Plant Structure & Functions Flashcards
Plants must photosynthesize, grow,
and reproduce by forming spores or
seeds. These plants are short lived and
perform these functions in days or
weeks. What are they?
Ephemeral
These plants live an entire growing
season. What are they?
Annuals
These plants live for years. What are they?
Perennials
What are the three main functions of roots?
Anchor, absorb and store.
The root _____ the plant to the substrate (soil).
Anchor
Roots _____ water and nutrients.
Absorb
Roots ____ excess food usually in the form of starch.
Store
Do roots contain vascular tissue?
Yes
_____ transports water and nutrients from the roots up
to the plant.
Xylem
_____ conducts excess food down
from the plant into the roots.
Phloem
What is starch?
excess food
______ stems are green and break easily.
Herbaceous
______ stems are stiffer and more wood-like.
Woody
Green leaves are usually where _____________ takes place.
most photosynthesis
In order to photosynthesize what must plants do?
Taken in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
What happens when plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen?
Photosynthesis
Tiny (microscopic) _______ allow
carbon dioxide and oxygen to enter and exit the
leaf.
stomata
Do leaves contain vascular tissue?
Yes
Plants lose water vapor from their leaves in a
process called _________.
transpiration
The leaves lose water from the _______ & ________.
leaf surface and stomata
__________ can make the air cooler in the
shade of a tree than outside its shaded area.
Transpiration
How have California native plants adapted ways to minimize transpiration?
1.Smaller leaves 2.Waxy cuticle 3.light leaf coloration 4.spines for leaves and succulent stems
Flowers are what in Angiosperms?
Sexual reproductive structure
What is the male part of the flower?
the stamen
In a flower what is a seed?
An embryo
The male part of the flower has ________ that supports ________ where _____ is produced.
filament, anther, pollen
What are the modified leaves on the outer most part of the flower?
The sepals
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Sepals are what typical color?
Green
What do the sepals do to the flower bud before it opens?
They enclose and protect
What do all the sepals together form?
The calyx
What number is the sepal on the diagram?
12
Which number is the ovary?
8
Where is the pollen?
number 5
Where is the filament?
Number 3
Where is the stigma?
Number 6
Where is the pollen tube?
Number 1
Where is the petal?
Number 10
Where is the style?
Number 7
Where is the anther?
Number 4
Where is the ovule?
Number 11
where is the pistil?
Number 9
Where is the stamen?
Number 2
What is the function of a petal?
to attract insects for pollunation
What are the three ways petals attract insects?
- bright colors
- nectar
- scent
What lies inside the sepal?
The petal
If plants depend on wind to pollinate like grass, what kind of petals do they have?
inconspicuous petals that are tiny
What is the slender stalk of the stamen called?
filament
What does the filament bear at its end?
an anther
where does pollen develop?
inside the anther
What is the female part of the flower called?
The pistil
Where is the pistil of the flower located?
in the center
What is the base of the pistil called?
The ovary
What is the elongated slender tube of the pistil called?
the style
What is the enlarged terminal portion on top of the pistil called?
Stigma
What are often rough, bristly, or sticky, all in which aid in holding pollen grains that fall on it or are brought by insects?
Stigma
During ________, pollen grains are transferred to the stigma.
pollination
When pollination happens, a ________ begins to grow through the style to the ovary
pollen tube
In a gymnosperm what does a flower become after it is pollinated?
a seed
what do the ovules of a flower become after they are fertilized?
a fruit
what are the two main functions of the fruit?
- Seed dispersal
- Forming a covering for the seeds
Name two plant characteristics
- All plants are multicellular
- Cells have chloroplast and chlorophyl
What is the function of chloroplasts?
photosynthesis
What is chlorophyll?
green pigment
What imports material through the plant body?
The vascular system
What is the function of the vascular system?
To import materials through the plant body
What is xylem?
transports water from roots to stems
what transports water from roots to stems?
xylem
what is phloem?
transports food produced by photosynthesis from leaves to root
What transports food produced by photosynthesis from leaves to root?
phloem
How do plants store their excess energy?
transforming it into starch
what is starch?
excess energy
What are the four major plant groups?
bryophytes, seedless vascular plants, gymnosperms, angiosperms
What material makes up plant cell walls?
cellulose
Why do bryophytes grow close to the ground?
because they are non-vascular and can’t grow tall
Why do bryophytes only live in moist environments?
they need to absorb water from moist soil when it rains
Why is it said that bryophytes lack “true” roots, stems and leaves?
because they lack a sophisticated vascular system
How do bryophytes reproduce?
with spores
Spores are single-celled or muticellular?
single-celled
In bryophytes where are the spores produced?
in fertile stalks
Moss is what kind of plant?
Byrophyte
What has tiny root like structures that anchor them to the ground?
moss
what plant holds spores in a capsule at the end of the plant?
moss
What ranges are moss found in?
All of CA except deserts
Liverwort is what kind of plant?
byrophyte
What plants grows flat, leathery, leaf-like lobes. Is bright green with close rows of pale, bubble-like bumps often w/tiny cups?
Liverwort
What plant is this?
moss
What plant is this?
a reproducing moss
What plant is this?
liverwort
In a liverwort what gender has a fertile stalk each topped w.flat disks?
male
In liverworts what gender has fertile stalks with star-shaped organs?
female
What habitat is liverwort in?
Streamside, wet, disturbed or burned ground
What range are liverworts in?
Coast Ranges and Sierras
How do ferns reproduce?
With spores
Ferns are what type of plant?
Seedless vascular plants
Do ferns have vascular tissue?
Yes
Why can ferns grow larger than bryophytes?
because they have vascular tissue
What is a sori in a fern?
Spores on the underside of the leaf
What is a spore on the underside of a leaf?
Sori
What is a rhizome?
Fern stems growing sideways under the ground
What are Fern stems growing sideways under the ground called?
rhizome
What is a fiddlehead?
leaves uncurling out of the ground
what are leaves uncurling out of the ground in ferns called?
fiddleheads
Are certain ferns edible? poisonous?
Some are edible but some are poisonous
What plant is this?
Sword fern
What plant is 4’. Stalks light brown, scaly robust. Fronds taper at both ends, pinnate, coarsely cut into finely toothed leaflets, evergreen?
Sword Fern
What plant is this?
sword fern
The sword ferns sori are….
covered by round shields in two rows
What is the sword ferns habitat?
wooded hillsides, shaded slopes
What are the sword ferns range?
cascades, sierras, coast ranges
What plant is this?
bracken fern
What plant is this?
bracken fern
Bracken ferns are what type of plant?
seedless vascular plants
What type of plant is this?
bracken fern
What plant is 4’ stalks longer than fronds. fronds divided into 3 broadly triangular shaped leaf structure?
bracken fern
what’s the bracken ferns habitat?
open areas, meadows, forest clearings
What plant has sori dots curled under leaflet edges?
bracken fern
In what range is the bracken fern?
all of CA except deserts and central valley
What are the tiny sacs that hold sori spores called?
sporangia
Are certain ferns edible? poisonous?
some fiddleheads are edible at certain times and poisonous at others
what kind of plant is a scouring rush?
a seedless vascular plant
What is in the cell walls of the scouring rush?
cilica
the tiny leaves at the nodes of a scouring rush do not…
photosynthesize. the stem does
What type of climate does the scouring rush grow in?
moist
What kind of plant is a horsetail?
a seedless vascular plant
Is a horsetail similar to the scouring rush?
yes but it has lateral stems at each node
What kind of plant is this?
horsetail
What kind of plant is this?
horsetail
In gymnosperms what is a seed and how is it made?
Through pollination. Male part produces pollen. Female part produces the ovule,
What is the most successful group in gymnosperms?
conifers
What is the pine family?
needle like leaves
what is the cypress family?
scale-like leaves
What is the function and structure of female cones?
they’re bigger and produce the ovule that becomes the seed
what is the function and structure of the male cone?
it’s smaller and produces the pollen
what kind of gymnosperm is a coulter pine?
conifer, pine family
how tall is a coulter pine?
50 feet
what conifer has 10 inch long needles in bundles of 3?
coulter pine
what conifer is called a “true pine”?
coulter pine
What conifer is this?
coulter pine
what conifer’s cone is this?
coulter pine
what family is the incense cedar?
cypress family
What conifer is this?
incense cedar
Which conifer’s cone is this?
incense cedar
what conifer has flattened branches with leaves in whorls of 4?
incense cedar
what conifer has cones that look like oblong wooden flowers?
incense cedar
what is the incense cedar habitat?
mixed evergreen and yellow pine forest
What family is the giant sequoia?
cypress family
what habitat is the giant sequoia in?
moist basis
what conifer relies on fire to open cones?
the giant sequoia
what conifer grows on the western slopes of the sierras?
the giant sequoia
where can you find giant sequoias?
yosemite, sequoia, king’s canyon
What is CA state tree?
Redwood
What tree has flat scale like needles in two rows on either side of branches?
redwood
which tree has 1” cones?
redwood
what tree likes fog and grows in the coast ranges?
redwood
what conifer is this?
redwood
what conifer is this?
redwood
What conifer is a desert tree/brush? has berry like cones? scale like leaves? and lives in dry slopes and flats
California Jupiter
What is a tree?
trees have a single trunk and can grow atleast 16 feet
What is a shrub?
usually less than 20 feet and has stems instead of a trunk
What is a gymnosperm?
first vascular plant to evolve a seed
Are all conifers gymnosperms?
yes
gymnosperms are…
naked seed plants
Are gymnosperms native to CA?
no
Cycads are _____ gymnosperms.
not
What looks like a palm tree but isn’t and has been around since the age of the dinosaurs?
Cycads
What gender of a cycad grows a tall cone which releases pollen?
male
which gender of a cycad grows a low bushy seed cone which contains the ovules that will become seeds when pollinates?
female
What plant is this?
cycad
Ginkgo trees are ____ conifers
not
What the oldest genus of living tree?
Ginkgo
Which tree has leaves with ancient design with a fan shape and dichotomous ventilation like fossil?
Ginkgo
What is dichotomous?
shedding leaves for the winter
In a cactus what are their areoles?
small spots on the stems from which the spines arrive
what is a broadleaf tree or shrub?
who’s leaves are broad and flat not needle-like leaves like most conifers
how are the stems and roots of cacti adapted to arid conditions?
- Stems are adapted for water storage
- the roots lay close to the surface in case it rains
In a cactus plant, where does most photosynthesis take place?
In the stem
What’s the most successful group of plants?
Angiosperm
Where is the pollen and seeds produced in an angiosperm?
in a flower
What happens to the flower after it is pollinated in an angiosperm?
becomes a fruit
How does the fruit assist the seed?
- Protects
- Helps dispense
How can you tell if a plant is an angiosperm?
if it has a flower
