Non-vascular Plants
Non-vascular plants are the most simple of all plants, they lack structures for internal water transportation. Also, they do not produce flowers or seeds. Non-vascular plants are always found in damp shady places. Since the National Park of American Samoa is a tropical/marine environment, it is not home to any non vascular plants.
Seedless Vascular Plants
![Picture](/uploads/3/0/2/4/30249603/4062673.jpg?356)
Seedless vascular plants are plants with developed vascular structure to carry water and nutrients but do not reproduce by seeds are known as seedless vascular plants. Musk Fern (terrestrial; grow on forest ground), are green ferns that live in the forests of the Samoan islands. Thier roles in the ecosystem are to create oxygen for all other organisms in the ecosystem. It can also be used as food for some animals.
Gymnosperms
![Picture](/uploads/3/0/2/4/30249603/1632921.jpg?319)
Gymnosperms are vascular plants that produce seeds. Gymnosperms means naked seed because the seeds are not enclosed in a fruit. Coconut palms (located around the coastal areas of American Samoa), are naturally grown in tropical environments which is why they are salt tolerant and buoyant, another reason why they thrive by the ocean. Their role in the ecosystem is to also create oxygen for all the other organisms in the ecosystem. This is one of the world's most useful plants since almost every part of the Coconut Palm can serve some useful purpose. Coconuts can be used as food and an emergency source of drinking water for humans.
Dicotyledons
![Picture](/uploads/3/0/2/4/30249603/4699694.jpg?350)
Dicotyledons are flowering plants whose seeds typically have two parts: a seed coat and an embryo.Some distinguishing characteristics of Dicots include: Flower parts in multiples of four or five, major leaf veins reticulated, stem vascular bundles in a ring, and roots develop from radicle. Frangipani (found in coastal shorelines of the American Samoan islands), thrive in tropical environments and can either be a tree or a shrub who can grow to be up 8 meters tall. The role of frangipani in the ecosystem is to produce oxygen for all other organisms. The flowers are fragrant and often made into leis and worn in the hair.
Monocotyledons
![Picture](/uploads/3/0/2/4/30249603/6419124.jpg?186)
Monocotyledons are flowering plants that also produce fruit. Pineapples (found on the coastal shorelines of American Samoa), are compound fruits that can be 6 to 12 inches long and are egg-shaped and pine cone-like with a leafy top. Each hexagonal shape is actually one fruit itself. The role of pineapples in the ecosystem is to provide food to both humans and animals, but also to produce oxygen.