Chapter 29: Plant Diversity I Flashcards
Seta
The elongated stalk of a bryophyte sporophyte.
Bryophyte
An informal name for a moss, liverwort, or hornwort; a nonvascular plant that lives on land but lacks some of the terrestrial adaptations of vascular plants.
Stoma
A microscopic pore surrounded by guard cells in the epidermis of leaves and stems that allows gas exchange between the environment and the interior of the plant.
Lignin
A strong polymer embedded in the cellulose matrix of the secondary cell walls of vascular plants that provides structural support in terrestrial species.
Megaphyll
A leaf with a highly branched vascular system, found in almost all vascular plants other than lycophytes.
Megasporangium
Sporangium in a heterosporous plant that produces megaspores, which develop into female gametophytes.
Megasporophyll
Sporophyll in a heterosporous plant that has megasporangia, producing megaspores that develop into female gametophytes.
Xylem
Vascular plant tissue consisting mainly of tubular dead cells that conduct most of the water and minerals upward from the roots to the rest of the plant.
Root
An organ in vascular plants that anchors the plant and enables it to absorb water and minerals from the soil.
Sieve-tube element
A living cell that conducts sugars and other organic nutrients in the phloem of angiosperms. Connected end to end, they form tubes.
Sporophyll
A modified leaf that bears sporangia and hence is specialized for reproduction.
Heterosporous
Referring to a plant species that has two kinds of spores: microspores, which develop into male gametophytes, and megaspores, which develop into female gametophytes.
Cuticle
A waxy covering on the surface of stems and leaves that prevents desiccation in terrestrial plants.
Leaf
The main photosynthetic organ of vascular plants.
Rhizoid
A long, tubular single cell or filament of cells that anchors bryophytes to the ground. Unlike roots, these are not composed of tissues, lack specialized conducting cells, and do not play a primary role in water and mineral absorption.
Spore
In the life cycle of a plant alga undegoing alternation of generations, a haploid cell produced in the sporophyte by meiosis. It can divide by mitosis to develop into a multicellular haploid individual, the gametophyte, without fusing with another cell.
Tracheid
A long, tapered water-conducting cell found in the xylem of nearly all vascular plants. When it is functioning, it is no longer living.
Sporophyte
In organisms that have alternation of generations, the multicellular diploid form that results from the union of gametes. Produces haploid spores by meiosis that develop into gametophytes.
Microphyll
A small, usually spine-shaped leaf supported by a single strand of vascular tissue, found only in lycophytes.
Apical meristem
A localized region at a growing tip of a plant body where one or more cells divide repeatedly. The dividing cells here enable the plant to grow in length.
Sporangium
A multicellular organ in fungi and plants in which meiosis occurs and haploid cells develop.
Microsporangium
Sporangium in a heterosporous plant that produces microspores, which develop into male gametophytes.
Homosporous
Referring to a plant species that has a single kind of spore, which typically develops into a bisexual gametophyte.
Capsule
The sporangium of a bryophyte.
Archegonium
In plants, the female gametangium, a moist chamber in which gametes develop.
Monilophyte
An informal name for a member of its eponymous phylum, which includes ferns, horsetails, and whisk ferns and their relatives.
Phloem
Vascular plant tissue consisting of living cells arranged into elongated tubes that transport sugar and other organic nutrients throughout the plant.
Antheridium
In plants, the male gametangium, a moist chamber in which gametes develop.
Microsporophyll
Sporophyll in a heterosporous plant that has microsporangia, producing microspores that develop into male gametophytes.
Lycophyte
An informal name for its eponymous phylum, which includes club mosses, spike mosses, and quillworts.
Strobilus
The technical term for a cluster of sporophylls known commonly as a cone, found in most gymnosperms and some seedless vascular plants.
Gametophyte
In organisms that have alternation of generations, the multicellular haploid form that produces haploid gametes by mitosis. The haploid gametes it produces then unite and develop into sporophytes.
Sorus
A cluster of sporangia on a fern sporophyll. It may be arranged in various patterns, such as parallel lines or dots, which are useful in fern identification.
Foot
The portion of a bryophyte sporophyte that gathers sugars, amino acids, water, and minerals from the parent gametophyte via transfer cells.