BOTANY midterm

To explore the world's botanical diversity and learn how "plants" are put together, how they live, how they evolved to be what they are, and what they do in nature

• Sedentary
• Lack organized sense organs, yet sense environment 
• Respond to environment
• Do many things that few other organisms can do

Basic structural unit of living organisms

Aggregation of cells with common function

Major structure composed of different tissue systems

cellulose; all carbs

Strong, flexible, digestible; most abundant organic molecule on Earth

hard; inflexible (cell wall)

flexible; water soluble (cell wall)

Double membrane inside cell wall; regulates passage of some solutes in and out of cell

strands of cytoplasm connecting adjacent cells; allow material to pass from cell-cell without crossing any membranes

membrane-bound; contains genetic material (DNA in chromosomes); regulates cell function

• All material between cell membrane and nucleus; metabolically active; includes:
• chloroplasts
• mitchondria
• vacuole

site of photosynthesis

site of respiration

large, membrane-bound pocket of water and dissolved material (>90% of most cells)

rigid porous; outermost boundary of cells

• 8 main types in flowering plants, vary in the following characteristics, which are all functionally related:
• shape
• cell wall characteristics
• living/dead when functionally mature
• location
• function

• Shape: variable
• living
• located throughout
• metabolism function
• storage, conduction and wound healing
• (most common, all purpose, living cell)

• shape: elongated
• living
• located beneath plant surface
• function: support in primary plant body 
• strong but flexible - able to stretch

• variable shape
• living/dead
• located throughout 
• mechanical and protective function

• shape: very long
• daed
• located in xylem, phloem, and elsewhere
• support function
• major component of wood

• shape: elongated, tapering
• dead
• located in xylem
• water conduction and support function
• major component of wood

• Shape: elongated 
• Perforations
• daed
• located in xylem
• water conduction and support function

• elongated
• living, lacks nucleus
• located in the phloem
• food conduction function

• Elongated
• living
• located in phloem
• load/unload sieve tube member function