Scientific and common plant names

Question 1

Taxonomy

Answer 1

The science of grouping and naming things. Living organisms are placed in different groups according to their characteristics and evolutionary relationships to one another.

Question 2

The taxonomic hierarchy

Answer 2

Kingdom (Kingdoms)
Division (Division)( plants) or Phylum (Phyla) (animals)
Class (Classes)
Order (Orders)
Family (Families)
Genus (Genera)
Species
Subspecies
Varietas or variety
Forma or form

Question 3

Taxa/Taxon

Answer 3

A general term that can be used to describe any individual group in a taxonomic rank

Question 4

Why classify?

Answer 4

Identify
Summarise characteristics
Imply relationships

Question 5

Kingdoms

Answer 5

Organisms are grouped into kingdoms based on cell structure.

Question 6

Eukaryotes

Answer 6

Their cells have a nucleus enclosing their genetic material e.g. Plants, animals, fungi, protists

Question 7

Prokaryotes

Answer 7

Their cells have no membrane enclosing their genetic material and are single celled organisms e.g. Eubacteria and archaebacteria

Question 8

Fungi

Answer 8

Includes mushrooms and mould. Multi-celled. They cannot make their own food and feed on organic matter. Some can cause plant disease.

Question 9

Plants

Answer 9

Includes mosses and relatives, ferns and relatives, and the seed plants, including conifers and flowering plants. They are all multi-celled and reproduce both sexually and asexually. They are able to make their own foods using organelles within their cells called chloroplasts.

Question 10

Animals

Answer 10

Includes mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. They are multi-celled and usually reproduce sexually, though invertebrates have some unusual life cycles. They cannot make their own food and also feed on organic matter. Many feed on plants, but others form mutually beneficial relationships with plants.

Question 11

Lichens

Answer 11

Formed of fungal and algal cells growing in partnership so cannot be strictly classified in either kingdom. Usually grouped with fungi

Question 12

Kingdom Plantae

Answer 12

Autotrophic: they make their own food through photosynthesis to create sugars
350,000 vascular plant species officially described

Question 13

Seed reproduction

Answer 13

Majority of horticultural plants

Question 14

Spore reproduction

Answer 14

Able to survive adverse conditions and dispersed by wind over large distances
Algae, mosses and related plants, ferns and related plants

Question 15

Algae

Answer 15

Mixed group of organisms from different kingdoms
Can be single and multi-celled (e.g. seaweed)
Majority of algae are aquatic
Land plants evolved from freshwater algae

Question 16

Bryophytes

Answer 16

Mosses, liverworts, hornworts
No internal water and nutrient transport system (non-vascular plants)
Don’t have true roots: water is absorbed by the whole plant
Water required for reproduction so they grow in damp environments
Some can also reproduce from pieces of shoot or from tissue formed in specialised asexual reproductive structures.

Question 17

Pteridophytes

Answer 17

Ferns, horsetails, clubmosses
Have a vascular system: tissue that conducts water and dissolved sugars and nutrients
Vascular system strengthens physical structure of plants to they can grow bigger and more upright to outcompete other species for space and light
True roots: anchored more firmly in substrate and take in water and nutrients
Water needed to reproduce: found in moist environments Some kinds also reproduce asexually from buds on their rhizomes.

Question 18

Spermatophytes (seed plants)

Answer 18

Includes most horticultural plants
Subdivisions of Gymnosperms and Angiosperms within this
Both have causal systems, true roots, and reproduce using seeds
Seed plants do not require water to reproduce
Some produce wood allowing great amounts of growth

Question 19

Gymnosperms

Answer 19

Made up of the conifers, cycads and the species of Gnetum, Welwitschia, Ginkgoand Ephedra. These plants have seeds which are not enclosed in an ovary or fruit whilst they develop. Seeds are produced in cones or strobili

Question 20

Conifers (Gymnosperm)

Answer 20

Important horticulturally as ornamental plants, economically as sources of timber
Woody plants growing as shrubs or trees
Wood and leaves contain resin ducts (gives pine its smell)
Mostly evergreen with a few deciduous species

Question 21

Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Answer 21

Flowers enclose seeds in a protective ovary (a fruit)
Some can also reproduce using spreading rhizomes, stolons, or plantlets
Most horticultural plants are Angios
Huge numbers and diversity

Question 22

Basal angiosperms

Answer 22

Modern classifications include three groups: the Basal Angiosperms (Magnoliids), Monocotyledons and the Eudicots.
Eudicots and Basal Angiosperms have two seed leaves, or cotyledons, and Monocots, have one.