PLANTS

How Plants
Survive?
Plants, like any other life forms, must
continue to exist because they are
necessary to support the existence of
other organisms on Earth surface.

They equally important because they

help maintain the stability of the
environment.
To accomplish the survival, plants undergo
different biological processes such as
nourishment and growth and development.
Plant Form
and
Function
 1. Leaf
The Internal Structure of Leaf
1. Spongy Mesophyll
-composed of loosely packed cells covered by
thin of water.
2. Stomata
-Gas exchange is facilitated by tiny pores
- most of them found in lower epidermis
-Stomata are open in the morning and closes
during the night.
3. Guard cells
- regulates opening and closing of the
stomata.
2. The Roots
- Absorb the water.
a. Root hairs
-increases the surface are of the
root, causing it to become more
efficient.
Type of Root System
1. Tap root system
-has only one main root system
where smaller branches of roots
emerge.
2. Fibrous root system
-having mass of similarly sized roots.
 3. The Vascular Tissue
a. Xylem
-responsible for transport of
water and nutrients in
plants.
-water moves up the plant
against gravity tubes.
Transpiration
-the evaporation or diffusion
of water on the surface of
mesophyll cells going out of
the leaf.
Factors affecting the transpiration rate
a. Light – increases transpiration
b. Temperature- high temp. increases
evaporation and diffusion.
c. Wind – causes transpiration to become faster
by removing water vapor quickly.
d. Humidity – high humidity slows down
transpiration.
b. Phloem
- responsible for the transport of sugar and
other organic materials in the plants.
Plant Barriers
a. Cutin
- lipi-based macromolecules found in the
most above ground part.
b. Suberin
- found on underground parts, woody stem
and healed wound of plants.
c. Waxes
- synthesized by the epidermal cells.
d. Thorns
-modified branches with sharp, pointed
appearance.
e. Spines
-modified leaves that are also sharp and
pointed
f. Trichomes
-stinging hairs on the plant, most of the time
causes irritation on the skin.
Plants Growth and Development
Germination
-the development of a plant from a seed or
spore after a period of dormancy.
Cotyledons
-embryonic leaves develop in embryo.
1. Monocot
- produce only one cotyledon
2. Dicot
-produce two cotyledons
 Plant Hormones
1. Gibberellins:
-Promote stem elongation
2. Cytokinins:
-stimulate cell division in root and shoot
meristems
3. Auxins:
-affect lengthening of stems and coleoptiles
(the protective cylinder that covers and
protects the tender leaves during
germination)
4. Abscisic Acid (ABA)
-inhibits cell growth, helps prevent water
loss (by promoting stomata closure), and
promoting seed and bud dormancy.
5. Ethylene
-stimulates the ripening of fruit and is used
commercially for this purpose.
What are Tropisms?
A plant tropisms is a growth response
– Evidenced by a turning of a root or shoot toward
or away from an environmental stimulus
 Types of Tropisms
1. Gravitropisms:
-the growth response to gravity– shoots grow
up, roots grow down.
2. Phototropisms:
-a growth response to light
3. Thigmotropism
-shift in growth triggered by physical
contact with surrounding objects.
 Growing without seeds
• It’s called vegetative reproduction and occurs
with roots stems or leaves.
Runner
• Horizontal above
ground stem that
helps the plant
spread within an
area.
Bulb
• Very short stem with
thick fleshy leaves
Corm
• Very short thick
underground stem
with thin scaly leaves
Rhizome
• Horizontal
underground stem
Tuber
• Swollen fleshy
underground stem
Flower parts • Petals attract pollinators;
collectively known as corolla
• Sepal protects the flower;
collectively known as calyx
• Stamen is the male reproductive
organ. It consist of filament or
stalk where the anther hold the
pollen attached to its highest
point.
• Pistil is female organ that has
stigma to catch pollen to send
down pollen tube to ovary (ovule)
& style protrudes from the ovary
• Receptacle structure that holds all
organs of a flower