Kingdom Plantae Terms

KINGDOM PLANTAE TERMS

GAMETOPHYTE – in organisms undergoing alternation of generations, the multicellular haploid form that mitotically produces haploid gametes that unite and grow into the sporophyte generation

SPOROPHYTE – in organisms undergoing alternation of generation, the multicellular diploid form that results from a union of gametes and that meiotically produces haploid spores that grow into the gametophyte generation

ALTERNATION OF GENERATION – a life cycle in which there is both a multicellular diploid form, the sporophyte, and a multicellular haploid form, the gametophyte, characteristic of plants and some algae.

PROTONEMA – a mass of green, branched, one-cell-thick filaments produced by germinating moss spores

RHIZOIDS – long tubular single cell or filament of cells that anchors bryophytes to the ground. They are not composed of tissues, lack specialized conducting cells, and do not play a primary role in absorption of water and minerals.

SETA – the elongated stalk of a bryophyte sporophyte, such as in a moss

CAPSULE – the sporangium of a bryophyte

THALLUS – the simple body an alga, fungus, or nonvascular plant that lacks roots, stems or leaves

ARCHEGONIUM – in plants, the female gametangium, a moist chamber in which gametes develop

ANTHERIDIUM – in plants, the male gametangium, a moist chamber in which gametes develop

ZYGOTE – a fertilized egg

GAMETANGIA – multicellular plant structures in which gametes are formed. (female are called archegonia and male are called antheridia)

HOMOSPOROUS – a term referring to a plant species that has a single kind of spore, which typically develops into a bisexual gametophyte

HETEROSPOROUS – a term referring to a plant species that has two kinds of spore: microspores that develop into male gametophytes and megaspores that develop into female gametophytes

MEGASPORANGIA – produce megaspores

MICROSPORANGIA – produce microsporres

MONOECIOUS – having male and female reproductive parts in separate flowers or cones on the same plants

DIOECIOUS – having male and female reproductive structures on separate plants

SPOROPHYLL – a leaf specialized for reproduction

SPORE - in the life cycle of a plant or alga undergoing alternation of generations, a meiotically produced haploid cell that divides mitotically, generating a multicellular individual, the gametophyte, without fusing with another cell

SORUS (pl.=sori): a cluster of sporangia on a fern sporophyll.

STROBILI – the technical term for clusters of sporophylls known commonly as cones, found in most gymnosperms and some seedless vascular plants

MICROPYLE - a pore in the integument of an ovule

POLLEN GRAINS – the structures that contain the male gametophyte of seed plants

OVULES – structures that develop within the ovaries of seed plants and contain the female gametophyte

PARENCHYMA CELL – a relatively unspecialized plant cell type that carries out most of the metabolism, synthesizes and stores organic products, and develops into a more differentiated cell type

COLLENCHYMA CELL – a flexible plant cell type that occurs in strands or cylinders that support young parts of the plant without restraining growth

SCLERENCHYMAL CELL – a rigid, supportive plant cell type usually lacking protoplasts and possessing thick secondary walls strengthened by lignin at maturity

ROOT CAP – a cone of cells at the tip of a plant root that protects the apical meristerm

APICAL MERISTEM - embryonic plant tissue in the tips of roots and in the buds of shoots that supplies cells for the plant to grow in length

MERISTEM – plant tissue that remains embryonic as long as the plant lives, allowing for indeterminate growth

CASPARIAN STRIP – a water-impermeable ring of wax in the endodermal cells of plants that blocks passive flow of water and solutes into he stele by way of cell walls

ENDODERMIS – the innermost layer of the cortex in plant roots; a cylinder one cell thick that forms the boundary between the cortex and the vascular cylinder

CORTEX – ground tissue that is between the vascular tissue and dermal tissue in a root or dicot stem

VASCULAR CYLINDER/STELE – the central cylinder of vascular tissue in a root

VASCULAR TISSUE – plant tissue consisting of cells joined into tubes that transport water and nutrients throughout the plant body

XYLEM – vascular tissue consisting mainly of tubular dead cells that conduct most of the water and minerals upward from the roots to the rest of the plant

VESSEL ELEMENT – a short, wide, water-conducting cell found it the xylem of most angiosperms and a few nonflowering vascular plants

TRACHEID – a long, tapered, water-conducting cell that is dead at maturity and is found in the xylem of all vascular plants

PHLOEM – vascular plant tissue consisting of living cells arranged into elongated tubes that transport sugar and other organic nutrients throughout the plant

SIEVE TUBE ELEMENTS – cells that conduct dissolved sugar in the phloem of flowering plants

SEED – an adaptation for terrestrial plants consisting of an embryo packaged along with a store of food within a resistant coat

SEED COAT – a tough outer covering of a seed, formed from the outer coat of an ovule. In a flowering, plants, the seed coat encloses and protects the embryo and endosperm

COTYLEDON – a seed leaf of an angiosperm embryo. Some species have one and others have two

ENDOSPERM – a nutrient-rich tissue formed by the union of a sperm cell with two polar nuclei during double fertilization, which provides nourishment to the developing embryo in angiosperm seeds.

FLOWER – in an angiosperm, a short stem with up to four sets of modified leaves, bearing structures that function in sexual reproduction

ANTHER – in an angiosperm, the terminal pollen sac of a stamen, where pollen grains with male gametes form

FILAMENT – the stalk of a stamen

PISTIL – a single carpel or group of fused carpels

CARPEL – the ovule-producing reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of stigma, style, and ovary

STIGMA – the sticky part of a flower’s carpel, which traps pollen grains

STYLE – the stalk of a flower’s carpel, with the ovary at the base and the stigma at the top

SEPAL – a modified leaf in angiosperms that helps enclose and protect a flower bud before it opens

CALYX – the structure formed by the fused sepals

COROLLA – the structure formed by the fused petals

FRUIT – a mature ovary of a flower that protects dormant seeds and aids in their dispersal

PERICARP – the thickened wall of a fruit

DICOT– a term used to refer to flowering plants that have two embryonic seed leaves, or cotyledons.

MONOCOT - a term used to refer to flowering plants that have one embryonic seed leaf, or cotyledon

CUTICLE – a waxy covering on the surface of stems and leaves that acts as a an adaptation to prevent desiccation in terrestrial plants.

MESOPHYLL – the ground tissue of a leaf, sandwiched between the upper and lower epidermis and specialized for photosynthesis

STOMATA – pores in leaves through which carbon dioxide and oxygen are exchanged

VEIN – a vascular bundle in a leaf

TEN PHYLA OF EXTANT PLANTS

BRYOPHYTES

PHYLUM HEPATOPHYTA – LIVERWORTS

PHYLUM ANTHOCEROPHYTA – HORNWORTS

PHYLUM BRYOPHYTA – MOSSES

VASCULAR PLANTS

SEEDLESS VASCULAR PLANTS

PHYLUM LYCOPHYTA – LYCOPHYTES (CLUB MOSSES, SPIKE MOSSES, QUILLWORTS)

PHYLUM PTEROPHYTA – FERNS, HORSETAILS, WHISK FERNS

SEED PLANTS

GYMNOSPERMS:

PHYLUM GINGKOPHYTA – GINGKOES

PHYLUM CYCADOPHYTA – CYCADS

PHYLUM GNETOPHYTA – WELWITSCHIA, EPHEDRA, GNETUM

PHYLUM CONIFEROPHYTA – CONIFERS

ANGIOSPERMS:

PHYLUM ANTHOPHYTA – FLOWERING PLANTS