Overview of Plant Life
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© Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOTCHAPTER FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 2 © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & BartlettOUTLINE Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Overview of • Concepts • Overview of Plant Structure Plant Life • Overview of Plant Metabolism © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC • Overview© of Jones Information & Bartlett in Plants Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION • OverviewNOT of Plant FOR Diversity SALE and OR DISTRIBUTION LEARNING OBJECTIVES Evolution After reading this chapter, students will be able to: • Overview of Plant Ecology • Describe the basic internal and external organization of plants. Box 2-1 Alternatives: Familiar Plants and • Compare© Jones plant & and Bartlett human Learning,metabolism. LLC © JonesSome & BartlettConfusing Learning, Look-Alikes LLC • ListNOT three FORsources SALE from whichOR DISTRIBUTION plants receive information. NOT BoxFOR 2-2 Alternatives:SALE OR Plants DISTRIBUTION Without • Define and give examples of haploid and diploid plants. Photosynthesis • Explain the concept of clades. Box 2-3 Plants and People: Toxic Compounds • Describe the interconnected dynamic between photosynthetic © Jones & organismsBartlett andLearning, organisms LLC that respire. © Jones & BartlettBox Learning, 2-4 Botany and LLC Beyond: Noah’s Flood NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE ORand DISTRIBUTION Population Biology Did© JonesYou & Know? Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Chapter Opener Image: The life of each of these • Plants, as distinct from algae, have existed for more than plants has much in common with our own lives. Each 420 million years. started from a fertilized egg, grew into an adult by • Photosynthesis captures energy in sunlight and is almost the obtaining energy and nutrients, as well as defending only© sourceJones of & energy Bartlett for all Learning, life on Earth. LLC © Jonesitself & from Bartlett diseases and pests. Learning, Each inherited its LLC genes • ThereNOT are FOR almost SALE 297,000 OR species DISTRIBUTION of living plants and about NOT FORfrom its SALE parents and OR each will DISTRIBUTION make efforts to have sexual 1,260,000 species of animals. reproduction. Like us, these plants have gradually evolved such that they now differ from their ancient ancestors. • Plants are adapted to live everywhere on land in extraordinarily Also like us, each plant interacts with many other diverse conditions except where it is severely cold (under organisms, some of which help it, some of which harm it; © Jones & permanentBartlett Learning, snow and ice) LLC or dry (parts of the Sahara© Desert). Jones & Bartlett Learning,no plant lives in isolation LLC from all other organisms. • Plants defend themselves from herbivores with spines and poisons NOT FOR SALEbut simultaneously OR DISTRIBUTION provide food for animals that pollinateNOT them. FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 19 © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION. ❚ Concepts © Jones Anyone& Bartlett reading Learning, this book isLLC probably familiar with ani-© Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FORmal SALE life. We OR each DISTRIBUTION know quite a bit about our own body, ourNOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION organs, our metabolism, and the way in which we inherited DNA from our parents. We know that all humans are mem- bers of one extremely diverse species, Homo sapiens, a spe- cies in which individuals differ from each other in almost every possible character© such Jones as heigh &t, Bartlett athletic abi Learning,lity, intel- LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC ligence, health, talent, interNOTests, FOR goals, SALEambitions, OR spir DISTRIBUTIONituality, NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION and more. We know that we had ancient ancestors, hominids who preceded the first Homo sapiens, and we had ancient relatives such as Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man) and Homo habilis. These other members of Homo are extinct now, ©but Jones several &dist Bartlettant relatives Learning, such as chimpLLC anzees, © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC orangutans,NOT FORand gor SALEillas are ORpart DISTRIBUTIONof our evolutionary fam- NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION ily. Most of us are probably not too familiar with our own ecology except that we are social animals (we live in cities and do things in groups), we consume a large part of Earth’s © Jones &resources, Bartlett and Learning, produce harmful LLC pollution. © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC Beyond our knowledge of our own biology, most of us NOT FORare SALE also familiar OR DISTRIBUTION with the biology of other animals such asNOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION dogs, cats, mosquitoes, bees, whales, and so on. Even if this is the first biology book you have ever read, you are almost certainly a knowledgeable biologist already. FIGURE 2-1 Shoot tip of cottonwood (Populus deltoides) in late autumn. It has a Your knowledge of© anima Jonesl biolog &y Bartlett is an excel lentLearning, foun- LLCcentral stem with 15 leaves attached (only ©the petiolesJones are visible & Bartlett in this close-up Learning, LLC dation for learning about plant biology. Plant life is based on view); each petiole attaches to the stem at a node. Five nodes each contain one all the same fundamentalNOT prin ciplesFOR tha SALEt underlie OR the DISTRIBUTION lives of prominent axillary bud, each covered with NOTprotective FORbud scales. SALE The very tip OR of the DISTRIBUTION animals, fungi, and all other living beings. Of course, plants shoot has a terminal bud. Bud scales protect the delicate cells at the center of each do many things differently, but let your knowledge of your bud; after surviving the winter, these five axillary buds will grow and produce many own biology guide your study of plant biology. And always small flowers. In springtime, the terminal bud will grow as a continuation of the shoot, producing more leaves, nodes, and internodes, making the branch longer. keep ©the Jones two fund &amental Bartlett quest Learning,ions in mind: LLCWhat are the © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC alternatives? What are the consequences of each alternative? NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION microscopically small. Leaves vary greatly in shape and tex- ❚ Overview of Plant Structure ture and in being evergreen or deciduous, but the important thing is that almost all stems bear leaves; they are a part of Think about the many types of plants you know. Trees, the fundamental pattern of plant bodies. Hornworts and © Jones &garden Bartlett flowers, Learning, grass, bulbs, LLC cacti, and vines for example.© Jonessome &liverworts Bartlett are Learning, plants that nev LLCer produce any kind of NOT FORTremendous SALE OR diver DISTRIBUTIONsity is present, but if we examine each ofNOT leafFOR at all SALE (see Chapter OR DISTRIBUTION 20 for more details). these, we find they all share the same pattern of body organi- Another aspect of the fundamental organization of plants is zation. With only a few exceptions, the body of every plant is that almost all plants have roots (FIGURE 2-5). In almost all plants, organized in the following simple way. roots are confined to one end of the stem, but it is also common Almost every plant consists of one or several stems, each of which has leav©es Jonesattached &at regioBartlettns cal ledLearning, nodes LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC (FIGURE 2-1; TABLE 2-1). JustNOT above FOR the attSALEachment OR poin DISTRIBUTIONt is an NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION axillary bud, some of which develop into branches whereas TABLE 2-1 The Organs that Compose Most Plants others develop into flowers, but many axillary buds remain Vegetative organs Roots dormant and never do anything. Stems are typically slender, less than 5 mm in diameter, but wide ones occur in cacti and Stems © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLCFIGURE 2-2 © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC other desert plants that use them to store water ( ). Leaves SomeNOT stems FORare extrem SALEely sho ORrt, DISTRIBUTIONas in carrots and cabbage, NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION but vines and bamboo typically have extremely long stems. Reproductive organs of flowers Sepals Leaves too are diverse. They range in size from the Petals gigantic leaves of palms to ones that are merely large, as in Philodendron, down to ones that are small, such as those of Stamens © Jones &rosemary Bartlett (FIGURES Learning, 2-3, 2-4). LLC Although cacti are often said© Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC Carpels NOT FORto SALE be leafless, OR allDISTRIBUTION have tiny foliage leaves that are almosNOTt FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION 20 Chapter 2: Overview of Plant Life © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION. © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION FIGURE© 2- 2Jones Like many plants& Bartlett adapted to deserts, Learning, golden barrel cactus LLC (Echinocactus FIGURE 2-4 This© is Jones a very common & weed Bartlett in most gardens, Learning, and you may have LLC already grusoniiNOT) stores water FOR in very SALE broad stems ORcomposed DISTRIBUTION of thousands of water-filled cells. spent some timeNOT pulling it up.FOR It is in theSALE genus Chamaesyce OR DISTRIBUTION, and plants tend to grow Spines prevent animals from eating the cactus to obtain water. Because the stem is so flat against the ground, often with a circular form only a few centimeters in diameter. broad, it is exceptionally heavy, so succulent plants typically branch much less than These leaves are tiny, only about 1 mm across. The plant is covered in flowers, plants of non-succulent plants: This plant has only one stem, somewhat like the single stem of Chamaesyce bloom even while only a few weeks old; each flower here is emerging from a palm tree.