Youth Education Program

of San Francisco Botanical Garden Society

A First Look at Plants

Background Information

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PARTS OF FLOWERING PLANTS Our lives are intricately bound with the plants around us. They provide us with essentials for survival like oxygen, medicine, clothing, and shelter and with tools and materials to make our lives more comfortable and beautiful. Plants are basically small factories that produce food from simple raw materials. And since they alone are able to produce their own food, they are the basis for the food chains that support all other living organisms on our planet. There is fantastic variety in plant shapes and structures, as plants have adapted themselves in clever ways to survive. Yet all flower and seed bearing plants share certain characteristics in their basic parts and the ways those parts function. Each part of a plant has a specialized function, whether it controls the growth of the plant, produces the food, or ensures survival through reproduction. Very basically, there are three major organs in flowering plants: roots, shoots, and flowers. Roots and shoots are the vegetative organs, providing a structure for growth and the factory for food production. Flowers are the reproductive organ, forming the seeds to perpetuate the species. Here is a closer look at the basic parts of flowering plants and their functions. ROOTS As part of the plants food-producing factory, the roots are specialists in charge of supplying the minerals and nutrients needed for growth and the water needed to transport these substances to the rest of the plant. Roots serve three important functions: They absorb water and minerals from the soil They anchor the plant to the soil. They store excess food for later use.

At the very tip of each root is a tough protective cap that helps the root to push its way down into the soil. This protective cover is constantly being replaced as it is worn away, and often the cap has a slippery coating to help ease it through the soil. Just behind this root tip is the root meristem, and it is from this section that the roots actually grow and develop. The outer cells of the root form the skin of the root, called the epidermis. From the epidermis grow the root hairs, delicate projections that absorb water and nutrients from the soil. New root hairs are constantly growing as the root tip pushes its way deeper into the soil.

A First Look at Plants Background Information

While the function of roots remains the same, there is a great deal of variety in the way plants have adapted their roots to perform their jobs. Here are some examples of specialized root systems: Aerial roots develop on vining and epiphytic plants to anchor the plant and absorb moisture from the air. (orchids) Adventitious roots can grow from other parts of the plant like leaves or stems. (willow, tomato) Prop roots develop from the plant stems to help support a plant that is especially tall or wide. (corn, mangrove)

SHOOT SYSTEM The shoot system of the plant consists of two parts that develop together: stems and leaves. Stems The stem of a plant is the major support system for the leaves and flowers of the plant. The stem functions in four important ways: It supports the plant above ground. It acts as a pipeline, conducting water and minerals up from the roots and passing food from the leaves down to the roots. It stores water and excess foods. It provides a framework for supporting leaves.

Inside the stem is a complex system of ducts made up of specialized cells that run from the roots up to all the growing parts of the plant. Most stems grow above the ground, but many plants have developed specialized stems: Corns, tubers, rhizomes are all enlarged, underground stems that can store food and water for the plant. (potato, onion) Runners, stolons, rootstocks are specialized stems which grow near the surface of the soil and produce new plantlets. (strawberry) Tendrils, thorns are outgrowths of stems. (pea, thistle)

Leaves Leaves come in a fantastic variety of shapes, sizes, and patterns, but their basic function is the same to manufacture food for the plant through a process called photosynthesis. In each leaf are chloroplast cells which contain a green pigment (chlorophyll) that captures and stores the suns energy. With this energy the leaf combines two ingredients: water, which is brought up from roots, and carbon dioxide from the air, which enters the leaf through tiny pores on its underside called stomata. Hydrogen from the water and carbon dioxide from the air form sugar for the plants food. The leftover oxygen atoms are released into the atmosphere as a byproduct of this process.

A First Look at Plants Background Information

The variety in leaf size, shape, and texture and the arrangement of leaves on a stem are all adaptations that allow plants to hold or release water and to regulate the amount of sunlight needed to make photosynthesis most efficient. There are numerous adaptations in leaves. For example, silvery leaves reflect heat and light, succulent leaves store water, broad leaves capture sunlight, hairs, spikes, or toxins in leaves repel predators, and pointed leaves allow excess water to drip off. Leaves may be smooth, scaly, hairy, fuzzy, waxy, or even covered with powders. Leaf edges may be smooth, serrated, lobed, or toothed. Each plant has its own distinct characteristics which can help to identify it. Most leaves have two parts: the blade the thin, flat, broad part where photosynthesis occurs and the petiole the narrow stalk that connects the blade to the stem. Here are some other characteristics of leaves: Leaf Form = the overall shape of the leaf: Simple The leaf is one broad piece which connects directly to the stem or twig. Compound The leaves have blades divided into many separate leaflets connected to a leafstalk. Leaf Veins = the intricate system of veins in leaves are the ducts that carry water and minerals into the leaf and move the manufactured food sugars out. There are three common patterns: Palmate Veins branch out from the leaf base into a webbed pattern like a hand with the fingers spread. Pinnate Veins branch out from each side of one middle axis, like a feather. Parallel Veins all run in the same direction without intersecting.

Flowers More than half of the worlds plants are flower-bearing plants, called angiosperms. While there is tremendous variety in the size, color and shape of flowers, they all have the same function to produce the seeds which will insure the growth of new plants and the survival of the species. The shape of flowers varies tremendously among flowering plants. Some flowers are highly developed, showy advertisements designed to attract pollinators, while other flowers are fairly plain. But almost all flowers have the same basic structure and characteristics.

A First Look at Plants Background Information

Here are some basic parts of a flower:

receptacle The enlarged end of a stem to which the flower parts are attached. sepals Modified leaves, the outer circle of floral parts. Sometimes they are colorful, but most often they are green. Together, the sepals are called a calyx. petals The inner circle of floral parts, usually the showiest part of the flower. They may be separate or fused together into tubular, cupped or bell shapes. Together the petals are called the corolla. stamens The male organ of the flower. It produces the male sperm cells needed to fertilize the plants egg cells. The stamen is made up of two parts, a long slender stalk called the filament, and a large tip, called the anther. The anther produces the powdery pollen which contains the sperm cells. There are usually many stamens in a flower. pistil The female organ of the flower. It produces the seeds for the plant. The pistil is made up of three parts. At its base is the ovary, which contains the egg cells that will develop into seeds. A small stalk, the style, grows up out of the ovary. At the top of the style is a sticky or feathery surface for gathering pollen, called the stigma. There is usually only one pistil in a flower.

A First Look at Plants Background Information

A complete flower has all the flower parts described above. Most, but not all flowering plants bear perfect flowers, which contain both the male and female reproductive parts needed for fertilization, the stamens and pistils. Some plants bear male and female parts in separate flowers. When pollination occurs, pollen from the anther reaches the stigma at the top of the pistil. The pollen grain sends a tiny tube down the style into the ovary and the sperm cells fertilize the egg cells. Once fertilized, the egg cells begin to grow into a protective container for the seeds called a fruit. The fruits may also help to disperse the seeds away from the parent plant. With the dispersal and germination of the seeds, the life cycle of the plant begins again. Seeds For all flowering plants the life cycle begins with the germination of a seed. Technically, a seed is the fertilized, ripened ovule of a flower. It is a complete, tiny plant in a dormant or resting stage, waiting for favorable conditions to sprout and grow. While seeds vary dramatically in size, shape, and coloring, each contains the parts that will become the roots, stem, and leaves of a plant, as well as food that will nourish the infant plant until it can manufacture its own food. There are three basic parts to a seed: embryo Tiny plant contained within the seed. It is made up of the first leaves, the shoot system that will become the stem, and the root tip that will develop into the complex root system. seed coat (testa) The outer layer of the seed that keeps the embryo from drying out and that protects it from the cold and from being destroyed by animals or disease. Hand lenses are a good tool for revealing the details that distinguish each seeds distinctive coat. A seed coat can be a slender, almost paper-thin covering, or it can be such a tough outer layer that it requires an animals digestive juices or a fire to break it down. food (endosperm) The inner layer surrounding the embryo and containing the starches, oils, and protein that the young plant will use when it first sprouts until it can produce its own food. Vocabulary List for Young Students: basic parts of plants Flower Fruit Leaf Root Seed Stem

A First Look at Plants Background Information

Glossary

Adaptation a special trait or feature that improves an organisms chances for survival and reproduction. Branch a large stem that grows from the trunk or main limb of a tree. Bud an undeveloped flower, stem, or leaf of a plant. Chlorophyll the green pigment in a leaf that stores the suns energy to make food for the plant. Flower the reproductive organ of a plant. Fruit the ripened ovary of a plant that forms a container for the seeds. Germination the process of a seeds sprouting and beginning to grow and develop. Leaf the part of the shoot system of a plant that manufactures food. Nectar a sweet liquid which is secreted at the base of some flowers, to attract pollinators. Petal a modified leaf, usually the most colorful part of a flower. Pistil the female part of a flower composed of a stigma, style, and ovary. Plant a living organism capable of producing its own food through photosynthesis. Pollen the male sperm cells produced in the anther of the flower. Root the underground part of a plant that anchors it to the ground and draws in water and minerals. Seed a tiny plant in a dormant stage; the ripened ovule of a flower Stamen the male, pollen-bearing part of the flower composed of a filament and an anther. Stem the major support system of a plant, serving as a pipeline to transport water, food, and nutrients. Tree a woody plant composed of a main trunk, branches, and foliage. Twig a small shoot or branch of a woody plant.