Study Guide for Plant Taxonomy Quiz Monday October 13, 2014
Overview of Green Plant Phylogeny
What are some of the synapomorphies that were really early innovations that were necessary to lead a
life on land (for example: multicellular sporophyte, embryo, gametangia, sporangium, cuticle, glycolate
oxidase system, flavonoids, stomata), why is it important that a persistently green sporophyte
developed, what synapomorphies allowed Lycophytes to become dominant land plants 420 MYBP and
grow tall and sturdy (for example: vascular tissue, xylem with tracheids, lignin), what are some
synapomorphies that we see in ferns and not lycophytes (for example: the chloroplast inversion, and
pseudomonopodial growth= development of main axis and side branches), what synapomorphies were
necessary for the gymnosperms to develop (secondary xylem=wood, heterospory, the seed), how may
seeds better adapted to life on land than spores as a dispersal mechanism, what is heterospory
compared to homospory, what synapomorphies lead to angiosperms (for example: carpel, endosperm,
reduced gametophyte), draw and label a simple angiosperm phylogeny including Amborella,
Nymphaeales , Austrobaileyales, monocots, eudicots and magnoliids, what is the significance of
Amborella, what are the qualities of the basal angiosperms (for example: carpel margins sealed by
secretions, distinct flower parts, poorly differentiated carpels, stamens, petals and sepals), how are
monocots and eudicots different (for example: tricolpate vs. monocolpate pollen, one cotyledon vs. two
cotyledons), why do we not recognize “dicots” as a clade,
Lycophytes & Ferns
Lycophytes exhibit dichotomous growth without true (pseudomonopodial) branching, lycophytes have
scale like leaves that left scars and microphylls with micro- and megasporangia (if heterosporous) and
one leaf trace, Sporophyte dominant life cycle, alternation of generations– note that the gametophyte
generation is already much reduced from the mosses, Heterosporous-> producing two types of spores
(large (megaspores) and small microspores), xylem with tracheids, and tracheids are strongly lignified
(vascular system), the remains of lycophytes account for our major coal deposits, some became large
trees
Leptosporangiate ferns are the more common ones we know and are characterized by mature
sporangium wall only one cell thick and a stalk, understand the terms sori and indusium and how they
relate to ferns, what are some of the local adaptations in the Gila for ferns to survive arid conditions
(scales, hairs, ability to withstand extreme dessication) Ferns have unequal branching
(pseudomonopodial growth). Know the parts of a fern: stipe, rachis, blade, pinna, pinnule, rhizome.
Understand that ferns catapult their spores away from the sporangium.
Gymnosperms
Seed plants, but NO ovary and therefore NO fruit. Living Gymnosperm lineages: conifers, gnetales,
cycads, gingkos. Probably not a monophyletic group, certainly not if one includes extinct lineages.
advantages of needles vs. leaves, evergreen vs. deciduous habit, difference in food storage material in
gymnosperm seeds compared to angiosperms (e.g., ploidy level and how formed), what were the
gnetophytes and how are they similar in some ways to conifers and in some ways to angiosperms,
describe the reproductive strategy of conifers; why is it incorrect to talk about juniper berries? Know
the life cycle of a gymnosperm including the anatomy of a cone: scale, bract, whether the ovule is
inverted or not and what that means. How long does the life cycle of a gymnosperm take? Most
gymnosperms have only tracheids and no vessels, EXCEPT gnetophytes that also have vessels.
Gnetophytes also have double fertilization. Gymnosperm seeds have haploid nutritive material for the
growing embryo since it is derived from the megagametophyte.
Plant Taxonomy Plant ID list 2014:
WEEK 1
Euphorbia (term to know: cyathium) EUPHORBIACEAE
Tribulus (terms to know: schizocarp, mericarp, opposite, alternate, distinct, adnate, connate)
ZYGOPHYLLACEAE
WEEK 2
Ipomopsis (term to know: exserted) POLEMONIACEAE
Castilleja (term to know: hemiparasite) OROBANCHACEAE
Malva (term to know: monadelphous) MALVACEAE
Hesperidanthus (terms to know: tetradynamous, silique) BRASSICACEAE
Desmodium (term to know: loment) FABACEAE
Commelina (term to know: spathe) COMMELINACEAE
WEEK 3
Melampodium (terms to know: disc flower, ray flower) ASTERACEAE
Argemone (term to know: merosity, plant alkaloids) PAPAVERACEAE
Cucurbita (terms to know: pepo, inferior ovary) CUCURBITACEAE
Datura (terms to know: salverform, funnelform) SOLANACEAE
Oenothera (term to know: inferior ovary) ONAGRACEAE
WEEK 4
Agastache (term to know: zygomorphic) LAMIACEAE
Dieteria (terms to know: phyllary, achene) ASTERACEAE
Scirpus (terms to know: sedge, monocot) CYPERACEAE
Thalictrum (term to know: dioecious) RANUNCULACEAE
Guilleminia (term to know: bract) AMARANTHACEAE
WEEK 5
Persicaria (term to know: ochrea) POLYGONACEAE
Typha TYPHACEAE
Maclura (term to know: multiple fruit) MORACEAE
Boerhavia (term to know: anthocarp) NYCTAGINACEAE
Mentha LAMIACEAE
WEEK 6
Ericameria (terms to know: discoid, lanate) ASTERACEAE
Gutierrezia (term to know: radiate) ASTERACEAE
Polanisia CLEOMACEAE
Croton (term to know: dioecious) EUPHORBIACEAE
Salsola (term to know: whole plant is dispersal mechanism) CHENOPODIACEAE
WEEK 7
Ephedra (term to know: Gnetophyte) EPHEDRACEAE
Portulaca (term to know: circumscissile) PORTULACACEAE
Mollugo (term to know: whorled) MOLLUGINACEAE
Allionia NYCTAGINACEAE
Dimorphocarpa BRASSICACEAE
Stachys LAMIACEAE