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2.1: A Diversity of Organisms

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    The following section contains descriptions of over 50 groups of organisms that represent some of the diversity of the inanimate world. Some, like corn, are already familiar, while others are probably unfamiliar. But all have interesting aspects to their biology, and most are significant to human endeavors. For each group there is information concerning the following areas, matching the five sections of the book:

    • taxonomy and phylogeny
    • structure
    • reproduction
    • matter and energy acquisition
    • interactions, including interactions significant to humans

    The taxonomic level (e.g. species, genus, family) of the groups that are being characterized varies. For most of the descriptions I give a genus name but the description usually characterizes a bigger group, often an entire phylum. You should appreciate that almost all taxonomic entities have aberrant forms that may not fit into the description given. For example, I use the genus Rhizopus to represent the bread molds, a phylum of fungi. Not all members of this group are exactly like Rhizopus but the description does characterize many of the members of this group.

    Note that this book is NOT organized by groups but rather by important features that organisms possess: structure, modes of reproduction, means of matter and energy acquisition, and interactions with other organisms and with the physical environment. Because of this, much of the information for any particular group may not come into focus until reading the 'textbook' part of the book.

    Acetabularia, an unusual unicellular green algae

    Agaricus bisporus, the commercial mushroom

    Alfalfa

    Bracket Fungi

    Calupera, a large coenocytic green algae.

    Chlamydomonas, a small unicellular green alga

    Chytrids, tiny fungi

    Clubmosses: Lycopodium

    Coccolithophores, photosynthetic unicellular algae

    Coltsoot: Tussilago farfara

    Corn

    Corralorhiza, a plant that eats fungi

    Cryptomonads, unicellular photosynthetic algae

    Dandelion

    Diatoms, unicellular photosynthetic algae

    Dictyostelium: a cellular slime mold

    Ephedra: jointfir

    Euglena: a unicellular algae

    Ginkgo

    Glomeromycota: important mycorrhizal fungi

    Gonyaulax: a dinoflagellate

    Halobacterium

    Hemlock

    Horsetails, the genus Equisetum

    Juniper

    Kelp: Laminaria, a brown algae

    Lungwort lichen (Lobaria pumonaria)

    Marchantia: thalloid liverwort

    Marsilea: the 4-leaf clover fern

    Molds: ubiquitous fungi

    Nostoc: the smallest multicellular organism

    Oedogonium: a filamentous green algae

    Physarum: a plasmodial slime mold

    Phytophthora

    Pinus: pine trees

    Polytrichium: hairy cap moss

    Populus

    Potatoes: Solanum tuberosum

    Porphyra: an edible red algae

    Redwoods: the tallest and largest trees

    Rhizobium: nitrogen fixing bacteria

    Rhizopus

    Rice

    Rust fungi (order Pucciniales, formerly Uredinales)

    Sagebrush

    Sarracenia, a carnivorous plant

    Seaweed, Fucus: a brown algae

    Sensitive fern

    Soybeans (and other beans)

    Sphagnum-peat moss

    Sunflower: Helianthus annuus

    Tar Spot Fungus

    Thermus aquaticus

    Wheat

    Wood ferns

    Yeast

    This page titled 2.1: A Diversity of Organisms is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by George M. Briggs (Milne Library) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.