Plants!• Dominate land and water

• Extreme diversity

• Range in size (<1mm in width to >100m in height)

• >270,000 species

• Live a few weeks to over 5000 years

Largest…

Smallest….

Mosquito Fern

Largest Flowering plant: Rafflesia

Did You Know?

• Some plants produce seeds, others do not

• Let me introduce to you the plants that

produce seeds….

Now Introducing….

The SEED Plants…

SEED PLANTS…

• 2 groups of seed plants are the gymnosperms and angiosperms

Brassica rapa

The plant that we will be working with in this unit is a SEED plant,

and is known as the

Wisconsin Fast Plant.

The scientific name for this plant is

Brassica rapa

Gymnosperms!• Produce naked seeds (not enclosed in fruit) and

no flowers• Most retain their leaves year-round• Most bear their seeds in cones

Cycads-cool gymnosperms!

Memory

Attention

SEED Plants also include…

Angiosperms!(Flowering Plants)

• Outnumber gymnosperms • Besides producing flowers, angiosperms produce

fruits (ripened ovaries) that protect and aid in dispersal of seeds

• More diverse (What does diverse mean again? Oh yeah! VARIETY)

Angiosperms…• Include “showy” flowers, shrubs, vines, oak,

aspen and birch trees, and grasses

ROOTS!

Types of ROOTS• Roots: anchor the plant into the ground, receives

water and nutrients for the plant from soil

• Tap roots (carrots): “taps into” the water supply that is in the ground

• Fibrous root system: numerous small roots that branch

Root Hairs…

Root hairs: extensions of

roots that increase

water and mineral

absorption

Hydroponics

• Growing plants without soil by using solutions to provide the necessary nutrients for growth.

Reaching into the SOIL…Texture- how the soil FEELS

Nutrients- Chemicals needed for the functioning and growth of living things

Humus-present in soil, is material that was once living and is important for fertile soil(dark in color)

Soil may be considered LOAM: Good soilmixture of 40% sand, 40% silt, 20% clay

Fertilizer• Includes manure,

nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium compounds, spread on or worked into soil to increase its capacity to support plant growth.

• NPK rating: Percentage of the 3 above chemicals found in purchased fertilizer.

STEMS: also known as pedicels or stalks of flowers

• STEMS transport and store nutrients and water from roots to the leaves

• Also give support to leaves!Animal

protection

Water storage and photosynthesis

Storing energy as starch

Potato

Cactus Plant

What are SEEDS?

• Seeds contain an embryo and a nutrient supply

• Good conditions trigger germination (evidence of growth from embryo to seedling)

• Presence of moisture• Warm Temperatures• Air Supply

4 STAGES of Fast PLANT Growth:

• Cotyledons• True Leaves• Flowers• Pods

…..What are COTYLEDONS?

Cotyledons

• Seed leaves, it is where photosynthesis occurs and where food is stored for the seed

Monocots vs. Dicots

• Mono means one

• Di means two

• Plants with one cotyledon are called monocots.

• Plants with two cotyledons are called dicots.

Leaves!• Place where photosynthesis occurs!

Now…

• Onto the REPRODUCTIVE parts of PLANTS!

• There are MALE and FEMALE parts!

Parts of Flowers…• Sepals: located at the base of a flower,

protect the other parts of a developing flower before it opens, is often green

• Petals: brightly-colored part of flower

Male Reproductive Parts of Flowers

• Stamen-male reproductive structure, consists of an anther and a filament

• Anther-contains pollen grains

• Filament- stalk, supports an anther

Female Reproductive Parts of Flowers

• Pistil- made up of the stigma, style, and ovary

• Style- stalk-like, rises from the ovary and, protects the pollen tube.

• The tip is called the stigma that is sticky or has hairs to trap pollen grains

• Ovary(becomes fruit) houses ovule(seed)

NOTE:

• Most species of flowering plants have flowers with both stamens and pistils. They are called complete flowers. Some species have only stamens (male flowers) or only pistils (female flowers)

Pollination• The transfer of pollen from the anther to the

stigma to fertilize the egg (either occurring on the same plant or to another plant)

• Self-pollination: Involves either the same flower, flowers on the same plant, or flowers from two genetically identical plants.

• Cross Pollination: One flower to another. Involves two genetically different plants. Plants produced this way are called hybrids.

Pollen Dispersal

• Sea Grasses = by water• Oaks & grasses = by air (therefore, flowers are small

and lack showy petals)

• Many other species = by animals (showy flowers)

Animal Pollinators(While obtaining nectar, desirable seeds, fruits)

• Bats• Bees• Beetles• Moths• Butterflies• Hummingbirds• Monkeys• People

When animals are attracted to showy flowers, they come to feed on the flower. Pollen sticks to their bodies and the animals deposit some of the pollen onto another flower that they go and feed on.

Parts of a BEE BODY

Fertilization

• Two things must happen in order for seeds to form

• Pollination and

• Fertilization is when the pollen reaches the ovule

Coconut Seeds: of near-water plants,

seeds float with air chambers

                                                                                                    

        

                                                                                         

Tropical Sandbox Tree: forcible discharge, fruits hurl seeds up to 100 meters!

Gymnosperm Seeds: Protected by Cones

Pine Seeds: Seeds with Wings

Plant Responses

• Geotropism: Response to gravity

• Positive Geotropism: Moving with gravity…roots growing DOWN (toward EARTH)

• Negative Geotropism: Stems, leaves, petals, reproductive parts growing UP (against gravity and away from Earth)

Geotropism

Heliotropism

• Response to sunlight

• Sun = Plant reaching for the sunlight

• No sun = plant droops

Phototropism

• Plants move in the direction of the light source (artificial light)

NPK Rating

• N= nitrogen

• P=phosphorus

• K=potassium

• 15-30-15 means 15% N, 30% P, 15% K

• Add them together. 60% of the fertilizer is NPK

• Subtract from 100=40% are other materials like clay or other chemicals

Invasive Species

• Any non-native species (plant, animal, fungus, protist, bacteria) belonging to an ecosystem; and whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.

Invasive Plant Species of Illinois

• Autumn Olive(Elaeagnus umbellata)

• BuckthornRhamnus cathartica and R. frangula)

• High-bush Cranberrry(Viburnum opulus)

• Garlic Mustard(Alliaria petiolata)

• Ground Ivy(Glechoma hederacea)