Question

Flowering plants are called as
A. Angiosperms
B. Gymnosperms
C. Ferns
D. Mosses

Answer 1

Flowering plants are seed plants (spermatophytes, phanerogams) in which the seeds are enclosed inside fruits and the sporophylls are organised into flowers. They are geologically the youngest group of plants which appeared on earth some 140 million years ago. Today they have the largest number of species and are dominating all features on land. There are about 3,00,000 species of flowering plants which have diverse habits, habitats, modes of nutrition, life span, shape and size.

Complete answer:
We shall discuss the given options:
A) Angiosperms: Angiosperms are also called Magnoliophyta. They are the most diverse group of land plants with 64 orders, 416 families, 13000 known genera. Size of these plants varies from 0.1 mm in Wolffia to 114 m in the tallest plant on earth which is Eucalyptus regnans. The largest crown is that of the Banyan tree. Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) tree growing in Indian Botanical Garden Shibpur, Kolkata occupies an area of 5.2 acres.
B) Gymnosperms: Gymnosperms are those seed plants in which the sporophylls are aggregated to form cones and the seeds develop in exposed state over the surface of megasporophylls. They evolved very early as cycadofilicales or pteridosperms about 400 million years ago. By about 200 million years back gymnosperms formed the dominant vegetation on earth. However, later on they were overtaken by flowering plants. To-day, there are only 900 living species of gymnosperms, mostly restricted to colder areas where they continue to dominate.
C) Ferns: Ferns are seedless vascular plants with megaphyllous leaves that show circinate ptyxis and bear sporangia in sori. They comprise some 10,000 species. Ferns usually live in moist and shady places. Some of them grow on tree trunks( e.g., Ophioglossum). A few ferns are aquatic e.g.. Azolla , Salvinia , Marsilea species.
D) Mosses: They are radially symmetrical leafy bryophytes in which rhizoids are multicellular and the sporogonium has a regular assimilatory tissue. Number of species is 12000. Mosses grow in moist habitats forming extensive mats over wet soils, rocks, tree trunks, etc. They are found throughout the world-arctic, temperate, tropics, antarctic, etc. Fontinalis antipyretica is aquatic. Sphagnum species grow in bogs. A number of species can endure drought and are important components of xerosere, e.g.,Tortula , Hypnum , Polytrichum.

Flowering plants are also called angiosperms. So, the correct option is (A).

Note:
Angiosperms are found in all environments of the land-upto 6000 m in Himalayas or Antarctica and Tundra, dry hot deserts, cold deserts, wet tropics and temperate areas, fresh water upto 60°C, underground, over other plants, as parasites, saprophytes, etc. Zostera is a marine angiosperm. Life span varies from two weeks (e.g., Boerhavia repens of Sahara) to 43000 years for Lomatia tasmanica. Plant body is sporophytic being represented by herbs, shrubs, trees, twiners, trailers, climbers, etc.