INTRODUCTION TO PLANTS
Characteristics of Plants
NonvascularSimple Vascular
Miscellaneous plant Info
• Plants live on land with some in water—range from microscopic to huge (giant sequoia)
• 1st plants probably algae washed up on land—grew rhizoids
• Red, yellow, or orange (think carrots) pigments found in some cells of plants are carotinoids
• Oldest plant fossils are from the Silurian period about 420 million yrs. ago
Misc. info still• How did algae survive?
adaptations such as:
1. rigid cell wall with cellulose2. waxy, clear. Protective layer on stems and leaves called a cuticle
• Plants in water reproduce easily, simple land plants still use water; later complex plants
develop other methods• Advantages to living on land: 1. More direct sunlight 2. more carbon dioxideBoth helped Photosynthesis!Eventually, land plants developedstems and roots (became vascular).• Plant kingdom grouped into major
divisions (same as a phylum in Animal kingdom)
Simple plants-NONVASCULAR-have no roots, have RHIZOIDS
No leaves, have leaf-like structuresNo stems, have stem-like structures called stalks
NONVASCULAR PLANTS• Reproduce with spores &
sex cells• Division BRYOPHYTA• Are MOSSES—simple
rootless plants with leaf-like growths in a spiral around a stalk, held by rhizoids
• Also are LIVERWORTS-with a flat, leaf-like body
• PIONEER SPECIES-are both mosses + liverworts. They are
the first plants going into poor/destroyed areas.
Seedless Vascular Plants:Use SPORES to reproduce
Vascular “tubes” (tissue) presentSome quite tall (1 or 2 meters)Include:
Spike + club moss:Tiny pine cone like tops or
clubby like “fat tailed” tops
Horsetails:Hollow stem with joints, pops apart
Ferns:Largest group no. wise, + size wise, ancient tree ferns made coal deposits
www.istockphoto.com
www.istockphoto.com
www.indoor-plant-care.com
faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu
www.worldofstock.com
www.earthhistory.org.uk
Start with:
SporesProtonemaBudGametophyte—male and femaleSporophyte with
spore capsule-circle
•
• Start with:
Spores Prothallus Sperm Egg Germinating
sporophyte-circle Sporophyte with
rhizome + fiddlehead
(in square)
http://departments.bloomu.edu/biology/pics/botany/lifecycles/fern_lc.html
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