Submitted to

Proff. Uzman Bashir Cheema

Submitted by

Arifa Bashir

2018-ag-7600

M1 Section

Course title

Course #

AN-402

Topic

Morphological Characteristics of different crops

Plant morphology or phytomorphology is the study of physical form and external structures of
plants.Plant morphology gives particular contour to the body and also gives information of
homogy and analogy of the organs.

Lucerne (Medicago stiva)

Lucerne is an erect, multi-branched, perennial plant 2-3 feet tall. Plant has deep tap root.
Leaves are long, dull, serrated (saw-tooth) in shape. Leaves are Trifoliate with petiole

Plant Morphology

Lucerne is a perennial herbaceous plant. Its root system is very powerful, with a main tap root with
ramose lateral roots. Most types of M. varia T. Martyn, sickle medick and wild varieties of perennial
lucerne have a root system where the main root is well-pronounced only at the beginning of vegetation.
A great number of roots of the same thickness are formed afterwards. Root nodule bacteria develop on
the smallest rootlets of lateral roots. They feed at the expense of plant cell plasma and produce nitrous
substances from nitrogen in the atmosphere. Some ecotypes of sickle medick, northern hybrid lucerne
varieties, etc. form a rhizomatous system or a system of suckers.

Lucerne stalks are ramose, bare, tetrahedral, and numerous. They are 50 to 150 cm tall and have 10 to
17 internodes.

Lucerne leaves are trifoliolate. Lucerne leaf laminae are obovate or elongated and elliptical, serrated on
top. They are often downy on the underside, 1-2.5 cm long and 0.3-1.6 cm wide. The middle tier leaflets
are the most typical ones.

Reproductive Morphology

Lucerne inflorescence is apical. Its panicle raceme is cephaloid or elongated and cylindrical. It is 1.5 to 8
cm long. Lucerne inflorescence consists of a shaft emerging from the leaf axil and 12-26 papilionaceous
flowers fixed on short pedicels. Blossoming of lucerne racemes and raceme flowers occurs from the
bottom up. Corollae of flowers in different lucerne varieties may be of the same color, or their color may
vary greatly. They may be all shades of blue, violet or yellow. More rarely they are white or variegated.

Lucerne's fruit is a polyspermous pod. Lucerne pods are small, sickle-shaped or corkscrew-coiled, having
one or several coils (up to five).

Lucerne seeds are small, reniform, angular, or oval. They are yellow, light brown and grayish brown.
1000 lucerne seeds weigh 1 to 2 g. There are lucerne varieties with a hard seed coat. Scarification
(cutting of seed coats in order to increase their permeability) is practiced to increase their germination
capacity.

Barley(Hordeum vulgare)
Barley, a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates
globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years
ago.

Plant Morphology

Barley is an annual grass that stands 60–120 cm tall. Barley has two types of root systems,
seminal and adventitious. The depth the roots reach depends on the condition, texture and
structure of the soil, as well as on the temperature. The deepest roots are usually of seminal
origin and the upper layers of the soil tend to be packed with the later developing adventitious
roots. If the grain is deeply planted a ‘rhizomatous stem’ is formed, which throws out leaves
when it reaches the surface. The ‘rhizome’ may be one or several internodes in length, and may
carry adventitious root.

The stems are erect and made up of hollow, cylindrical internodes, separated by the nodes,
which bear the leaves. A mature barley plant consists of a central stem and 2–5 branch stems,
called tillers. The apex of the main stem and each fertile tiller carries a spike. At, or near, the
soil surface, the part of the stem carrying the leaf bases swellsto form the crown. It is from the
crown that the adventitious roots and tillers develop.

Barley leaves are linear, 5–15 mm wide, and are produced on alternate sides of the stem. The
leaf structure consists of the sheath, blade, auricles and ligule. The sheath surrounds the stem
completely. The ligule and auricles distinguish barley from other cereals as they are smooth,
envelope the stem and can be pigmented with anthocyanins.

Reproductive morphology

The inflorescence of barley is referred to as the ear, head or spike. The flowering units, the
spikelets, are attached directly to the central axis, or rachis, which is the extension of the stem
that supports the spike. There are three spikelets at each node, called triplets, alternating on
opposite sides of the spike. Each spikelet is made up of two glumes, which are empty bracts,
and one floret that includes the lemma, the palea, and the enclosed reproductive components.
Depending on variety, each lemma is extended as an awn, or more rarely a hood.The sterile
glumes in some varieties can also be awned. Awnless varieties are also known. In hulled or
husked varieties, the palea and lemma adhere to the grain. In hull-less or naked varieties, the
palea and lemma are not attached and separate from the grain on threshing.

Sorghum(Sorghum bicolor)
Sorghum is a genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae, which includes about 25
species. Some of these species have grown as cereals for human consumption and some in
pastures for animal

Plant morphology

The root system of sorghum is extensive, and there are many root hairs. An embryonic or
primary root first appears upon germination.Several such roots develop, these are not
branched or are sparsely branched. Secondary roots develop from the first node.It is these
roots that develop into the extensive root system of the plant.The primary roots subsequently
die. Brace roots may appear later on the lowermost nodes and may be numerous if the plant is
unadapted. These roots are not effective in uptake of water and nutrients

The culm, or stem, is made up of a series of alternating nodes and internodes.The stem is
slender to very stout, measuring 0.5 to 5 cm in diameter near the base, becoming narrower at
the upper end, and varying in length from 0.5 to 4m.It is solid, with a hard cortex or rind and a
softer pith. Vascular bundles are scattered throughout the stem, but there are more near the
peripheral area, where they are so closely associated that they form almost a solid ring.The
vascular bundles in the central portion of the stem are larger than those at the periphery. The
central bundles branch into leaf midribs, while the peripheral bundles branch to form the
smaller veins in the leaf blade.The node appears as a ring at the base of the leaf sheath. This is
the point at which the leaf is attached to the stem.A bud forms at each node except at the node
to which the flag leaf is attached.These buds, at successive nodes, arise on alternating sides of
the stem. At times these buds will develop to form axillary tillers. Basal tillers if any, form at the
first node.

Leaves are variously distributed along the stem in sorghum; in some types they may be
concentrated near the base, while in others they are more or less uniformly distributed.Leaves
are borne at different angles to the stem, varying from almost vertical to near-horizontal.
Leaves may be as long as 1 m and may vary in width from 10 to 15 cm.The number of leaves
vary greatly. In well-adapted plants there are usually 14 to 17 leaves, but less adapted plants
may have as many as 30 leaves.The leaves are borne alternately in two ranks along the stem,
and consist primarily of a sheath and a blade.The sheath is attached to a node and surrounds
the internode, and frequently the node above it, before the blade extends outwards.
Frequently, the sheaths attached to lower nodes will cover the nodes above, but those higher
on the plant will not extend as far as the node above.The sheath is frequently covered with a
waxy bloom; at times the bloom is quite pronounced.The blades are broad at the base and
taper upward to a fine point; they are glabrous, except on the inside just above the ligule and
on the outside near the junction with the sheath.

Reproductive Morphology

Inflorescence Panicle may be short and compact or loose and open; 4 to 25 cm or more long,
and 2 to 20 cm or more wide.The central axis of the panicle, the rachis, may be completely
hidden by the density of the panicle branches or completely exposed.The rachis differs greatly
in its shape and length-from long and thin to short and stubby. The rachis may be striated hairy
or glabrous and divided into nodes and internodes.Several branches are borne at each node.
Primary branches or rays arise at each node.They are arranged in whorls. Rays branch and
rebranch, final branches bear spikelets.

Spikelet is unit of inflorescence. Spikelets occur in pairs.. One spikelet is always fertile, sessile
and the other is sterile and pedicellate except the terminal sessile spikelet which is
accompanied by two pediceled spikelets.The racemes vary in length according to the number of
nodes and the length of the internodes.There are 1 to 4 nodes in some species, and 5 to 8
nodes in others; internodes vary in length, thickness, and hairiness depending on the
species.Glumes vary from quite hairy to almost hairless. The lower glume is usually somewhat
flattened and conforms more or less to the shape of the spikelet, while the upper one is more
convex or boat shaped.
The seed may be enclosed by the glume or may protrude from it, being just visible to almost
completely exposed. There are two lemmas, each a delicate white tissue.The lower lemma is
elliptic or oblong, about equal in length to the glume. The upper lemma is shorter, more ovate,
and may be awned. There are also two lodicules and a palea, but these are much reduced.
Sorghum has two pistils and three stamens. Each fluffy stigma is attached to a short stout style
extending to the ovary. The anthers are attached to long threadlike filaments.Seed or Caryopsis
are more or less spherical in shape, varying to somewhat flattened on one side (turtle-backed).
They range tremendously in pericarp color (red, brown, white, yellow, cream) and have either a
dull or pearly luster.The testa may also be coloured, usually a dark red to dark brown. The
endosperm is usually white, though it may be yellow.