Unit 3 Biology Module 7: Seed Plants

Q: What is the most abundant plant group in terrestrial biomes?

A: Angiosperms (flowering plants)

Q: What is a key adaptation that allowed plants to inhabit many terrestrial biomes?

A: Seeds

Q: What were the first gymnosperms to appear during the Jurassic and survive today as a single species?

A: Ginkgo biloba

Q: What group of plants remain the prominent plants in dry and cold weather?

A: Gymnosperms (especially conifers)

Q: In what group of plants are all the species heterosporous?

A: Seed plants

Q: Define heterosporous.

A: Producing two types of spores: megaspores (female) and microspores (male)

Q: Define homosporous.

Producing a single type of spore that typically develops into a bisexual gametophyte.

Q: Define dioecious.

Having male and female reproductive organs on separate individual plants.

Q: What are the closest gymnosperm relatives to the angiosperms?

A: Gnetophytes

Q: What are gymnosperms characterized by?

A: "Naked" seeds not enclosed in ovaries (cones instead of flowers)

Q: Which phylum is the second most diverse phylum of Eukarya?

A: Anthophyta (angiosperms)

Q: What are sporophylls?

A: Modified leaves that bear sporangia (spore-producing structures)

Q: What are angiosperms characterized by?

A: Flowers and fruits that enclose seeds

Q: What is the difference between a monocot and a dicot?

A: Monocots: 1 cotyledon, parallel veins, flowers in 3s; Dicots: 2 cotyledons, net veins, flowers in 4s or 5s

Q: What are cotyledons?

A: Seed leaves that provide nutrients to the developing plant embryo

Q: What part of the plant do the spices black pepper and vanilla come from?

A: Fruit

Q: Where does the cancer chemotherapy drug, Taxol, come from (genus/species)?

A: Taxus brevifolia (Pacific yew tree)