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Basic Botany Basic Botany fairchild tropical botanic garden Table of Contents Botany Defined..................................................................page 2 Plant Systematics.......................................................................3 Plant Taxonomy.........................................................................4 Plant Morphology-leaves, stems & roots.....................................7 Leaf Classification......................................................................9 Plant Cytology-cell structure....................................................11 The Vascular System................................................................13 Plant Anatomy.........................................................................14 Plant Physiology-photosynthesis..............................................18 Plant Ecology-modifications.....................................................21 Plant Morphology-flowers........................................................23 Plant Cytology-meiosis & mitosis............................................24 Pollination & Fertilization........................................................25 Plant Ecology-pollination syndromes.......................................26 Plant Morphology-flower dissection.........................................27 Kitchen Botany.........................................................................28 Fruit Types...............................................................................29 Plant Ecology-seed dispersal....................................................31 Plant Physiology-germination...................................................32 fairchild tropical botanic garden Botany Defined What is botany? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines botany as “a branch of biology dealing with plant life”. The Botanical Society of America defines botany as “the scientific study of plants”. What do botanists do? The field is very broad (there are so many aspects of plants to study) and scientists in botany focus on either specific plant groups or plant processes. Some botanists work in labs on cellular research while others work outdoors creating inventories and con- ducting very large scale investigations. Plant biology specialties include anatomy, biochemistry, phytochemistry, biophysics, cytology, ecology, genetics, molecular biology, morphology, paleobotany, physiology, systematics, systems ecology and taxonomy (Botanical Society of America, 2011). Applied Plant Sciences: Agriculture-the science, art, or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising live- stock and in varying degrees the preparation and marketing of the resulting products (Merriam- Webster, 2011) Agronomy-crop and soil sciences. Agronomists make practical use of plant and soil sciences to increase the yield of field crops. Biotechnology-using biological organisms to produce useful products. Plant biotechnology in- volves inserting desirable genes into plants and having those genes expressed. Breeding-development of better types of plants. Breeding involves selecting and crossing plants with desirable traits such as disease resistance. Economic Botany-plants with commercial importance. Economic botany includes the study of harmful and beneficial plants and plant products. Forestry-forest management for the production of timber, and conservation. Horticulture-the production of ornamental plants and fruit and vegetable crops. Landscape design is also an important subdiscipline in horticulture. Plant Pathology-diseases of plants. Plant pathologists are concerned with both the biological as- pects of disease and with disease management, or control. 2 Plant Systematics (Systematics is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among plants) 3 Plant Systematics continued Plant Taxonomy - scientific names (Taxonomy is the study of identifying, naming and classifying plants) Individual (scientific) Theobroma cacao L. Zamia integrifolia L.f. (common) Cacao Coontie Classification Kingdom Plantae (plants) Plantae Division (Phylum) Trachyophyta (vascular plants) Cycadophyta Class Angiospermae (flowering plants) Cycadopsida Order Malvales Cycadales Family Malavaceae (hibiscus family) Zamiaceae Genus (pl. genera) Theobroma Zamia Species cacao integrifolia Authority L. (Linnaeus) L.f. Just remember: King David Came Over For Good Soup Other terms Hybrids Subspecies: subsp. Species hybrid: Variety: var. Cattleya skinneri X guatemalensis Cultivar (cultivated variety): Variety hybrid: cv “Malay dwarf” or “big boy” Maypan (Malay dwarf X Panama tall) 4 Plant Taxonomy - scientific names The purpose of the Latin or scientific name of a plant is to provide some information that distin- guishes it from other plants. The specific epithet applied to the plant is often helpful in describing the plant. The specific epithet can tell us the color of the flowers, the height of the plant, whether the leaves are long and thin or short and fat, whether the plant is prickly, where it comes from (which might give us a clue as to how hardy it is), what sort of conditions it occurs in naturally, whether it's a climber or creeping, whether it's deciduous, has a bulb, is edible - or whatever else the person who found it thought most remarkable, noteworthy and unique about it. Like many other languages, Latin assigns genders to all its nouns and adjectives have to agree with the gender of the noun they describe. In plant names, therefore, those that are deemed masculine will end in -us, those that are feminine will end in -a, and those that are neutral will end in -um (plus some odd ones with other endings). To simplify things, only the feminine endings have been used here, but if you come across a plant with much the same name, but ending in -us or -um, the meaning is similar. These are some of the specific epithets often applied to plants we grow in our gardens, specific epithets are always written in Latin. alba = white glabra = smooth alpina = from the alps grandiflora = large-flowered altissima = tallest integrifolia = entire, undivided (leaves) america = from America japonica = from Japan arctica = from the arctic lanceolata = lance-shaped (leaves) argentea = silvery macrophylla = with large leaves aurea = golden, yellow mexicana = from Mexico azurea = blue microphylla = with small leaves borealis = from the north officinalis = with herbal uses caerulea = blue pendula = hanging campanulata = campanulate, like a bell quercifolia = oak-leaved canadensis = from Canada rotundifolia = round-leaved chilensis = from Chile rubra = red chinensis = from China sativa = cultivated coccinea = red semperviva = perennial densiflora = dense-flowered stellata = starry flava = yellow sylvestris = of woods foetida = with an unpleasant smell tomentosa = tomentose, woolly gigantea = giant trifoliata = trifoliate, with three-lobed leaves Courtesy of The Seed Site Notes: 5 Plant Taxonomy - plant labels Laminated label Common name Family Scientific name - Genus and species Native range Metal “credit card” label Accession number: 2010 means this plant was acquired in 2010 0409 means it was the 409th plant to be acquired in 2010 F means that this individual was the 6th plant of that group 6 Plant Morphology - vocabulary (Plant morphology is the study of macroscopic plant forms such as leaves and roots) Shoot System Root System Stem: Node Primary root or tap root Internode Lateral (branch) root Adventitious root Buds: Apical Bud Apical meristem (growing point) Vascular Tissues Axillary Bud (lateral bud) Xylem (wood): water movement Phloem (inner bark): food movement Leaf: Blade Cork (outer bark) Petiole Stipule Plant Growth Embryo Simple Leaf Germination Compound Leaf: Pinnate or Palmate Seedling Leaf arrangement (at each node): Primary growth (elongation) Alternate Secondary growth (thickening): Opposite Vascular cambium (wood & bark) Whorled Cork cambium (cork) 7 Plant Morphology -leaves, stems, roots Shoot Tip (Terminal Bud) Young Leaf Epidermis Flower Bud Node Node Vascular Tissues Seeds (inside fruit) Ground Tissues Withered Cotyledon SHOOT ROOT Lateral Root Root Hairs Root Tip Root Cap Courtesy of University of Illinois at Chicago 8 Leaf Classification Though it is easier to identify most plants from their flowers or fruits, some plants can easily be identified by their leaves. To identify a plant based on its leaves, you must recognize the diversity of leaf types and know the terminology for different leaf patterns, shapes and arrangements. Simple leaf pattern Simple leaves are whole, undivided leaves growing from a bud on the stem. The node is the place on the stem where the leaves are attached. You will always find a bud at a node, which is the grow- ing point. Courtesy of http://hubpages.com Leaf arrangement Nodes can have one leaf or many leaves, often in the following arrangements: (one leaf per node) (two leaves per node) (three or more leaves/node) Courtesy of University of Minnesota 9 Leaf Classification continued Compound leaf patterns Compound leaves are divided into leaflets, growing from one axillary bud on the stem. Courtesy of http://forestry.about.com 10 Plant Cytology (Plant cytology is the study of plant cells-their structure, function and life history) Plant cells differ in several ways from animal cells, but the most obvious difference is the pres- ence of a cell wall, which animal cells lack. This wall helps in maintaining the structure of the plant. The chloroplasts within the cell are the site of photosynthesis. The large vacuole performs several functions,
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