, sedges, ferns, climbers, herbs or tiny plants growing close to the ground. Plants can have roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, spores, bark, cones or underground storage parts.

Plants can be found in many places around NSW including bushland, forests, wetlands, creeklines, mangroves, gardens, parks and school grounds. Around Field of Mars Reserve and nearby Lane Cove National Park, students may see plants such as scribbly gums, Sydney red gums, Sydney peppermints, banksias, grass trees, bracken ferns, paperbarks, swamp she-oaks and grey mangroves.

Plants come in many shapes and sizes, from tall trees to small ferns and ground cover plants.

Bushland plants grow in layers, including trees, shrubs, ground cover and leaf litter.

How do you know it is a plant?

Many plants can be identified by roots, stems and leaves. Roots help hold the plant in place and take in water and nutrients. Stems, trunks or branches support the plant. Leaves capture sunlight and help the plant make food.

Some plants also have flowers, fruits and seeds. Flowers help many plants reproduce by attracting pollinators or by producing pollen that can be moved by wind. Fruits protect seeds and can help seeds spread to new places.

Not all plants have flowers. Ferns do not make flowers, fruits or seeds. They reproduce using spores, often found on the underside of fronds. Some plants have tiny leaves, tough bark, underground stems, floating leaves, breathing roots or other special features that help them survive.

Paperbark trees have trunks, branches, leaves and bark that help students observe plant features.

Types of plants

Flowering plants

Flowering plants are plants that produce flowers and seeds. Many flowering plants also produce fruits, pods, capsules or woody seed structures that protect and spread their seeds.

Many familiar Australian plants are flowering plants. Eucalypts, banksias, grevilleas, wattles, paperbarks, she-oaks, grasses, sedges and mangroves all belong to this large group. Their flowers can provide nectar and pollen for insects, birds, mammals and other animals.

Flowering plants produce flowers that can provide nectar and pollen for animals.

Trees

Trees are woody plants with a trunk, branches and a canopy of leaves. In Sydney bushland, many trees are eucalypts such as scribbly gums, Sydney red gums and Sydney peppermints. Trees can provide shade, flowers, seeds, bark, hollows, perches, leaf litter and shelter.

Tree trunks, branches and hollows are important habitats. Birds may nest in branches or hollows. Possums, microbats, insects, spiders, lizards and fungi can also use trees for shelter, feeding or breeding.

Trees provide shade, flowers, bark, hollows, leaf litter and shelter for many living things.

Shrubs

Shrubs are woody plants that are usually smaller than trees and often have many stems growing from near the ground. Banksias, kunzea, grevilleas and many other native shrubs grow in Sydney bushland.

Shrubs create dense shelter for small birds, insects, spiders, lizards and other animals. Their flowers can provide nectar and pollen, while their seeds and leaves can become food for different animals.

Shrubs create shelter and provide flowers, seeds and leaves for wildlife.

Ground cover plants, grasses and sedges

Ground cover plants grow close to the soil surface. They include small herbs, seedlings, grasses, sedges, ferns and low spreading plants. These plants help protect soil from erosion and create cool, sheltered spaces near the ground.

Ground cover plants are important for small animals. Insects, spiders, skinks, frogs and other small animals may use low plants for food, shelter, hunting, egg laying or protection from predators.

Ground cover plants protect soil and create shelter for small animals.

Ferns

Ferns are plants that do not produce flowers or seeds. They have fronds instead of typical leaves and reproduce using spores. Spores are often found in small clusters on the underside of fern fronds.

Bracken ferns and other ferns can grow in forests, gullies and damp or sheltered places. Ferns can provide cover for small animals and help create moist microhabitats near the ground.

Ferns reproduce using spores and often grow in damp or sheltered places.

Wetland and water-edge plants

Some plants are adapted to grow in wet soil, shallow water, creeklines, wetlands, mangroves and estuary edges. These plants may have roots that tolerate waterlogged soil, salty conditions or changing water levels.

Grey mangroves grow along muddy estuary edges and have breathing roots that help them survive in soft, low-oxygen mud. Swamp she-oaks, paperbarks, reeds, sedges and other wetland plants can help stabilise banks, filter water and provide shelter for animals.

Wetland and water-edge plants help stabilise banks, filter water and provide habitat.

What is the life cycle of plants?

Many plants begin life as seeds. When a seed has suitable water, warmth, oxygen and soil conditions, it can germinate. A young seedling grows roots, shoots and leaves. As it matures, it may produce flowers, fruits and new seeds.

Flowering plants reproduce when pollen reaches the female part of a flower. Pollen can be moved by insects, birds, mammals, wind or water. After pollination and fertilisation, seeds can form. These seeds may be spread by wind, water, gravity, animals or explosive seed pods.

Ferns have a different life cycle. They reproduce using spores instead of seeds. Spores are released from mature fronds and can grow into new fern plants when conditions are suitable.

Fruit can contain seeds that grow into new plants when conditions are suitable.

What adaptations do plants have to help them survive?

Plants have many adaptations. Leaves may be small, narrow, waxy, tough, hairy or thick to help reduce water loss or protect the plant. Roots may grow deep into the soil, spread widely near the surface, store food or help plants survive in wet or salty places.

Bark, stems and growth patterns can also help plants survive. Thick bark can protect some trees from heat and damage. Underground stems, bulbs, lignotubers or rhizomes can help some plants regrow after fire, grazing, drought or disturbance.

Many Australian plants have adaptations connected to fire. Some plants resprout from protected buds after fire. Others release seeds after heat, dryness or smoke. Fire can help some plants regenerate, but fires that happen too often can stop young plants from growing old enough to reproduce.

Bark is one plant feature that can help protect stems and support survival.

Why are plants important?

Plants support ecosystems. They make food, release oxygen, store carbon, stabilise soil, shade the ground, cycle nutrients and provide habitat. Their leaves, flowers, pollen, nectar, fruit, seeds, bark, roots, branches and leaf litter are used by many living things.

Plants are the starting point for many food chains. Herbivores eat leaves, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, roots or sap. Predators then feed on herbivores. Decomposers break down dead plants, fallen leaves, branches and logs, returning nutrients to the soil.

Plants are also important to people. They provide shade, cooling, beauty, learning spaces, bushland experiences and connections to Country. Aboriginal Peoples have long cared for and used plants for food, medicine, tools, fibres, shelter, ceremony, seasonal knowledge and teaching.

Grasses provide food for herbivores such as kangaroos.

How can you help plants?

You can help plants by staying on marked tracks, not picking flowers, leaves or seed pods, and leaving bark, logs, leaf litter, rocks and soil undisturbed. These materials may be part of a plant life cycle or provide habitat for animals, fungi and decomposers.

At home or school, grow locally appropriate native plants where possible. Native plants can provide nectar, pollen, seeds, shade and shelter for wildlife. Avoid dumping garden waste in bushland because it can spread weeds and change soil conditions.

You can also help by learning to identify local plants, recording observations carefully, sharing accurate information and joining local bushcare activities with adult supervision. Protecting plants helps protect the animals, habitats and ecosystems that depend on them.

Staying on tracks and observing carefully helps protect native plants and small habitats.

Explore more

Use the fact sheet links on this page to learn more about plants and the animals, habitats and ecosystems that depend on them.

You can also compare plants with animals, fungi and other living things to investigate how food chains, life cycles and adaptations work in Australian environments.

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