Wild Flower

Question 1

When did the first fossil flowers appear?

Answer 1

Mid-Cretaceous (100Ma)

Question 2

Archaefructus (early fossil flower)

Answer 2

-125Ma
-Chinese fossil
-Aquatic
-No petals
-Dioecious

Question 3

Montsechia (early fossil flower)

Answer 3

-130Ma
-Aquatic
-Found in Spain

Question 4

What where the Angiosperms innovations?

Answer 4

-Double fertilisation
-Vessels
-Ovary encasing the seed
-Monoecious

Question 5

What vessel structure do the Gymnosperms have?

Answer 5

Tracheid’s: narrow hollow cells with overlapping ends. (less prone to embolisms)

Question 6

What vessel structure do the Angiosperms have?

Answer 6

Xylem: Wider vessels with better contact between the cells resulting in more efficient water flow. (more prone to embolisms)

Question 7

What is a cased seed?

Answer 7

A seed protected by the ovary which is formed from maternal tissues.

Question 8

Endosperm

Answer 8

storage tissue that feeds the embryo (also exhibited by gymnosperms)

Question 9

Describe Double Fertilisation.

Answer 9

Double fertilization is a unique process that occurs in flowering plants (angiosperms). This process involves the fusion of two sperm cells with different cells within the ovule, leading to the formation of both the embryo and the endosperm.

Question 10

Amborella Trichopoda

Answer 10

-no vessels only tracheid’s
-the fist flowers
-the most basal angiosperm
-Dioecious (separate male+female parts)
-females have staminodes (infertile stamens)

Question 11

Describe the process of pollination within the Gymnosperms.

Answer 11

-Male and female cones
-Pollen spread by the wind therefore more pollen needed (uncontrolled)
-Pollen stolen by insects

Question 12

Describe the process of pollination within the Angiosperms.

Answer 12

-Male and female organs brought together
-Pollen carried by insects to the female organ
-increased risk of self pollination and hybridisation

Question 13

What is specialisation?

Answer 13

The co-evolution of plants and animals resulting in special relationships which increases diversity in both groups

Question 14

Give some examples of specialised relationships.

Answer 14

-Darwin’s orchid-very long nectary=moth with long mouth
-Orpheum Frutescens-twisted and locked stamens=only accessible by the carpenter bee when wings vibrated at a specific frequency
-Fruit-designed to be eaten and passed through the gut=spreads the seed

Question 15

What is a herb?

Answer 15

-A plant with soft tissues only
-No secondary thickening
-May die down in winter
-No extant Gymnosperm herbs

Question 16

What are the pros and cons of producing wood?

Answer 16

Pros:
-Can grow tall
-Competition for light
-Resilient

Cons:
-Expensive
-Inflexible

Question 17

What are Ephemerals?

Answer 17

Weed species that live fast and die young. They are usually annual plants and exploit transient gaps in ecosystems.

Question 18

What occurred within phytoplankton to produce the wide variety seen today?

Answer 18

Endosymbiosis of the 3 main algae occurred in multiple stages resulting a large variety of new algae.

Question 19

Dinoflagellates.

Answer 19

-Appeared in Triassic
-May have a cellulose cell wall
-May be hetro, auto or mixotrophic
-May be from secondary of tertiary endosymbiosis
-Usually formed from rhodophytes but contain no Phycobillosomes
-Contains chlorophyll A+C and carotenoids

Question 20

Coccolithophores.

Answer 20

-Haptophyta (group)
-Upper Triassic
-Probably Rhodophytes
-Brown chloroplasts- A+C and fucoxanthin
-Calcium carbonate shell
-Emits dimethyl sulphide=seeds cloud formation

Question 21

Diatoms.

Answer 21

-Jurassic
-Non motile
-Silica shell
-4 chloroplast membranes
-Heterokonta (group)
-Rhodophytes
-Chlorophyll A and Fucoxanthin

Question 22

Describe the impact of plate tectonics on phytoplankton.

Answer 22

High levels of tectonic activity results in calcite seas (low in Mg/Ca) whereas low tectonic activity results in Aragonite seas (high Mg/Ca) this changes which algae’s dominate.

Question 23

Foraminifera.

Answer 23

-Marine protists
-many form CaCo3 shells
-elaborate structures
-can be used to age rocks

Question 24

What percentage of global carbon fixation is due to algae?

Answer 24

Approx. 50%

Question 25

Why are phytoplankton important?

Answer 25

-They form the basin of all marine food webs.
-They are a major driver of the ocean carbon cycle.