Unit 5- All About Plants Flashcards
Anther
The saclike part of the stamen on seed-producing plants that develops and contains the pollen.
Calyx
Group of sepals on a flower.
Chlorophyll
A substance present in all green plants; it evidences itself as the green coloring in leaves. Chlorophyll transforms light energy from the sun into chemical energy for the manufacture of plant food from carbon dioxide, water, and essential soil minerals. This process is called photosynthesis.
Chloroplasts
Minute objects within plant cells that contain the green pigment, chlorophyll.
Complete Flower
A flower containing sepals, petals, stamens, and at least one pistil.
Corolla
Collectively, all of the petals of the flower.
Embryo
Any organism in its earliest stages of development.
Fertilization
The uniting of pollen and ovule cells.
Filament
The part of the stamen of a flower that is below the anther and supports it.
Flower
The reproductive structure of a seed-bearing plant, consisting of the male and/or female organs that are surrounded by one or two series of outer coverings.
Fruit
Mature ovary, seed.
Germination
Sprouting of a seed, and beginning of plant growth.
Germination rate
Percentage of seeds that sprout and begin to grow.
imperfect flower
Flower that lack either stamens or pistils.
Incomplete flower
A flower that lacks one or more of the four organs: sepals, petals, stamens, or pistils.
leaf
A flattened outgrowth from a plant stem, varying in size and shape, usually green, which is concerned primarily with the manufacture of carbohydrates by photosynthesis.
Nutrient
Substance necessary for the functioning of an organism.
Ovary
The portion of the pistil or carpel of a flower that contains one or more ovules.
Ovule
The body that, after fertilization, becomes the seed; the egg-containing unit of the ovary.
Perfect flower
A flower with both stamens and a pistil or pistils.
Petal
A division of a flower inside the calyx; a unit of the corolla, consisting of petioles, which usually surrounds the pistils and stamens.
Photosynthesis
Process by which green plants, using chlorophyll and the energy of sunlight, produce carbohydrates from water and carbon dioxide, and release oxygen.
Pistil
The female element of a flower; composed of stigma, style, and ovary.
Pistillate
Designating a flower that has a pistil or pistils but lacks stamens; an imperfect flower.
Pollen
The male element that carries the spores in the fertilization of the egg nucleus in the ovule of a flower. The pollen is borne by the anthers and is usually a yellowish, dust-like mass of separate grains.
Pollen tube
Tube formed following the germination of a pollen grain, when the grain resides on the stigma of a flower. The tube carries the male gametes to the ovule.
Pollination
The transfer of the pollen from the anther to the stigma of a flower, the first step in producing a fruit or seed.
Reproduction
The making of a new plant or animal.
Respiration
A chemical process that takes place in living cells whereby food (fats, carbohydrates, and proteins) is “burned” (oxidized) to release energy and waste products, mainly carbon dioxide and water. Living things use energy produced through respiration to derive vital life processes, such as growth and reproduction.
Root
The lower portion of a plant bearing neither leaves nor reproductive organs that mostly develops underground and anchors the plant in the soil. It bears the root hairs, which absorb water and mineral nutrients.
Seed
The embryo of a plant; also kernel of corn, wheat, etc., which botanically are seed-like fruits as they include the ovary wall.
Sepal
Small, green, leaf-life structure found at the base of a flower.
Sexual reproduction
Union of an egg and sperm to produce a seed or fertilized egg.
Stamen
The organ of a flower which bears the pollen (microspores) consisting of the stalk (filament) and the anther.
Staminate
Designating a flower that has stamens but no pistil and hence is imperfect.
Stem
Stalk, trunk, branch of a plant. Can be vertical or horizontal.
Stigma
The receptive surface of the female organ of a flower that receives the pollen.
Style
In the pistil of a flower, the part between the ovary and the stigma.
Vegetable
Any herbaceous plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food.
