Flashcards: Plant physiology

In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem.

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA, 3-IAA) is the most common, naturally-occurring, plant hormone of the auxin class.

Phytoncides are antimicrobial allelochemic volatile organic compounds derived from plants.

Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists, which in turn provide antiherbivore protection.

In vascular plants, phloem is the living tissue that carries organic nutrients (known as photosynthate), in particular, sucrose, a sugar, to all parts of the plant where needed.

In botany, a stoma (plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates") (from Greek στόμα, "mouth"), is a pore, found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that is used to control gas exchange.

Transpiration is the process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts, such as leaves, stems and flowers.

A vascular bundle is a part of the transport system in vascular plants.

Vernalization (from Latin vernus, "of the spring") is the induction of a plant's flowering process by exposure to the prolonged cold of winter, or by an artificial equivalent.

Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants.

Endosperm is a tissue produced inside the seeds of most of the flowering plants following fertilization.

Nitrogen fixation is a process in which nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia (NH3).

A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant.

Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normally green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of red, yellow, purple, black, orange, pink, magenta, blue and brown.

Photoperiodism is the physiological reaction of organisms to the length of day or night.

Phytochrome is a photoreceptor, a pigment that plants, and some bacteria and fungi, use to detect light.

Auxins (plural of auxin /ˈɔːksᵻn/) are a class of plant hormones (or plant growth substances) with some morphogen-like characteristics.

Photorespiration (also known as the oxidative photosynthetic carbon cycle, or C2 photosynthesis) refers to a process in plant metabolism where the enzyme RuBisCO oxygenates RuBP, causing some of the energy produced by photosynthesis to be wasted.

Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms.

Germination is the process by which a plant grows from a seed.

Rapid plant movement encompasses movement in plant structures occurring over a very short period, usually under one second.

In developmental biology, photomorphogenesis is light-mediated development, where plant growth patterns respond to the light spectrum.

Phytofluene is a carotenoid pigment with an orange color found naturally in tomatoes and other vegetables.

Anthesis is the period during which a flower is fully open and functional.

A pressure bomb or pressure chamber or Scholander bomb is an instrument with which it is possible to measure the approximate water potential of plant tissues.

The light-harvesting complex (or antenna complex) is an array of protein and chlorophyll molecules embedded in the thylakoid membrane of plants, which transfer light energy to one chlorophyll a molecule at the reaction center of a photosystem.

Ecophysiology (from Greek οἶκος, oikos, "house(hold)"; φύσις, physis, "nature, origin"; and -λογία, -logia), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biological discipline that studies the adaptation of an organism's physiology to environmental conditions.

Fusicoccin is an organic compound produced by a fungus.

Torulene (3',4'-didehydro-β,γ-carotene) is a carotene (a hydrocarbon carotenoid) which is notable for being synthesized by red pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum), imparting the natural red color to the aphids, which aids in their camouflage and escape from predation.