LIFE SCIENCES

GRADE 11 CAPS
STRUCTURED, CLEAR, PRACTICAL -
HELPING TEACHERS UNLOCK THE POWER
OF NCS

KNOWLEDGE AREA: Diversity,

change and continuity
TOPIC 1: Biodiversity of Plants
and Reproduction

Seeds
SUMMARY OF PRESENTATION:
Bird pollinated Flowers

Significance of seeds

Advantages of the Seed for the Plant

Seeds as sources of food

The Need for Seed and DNA banks

BIRD POLLINATED FLOWERS
 Flowers that are pollinated
by birds have the following
adaptations:
1. Long tube shaped flowers.
2. The flowers are bright red
and yellow.
3. They have no odour
 When the bird obtains
nectar, it sticks its thin
long beak into the flower.
 The pollen grains sticks to
their beak.
BIRD POLLINATED FLOWERS
 When they visit the
next flower some of
this pollen is
transferred to the
stigma of the next
flower.
 Some examples of Strelitzia- (Bird of
flowers that are paradise)
pollinated by birds
are Aloes and bird
of paradise.
SIGNIFICANCE OF SEEDS
 All seed bearing plants belong to the phylum
Spermatophyta.

The plants in this phylum maybe divided into 2
groups.
 These 2 groups are:

1. Gymnosperms
2. Angiosperm
 The gymnosperms are plants who bear seeds but
their seeds are naked, they do not occur within
fruit.
 The angiosperms also bear seeds but their seeds
occur within fruits.
SIGNIFICANCE OF SEEDS
A seed has the following
structure:
 It is surrounded on the
outside by a seed coat or
testa.
 The testa protects the
contents of the seed from
drying out.
 The testa encloses the
cotyledon.
 The cotyledon is a source
of stored food for the
embryo.
 The embryo is found
within the seed. The
embryo is made up of the
radicle, plumule and axis.
ADVANTAGE OF THE SEEDS FOR
PLANTS:
 The seed has 4 advantages for the plant.
 These advantages are:

1. Seeds have a dispersal mechanism, for

example the seed of the pine plant has a
parachute that enables them to be carried
by the wind. These dispersal mechanisms
allow the seeds to be
widely dispersed. This
reduces competition
amongst the plants.
ADVANTAGE OF THE SEEDS FOR
PLANTS:
2. The testa and cotyledons helps the embryo
survive unfavourable conditions because the
testa prevents the embryo from drying out and the
cotyledons provide the embryo with food, thus
enabling the embryo to remain dominant until
favourable conditions return.
3. The testa and cotyledon is able to provide the embryo
with protection in the early stages of
development.
4. The cotyledon is able to provide the seedling with
energy for growth until it is able to produce its
own food, when its leaves develop.
SEEDS AS A SOURCE OF FOOD:
 Some seeds provide
humans with food.
For example maize, maize
wheat, rice and
beans. Many of
these seeds form
the staple part of wheat
the diet.

rice
SEEDS AS A SOURCE OF FOOD:
 Seeds can be used to
make beverages
such as cocoa and
coffee. Coffee Beans
 Seeds can also be
used as spices, for
example black
pepper, mustard and Cocoa
cumin.
SEEDS AS A SOURCE OF FOOD:
 Other parts of the
seed bearing plants
can provide us with
food. Such as
potatoes and sweet
potatoes.
 About 80% of all food
eaten by humans come
from 6 seed bearing
Cassava
plants, they are rice,
maize, wheat,
potatoes, sweet
potatoes and cassava.
THE PRESERVATION OF OUR ENDEMIC
SPECIES USING SEED &DNA BANKS.
 There are 3 areas in South Africa that are
biodiversity hotspots.
 These are the Cape Floristic region, the Succulent
Karoo and Maputoland-Pondoland-Albany
hotspot of the Eastern Cape.
 These areas have many endemic plant species, for
example about 80% of the plants found in the
Cape Floristic region are endemic, 40% of the
plants in the Succulent Karoo are endemic, it also
has 3 endemic mammal species, 8 endemic
reptile species and 1 endemic amphibian species.
THE PRESERVATION OF OUR ENDEMIC
SPECIES USING SEED &DNA BANKS.

Remember endemic means that that species only
occurs in that area or region and no where else in the
world.
 Therefore it is extremely important to ensure that
these species are protected.
 Indigenous species must also be conserved.
 Remember it is possible that these species may have
uses that have not yet been discovered.
 For example they could be a source of food or even a
cure for an illness or even a cure for an illness that has
not yet been discovered.
THE PRESERVATION OF OUR ENDEMIC
SPECIES USING SEED &DNA BANKS.
 Therefore seed banks and DNA banks have been
established.
 It is hoped that these banks will helps us
preserve all these species.
 In 2001 an international programme was started in
the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England.
 This programme is called the Millennium Seed
Bank Project.
 It is a 9 year plant conversation programme.
 This programme aims to collect and conserve 10%
of the world’s seed bearing flora by 2010.
THE PRESERVATION OF OUR ENDEMIC
SPECIES USING SEED & DNA BANKS.
 It hopes to achieve this by developing
partnerships with other countries.
 It hopes encourage these countries to develop
their own seed banks.
 The South African partner of this programme is
the South African National Biodiversity Institute
(SANBI).

SANBI hopes to collect about 10% of South
Africa’s indigenous flowering plants.
 Especially those species that are endangered or
endemic or threatened with extinction.
THE PRESERVATION OF OUR ENDEMIC
SPECIES USING SEED & DNA BANKS.
 A DNA bank was also established in the
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in the Western
Cape.
 A DNA bank is a freezer set at -80˚C.
 It stores extracts of DNA at this temperature.

Its objective is to store the nuclear,
mitochondrial and plastid DNA extraction of all
the plant species found in South Africa.
 There are 22 000 of these species.
TERMINOLOGY:
 Spermatophyta: the phylum made up of seed
bearing plants.
 Endemic: means that the species only occurs in
that area or region and no where else in the world
 Mitochondrial DNA: is the DNA found in the
mitochondria.
 Plastid DNA: is the DNA found in the chloroplast.
 Nuclear DNA: is the DNA found in the nucleus.
 Indigenous species: these are species that occur
naturally in the area.
 QUESTION 1
The radicle grows into the…
A. First root
B. Stem
C. Leaf
D. A and B
 QUESTION 2
The part of the seed that protect the embryo in its
early stages are…
A. Testa and cotyledon
B. Testa and seed coat
C. Cotyledon and plumule
D. Testa and plumule
 QUESTION 3
The seedling obtains its food…
A. Through photosynthesis even when it has
just emerged from the seed.
B. From the cotyledon until it is able to produce
its own food.
C. From the plumule.
D. From the axis.
 QUESTION 4
The phylum that produces seed-bearing plants is
called…
A. Bryophyta
B. Pteridophyta
C. Gymnosperm
D. Spermatophyta
 QUESTION 5
The phylum that produces naked seeds is called…
A. Bryophyta
B. Pteridophyta
C. Gymnosperm
D. Angiosperm
 QUESTION 6
The phylum that bears seeds within fruit is…
A. Bryophyta
B. Pteridophyta
C. Gymnosperm
D. Angiosperm
SOLUTION:
1. A
2. A
3. B
4. D
5. C
6. D