BOTANY PRE-FINAL
Sepals- which constitute the outermost and
FLOWERS lowest whorl on a flower shoot are leaflike in
FRUITS shape and form and are often green.
SEEDS Sepals cover and protect the flower parts when
the flower is a bud .
Reproductive Flexibility of Flowering Plants As the blossom opens from a bud, the sepals
Flowering plants which includes about 300,000 fold back to reveal the more conspicuous
species, are the largest, most successful group petals.
of plants. The collective term for all the sepals of a flower
One reason for the success of flowering plants, is calyx.
is that they reproduce both sexually and
asexually.
Their varied colors, shapes and fragrances
are adaptations that increase the likelihood
that pollen grains will be carried from plant to
plant.
Fertilization- fusion of male and female
gametes.
After fertilization, flowering plants produce Petals- one of the often conspicuously colored
seeds inside fruits. parts of a flower attached inside the whorl of
Sexual reproduction entails the fusion of sepals.
reproductive cells: eggs and sperm cells The whorl just inside and above the sepals
collectively called gametes. consists of petals, which are broad, flat, and
thin but tremendously varied in shape and
frequently brightly colored, which attracts
pollinators.
The collective term for all the petals of a flower
is corolla.
Flowers
A flower is a reproductive shoot usually
consisting of four kinds of organs-sepals,
petals, stamens and carpels-arranged in Stamen- the pollen-producing part of a flower.
whorls on the end of a flower stalk or
peduncle. Just inside and above the petals are the
In flowers with all four organs, the normal order stamens.
of whorls from the flower’s periphery to the Each stamen has a thin stalk called a
center is the following: filament, at the top of which is an anther, a
Sepals petals stamens carpels saclike structure in which pollen grains form.
The tip of the peduncle enlarges to form a Each pollen grain consists of two cells
receptacle that bears some or all of the flower surrounded by a tough outer wall. One cell
parts. A flower that has all four parts is said to generates two male gametes, known as sperm
be a complete flower; an incomplete flower cells, and the other produces a pollen tube
lacks one or more of these four parts. through which the sperm cells travel to reach
A flower that has both stamens and carpels is the ovule.
described as a perfect flower; an imperfect
flower has stamens or carpels, but not both.
Carpel- the ovule-bearing reproductive unit of Pollination
a flower.
Ovule- the structure in the ovary that develops Before fertilization occurs, pollen grains must
into a seed after fertilization. travel from flower to another to enter the
stigma. The transfer of pollen grains from
In the center or top of most flowers is one or another to stigma is known as pollination.
more carpels. Carpels bear ovules, which are Plants are self-pollinated if pollination occurs
structure that have the potential to develop into within the same flower or within a different
seeds. flower on the same individual plant.
The carpels of a flower may be separate or Cross pollination occurs when pollen grains
fused into a single structure. are transferred to a flower on another
A single carpel or a group of fused carpels is individual of the same species.
sometimes called a pistil.
Flowering plants accomplish pollination in a
variety of ways. Beetles, bees, flies, moths,
wasps, and other insects pollinate many
flowers.
Other animals, such as birds, bats, snails, and
small nonflying mammals (rodents, primates,
and marsupials) also pollinate plants.
Wind is an agent of pollination for certain
flowers, whereas water transfers pollen grains
in a few aquatic flowers.
In most flowers, each carpel or group of fused
carpels has three sections:
Stigma- on which the pollen grains land,
Style- a neck-like structure through which the
pollen tube grows
Ovary- a jug-like structure that contains one or
more ovules and can develop into a fruit.
Each ovule contains a female gametophyte,
also known as embryo sac, in which develop
one female gamete (an egg) and two polar
nuclei.
An ovary is designated as superior or inferior
depending on its location relative to other
flower parts; this character is used a great deal Flowers pollinated by animals have various
in the classification of flowering plants. features to attract them, including showy
petals ( visual attractant) and scent (an
olfactory attractant).
One reward for the pollinator is food.
Some flowers produce nectar, a sugar
solution, in special floral glands called
nectaries, which pollinators use as an energy-
rich food.
Pollen grains are also a protein-rich for many
animals.
Superior ovary – is one that has the other Most insects see well in in the violet, blue
floral organs (sepals, petals and stamens) free and yellow ranges of visible light but do not
from the ovary and attached at the ovary’s perceive red as a distinct color. Insects also
base. see UV radiation (bee’s purple), wavelengths
Inferior ovary – is one that is located below that are visible to the human eye.
the point at which the other floral organs are Nectar guide, dramatic UV markings that
attached. directs insects to the center of the flower where
the pollen grains and nectar are.
Some flowering plants depend on wind to
disperse pollen grains Monocots have a single cotyledon and
eudicots have two cotyledon.
Some flowering plants, such as grasses, The short portion of the embryonic shoot
ragweed, maples and oaks are pollinated by connecting the radicle to one or more
wind. cotyledon is the HYPOCOTYL.
Wind pollinated plants produce many small, The shoot apex above the point of attachment
inconspicuous flowers. They do not produce of the cotyledon is the plumule (aka:
large, colorful petals, scent, or nectar. Some EPICOTYL).
have large feathery stigmas, presumably to After the radicle, hypocotyl, cotyledons and
trap wind-borne pollen grains. plumule have formed, the young plant’s
Because wind pollination is a hit-or-miss development is arrested, usually by
affair, the likelihood of a pollen grain landing desiccation (drying out) or dormancy.
on a stigma of the same species of flowers is
slim.
Wind-pollinated plants produce large quantities When the conditions are right for continuing
of pollen grains, which increases the likelihood the developmental program, the seed
that some pollen grains will land on the germinates, or sprouts, and the embryo
appropriate stigma. resumes growth.
Because the embryonic plant is non
photosynthetic, it must be nourished during
germination until it becomes photosynthetic
and therefore self-sufficient.
The cotyledons of many plants function as
storage organs and become large, thick, and
fleshy as they absorb the food reserves initially
produced as endosperm.
SEEDS
The mature seed contains an embryonic plant and
storage materials
Endosperm- the nutritive tissue that is
formed at some point in the development of all
Fruits are mature, ripened ovaries
flowering plant seeds.
The seed, in turn, is surrounded by a tough,
protective seed coat, derived from the
After fertilization takes place within the ovule,
outermost layers (the integuments) of the
the ovule develops into a seed, and the ovary
ovule, and enclosed within a fruit.
surrounding it develops into a fruit.
Fruit- in flowering plants, a mature, ripened
ovary that often provides protection and
dispersal for the enclosed seeds.
There are several types of fruits; their
differences result from variations in the
structure or arrangement of the flowers from
which they were formed.
The four basic types of fruits are simple fruits,
aggregate fruits, multiple fruits and accessory
fruits.
A. Simple Fruit
A fruit that develops from one or several
united carpels.
Most fruits are simple fruits
At maturity simple fruits may be fleshy or dry is fused to the fruit wall, a caryopses looks like
(berry and drupe). a seed rather than a fruit .
A berry is a fleshy fruit that has soft tissues Kernels of corn and wheat are fruits of this
throughout and contains few to many seeds; a type.
tomato is a berry, as are grapes, Nuts- are simple, dry fruits that have stony wall
blueberries, cranberries, and bananas. and do not split open at maturity. Usually large
Many so-called berries do not fit the botanical and one-seeded.
definition. Achene- is similar to caryopsis in that it is
( strawberries, raspberries, and mulberries) simple and dry, does not split open at maturity
and contains a single seed.
However, the seed coat of an achene is not
Pepo fused to the fruit wall, instead the single seed
is attached to the fruit wall at one point only,
A modified berry in which the fruit wall is a permitting an achene to be separated from its
leathery rind. seed.
Another modified berry is a hesperidium
which has a leathery fruit wall with numerous
oil glands surrounding the succulent cavities
where the seeds occur.
Citrus fruits ( lemons, limes, oranges, and
grapefruits) are hesperidia.
B. Aggregate Fruit
A fruit that develops from a single flower with
several separate carpels that fuse or grow
together.
Drupe After fertilization, each ovary from each
individual carpel enlarges. As they enlarge, the
A simple fleshy or fibrous ovaries may fuse to form a single fruit.
fruit that contains a hard
stone surrounding a single
seed. C.
Many simple fruits are dry at maturity. Some of
these are dehiscent or split open , usually along
seams called sutures, to release their seeds.
Follicle– a simple, dry fruit that splits open
along one suture to release its seed.
(Milkweed pod) Multiple Fruit
Legume- simple, dry fruit that splits open
along two sutures to release its seeds. ( pea
pods, lima bean pods) A fruit that develops from the carpels of closely
Capsule- a simple, dry fruit that splits open associated flowers that fuse, or grow together.
along multiple sutures or pores. (iris, poppy, The carpel from each flowers fuses with
buckeye, and cotton fruits) nearby carpels as it develops and enlarges
after fertilization.
Indehiscent
Do not split open at maturity
Caryopses or grains – each caryopses
contains a single seed. Because the seed coat
D. Accessory Fruits
A fruit whose fleshy part is composed primarily
of tissue other than the ovary.
Apples and pears are accessory fruits called
pomes.
The outer part of the pome is an enlarged
floral tube, consisting of receptacle tissue,
along with portions of the calyx, that surrounds
the ovary.
Seed dispersal is highly varied
Wind, animals, water and explosive
dehiscence disperse the various seeds and
fruits of flowering plants.
Effective methods of seed dispersal have
made it possible for certain plants to expand
their geographic range.
In some cases, the seed is the actual agent of
dispersal, whereas in others the fruit performs
this role.
