Kingdom Plantae

1
Kingdom Plantae
2
Characteristics of Plants

• Eukaryotic
• Autotrophic
• Multicellular
• Cell walls (made of cellulose)
• Chloroplasts (containing chlorophyll)
• Store food as starch

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Classification of Plants

• Kingdom is subdivided into divisions, which are
  the equivalent of phyla
• Plants vary in several ways
• Presence of/absence of vascular tissue
• Dominant reproductive generation
• Production of pollen, spores, seeds, fruits,
  flowers
• Whether or not water is necessary for
  reproduction

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Vascular vs. Non-vascular

• Vascular tissue consists of vessels, ducts, or
  tubes of elongated cells that conduct materials
  throughout the plant
• Only vascular plants are considered to have
  true roots, stems, and leaves, the main
  vegetative organs of advanced plants
• xylemtissue that conducts water and dissolved
  minerals up (from the roots) within a vascular
  plant
• phloemtissue that conducts food (glucose) down
  (from the leaves) within a vascular plant

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Alternation of Generations

• Plants have a life cycle consisting of 2 phases,
  one of which is dominant
• Gametophyte generationproduces sex cells
  (gametessperm and egg cells) during
  fertilization a sperm cell and an egg cell unite
  to form a zygote
• Sporophyte generationproduces cells called
  spores

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Major Plant Groups

• Division Bryophytaincludes mosses
• Division Pterophytaincludes ferns
• Division Coniferophytaincludes conifers such as
  pines, cedars, spruces, firs called gymnosperms
• Division Anthophytaincludes flowering plants
  such as grass, trees, irises, tulips, geraniums,
  etc. called angiosperms

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Mosses

• Non-vascular plants
• No xylem or phloem
• No true roots, stems, or leaves
• Dominant gamete-producing stage
• Separate male and female plants
• Female plants produce eggs
• Male plants produce sperm which must swim to and
  fertilize eggs, so mosses must have water to
  reproduce

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Mosses (continued)

• The parts of a typical moss include
• Root-like structures (rhizoids) that anchor the
  plant in the ground and absorb water and minerals
  from the soil
• A leafy portion (the gametophyte) that carries
  out photosynthesis and contains the reproductive
  structures (at the top tip)
• If fertilization occurs, a female plant develops
  a stalk and capsule spores are produced and held
  in the capsule until they mature and are released
  into the air
• Spores that land on the ground will develop into
  a new moss plant if environmental conditions are
  favorable

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Ferns

• Vascular plants have xylem, phloem, and true
  roots, stems, and leaves
• Require water for reproduction (produce swimming
  sperm)
• Dominant spore-producing stage
• Ferns contain both male and reproductive
  structures in a single plant

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Ferns (continued)

• The parts of a typical fern include
• The green, leafy part of a fern is composed of
  fronds young fronds are called fiddleheads
• Spores are produced within structures on the
  undersides of the leaves called sori when
  mature, the spores are released into the air
• If environmental conditions are favorable, spores
  that land on the ground will develop into a
  structure containing the reproductive organs
• If fertilization occurs, a new fern grows from
  the female part of the plant

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Seed Plants

• Mosses and ferns do not produce seeds, but the
  remainder of the plants do
• There are 2 main groups of seed plants
• Gymnosperms
• Angiosperms

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Seed Plants (continued)

• Both gymnosperms and angiosperms are vascular and
  have a dominant spore-producing generation
• Neither group requires water for reproduction
  because they produce pollen instead of swimming
  sperm

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Gymnosperms

• The word gymnosperm means naked seed
• These plants produce seeds that are totally
  exposed or found on the scales of cones
• Most gymnosperms are conifers

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Conifers

• Plants which produce seeds within cones
• Most are evergreens and have needle-like leaves
• Most have both male and female reproductive parts
  on the same plant
• Includes pine, cedar, spruce, fir, hemlock,
  sequoia, redwood

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Conifers (continued)

• Occupy large areas of Earth
• Have much economic importance due to their many
  uses
• Lumber/building materials
• Paper products
• Landscaping
• Christmas trees
• Utility poles
• Furniture
• Flooring

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Conifers Pines

• Pines are typical conifers
• They have both male and female cones
• The common woody pine cones are the female cones
  they function in producing seeds (from fertilized
  eggs)
• The male cones are smaller than the female cones
  and are usually only present in the spring they
  are located in clusters at the tips of the
  branches of the tree and function in producing
  pollen, basically the equivalent of sperm

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Pines (continued)

• The male cones produce pollen in the spring of
  the year
• When mature, the cones release the pollen into
  the air
• Wind currents carry pollen to the female cones,
  which contain eggs

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Pines (continued)

• If fertilization occurs, seeds develop over the
  course of about a year
• The seeds are eventually released into the air
• Seeds that land on the ground will germinate
  (grow and develop into a new pine tree) if
  environmental conditions are favorable

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Ginkgo

• A Ginkgo tree is a gymnosperm that loses its
  leaves in the winter (deciduous instead of
  evergreen)
• Unlike in pines, its pollen, eggs, and seeds are
  produced on separate male and female trees
• Female trees produce naked seeds which are not
  even enclosed within cones

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Ginkgo (continued)

• Ginkgo trees are planted as ornamentals because
  of their unique fan-shaped leaves and resistance
  to air pollution
• The seeds have an unpleasant odor, so usually
  only male trees are used
• An herbal supplement is made from the leaves of
  Ginkgo trees they produce a substance that has
  been found to improve memory and mental alertness
  in humans

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Angiosperms

• The word angiosperm means seeds enclosed
• These plants produce seeds that are inside of
  fruits
• They are called flowering plants because they
  all produce some type of flower

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Angiosperms (continued)

• Angiosperms are considered the most successful
  and dominant plants on Earth because they are
  found in almost all types of habitats
• They are a very important plant group
  economically we get food, lumber, clothing
  materials, and many medicines from them

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Angiosperms (continued)

• Included in this group are
• Trees (except conifers and Ginkgo)
• Shrubs
• Herbs
• Grasses
• Grains
• Fruits and Vegetables

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Angiosperms (continued)

• They reproduce sexually by forming flowers,
  fruits, and seeds
• This plant group is so large and varied that it
  is subdivided into
• Monocotsinclude grasses, lilies, orchids, palms,
  irises, cattails
• Dicotsinclude oaks, maples, roses, sunflowers,
  and most familiar plants

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Monocots vs. Dicots

• The two categories differ in several ways
• Monocots have leaves whose veins run parallel
  dicots have leaves whose veins are netted or
  branching
• Flower parts are in 3s in monocots they are in
  4s or 5s in dicots
• The seeds of monocots form one embryonic leaf, or
  cotyledon the seeds of dicots form two
• The arrangement of vascular tissue (xylem and
  phloem) varies between the two groups
• Monocots tend to have fibrous roots dicots tend
  to have one main root, called a taproot
• Monocots are herbaceous plants dicots may be
  herbaceous or woody

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Flowers

• The primary function of a flower is sexual
  reproduction
• Flowers contain the sexual organs of angiosperms
• Some angiosperms produce flowers that contain
  both male and female structures the flowers of
  other angiosperms contain only one type of sexual
  organ

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Flowers (continued)

• The general parts of a flower include
• Sepals
• Petals
• Stamens
• Pistils

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Flowers (continued)

• Sepals are leaf-like in appearance and usually
  green in color they cover and protect the flower
  parts when the flower is a bud, and they provide
  for attachment of the flower to its stalk
• Petals are also leaf-like in appearance, but they
  are usually colored to attract insects and other
  pollinators

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Flowers (continued)

• Stamens are the male reproductive structures
• Each is composed of a stalk, the filament, and an
  enlarged top portion, the anther
• The anther is the site of pollen production

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Flowers (continued)

• Pistils are the female reproductive structures
• Many flowers have only one pistil
• Each is composed of the following
• Stigma-the top portion covered with a sticky,
  sugary liquid which allows pollen to stick to it
  during pollination this liquid also nourishes
  the pollen
• Style-the elongated, slender, neck-like portion
  pollen must travel down the style to reach an egg
• Ovary-the enlarged lower portion contains
  compartments called ovules which contain eggs

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Pollination

• Pollen varies in structure, shape, and
  appearance, depending upon the plant species
• In angiosperms, pollination is the process by
  which pollen is transferred from stamen to pistil

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Pollination (continued)

• Pollen is carried by wind or animals (insects,
  birds, etc.)
• There are two types of pollination
• Self-pollination-occurs when pollen is
  transferred from the stamen to the pistil within
  the same flower
• Cross-pollination-occurs when pollen is
  transferred from the stamen of one flower to the
  pistil of another flower

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Pollination (continued)

• Flowers tend to have characteristics that make
  animals visit them, insuring that pollination
  occurs (ex. colorful petals, odors, nectar)
• Flowers that depend on the wind for pollination
  usually grow close together and produce lots of
  pollen these flowers usually have small,
  inconspicuous flowers (ex. grasses, grains, many
  trees)

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Fertilization

• Once pollination successfully occurs, an
  individual pollen grain burrows down into the
  pistil to the egg, fertilizes it, and a zygote is
  formed
• Most of the flower parts begin to degenerate/die
  as the zygote grows and develops into an embryo

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Seed and Fruit Formation

• The ovule of the flower develops into a seed,
  which encloses and protects the embryo
• The ovary of the flower develops into a fruit,
  which protects the seeds (and embryo) and aids in
  seed dispersal

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Seeds

• The outer protective covering of a seed is called
  the seed coat
• Within the seed, the plant embryo is nourished by
  a starchy substance called endosperm
• As the embryo grows, it eventually uses up its
  food source
• The seed coat cracks open, and if conditions are
  right (plenty of water, oxygen, sunlight, etc.),
  the plant begins to germinate

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Seed Dispersal

• Seed dispersal is the process by which seeds get
  from the flower to a suitable location for
  germination (growth and development)
• Seed dispersal is accomplished by animals or the
  wind

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Seed Dispersal (continued)

• If an animal eats the seeds (often by eating a
  fruit), the seeds pass through the digestive
  tract and are eliminated from the body with
  wastes
• Many seeds have wings, etc. to help them be
  carried by wind currents in the air

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Fruits

• Many familiar vegetables are really fruits,
  botanically speaking if it comes from a flower
  and has seeds, it is a fruit
• Some fruits are eaten by humans some fruits are
  not

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Fruits (continued)

• There are many ways to classify fruits
• Some fruits are dry others are soft and juicy
• Specific types of fruits include the following
  types
• Berrytomato
• Drupepeach, plum, avocado
• Legumepea (pod), bean
• Graincorn
• Pomeapple

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Vegetative Organs of Vascular Plants

• Rootsfunction is primarily to anchor plants in
  the ground and absorb water and dissolved
  minerals from the soil
• Stemsfunction is primarily to transport
  materials through the plant
• Leavesfunction is to produce food by
  photosynthesis