Plants are organized into two sections:
1) Shoots – stem and leaves
2) Roots
Stems:
- Support leaves
- Transport water and minerals to leaves
- Transport sugar to the leaves
Two main types of stems
1) Herbaceous – green and soft
- Contain vascular bundles
o Collections of xylem (water) and phloem (carbs)
§ Can be scattered (monocots)
§ Arranged in a ring called vascular cambium (dicots)
Examples:
2) Woody – tough hard tissue
- Complex
o Vascular cambium
o Annual rings – addition of new xylem for trunk growth
- Sapwood-young xylem and
- Heartwood-old xylem filled with oils and resins
- Bark-protective outer tissue
o Phloem and cork (outer dead layer that prevents water loss)
3) Specialized Stems:
- Rhizomes: thick fleshy stems that can store water or food.
- Tubers: underground stems
- Bulbs: underground stems
Examples: Cacti, irises, potatoes and tulips
Leaves:
- Make sugars for the plant
- Provide food and oxygen for organisms
Structure:
To maximize sun exposure leaves come in many forms. The two main types are:
1) Simple Leaves
- Contain a single blade
2) Compound Leaves
- Divide into smaller leaflets
Let’s get to the “root” of things:
3 Functions:
- Anchoring
- Absorption
- Transport
Two main types:
1) Taproots: long thick root
- As the plant grows some branching forms called secondary roots
Examples: dandelions, carrots
2) Fibrous roots-many main roots and thousands of secondary/tertiary roots
- Extend laterally
Examples: orchids, wheat
Monocots and Dicots:
The two divisions of Angiosperms
1) Monocotyledoneae “Monocots”
2) Dicotyledoneae “Dicots”
- All angiosperm seeds have at least one seed leaf, or cotyledon.
- Monocots have only ONE seed leaf
- Dicots have TWO seed leaves that store nutrients for the developing embryo
Include the following headings:
- Vascular bundles
- Seed leaves
- Flower parts
- Mature leaves
- Roots
