Plants Flashcards
Annual
A plant that completes its life cycle in a single year or growing season
Anther
A sac in which pollen grains develop located at the tip of a flower’s stamen
Apical dominance
In a plant, the hormonal inhibition of axillary buds by a terminal (apical) bud, likely via the release of the hormone auxin
What is the sac in which pollen grains develop, located at the tip of the stamen?
Anther
What is the term for the hormonal inhibition of axillary buds by a terminal (apical) bud, likely via the release of auxin?
Apical dominance
Asexual reproduction
The creation of genetically identical offspring by a single parent without the use of gametes (sperm and egg)
What is the type of reproduction where genetically identical offspring are created by a single parent without the participation of gametes (sperm and egg?)
Asexual reproduction
Axillary bud
An embryonic shoot present in the angle formed by a leaf and stem. Can remain dormant or grow to become lateral branches or flowers
What is the term for the embryonic shoot present in the angle formed by a leaf and stem, that is sometimes dormant or can also grow into lateral branches or flowers?
Axillary bud
Bark
All tissues external to the vascular cambium in plants with secondary growth. Bark consists of phloem, cork cambium, and cork (produced by cork cambium)
What are the three tissues comprising bark in plants with secondary growth?
Phloem, cork cambium, and cork (produced by cork cambium)
What is outer bark made of?
Cork
What is the name for the tissues external to the vascular cambium in plants with secondary growth?
Bark
Biennial
A plant that completes its life cycle in two years or growing seasons
Blade
The flattened portion of a leaf
What is the flattened portion of a leaf called?
Blade
Carpel
The egg producing part of the flower, consisting of a style (stalk) with an ovary at the base and a stigma, which traps pollen, at the tip
What is the name for the part of the flower where the egg is produced and which consists of an ovary, style, and a stigma?
Carpel
Cell wall
A protective layer external to the plasma membrane in plant cells, bacteria, fungi, and some protists. It helps to protect the cell and maintain its shape.
Central vacuole
This organelle is a membrane enclosed sac occupying most of the interior of a mature plant cell, having diverse roles in reproduction, growth, and development.
Chloroplast
An organelle found in plants and photosynthetic protists. It is enclosed by two concentric membranes. Chloroplasts absorb sunlight and power the synthesis of organic molecules (sugars).
Collenchyma cell
In plants, a type of cell with a thin primary wall and some areas of secondary wall, functioning mainly in supporting growing parts. Found in ground tissue. Living protoplasts.
Protoplast
A plant cell enclosed only by plasma membrane
What cell type, found in ground tissue as a living protoplast, features a thin primary wall and some areas with secondary wall and functions in plant support during growth?
Collenchyma cell
Cork
Produced by cork cambium and comprises the bark in a plant with secondary growth
Cork cambium
Meristem tissue that produces cork cells in plants with secondary growth
Cortex
The cortex is part of the ground tissue system of a plant. In the roots, the cortex stores food and absorbs water and minerals that have passed through the epidermis. It is found immediately inside the epidermis. It consists of parenchyma cells.
Where is the cortex found in plants? What tissue system is it part of?
The cortex is found in the roots immediately inside the epidermis and is part of the ground tissue system.
Cotyledon
The first leaf that appears on the embryo of a flowering plant. It is a seed leaf. Monocot embryos have one cotyledon while dicot embryos have two.
How many cotyledons do dicots have? Monocots? What is a cotyledon?
Dicots have 2 cotyledons, and monocots have 1. A cotyledon is the first leaf that appears on the embryo of a flowering plant.
Cuticle
The waxy coating on the surface of stems and leaves that helps retain water. It contains the lipid cutin.
What lipid does the waxy coating on the surface of stems and leaves contain? What is this coating called?
Cutin is found in the cuticle.
Dermal tissue
In plants, the tissue system that forms a protective outer coating, including the epidermis. It forms from the embryo or the apical meristem, and originates from the protoderm.
What tissue system in plants contains the epidermis?
The dermal tissue system
Dicot
A flowering plant whose embryo has two seed leaves (ie cotyledons). Has woody or secondary growth. Has tap root system. Has reticulate, i.e. netlike venation in leaves (radial vascular tissue that forms ring around pith and cortex), and flower parts are in groups of 4-5.
Eudicot
Same as dicot but also has pollen grains with three long grooved apertures
Double fertilization
In flowering plants, describes the formation of a zygote (fusion of sperm and egg) in addition to a triploid endosperm (fusion of other sperm and two polar nuclei)
Embryo sac
The female gametophyte found in the ovule of angiosperms containing 8 nuclei. It is a megagametophyte.
How many nuclei are in the megagametophyte in flowering plants? What is the megagametophyte called?
8 nuclei are in the embryo sac, the name for the megagametophyte in flowering plants.
Endodermis
The innermost layer (one cell layer thick) of the cortex of a plant root. The endodermis forms a selective barrier that determines which substances pass from the cortex to the vascular tissue.
Endosperm
Formed in double fertilization in angiosperms, it is a nutrient rich mass that forms when a sperm cell fuses with the polar nuclei during double fertilization. The endosperm feeds the developing embryo within the seed.
Fertilization
Fusion of a haploid sperm cell with the haploid egg cell that forms the zygote
Flower
In angiosperms, a short stem with four sets of modified leaves (calyx, corolla, androecium, gynoecium) bearing structures that function in sexual reproduction
Fruit
A ripened thickened ovary of a flower that protects dormant seeds and primarily aids in their dispersal
What are the four sets of modified leaves that comprise the flower?
Calyx, Corolla, Androecium, Gynoecium
Gametophyte
The multicellular haploid form in the life cycle of organisms that undergo alternation of generations. The gametophyte is formed from a union of spores and produces haploid gametes by mitosis. The union of haploid gametes grow into the sporophyte generation.
The union of spores produces the _______ (form in alternation of generations).
Gametophyte
Germinate
The initial growth from a plant seed, defined as the emergence of the radicle (first root) through the seed coat. It begins when a seed absorbs water and its metabolism resumes.
What stage in the plant’s life cycle begins when the seed absorbs water and its metabolism resumes?
Germination
Ground tissue
The tissue system that comprises most of the plant. Ground tissue fills the space between the epidermis and the vascular tissue. The ground tissue functions in storage, photosynthesis, and support. Ground tissue is mostly made of parenchyma cells but also includes collenchyma and sclerenchyma cells. (NB: Parenchyma cells are also sometimes found in vascular tissue)
What are cell types found in ground tissue?
Parenchyma cells (most commonly), collenchyma cells, and sclerenchyma cells.
Are parenchyma cells alive at maturity?
Yes
Are collenchyma cells alive at maturity?
Yes
Are sclerenchyma cells alive at maturity?
No
Guard cells
Specialized epidermal cell that regulates the size of a stoma in plants. Guard cells allow gas exchange between photosynthetic cells in the leaf and the surrounding air. Increased K+, Cl-, and malate ion concentration causes the guard cell vacuoles to swell with turgor pressure and maintain the stomata open.
Indeterminate growth
Growth that continues throughout life. Featured in most plants
Internode
Area of a plant stem between two nodes
Leaf
The main site of photosynthesis in plants. Consists of a flattened blade and a petiole (stalk) that joins the leaf to the stem.
Lignin
A chemical that hardens the cell walls of plants. Found in vessel members in vascular tissue and in sclerenchyma cells in ground tissue, e.g.
Meristem
Plant tissue consisting of undifferentiated cells that divide and generate new cells and tissues. The apical meristem is where cell division and elongation occur for root and shoot extension. The root apical meristem is protected by the root cap, and leaf primordia protect the shoot apical meristem. Lateral meristems are found in woody vascular plants, i.e. eudicots. Meristem cells divide yielding one differentiated cell and one meristem cell.
Mesophyll
The green tissue in the interior of a leaf between the upper and lower epidermis. This is the leaf’s ground tissue. Photosynthesis occurs in the mesophyll. Eudicots have palisade mesophyll and spongy mesophyll, while monocots have no differentiation in mesophyll.
Are palisade mesophyll and spongy mesophyll found in monocots or eudicots?
Eudicots
Monocot
A flowering plant whose embryos have a single seed leaf (cotyledon). No woody secondary growth. Has adventitious root system. Parallel venation pattern seen in leaves. Vascular tissue is in discrete bundles distributed throughout stem. No differentiation in mesophyll of leaves. Flower petals are in groups of 3.
Node
Where leaf is attached to stem
Organ
A structure consisting of two or more tissues that coordinate to perform a specific function.
Ovary
In flowering plants, the base of the carpel containing the ovule in which the eggs develop.
Ovule
A reproductive structure in a seed plant containing the female gametophyte and the developing egg. The ovule becomes a seed.
Parenchyma
A cell type that is abundant in plants. It is relatively unspecialized. Consists of thin primary wall and no secondary wall. Functions in photosynthesis, food storage, aerobic respiration, and is capable of differentiating into other cell types. Remains alive at maturity – living protoplasts.
Perennial
A plant that lives for many years, e.g. trees, bushes
Petiole
The stalk of a leaf that joins the leaf at the node on the stem
What is the name for the stalk of a leaf?
Petiole
Phloem
The portion of a plant’s vascular system that transports sugars, nutrients, and hormones throughout a plant. Phloem is made of living cells, including sieve cells and sieve tube members. Phloem often contains fibers and parenchyma cells.
Pistil
In a flowering plant, the pistil consists of a single carpel or a group of fused carpels.
What is the term used for a single carpel or group of fused carpels in flowering plants?
Pistil
Pith
Part of the ground tissue system in a eudicot that fills the center of a stem and may store food
Term for the ground tissue in a eudicot that fills the center of a stem, and possibly stores food
Pith
Pollen grain
In a seed plant, the male gametophyte that develops from microspores by mitosis within the anther of a stamen. Each pollen grain contains 1 generative cell which divides to form 2 sperm cells, and 1 tube cell.
What is the male gametophyte in seed plants?
Pollen grain
Primary growth
Growth in the length of a plant root or shoot produced by the apical meristem
Rhizome
A modified stem that is horizontal and grows below ground. Contains adventitious roots.
What is the name for a horizontal stem with adventitious roots that grows below ground?
Rhizome
Roots
The underground organ of a plant that anchor the plant in the soil, absorbs and transports minerals and water, and stores food.
Root hair
An outgrowth of an epidermal cell in a root which increases the root’s absorptive surface area.
From what cells are root hairs formed?
Epidermal cells.
Sclerenchyma cells
In plants, a supportive cell type with a thick lignified secondary cell wall. Dead at maturity.
Secondary growth
Increase in plant girth involving cell division in the vascular cambium and cork cambium – only occurs in eudicots.
Seed
A plant embryo + food supply within a protective coating (seed coat)
What are the seed components?
Plant embryo + food supply + protective covering (seed coat)
Seed coat
The tough outer covering of the seed formed from the outer coat of the ovule. Encloses and protects embryo and endosperm in flowering plants.
Where does the seed coat originate?
The outer coat of the ovule develops into the seed coat.
Sepal
Modified leaf of a flowering plants that encloses and protects the flower bud before it opens. The calyx refers to the whorl of sepals.
Sporophyte
The multicellular diploid form in the life cycle of organisms undergoing alternation of generations resulting from the union of gametes. Meiotically produces haploid spores that develop into gametophyte generation
Stamen
Pollen producing part of the flower consisting of a stalk (filament) and anther
Stem
The part of a plant’s shoot system that grows above the ground and supports the leaves and reproductive structure
Stigma
The sticky tip of a flower’s carpel that traps pollen grains
Stoma (pl. stomata)
A pore surrounded by guard cells in the epidermis of the leaf. When stomata are open, CO2 enters the leaf and water and O2 exit. A plant is conserving water when stomata are closed. Increased K+, Cl-, and malate ion concentration causes the guard cell vacuoles to swell with turgor pressure and maintain the stomata open.
Terminal bud
Apical bud. Embryonic tissue at the tip of a shoot made up of developing leaves and a compact series of nodes/ internodes
Tissue
An integrated group of similar cells that perform a specific function within a multicellular organism
Tracheid
A tapered, porous water conducting and supportive cell in plants found in xylem. Chains of tracheids (or vessel elements) make up the water conducting and supporting tubes of xylem. Vessel members are more efficient at transporting water than tracheids.
Tuber
A tuber is an enlargement at the end of a rhizome in which food is stored. It is a modified stem
Is a tuber a modified stem or a modified root?
Modified stem
Is a rhizome a modified stem or a modified root?
Modified stem
Vascular cambium
In woody plants exhibiting secondary growth, consists of the cylinder of lateral meristem tissue found between the primary xylem and phloem that produces the secondary xylem and phloem.
What are the two types of lateral meristems in woody plants?
Cork cambium which produces the bark and vascular cambium that produces the secondary vascular tissue.
Vessel elements
A short open ended water conducting/ supportive cell in plants. Chains of vessel elements (or tracheids) make up the water conducting and supporting tubes of xylem. Vessel members are more efficient at transporting water than tracheids.
Wood
Secondary xylem of a plant
What is the secondary xylem of a plant known as?
Wood
Xylem
The part of a plant’s vascular system that provides support and conveys water and minerals from the roots to the rest of the plant. Xylem is made of two cell types: vessel elements and/ or tracheids. Vessel members are more efficient at transporting water than tracheids.
Abscisic acid
A plant hormone that inhibits cell division and promotes dormancy. Abscisic acid interacts with gibberellins to regulate seed germination
Adhesion
The attraction between different kinds of molecules
Auxins
A group of plant hormones whose chief effect is to promote the growth and development of shoots. Auxin plays a role in apical dominance.
Cohesion
Attraction between molecules of the same kind
Cytokinins
One in a family of plant hormones that promotes cell division, slows aging in flowers and fruits, and may counter the effect of auxins by inhibiting the formation of lateral roots (which is promoted by auxins)
Essential element
In plants, a chemical element necessary to the life cycle (i.e. going from seed -> producing next generation of seeds)
Ethylene
A gas that functions as a plant hormone, triggering aging responses such as fruit ripening and plant drop
Gibberellin
Plant hormone that triggers the germination in seeds and interacts with auxins in regulating growth and fruit development
Gravitropism
Plant directional growth in response to gravity
Macronutrient
A chemical element that an organism requires in large amounts
Micronutrient
A chemical element that an organism requires in very small amounts
Mychorrhizae
A mutually beneficial symbiotic association of plant roots and fungi
Nitrogen fixation
The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen gas (N2 gas) to nitrogen compounds ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-) which are forms that plants can absorb and use
Phloem sap
The solution of sugars and other nutrients and hormones converted throughout a plant via phloem tissue
Photoperiod
The length of day relative to the length of night serving as an environmental stimulus for plants to detect the time of year
Phototropism
The directional growth of a plant shoot in response to light
Pressure flow mechanism
The method by which phloem sap is transported through a plant from sugar source (where sugar is produced) to sugar sink (where sugar is used). Relies on water pressure building at the source end of the phloem tube, and reducing pressure at the sink end
Sugar sink
A plant organ that is a net consumer or stores sugar. E.g. growing roots, shoot tips, stems, and fruits are sugar sinks that are supplied by phloem
Are growing roots sugar sources or sinks?
Sinks
Are stems sugar sources or sinks?
Sinks
Are shoot tips sugar sources or sinks?
Sinks
Sugar source
A plant organ in which sugar is being produced either by photosynthesis or the breakdown of starch. Mature leaves are the primary sugar source in plants
What is the primary sugar source in plants?
The leaves
Thigmotropism
Plant movement in response to touch
What is the term for plant movement in response to touch?
Thigmotropism
Transpiration
Evaporative water loss from the leaf surface
Transpiration cohesion mechanism
The transport mechanism of xylem sap where transpiration exerts a pull up through the plant along a string of cohesive water molecules that are also pulled upwards by adhesion to the xylem
Tropism
A growth response that makes a plant grow towards or away from a stimulus
What is the general term for a growth response that causes a plant to grow towards or away from a stimulus?
Tropism
Xylem sap
The solution of water and inorganic nutrients conveyed in xylem tissue from a plant’s root to its shoot
