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Dicotyledons

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The flowering plants (Magnoliophyta, angiosperms) can be divided into two groups, Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons.
 
The Dicotyledons are named for the two seed leaves or cotyledons produced from a sprouting seed with about 200,000 species within the group. Molecular analysis suggests that the Dicotyledons do not form a coherent taxonomic group and in future may be divided into Eudicots whose pollen has three grooves and Palaeodicots whose pollen has a single groove.
 
Common features among Dicotyledons are vascular bundles forming a ring within the stem, flowers with parts in multiples of four or five, leaves with a branched network of veins, roots develping from the radicle and pollen grains with three grooves.
 
The succulent Dicotyledons include the Bean, Cactus, Daisy, Gourd, Heather, Balsam, Ocotillo, Mesemb, Periwinkle, Spurge, and Stonecrop families. The monotypic genus Welwitschia is an example of an archaic Dicotyledon that only ever produces two cotyledons that elongate with age.