Plant Diversity

Question 1

How are plants classified?

Answer 1

-Vascular tissue
- True leaves and roots
-dependence on water to reproduce
- seeds or spores
-cones or flowers
- fruit

Question 2

What are Non-Vascular plants?

Answer 2

-No vascular tissue, ‘true’ (are called this because they fulfill their biological functions of photosynthesis, gas exchange and transcription) leaves or roots.
-Are poorly adapted to life on land.

Question 3

What are the Characteristics of Bryophyta

Answer 3

-no Vascular tissue (thus unable to transport water and food around plant)
-no ‘True’ roots, stems, or leaves (have rhizoids instead to anchor plant)
-no Strengthening tissue ( such as xylem thus can’t grow tall)
-no cuticle (thus can’t prevent transpiration, water loss)
-are Homosporous (have haploid spores of the same size)
-Depend on water for fertilisation (motile male gametes, sperm, swim to the egg to fertilise it)
- Gametophyte (haploid) is the dominant generation, photosynthetic, and produces gametes.
- Sporophyte (diploid) is attached to and dependant on the gametophyte generation, produces haploid spores by meiosis.

Question 4

What are the characteristics of Vascular plants.

Answer 4

• Cuticle and Stomata: help decrease transpiration (water loss) and desiccation (extreme drying out)
• Roots: to absorb water and minerals from soil, anchor plant, store food.
• Vascular tissue: Xylem and phloem to conduct water and minerals and products of photosynthesis to various parts of the plant.
• Supporting tissue: Xylem (in large amounts) to hold up leaves to get maximum sunlight for photosynthesis.
• Spores and Seeds: provide effective means for reproducing.

Question 5

Main difference between vascular and non vascular:

Answer 5

Vascular have vascular tissue and it’s sporophyte phase is larger and the generation that stands out the most in its life cycle.

Question 6

How are vascular plants classified?

Answer 6

• Seedless plants: are reproduced by spores and are seedless. They are Pterophytes.

-Seed-bearing plants: are reproduced by seeds. They are Gymnospearms (cone-bearing plants) and Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Question 7

Characteristics of Pterophytes

Answer 7

-Have roots (which grow out of the rhizome)
-Have stems
-Have leaves (coiled in the bud)
-Have vascular tissue (xylem and phloem)
-Have a thin cuticle and stomata.
-Reproduce by means of spores which are homosporous (and are released from sporangia- which are on the undersurface of leaves in clusters called sori)
-Produce motile male gametes (sperm)
-Have an independent sporophyte generation.
-No flowers, seeds or cones.

Question 8

Why can ferns (Pterophytes) grow in drier places?

Answer 8

• Proper Roots with water conducting tissue (Xylem) for the transport of water.
  -Have a waxy cuticle preventing water loss (transpiration) from leaves stomata.

Question 9

Characteristics of seed-bearing plants (Gymnosperms & Angiosperms)

Answer 9

• Have roots, stems and leaves.
• Has Vascular tissue.
• Reduced Gametophyte in seed plants.
• Gametes don’t depend on water (no motile sperm)
• are heterosporous (microspores -male) (megaspores -female)