General Plants Vocabulary
Conifer -is a tree that produces its seeds
inside cones. Conifers are also known as evergreens - green leaves all year round.
Ferns and mosses produce spores instead of seeds
Chloroplast- is a small oval green bit of protoplasm that contains chlorophyll and is necessary for the process of photosynthesis.
Cotyledon -is the food isstored inside the seed.
Endosperm -is the stored food in the seed
Seed coat – (testa)-tough covering surrounds each seed protecting the embryo inside.
Embryo -is the part of the seed that will develop into a young plant. Or the tiny plant inside a seed.
Fruit - the part of the plant that contains the seed(s)
Flowering Plant- A plant that produces flowers
Flower the part of a plant, often marked by a distinctive color or fragrance, which generates fruit or seeds; blossom
Germination and Growth
After a seed is produced, it may not start growing right away.
It may stay dormant for a while.
Grow - to become larger by the process of natural development; increase.
To grow, a seed must have the right conditions. It needs oxygen, warmth, and water.
Germination the process by which a new plant starts to grow.
- Seed absorbs water and swells.
- Then the seed coat splits open, and a root (hypocotyl) begins to grow down into the soil.
- Then a tiny shoot pushes up through the soil (epicotyl)
- The first leave appear and use the sun to make food for young plant
- Seedling – young plant with leaves
- Plant grows flowers, which will make seeds for new plants.
Leaf - green, flat parts of a plant that grows from the stem or branch and produce food by photosynthesis, or a growth or structure.
Non flowering Plants - seed plants without flowers; seeds are inside cones Ovule Seed plants: produces one or more egg cells. Upon fertilization of the egg, the ovule becomes a seed
Petal - one of the separate, modified leaves, usually of a different color from the plant
Phloem: Vascular tissues with a photosynthetic (food) conducting function. True phloem consists of living, thin-walled cells, typified by sieve areas in the walls of some of the cells.
Pollen-Male spores used to fertilize the seed .Upon fertilization of the egg, the ovule becomes a seed.
Root - the part of a plant that usu. grows underground, absorbs water and nutrients, and attaches the plant to the soil. .
Seed: A fertilized ovule. A seed consists of an embryonic tissue and surrounded by seed coat.
Stem- the main axis of a plant, usu. above ground, from which branches, leaves, flowers, or fruits may arise.
Seed disperse (scatter) - moves away from its parent plant
- Some plants disperse their own seeds.
- Most seeds, though, are scattered by wind, water, or animals. Seeds may attach to an animal’s fur and drop off later.
- An animal may also eat the seeds- pass out in its droppings.
Sorus- (i) A group or cluster of sporangia in ferns
Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant
Seeds are the organs developed from the fertilizedovules of plants. With the right conditions of water supply, temperature and location, they germinate to produce a new plant, thus beginning the next stage of the plant life cycle -- a cycle whose duration varies from species to species.
Germination: sprouting of the seed. A ratio of daylight to darkness, temperature, moisture (timing and quantity), fire, abrasion, and even animal digestive enzymes are necessary for germination.
Growth: development from seedling to mature plant.
Reproduction: production of offspring.
- Egg/Sperm Production:
- eggs are produced in the ovary
- sperm is produced and packaged in the anther
- Pollination: transfer of pollen from anther to stigma (by wind, water or animal).
- Double Fertilization: when pollen is accepted by the stigma, a pollen tube grows down the style and into the ovary. Both sperm cells from the pollen grain travel down the pollen tube to the ovary. One sperm cell fertilizes the egg to form the zygote which develops into the embryo and eventually the new plant. The other sperm cell fuses with the two polar nuclei to form the endosperm which provides food for the embryo.
- Seed Production: the embryo and endosperm are surrounded by a seed coat to form the seed.
- Seed Dispersal: movement of seeds away from parent. Seed dispersal is critical to avoid competition with the parent plant and to occupy new, maybe better, places.
Death: if plants die after less than a year, then they are called annuals (If plants die after two years, then they are called biennials, and if they live for more than two years, then they are called perennials.