Kingdom: Plantae (Plants)

The kingdom plantae, also called Metaphyta, contains about 350,000 living species of plants. Plants live on every continent and in almost every habitat on Earth. Of all the life on Earth, plants are the most important, because they are the food source that all other living creatures ultimately depend on. Most plants produce their own food by a process called photosynthesis, whereby they absorb sunlight, usually through their leaves, using it in a complex biochemical system to turn carbon dioxide and into sugars that are rich in energy. Plants therefore have a crucial effect on the global climate because they remove carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, from the atmosphere, and release oxygen. Oxygen is essential to almost all life on Earth.