Chapter 29: Plant Diversity I

Question 1

Seta

Answer 1

The elongated stalk of a bryophyte sporophyte.

Question 2

Bryophyte

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

Stoma

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Lignin

Answer 4

A strong polymer embedded in the cellulose matrix of the secondary cell walls of vascular plants that provides structural support in terrestrial species.

Question 5

Megaphyll

Answer 5

A leaf with a highly branched vascular system, found in almost all vascular plants other than lycophytes.

Question 6

Megasporangium

Answer 6

Sporangium in a heterosporous plant that produces megaspores, which develop into female gametophytes.

Question 7

Megasporophyll

Answer 7

Sporophyll in a heterosporous plant that has megasporangia, producing megaspores that develop into female gametophytes.

Question 8

Xylem

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Root

Answer 9

An organ in vascular plants that anchors the plant and enables it to absorb water and minerals from the soil.

Question 10

Sieve-tube element

Answer 10

A living cell that conducts sugars and other organic nutrients in the phloem of angiosperms. Connected end to end, they form tubes.

Question 11

Sporophyll

Answer 11

A modified leaf that bears sporangia and hence is specialized for reproduction.

Question 12

Heterosporous

Answer 12

Referring to a plant species that has two kinds of spores: microspores, which develop into male gametophytes, and megaspores, which develop into female gametophytes.

Question 13

Cuticle

Answer 13

A waxy covering on the surface of stems and leaves that prevents desiccation in terrestrial plants.

Question 14

Leaf

Answer 14

The main photosynthetic organ of vascular plants.

Question 15

Rhizoid

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

Spore

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Tracheid

Answer 17

A long, tapered water-conducting cell found in the xylem of nearly all vascular plants. When it is functioning, it is no longer living.

Question 18

Sporophyte

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Microphyll

Answer 19

A small, usually spine-shaped leaf supported by a single strand of vascular tissue, found only in lycophytes.

Question 20

Apical meristem

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Sporangium

Answer 21

A multicellular organ in fungi and plants in which meiosis occurs and haploid cells develop.

Question 22

Microsporangium

Answer 22

Sporangium in a heterosporous plant that produces microspores, which develop into male gametophytes.

Question 23

Homosporous

Answer 23

Referring to a plant species that has a single kind of spore, which typically develops into a bisexual gametophyte.

Question 24

Capsule

Answer 24

The sporangium of a bryophyte.

Question 25

Archegonium

Answer 25

In plants, the female gametangium, a moist chamber in which gametes develop.

Question 26

Monilophyte

Answer 26

An informal name for a member of its eponymous phylum, which includes ferns, horsetails, and whisk ferns and their relatives.

Question 27

Phloem

Answer 27

Vascular plant tissue consisting of living cells arranged into elongated tubes that transport sugar and other organic nutrients throughout the plant.

Question 28

Antheridium

Answer 28

In plants, the male gametangium, a moist chamber in which gametes develop.

Question 29

Microsporophyll

Answer 29

Sporophyll in a heterosporous plant that has microsporangia, producing microspores that develop into male gametophytes.

Question 30

Lycophyte

Answer 30

An informal name for its eponymous phylum, which includes club mosses, spike mosses, and quillworts.

Question 31

Strobilus

Answer 31

The technical term for a cluster of sporophylls known commonly as a cone, found in most gymnosperms and some seedless vascular plants.

Question 32

Gametophyte

Answer 32

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.

Question 33

Sorus

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

Foot

Answer 34

The portion of a bryophyte sporophyte that gathers sugars, amino acids, water, and minerals from the parent gametophyte via transfer cells.