Lecture 9 RH - Cosmopolitan and Economically Important Families Flashcards
Do monocots or dicots take over more cultivated land?
Monocots take over most of our cultivated land
What kind of plant is the apiaceae?
Dicot with 300 genera and 3000 species
What is the growth habit of apiaceae?
Herbs (mostly)
Shrubs (some)
Trees (few)
What does cosmopolitan mean?
Can be seen all around the world
Is apiaceae cosmopolitan?
Yes mainly North temperate
On what basis is umbelliferae named?
Based on the inflorescence (umbel=umbrella)
What is umbelliferae?
An apiaceae
How often do apiaceae flower?
Some are annual, biennial or perennial
What do the stems of apiaceae look like?
Generally hollow or internodal
What do the leaves of apiaceae look like?
Variable venation
Alternate
Simple/compound leaves
Sheathing at the base in some species
Aromatic
Some have stipules others don’t
Which more commonly have sheathing at the base of stipules, monocots or dicots?
monocots
What type of inflorescence do apiaceae have?
Single or compound umbel
Small flowers
Bisexual
Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
Highly reduced calyx
5 sepals, 5 petals, 5 stamens
Inferior gynoecium
What is the floral formula of apiaceae?
K5 C5 A5 G(2)-
*- is above the 2
What type of fruit does apiaceae have?
Dry
Indehiscent schizocarop
Splits into 2 mericarps containing single seed which separate at maturity and are dispersed by wind
What do seeds of apiceae look like?
Oily endosperm
Contain fatty oils (Petroselinic acid)
What is the spotting characteristic of apiaceae?
Flowers arranged like an inverted umbrella
What is the growth habit of asteraceae families?
Herb (mostly)
Shrubs (rarely)
Trees (rarely)
Lianas/Vines (rarely)
What do the leaves look like in asteraceae?
Alternate or basal rosette (mostly), Opposite (some), Whorled (rarely)
Simple or compound
Lamina dissected or entire
Exstipulate (mostly) or stipulate (rarely)
What kind of defensive features do asteraceae have?
Milky latex which is toxic`
What are the distinguishing features of asteraceae flower?
Inflorescence is specialized and called florets.
Large receptacle which consists of many modified flowers and surrounded by bracts
Entire flower head is known as the capitulum
What is the shape of corymbose?
Umbel shaped
What is the shape of the racemose?
Unbranched
What is the difference between a ray floret and a tubular floret?
Tubular floret is typically located in the middle of the flower and is a perfect flower.
Ray floret is located on the edges of a flower and is more linear in shape
5 petals are fused at a time in tubular florets (some 4) whereas 2 are fused in a ligulate floret
What is a pappus?
Pappus is derived from the calyx and formed from bristles. It is a hairlike structure around flowers
What are the types of bristles?
Simple: like dandelions
Barbellate: Covered with barbs, hooks, or bristles
Plumose: Feather-like in appearance
What are the types of influorescence heads?
Radiate: Tubular and liguate florets. (Heterogamous)
Ligulate: Ligulate florets only (homogamous)
Discoid: Tubular florets only (homogamous)
Disciform: Inner tubular florets, outer florets differet but never ligulate (homogamous or heterogamous)
How do asteraceae typically reproduce?
They are usually gynomonoecious where the anthers form a tube around the style.
They are very rarely hermaphrodite, dioecious, andrioecious, gynodioecious, and polygamomonoecious
What can be said about the number of florets and composition of each floret in asteraceae?
Floret number varies from few to many
Florets are either homo or heterogamous depending on type of flower heads.
What do asteraceae fruit typically look like?
Seeds are indehiscent.
2 types of seed:
Cypsela (common) inferior achene
Drupe (rare)
A capitulum with heterogamous tubular florets are called?
disciform
What are the brassicaceae also known as?
Mustard family
What are the morphological features of brassicaceae?
Cross shaped based on flowers of 4 petals
What is the habit ofbrassicaceae?
Annual or perennial herb mostly with some shrub species
Where are brassicaceae plants located?
Temperate climates and in the northern hemisphere around the mediterranean and Asia.
Why is it important to be able to identify plants from their morphology?
Plants typically have toxic lookalikes and often some plants themselves are harmful to some people and not to others.
What is the typical floral formula for brassicaceae?
K4 C4 A6 G(2)_
What is the typical floral formula for brassicaceae?
K4 C4 A6 G(2)_
What is the leaf shape of brassicaceae?
Simple or dissected
What are some characters of brassicaceae leaves?
Sharp taste
Strong unpleasant odor when crushed
Why can the floral formula of brassicaceae be K4 C4 A4+2 G(2)_?
Because there are 4 long stamens and 2 short ones
What type of flowers do brassicaceae have?
Bisexual
Actinomorphic
Racemes
What type of flowers do brassicaceae have?
Bisexual
Actinomorphic
Racemes
What are the type of fruits that brassicaceae produce?
Siliques (long with heart shape)
Silicle (short)
Nut (rarely)
Are brassicaceae toxic?
None are toxic. Some cause allergic reactions to some people.
What is unique to brassicaceae?
Crucifix flowers
What are cucurbitaceae and what plants are part of this family?
The gourd family and it is characterized by cucumbers, pumpkins, etc
What are cucurbitaceae and what plants are part of this family?
The gourd family and it is characterized by cucumbers, pumpkins, etc
Why are cucurbitaceae bitter?
Produces glycosides as well as bitter tasting chemicals to ward off animals from eating it
What type of plants are cucurbitaceae?
Mostly vines in the tropics/sub-tropics
What do cucurbitaceae flowers look like?
Yellow or white
5 petals
Dioecious or monoecious
What type of fruit do curbitaceae produce?
Berries
Are cucurbitaceae toxic?
Not all but most are toxic
Which type of plants are fabaceae?
Legumes, peas, beans, pulse family
Which type of plants are fabaceae?
Legumes, peas, beans, pulse family
What type of plant are fabaceae?
Trees, shrubs, herbs, lianas (vines)
What arrangement do leaves of fabaceae follow?
Compound (trifoliate, bipinnate), or simple
Mostly stipulate with some exstipulate
Leaflets evolved
What arrangement do leaves of fabaceae follow?
Compound (trifoliate, bipinnate), or simple
Mostly stipulate with some exstipulate
Leaflets evolved
How do fabaceae grow themselves?
Spreads itself out using tendrils
What do caesalpinioideae flowers look like?
Sepals are free, petals free, zygomomorphic
What do mimosoideae flowers look like?
Sepals are fused
Petals are fused
Actinomorphic (globose inflorescence)
What do papilionoideae flowers look like?
Sepals are fused
Petals are free and fused
Zygomorphic
What do papilionoideae flowers look like?
Sepals are fused
Petals are free and fused
Zygomorphic
What is the general structure of a flower of a plant form the fabaceae family?
Bisexual or unisexual flower (monoecious, andomonoecious, polymonoecious)
Zygomorphic
What do fabaceae petals look like?
Variable in shape and size
Irregular formation
Imbricate in bud
Posterior petals united (=keel)
What do fabaceae petals look like?
Variable in shape and size
Irregular formation
Imbricate in bud
Posterior petals united (=keel)
What is the floral formula for fabaceae?
K5 C3, (2) A10 G1
It can also be:
K5 C2, (3) A10 G1
What is the importance of fabaceae plants?
Very important for human nutrition (second most important plant product after grass family)
Soil nutrition is improved due to rhizobium bacteria
What is the floral formula for liliaceae?
P3+3 A3+3 G(3)_
What type of vegetation is liliaceae?
Primarily bulbaceous
Some herbaceous and mostly non-succulent
What is unique to liliaceae?
It is composed of 6 tepals
What can be said about the survivability of orchids?
They are very good at surviving in harsh conditions
What makes apiaceae like monocots despite being dicots?
The stem is hollow
How is the gynoecium of apiaceae oriented relative to the rest of the flower?
Inferior gynoecium with 2 carpels
What kind of fruit do apiaceae produce?
Indehiscent schizocarp which separates into 2 mericarps at maturity.
How are apiaceae fruit dispersed?
Wind
What is the composition of apiaceae seeds like?
Oily endosperm and fatty oils
What plant produces petroselinic acid?
It is one of the components of seed oily endosperm
What type of fruit is fig?
Multiple fruit
What family are figs a part of?
Moraceae
What is a bract?
a bract is a leaf-like structure inferior to the sepals
How do asteraceae reproduce?
Bisexual
Unisexual
Can also be sterile
Anthers form a tube around the style females florets are ligulate
What kind of fruit do asteraceae typically produce?
Crypsela which is an inferior achene
Rarely they produce drupes
Do discoid inflorescences have heterogamous tubular florets?
No only disciform inflorescences do
Why do fabaceae tend to have tendrils?
Fabaceae produce tendrils because they are typically vines
Brassicaceae floral formula:
K4 C4 A6 G(_2)
What subfamilies does the fabaceae family contain?
Caesalpinioideae: Sepals free, petals free, zgomorphic/
Mimosoideae: Sepals fused, petals fused, actinomorphic
Papilionoideae (aka faboideae)
What is the gender of fabaceae flowers and what is the symmetry?
Bisexual (hermaphroditic)
Unisexual (monoecious or polymonoecious)
Zygomorphic symmetry
How is the flower arranged in fabaceae?
5 fused sepals
5 fused or free petals.
10 stamens
Erect pendulous clusters
What do flowers of caesalpinioideae look like?
Sepals and petals are free and they are zygomorphic
What do mimosoideae flowers look like?
Sepals are fused and petals are fused.
Flower is actinomorphic
Looks like a coloured dandelion (globose inflorescence)
What do papilionoideae (faboideae) look like?
Look like a typical fabaceae flower with fused sepals and petals free and fused
Zygomorphic
Looks like a folded structure
How are faboideae petals free and fused?
Keel is made up of fused petals whereas the other petals are free or fused
What is the typical floral formula for lilidaceae?
P3+3 A3+3 G(3_)
How do lilidaceae plants grow?
They are bulbous plants that form from bulbs
Are lilidaceae monocots or dicots?
Monocots
What is typical lilidaceae morphology like?
Actinomorphic
Bisexual (in most) or unisexual (in few)
6 tepals, free or fused, in 2 whorls of 3’s
What are some important representatives of lilidaceae?
Hyacinth (in perfumes)
What is unique to lilidaceae?
6 tepals
What is the largest plant family of them all?
Orchidaceae
What are the most importnat orchidaceae subfamilies?
Epidendroideae
Orchideae
Are orchids monocots or dicots?
Monocots
What are some orchidaceae plants that are consumed by people?
Vanilla
What are some abnormal features of orchidaceae?
Some species lack leaves: Achlorophyllous and instead are mycoheterotrophic
How do orchidaceae that lack chlorophyll survive?
They use fungi in order to extract nutrients from other sources.
How are orchid flowers typically arranged?
Single or racemose inflorescence: racemes, spikes, panicles, headlike, umbellate.
Distichous or spirally arranged
What do orchidaceae flowers look like?
Most orchids are zygomorphic, with the exception of a few.
3 petaloid sepals, free or fused
3 petaloid parts in inner whorl: 2 petals and 1 modified labellum
Inferior ovary
1-3 stamens
Pollen is released as single grains
Filaments are fused to the style
What is the orchid’s floral formula?
K3 C3 A1 G(-3) *A1 and G(-3) are joined.
*(-3) indicates a fused superior ovary
How do orchid’s reproduce?
They rely on insect deception where an insect mates with a dud flower part and ejaculates into the orchid and as a result collects pollen
What do fruit of orchids look like?
Dehiscent, capsule with 3 - 6 horizontal slits
Small seeds that are less that 5mm in diameter
Non endospermic and rely on exogenous nutrient sources as well as symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi and beneficial bacteria
What is unique to orchidaceae?
Modified leaves, petals, and seeds
Why is poaceae so economically important?
It provides 3/4 of our food (starch, alcohols, sweeteners)
What is the floral formula of poaceae?
P2 A3 G(2_) (inferior ovary)
What kind of plants are poaceae?
Grasses
How are poaceae so successful?
They reproduce sexually using abundant floret masses
They are wind pollinated and seed dispersal is dependednt on wind
They have asexual vegetative characteristics such as the ability to regenerate from blade base and stolon/rhizome expansion (clonal population)
Adaptations in carbon fixation (C3 grasses during cool season and C4 during hot season)
What are some important subfamilies for poaceae?
Bambusoideae (bamboo and rice)
Pooideae (wheat, barley, oats)
Chloridoideae (Windmill)
Panicoideae (Maize, sorghum, sugar cane)
What is the inflorescence like in poaceae?
Spikelet. (each spikelet contains single or mutliple florets)
Some florets are fertile and others are sterile
The floret is covered by 2 bracts
What do florets look like in poaceae?
Bisexual or polygamous
Additional inner scales/bracts: 1 upper palea and 1 lower lemma
Hair/bristle appendages
What is the composition of the androecium?
3 or 6 stamens; 3 is the most common case
What is the composition of the gynoecium?
Single compound pistil
2 or 3 carpels
Equal number of styles with feathery stigma
Superior ovary
1 locule with 1 ovule
What type of fruit do poaceae produce?
Caryposis aka Grains
Simple, dry fruit
indehiscent
Formed from a single carpel
Pericarp fused with thin seed coad
What is nutrition like in poaceae?
High in complex carbs, low in fat
What is the floral formula of typical rosaceae?
K5 C5 A∞ G1-∞
What type of inflorescence do rosaceae have?
solitary or multiple
What is the vegetative arrangement of rosaceae?
Simple (mostly)
Compound (pinnate
Alternate (mostly)
Stipulate (mostly)
exstipulate (some)
What do flowers look like in rosaceae?
5 petals and 5 sepals joined on a receptacle (some have bracts
Cup like appearance
Many stamens
1-many styles
What are the 3 main subfamilies?
Pomoideae (Maloideae) which is the apple sufamily
Prunoideae which forms drupes that are single seeded and simple
Rosoideae which produce aggregate, achenes or druplets
What causes the browning of apples?
polyphenol oxidase enzyme
What inhibits activity of polyphenol oxidase?
Acidity which results from lemon addition or vinegar addition.
What is the solonaceae family?
Potato or nightshade family
What is the habit type of solonaceae?
Herb
Shrub
Trees
Vines (often prickly)
Are solonaceae toxic?
Most are
What is the floral formula of solonaceae?
K(5) C(5) joined to A5 G(2_) (inferior ovary)
What is the fruit type of solonaceae?
Capsule (common)
Berry (common)
Drupe (rare)
What do seeds of solonaceae look?
Many scattered within the fruit
What is the problem of cultivating cosmopolitan families?
Damage is done to plant diversity
