Download Cool Things that Plants Do

Cool Things that
Plants Do
AP Biology - LAHS
Cool Things that Plants Do
 1. Organ Modification
 2. Movement
 3. Clonal Colony
 4. Grafting
 5. Really really cool plants
1. Organ Modification
 Plants have organs: stems,
roots, leaves, etc.
 All stems must have
buds/leaves to be classified
as stem tissue
 Stolon: horizontal stem that is
fleshy or semi-woody and lies
along the top of the ground
(strawberries)
 Bulbs: shortened stems
surrounded by fleshy scales
(modified leaves) that
envelop a central bud
located at the tip of the stem
(garlic, onion)
1. Organ Modification
 Tubers: swollen portions of
underground stems (stolons)
 stems have nodes, and
buds arise at nodes
 Potatoes
 Pneumatophores: spongy
outgrowths of underwater
roots (plants in swamps)
 Facilitate oxygen supply
1. Organ Modification
 Buttress Roots: provide
stability
 Parasitic Roots: stems that
lack chlorophyll will
produce roots that
penetrate host plants
1. Organ Modification
 Floral Leaves (bracts):
surround the true flowers
and perform the same
function as showy petals
 Poinsettias and
dogwoods
 Spines: reduction of leaf
surface reduces water loss
and deters predators
 Not to be confused with
thorns
 cacti
1. Organ Modification
 Floating Leaves: Water lilies
 Evolved to have very large area to float on water
 Victoria amazonica
 Leaves can grow to over 2.5 m across
 Network of protruding ribs on underside of leaf for buoyancy
and stability
The leaves are
rumored to be
able to hold a
baby
1. Organ Modification
 Insectivorous Leaves: leaves
trap insects and digest their
soft parts
 plants that need nitrogen
 Nutrients are absorbed
through the leaf surface
 Pitcher plants
 Sundews
 Venus Fly Trap
 Almost 200 species of
flowering plants that are
insectivorous
2. Movement
 Plants move via tropisms –
slow movement
 Plants move for other
reasons and can be
perceived with the naked
eye – rapid plant
movement
 Venus fly trap
 Mimosa
 “Telegraph Plant”
2. Movement
 Youtube Videos:
 Moving Mimosa Plant
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAN9ejXyhV8
 Venus Fly Trap
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRUaJD0oT6A&NR=1&fe
ature=fvwp
 Telegraph Plant “Dancing Plant”
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgQ5CucGz2M
3. Clonal Colony
 Genet: group of genetically
identical individuals that
grew vegetatively from a
common ancestor
 An individual of this
population – ramet
 Each colony shares single
root structure
 Quaking Aspen (Populus
tremuloides): usually
propagates through cloning
3. Clonal Colony
 Quaking Aspen
 Sexual reproduction not
common, since all
individuals are all only 1 sex
 Pando “The Trembling Giant”
 Utah
 Heaviest known organism
(est. 6,000 tons collectively)
 107 acres
 47,000 stems
 Is claimed to be 80,000 yrs
old
4. Really really cool plants
 Rafflesia arnoldii (Corpse
Flower)
 Produces largest
individual flower on earth
 Flower smells like rotting
flesh
 Lives as a parasite
 Has no visible roots/stems
 Does not have chlorophyll
 Only visible in flowering
state
 Attracts flies for pollination
4. Really really cool plants
 Polypodium polypodioides
 “Resurrection Fern”
 Can survive long periods of drought by curling up and appearing
desiccated
 Will revive within 24 hours after soaking in water
 Can survive an estimated 100 years of drought and still
“resurrect” after a single soaking
4. Really really cool plants
 Romanesco Broccoli
 Brassica oleracea
 Edible flower species
 Varient of Cauliflower
 Each bud has smaller
buds that occur in a spiral
 All buds together occur in
an even larger spiral