Outline for Plants (Honors version)
biology page | all classes | plants links
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check out microscope images of plants
Plant biodiversity and "plant of the week" (USDA)
NY Botanical Garden herbarium
Plant guide from Field Museum (Chicago)
Encyclopedia of life
I. Taxonomy (classification)
Kingdom: Plants - fig. 17.2
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Division Bryophyta (mosses)
Division Pteridophyta
(ferns)(two other Divisions
contain club mosses and
horsetails)
Division
Coniferophyta/Gymnosperms
(cone-bearing)
Division Angiosperms
(flowering plants)· class
monocots· class dicots
A. distinction between plants and algae – fig. 17.1C, p. 343
B. non-vascular plants – mosses (p. 348-349)
1. no water transportation system
2. alternation of generations, with haploid (gametophyte)
dominating (fig. 17.2, p. 344)
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sporophyte – plant life phase that produces spores
gametophyte – plant life phase that produces gametes.
(which unite to form seeds in some plants)
3. importance of mosses – habitats where they are found
B. vascular plants without seeds (ferns, horsetails, and clubmosses)
1. sporophyte generation (diploid) dominates (fig. 17.4; p. 346)
2. spores produced for reproduction. Stored in sori.
3. vascular system for transporting water:
a. transpiration is the name for the process
b. xylem - long cells connected together to form a
tube; transport water from roots to leaves.
i. Cell type - p. 629, fig. 31.6E
ii. How does transport work? (p.
642-644, fig. 32.2 and 32.3)
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capillary action - adhesion
and cohesion
iii. Guard cells and stomates (fig.
32.4, p. 647)
iv. xylem tubes form annual rings in
some plants
c. phloem – long cells connected together to form a
tube; transport sugar (food) from leaves to other
parts of the plant.
i. cell type – p. 625, fig. 31.6F
ii. how do they function? (p. 646647)
C. Division gymnosperms (= naked seed)
1. sporophyte generation dominates (fig.
17.7)
2. seeds are produced, but have no
covering (naked)
3. most gymnosperm seeds are produced
in cones.
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cycads are an exception
D. Division angiosperms
1. sporophyte generation dominates (fig. 17.9; also p. 351, fig. 31.9
and 31.10)
2. seeds produced in flowers and protected by a fruit.
3. flower anatomy and seed production see figure 17.8B
4. function of fruit is to protect and spread the seeds. (fig. 31.11A,
p. 636)
5.pollination and symbiosis
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what do flowers look like to pollinators? Check out some
pictures.
interactive - match pollinators and flowers
6. methods of spreading seeds – p. 353
7. class monocots (fig. 31-2)
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one-part seed
three part flowers
parallel veins
vascular tissue in rings
examples:
8. class dicots (fig. 31.2; p. 623)
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two-part seeds
4 or 5 part flowers
netted or branching veins
vascular tissue in bundles
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secondary growth
examples:
check out the orchid gallery
The world's oldest trees: Explore Bristlecone pines (opens in Google Earth)
III. plant growth and development
A. plant hormones
1. experiment with auxin
2. types of hormones
B. plant responses to environmental conditions
1. toxins and thorns - if you can't run, fight
2. tropisms
3. water storage
4. photoperiodism - effect of daylight on growth and flowering
C. asexual reproduction in plants