PLANT STRUCTURE

The Root System

Refers to the over all mass of underground
roots of plant.
FUNCTIONS OF ROOT
Anchor the plant in soil
Absorb water and dissolved minerals from the soil.
Storage of food
Conduction transport water and dissolved nutrients to and
from the shoot.

PRIMARY ROOT

Underground extension of the stem resulting from
growth of the radicle.
SECONDARY ROOT

Offshoot growing out of the
primary root.
ROOT HAIRS
Root cell extensions that ensure the provision of
water and mineral salts; they increase the surface
area available for absorbing nutrients.
TYPES OF ROOTS
TAPROOT SYSTEM characteristic of dicotyledonous plants.
- the primary root continuous to grow and
send out lateral smaller roots.
FIBROUS DIFFUSE ROOT SYSTEM - characteristic of
monocotyledonous plants.
- the primary root stops
growing and numerous adventitious roots grow and develop
from the base of the stem and take the place of primary roots.

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TYPES OF SPECIALIZED OR MODIFIED
ROOTS
Aerial roots
are short roots above the ground.
Prop roots
roots arising from the lower parts of corn stalks.
CONTRACTILE ROOT
thickened specialized root at the base of
a corm, bulb,rosette or other organ which is
designed to shrink vertically under conditions of
seasonal drought that helps position this plant part
at an appropriate level in theground.

STORAGE ROOTS

Root which stores plant food in the form of starchy
carbohydrate.

Shoot System
Refers to the stem ,leaves, flower and fruits

Stem
FUNCTIONS OF STEM
Store minerals

Support leaves

Transport water and solutes between roots and leaves.

Produce carbohydrates.

EXTERNAL STRUCTURE
nodes- slightly enlarged portion where leaves and buds arise.
internodes - region between two successive nodes
bud - contains apical meristem and newly-forming leaves
axillary bud - bud that appears where an older leaf attaches to
the stem; a twig will grow out of it.
Lenticel tiny raised pores on the surface of matured dicot
stem for gas exchange.


Types of stems
stolons (runners)- horizontal, aboveground- strawberries
rhizomes- horizontal, underground; responsible for rapid
spread of many weeds
tubers- enlarged tips of rhizomes; food storage- potato
corms- underground, short, thick, vertical; food storage-
gladiolus
bulbs- underground with thick, fleshy leaves- onion

Leaves
function in photosynthesis
MODIFICATION OF LEAVES
Tendrils
Modified leaves that curl around more rigid objects helping the
plant to climb or support weak stems.
Spines, Thorns, and Prickles
Spines - Modified leaves designed to reduce water loss and
protect from herbivory.
Thorns - Modified stems arising in the axils of leaves of woody
plants.
Prickles - Outgrowths from the epidermis or cortex.

Bracts are floral leaves that form at the base of a flower or flower
stalk. They are usually small and scalelike, and protect
developing flowers.


Storage leaves-flowerpot leaves are typically of rosette plants,
and such epiphytes. They are packed tightly into a flower potlike
structure that catches falling water and debris.


TENDRILS
Spines, Thorns and
Prickles
Bracts
Water and Mineral Trapping Leaves
Storage Leaves
Leaves as Agents of Reproduction

FLOWERS

reproductive part of most plants
Bracts grow just below the blossoms of certain plants. Most
bracts are smaller and simpler in shape than a plant's regular
leaves. Many members of the daisy family-including daisies,
goldenrods, marigolds, and sunflowers-have bracts. These
bracts form a cup beneath the plant's cluster of flowers. A few
kinds of plants, such as the flowering dogwood and poinsettia,
have large, showy bracts. These bracts look like part of the
flower, but they are not.


Insect-capturing leaves. Carnivorous (meat-eating) plants, such as the butterwort,
pitcher plant, sundew, and Venus's-flytrap, have leaves that capture insects. These
leaves, like other leaves, can make food using sunlight. But they also have features
that attract, trap, and then digest insects. Plants with insect-capturing leaves grow in
wetlands, where the soil contains little nitrogen. They obtain this necessary nutrient
from the captured insects. For a description of these plants and their leaves. << ---
Next>>>


Tendrils are slender, whiplike structures that help hold climbing
plants in place. They wrap around twigs, wires, and other solid
objects. Among many climbing plants, specialized leaves serve
as tendrils. For example, climbing garden peas have
compound leaves in which the upper leaflets are threadlike
tendrils. In one kind of sweet pea, a garden flower, the entire
leaf blade becomes a tendril. The plant's stipules enlarge and
take over the food-making job. In the greenbrier vine, the
stipules form long, curving tendrils.
Storage leaves. Most plants store food in their roots or stems.
However, some plants have special leaves that hold extra food.
Onion and tulip bulbs, for example, consist mainly of short, fat
storage leaves called bulb scales. These leaves cannot make food.
Their job is to store food underground during the winter months.

BULB. Many plants that grow in dry places have thick leaves that
store water. The mosslike stonecrop plants that grow on rocky cliffs
in the Southwestern United States have such leaves.


Protective leaves include bud scales, prickles, and spines. As
described earlier, bud scales are specialized leaves that protect
the young, undeveloped tissues of the bud. Bud scales are short
and broad, and they overlap like roof shingles. In many plants, the
bud scales have an outer layer of waterproof cells. Prickles and
spines are sharp leaf structures that protect the plant from being
eaten. For instance, prickles cover the leaves of the Canada
thistle. The prickles protect the plant from grazing animals. Many
cactuses have clusters of spines. In many species of cactuses,
the pointed spines replace the leaves on the mature plants. In
these plants, the green stem has the job of photosynthesis.
Some leaves have special functions along with or instead
of food making. Such specialized leaves include (1)
protective leaves, (2) storage leaves, (3) tendrils, (4)
bracts, and (5) insect-capturing leaves.
External Features
Leaf blade Flattened part of the leaf
Petiole Leaf stalk
Stipules Leaf-like appendages at the base of the leaf.