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DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
Plant Biology
Weed Spotter training – Module 2
NAME
Weed Alert Contact Officer, CATCHMENT
The kingdoms of life
• Monera – Prokaryotic cells without a nuclear membrane,
mitochondria or chloroplasts. Includes bacteria and blue-green
algae
• Protista – mostly unicellular, eukaryotic organisms, some of which
photosynthesise and some of which don’t. Includes some algae
• Fungi –multicellular organisms that gain nutrients by
decomposing organic molecules from their surroundings
• Plantae (Plants) – multicellular organisms that produce organic
molecules via photosynthesis. (They produce their own nutrients)
• Animalia (Animals) – multicellular organisms that gain their
nutrients via ingesting other organisms for food.
Biological system of classification
• Carl Linnaeus (1707-78) developed the biological system
of classification
• Organisms are classified into groups with common
characteristics (appearance)
• A group or species is called a taxon and is given a Latin
name
• The system is a hierarchy with specified levels or ranks
with species as the smallest unit
Biological system of classification
The rank order of taxa used for plants is:
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
FAMILY
Subfamily
GENUS
SPECIES
Hybrids, subspecies,
varieties etc.
example: Blue Gum
Plantae
Magnoliophyta
Magnoliopsida
Myrtales
Myrtaceae
Leptospermoideae
Eucalyptus
E. globulus
Plant names
• The ‘scientific’ or ‘botanical’ name of each kind of organism
consists of two parts based on the smallest ranks in the
biological system – genus and species
• The genus is the generic name and always starts with a
capital letter
• The species is called an epithet and always starts in lower
case
• Plants may be from different genus but share the same
epithet. E.g. Eucalyptus gunnii and Nothofagus gunnii
Plant names
• The scientific name is followed by an
abbreviation of the name of the original
author of the plants name (E.g. F Muell.
means it was named by Baron Ferdinand
Von Mueller)
• Common names are not governed by
any rules and therefore a species can
have more than one common name
• Example of a Weed Alert species
– State Prohibited Weed
– genus is Eichhornia
– species is crassipes
– common name is Water Hyacinth
Activity
Plant Naming
Major plant groups
The Plantae kingdom is divided into;
non-vascular plants
(liverworts and mosses)
spore bearing
vascular plants
(ferns, clubmosses
and horsetails)
seed bearing vascular
plants (cycads, conifers
and other gymnosperms
All flowering plants)
Non-vascular plants
• Non-vascular plants, do not have vascular tissue
and include;
 Algae
 Bryophytes;
- liverworts
- hornworts
- mosses
• They do not have roots, stems or leaves
Hornwort
Moss
(Bryophyta)
Spore-bearing vascular plants
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•
•
•
Have vascular tissue
Produce spores, not seeds
Have no flowers
Include;
 ferns
 horsetails (State Prohibited Weed)
 club mosses
Horsetails Equisetum species
Spore-bearing vascular plants
• Equisetum (Horsetail)
Seed-bearing vascular plants
• Gymnosperms – seeds are unenclosed on the scales of a cone
or similar structure
 cycads
 conifers
 NOT palms
these are Angiosperms
Seed-bearing vascular plants
• Angiosperms (flowering plants) classified into two major
groups
• Monocotyledons (Monocots) are mainly non-woody plants
with
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flower parts are in threes (3, 6, 9 etc)
parallel leaf veins
vascular bundles scattered in the stem
an embryo with one seed leaf (cotyledon)
a fibrous root system
includes grasses, lilies, grass trees, kangaroo paws,
orchids, palms
Photo: D Greig
Bear-skin fescue
Angiosperms – flowering plants
• Dicotyledons (Dicots) are either woody or herbaceous with
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flower parts in fours or fives
net like leaf venation
vascular bundles in a ring
an embryo with two seed leaves (cotyledons)
a tap like root system
includes magnolias, buttercups, daisies, roses,
peas, acacias, banksias and eucalypts
Angiosperms – flowering plants
Activity
Plant Classes
Common plant families
• There are many plant families each with their own similar
characteristics
• If you can recognise some of these characteristics then it
can help you identify a plant
• Some common families include:
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Asteraceae
Poaceae
Fabaceae
Rosaceae
ASTERACEAE
FABACEAE
ASTERACEAE – daisy family
• Flowers that are clusters of smaller flowers
• They are successful weeds because
• many flowers in one is a successful
reproductive strategy
• they set a lot of seed
• they have successful dispersal mechanisms
such as wind (fluffy seed)
• they are either annuals or biennials
so can reproduce quickly
Black knapweed
• Includes daisies, thistles and everlastings
Centaurea nigra
State Prohibited Weed
ASTERACEAE
• Orange Hawkweed
(Hieracium aurantiacum)
POACEAE – grass family
• A big family, with over 600 genera
• Flowers are small, and sit together with two enclosing
bracts known as florets
• One or more florets make a spikelet
• They are successful weeds as
• they are wind pollinated
• they set lots of seeds
• many are annuals and can
set seed in a short season
Lobed needle grass
Nassella charruana
State Prohibited Weed
FABACEAE – pea family
• Flowers are distinctive with 5 petals
• Fruit is always a pod that is dry at maturity and splits
along both sides to release the seeds
• The leaves are simple or
compound usually with stipules
• Includes herbs, shrubs, trees
and climbers
White Spanish Broom
Cytisus multiflorus
Victorian Alert Weed
Acacia seed pods
FABACEAE – pea family
• Flowers consist of 5 petals
– 1 Standard
– 2 Wing
– 2 Keel
• Stamens are in the
Keel
Photo: M D Crisp
ROSACEAE
• 100-200 genera
• Mostly diagnosed by the fruit structure
– Small fruit (blackberry, strawberries etc.)
– Fruit with 5 capsules/cores (apples, pears etc.)
– Fruit as a single drupe (peaches, plums etc.)
• Can spread by canes (blackberry) or by birds or
foxes eating the fruit or seed
Key words
• Genus – groups of species that have similar characteristics
• Species – basic category of classification, related individuals that can breed
within themselves
• Non-vascular – lacking vascular tissue (for example; water transport
vessels)
•
•
•
•
•
Gymnosperms – a plant with seeds that are not enclosed in an ovary
Angiosperms – flowering plants (largest phylum of living plants)
Monocots – flowering plants that have a single seed leaf (cotyledon)
Dicots – flowering plants that have two seed leaves (cotyledons)
Florets – a small or reduced flower, usually enclosed in bracts (as in
•
•
•
•
Spikelets – a spike made up of one or more florets
Stipules – small appendages at the base of a leaf stalk
Stamens – pollen bearing part of a flower
Simple – has one main leaf, may have lobes but they do not reach the main
grasses)
vein
• Compound – compound leaf has many leaflets coming off the main vein
Questions?
Acknowledgements
Information sourced from:
Knox, Ladiges and Evens, 1994. Biology
McGraw-Hill Book Company
Environmental weed training notes 2002, Department of
Natural Resources and Environment, Victoria
Line drawings by Kristy Roche, DPI
Thank you for participating