Bontany and Basic Plant Science
Plant Science Botany and Basic Plant Science Adapted from the Texas Master Gardener Manual Curtis W. Smith, Extension Horticulture Specialist Plant science or botany is the study Angiosperms are all flowering plants, and gymno- of plants. Horticulture, on the other sperms are cone-bearing plants (though the cones hand, along with agronomy and may not look like cones as with junipers and ginko). other applied sciences, is the applica- Angiosperms are further divided into monocotyle- tion of that knowledge to accomplish dons (monocots) and dicotyledons (dicots). an economic or aesthetic purpose. Although monocots and dicots are similar in many Botany consists of several subsciences: ways, there are differences in seed leaf number, flower part numbers, leaf vein patterns, and root • taxonomy, naming and classifying plants structures. Also there are physiological differences, such as the plant’s response to weed killers. • morphology, descriptions and structures, includes anatomy All plants are classified further by the number of growing seasons required to complete a life cycle. • physiology, the inner workings of plants Annuals pass through their entire life cycle, from seed germination to seed production, in one growing • genetics, plant breeding season, and then die. • ecology, biological relationships in the environ- Biennials are plants that start from seeds. They ment produce vegetative structures and food storage organs in the first season. During the first winter, a hardy • autecology, individual organisms and their interac- evergreen rosette of basal leaves persists. During the tion with the physical environment second season, flowers, fruit and seed develop to complete the life cycle. The plant then dies. Carrots, • synecology, interactions with other biological beets, cabbage, celery and onions are biennial plants systems that produce seed by flowers that develop in the second growth year.
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