Basic Botany Flashcards
A plant that has only one cotyledon (seed leaf) in its embryo
Monocot
A plant that has two cotyledons in the embryo
Dicot
The portion of the vascular system that transported water and dissolved minerals upward in the plant (the force of movement is provided by transpiration)
Xylem
The portion of the vascular system that transports sugars and other materials from leaves to other parts of the plant
Phloem
The loss of water from plant leaves to the air
Transpiration
The process of turning water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide into sugars
Photosynthesis
The breakdown of sugars made by photosynthesis to provide energy to fuel plant activities
Respiration
What does the term higher plant mean? What plants do not fall in this category?
Vascular plants that gardeners deal with most commonly that have a well-developed system of veins; algae
What are key vegetative processes carried out by vegetative structures? Reproductive?
Vegetative - capturing light energy and turning it into sugars to fuel growth; reproductive - producing flowers and other features needed to produce propagules to carry on the species
How can pruning an apical bud affect auxillary buds?
Removing an apical bud reduced auxin levels and allows nearby auxillary buds to grow
What is a key difference between the vascular structure in monocots and dicots? How could this impact grafting?
Monocots have bundles of xylem and phloem set in pithy tissue. Dicots have xylem and phloem set in rings. Grafts have new phloem and xylem cells arise from cambium tissue, which monocots do not have. The cambium on the stock and the scion must line up exactly so that the new phloem and xylem cells will arise.
How could these differences in monocot and dicot stems relate to environmental stresses or human management/damage? (Think about blowing sand on the beach or weed eater injury.)
Girdling (removing a layer of phloem in a ring around the plant) can occur with a weed eater on a dicot plant. Monocots do not have layers so it is impossible to girdle them. They can survive in coastal areas where blowing sand would girdle dicots.
Is phloem on the inside or outside? How does this impact what we see on the outside of plant stems?
Outside; old phloem layers are unable to entirely cover the outer surface of the ever-expanding stem and the bark may become fissured or peal or flake off
Do materials in the xylem travel up or down? What provides the energy to move materials in the xylem?
Up; transpiration
What part of the root is responsible for much of the water and mineral uptake? How could transplanting be related to this part of the root?
Root hairs; prepare a larger plant for transplanting by root pruning around the outer edge of the expected root ball to force the plant to grow more roots closer to the main stem to reduce transplant shock
