Classifying Plants

Nonvascular: have no vessels, no roots, no stems or leaves.
Examples: Mosses & Liverworts

Vascular: have vessels to transport food and water. They have roots, stems and leaves. Example: Grass, corn, trees, flowers, bushes

Xylem: transports water
Phloem: transports food & nutrients

Gymnosperms

• "naked seeds"
• cone bearing plants (seeds grow on cones)
• needle like leaves
• usually stay green year round
• wind pollinated
• Examples: pine trees & evergreens

Angiosperms

• flowering plants
• seeds are enclosed in a fruit
• most are pollinated by birds & bees
• have finite growing seasons
• Examples: grasses, tulips, oaks, dandelions
• Divided into two main groups: Monocots & Dicots

Monocots

• Angiosperms have have 1 seed leaf (cotyledon)
• parallel veins on leaves
• 3 part symmetry for flowers
• fibrous roots
• Example: lilies, onions, corn, grasses, wheat

Dicots

• Angiosperms that have 2 seed leaves (cotyledons)
• net veins on leaves
• flowers have 4-5 parts
• taproots
• Examples: trees and ornamental flowers

Parts of the Plant

Roots

• water and minerals are absorbed (taproots vs fibrous roots)
• also used to anchor the plant
• movement of water up to leaves is influenced by TRANSPIRATION

Stems

• Support plant
• transport water through xylem
• transport nutrients through phloem
• a celery stalk soaked in food coloring will absorb the food coloring, you can see the xylem
• Two types of stems: herbaceous and woody

Leaves

• Photosynthetic organ of the plant, used to convert sunlight into food
• Photosynthesis Equation:


• Stomata: pores within the leaf that open to let CO2 in and O2 out. Guard cells open and close.
• Cuticle: waxy covering on leaf that prevents water loss

Flower

• Reproductive organ of the plant
• Flowers are usually both male and female
• The male part of the flower is the STAMEN
• The female part of the flower is the PISTIL
• See your coloring sheet for more detail on flower anatomy

Plant Reproduction

• Pollen is produced by the stamen.
• Pollen moves away from the plant via the wind or other pollinators (birds & bees)
• The pollen lands on the pistil of another plant and fertilizes the eggs within the ovary
• The flower petals fall off, the ovary develops into a FRUIT that encloses the seeds
• Fruits are dispersed in a variety of ways (wind, animals)
• Fruits are not always edible, anything with a seed inside can be considered a fruit (helicopters, acorns, dandelions)

Asexual Reproduction in Plants

• Many plants can clone themselves, a process called VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION
• strawberry plants and other vine like plants send out runners, which grow into new plants
• some plant clippings will grow into new plants
• a Potato will grow into a new plant

How Plants Grow

• Germination occurs when a seed sprouts (usually caused by changes of temperature and moisture)
• Monocots have 1 seed leaf (cotyledon), Dicots have 2 seed leaves
• Perennials - live several years, and reproduce many times, woody plants are perennials
• Annuals - a plant that completes its life cycle in one growing season (grows, flowers, reproduces and then dies)
• Biennials - takes two growing seasons to complete, it reproduces in the second growing season
• Plants grow only at their tips in regions called MERISTEMS
• PRIMARY GROWTH makes a plant taller at roots and stems
• SECONDARY GROWTH makes a plant wider, or adds woody tissue
• Tree Rings tell the age of a tree, each ring represents a growing season. The photo shows a tree who has been through four growing seasons. The lighter thinner rings are winter periods.
• VASCULAR CAMBIUM: area of the tree that makes more xylem and phloem and forms the annual rings
  

Plant Resources

Flower Coloring 

Monocot & Dicot coloring 

Leaf Coloring 

Botany Wordsearch