Angiosperms and Plant Anatomy Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the fundamental concepts of Angiosperms and Plant Anatomy, including reproductive structures, growth patterns, monocot versus eudicot distinctions, and phylogenetic methods based on the BSC 2011 Lab transcript.

Phylum Anthophyta

The phylum commonly referred to as angiosperms.

Angiosperm Success

An extremely successful group with over $290,000$ species whose success is linked to coevolution with pollinators.

Coevolution with Pollinators

A process where plants diversified in tandem with insects, developing nectar and unique flowers to attract specific pollinators and ensure pollen transfer to the same species.

Pollination "Syndromes"

Flower traits (morphological, visual, and olfactory cues) that plants evolved to attract specific pollinators.

Angiosperm Characteristics

Features including flowers, fruits, ovules enclosed within two integuments and a carpel wall, reduced gametophytes, immotile sperm carried by a pollen tube, and double fertilization.

Stamen

The male reproductive part of a flower consisting of the anther and the filament.

Carpel

The female reproductive part of a flower consisting of the stigma, style, and ovary.

Pericarp

The fruit wall that develops from the ovary; it can be divided into the endocarp, mesocarp, and exocarp.

Endosperm

A triploid ($3n$) tissue produced during double fertilization that serves as the food source for the embryo.

Double Fertilization

A process where one sperm fertilizes the egg cell to produce a diploid ($2n$) zygote, while the other sperm fertilizes two central nuclei to produce triploid ($3n$) endosperm.

Monocots

A clade of angiosperms characterized by one cotyledon, parallel venation, scattered vascular bundles, floral parts in multiples of $3$, and monosulcate pollen.

Eudicots

A clade of angiosperms characterized by two cotyledons, reticulate (net) venation, vascular bundles in rings, floral parts in multiples of $4$ or $5$, and tricolpate pollen.

Magnoliids

A clade of angiosperms with two cotyledons, reticulate venation, vascular bundles in rings, floral parts in $3$'s or numerous, and monosulcate pollen.

Primary Growth

Growth that increases the length of the plant, occurring at the apical meristems of roots and shoots.

Secondary Growth

Growth that increases the diameter of the plant, occurring at the vascular or cork cambium.

Vascular Cambium

The lateral meristem where secondary growth occurs, producing xylem inward and phloem outward.

Stomata

Pores in the leaf epidermis, formed by guard cells, that allow for gas exchange.

Pinnately Compound

A leaf arrangement where leaflets arise at several locations along an elongated axis called the rachis.

Palmately Compound

A leaf arrangement where leaflets arise from a single common point.

Casparian Strip

A specialized structure found within the endodermis of root anatomy.

Petiole

The stalk that connects the leaf blade to the stem.

Axillary Bud

A bud located in the angle between the petiole and the stem, used to distinguish between a leaf and a leaflet.

Sweet Potato

A modified root used for starch storage.

White Potato

A modified stem used for starch storage.

Onion

An organ consisting of modified leaves used for storage.

Phylogenetic Tree

A branching diagram showing inferred evolutionary relationships based on physical or genetic similarities.

Clade

A group in a phylogenetic tree that includes an ancestor and all its descendants.

Maximum Parsimony

A phylogenetic principle stating that the simplest tree with the fewest character state changes is the most likely to be correct.

Maximum Likelihood

A phylogenetic method that chooses the tree with the highest probability of producing the observed data, where branch lengths represent the number of substitutions.

MEGA11

A software tool used to align and analyze raw DNA sequences to build phylogenetic trees.