Download Terminology: The Parts of a Plant

Matthew Boggs
Aaron Seigler
Victor Makali
Gordon
A
seed is a fertilized, ripened ovule of a
gymnosperm or angiosperm.
 A fruit is a ripened and mature ovary
containing seeds.
 Ovule-
In plants, a structure that contains
a gametophyte and, within the
gametophyte, an egg; when it matures, an
ovule becomes a seed.
 Ovary- Any female organ, that produces
an egg.
 Angiosperm- Plants with ovules,
enclosed in an ovary.
 Gymnosperm- a vascular plant whose
seeds are not in an ovary.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Seed Coat
Cotyledon- an embryonic organ that
stores and digests reserve materials.
Shoot Apex
Root Apex
Endosperm- contains stored nutrients
for the developing embryo.
1)
2)
3)

Exocarp
Mesocarp
Endocarp
The “Pericarp” is the collective term for
the above components of a fruit.
 Not
all plants produce seeds.
• Gametophyte: the alternation of generations, the
multicellular haploid phase that produces the
gametes.
• Sporophytes: the alternation of generations, the
diploid phase that produces the spores.
• The purpose of a fruit is to provide protection
and nutrients as well as help with dispersal.
 The “above
ground” part of the plant,
known as the shoot system starts to grow
once the root system as established
secure anchoring.
1) Stems
2) Leaves
3) Nodes and Internodes
- a node is the point on a stem where a
leaf is or was attached.
- an internode is the region between two
nodes.
A
plant will grow towards or with a
stimulus, i.e. a plant will grow toward a
source of light.
 The
upper parts of the plant depend on
the roots to provide water and dissolved
minerals collected from the soil.
 The
root depends on the upper part of
the plant to produce sugars and other
organic substances through
photosynthesis.
The Shoot System and Root System are
connected through two sets of vascular
tissues(Xylem and Phloem) that transport
resources back and forth.
 Xylem- the vascular tissue that
conducts/transports water and dissolved
minerals in plants.
 Phloem- the vascular tissue that
conducts/transports dissolved sugars and
other organic compounds in plants.
 Sadava, David, David
Hillis, William K.
Purves, H. C. Heller, and Gordon H.
Orians. Life : The Science of Biology. 8th
ed. Boston: W. H. Freeman & Company,
2006.
 “Plants Know the Way to Grow.”Fast
Plants. 1995.
http://www.fastplants.org/pdf/activities/
know_the_way.pdf