dicotyle

Dicotyle, or dicotyledon, refers to flowering plants whose seeds typically contain two cotyledons, or seed leaves. The term comes from Latin and historically distinguished a major group of angiosperms from monocots. Dicots were once treated as one of the two principal angiosperm lineages, with monocots as the other.

Key features commonly associated with dicotyledons include net-like leaf venation, vascular bundles arranged in a ring in the stem, and a generally taproot–to–shallow fibrous root system. Flower parts are often in multiples of four or five. Pollen grains usually have three pores or furrows, though there is considerable variation among different groups. Dicots encompass a wide range of life forms, from herbs to shrubs and trees.

In contemporary plant systematics, the traditional dichotomy dicots/monocots is recognized as outdated because “dicots” is not a single evolutionary lineage. The largest monophyletic group within what used to be called dicots is the eudicots, which includes many familiar plants such as beans, roses, sunflowers, and oaks. Other lineages historically grouped as dicots, such as magnoliids and some basal angiosperms, lie outside the eudicots. Thus, modern classifications prefer eudicots and monocots as the primary two clades, with dicots used as an informal or historical term.

Dicotyledons include many important agricultural and ecological plants, including legumes, brassicas, composites, fruit trees, and ornamentals, making them a major component of global biodiversity and agriculture.