The most striking, and important, feature of plants is their green color, the result of a pigment called chlorophyll. Plants use chlorophyll to capture light energy, which fuels the manufacture of food-sugar, starch, and other carbohydrates. Without these food sources, most life on earth would be impossible. There would still be mushrooms and algae, but there would be no fruits, vegetables, grains, or any animals (which ultimately rely on plants for their food too!)

Another important contribution of plants is their shaping of the environment. Think of a place without plants. The only such places on earth are the arctic wastelands, really arid deserts, and the deep ocean. Everywhere else, from the tundra to the rainforest to the desert, is populated by plants. In fact, when we think of a particular landscape, it is the plants which first come to mind. Try to picture a forest wi

Chlorophylls are greenish pigments which contain a porphyrin ring. This is a stable ring-shaped molecule around which electrons are free to migrate. Because the electrons move freely, the ring has the potential to gain or lose electrons easily, and thus the potential to provide energized electrons to other molecules. This is the fundamental process by which chlorophyll "captures" the energy of sunlight.

The flowering plants are important in many ways above and beyond their aesthetic appeal in flower arrangements. Not a day goes by in which our lives are not affected by flowering plants. Nearly all of our food comes from flowering plants; grains, beans, nuts, fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices almost all come from plants with flowers, as do tea, coffee, chocolate, wine, beer, tequila, and cola. Much of our clothing comes from them as well -- cotton and linen are made from "fibers" of flowering plants, as are rope and burlap, and many commercial dyes are extracted from other flowering plants. We also owe them credit for a large number of our drugs, including over-the-counter medic

Some common words found in the essay are:
Marattiales Ophioglossales, , flowering plants, fruits vegetables, energized electrons molecules, plants algae cyanobacteria, chlorophyll chlorophyll, algae cyanobacteria, energy sunlight, energized electrons, plants algae, called chlorophyll, electrons molecules,
Approximate Word count = 735
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)