Botany
Chapter 1
Introduction to Plant Biology
Objective #1

Explain the ecological role of plants with
regard to the atmosphere, energy flow, and the
structural components of life.
Objective #2

List and describe several ways in which plants
have contributed to the evolution of human
civilization
Objective #3
Explain several
ways modern
human society
depends upon
plants. Include
examples of how
biotechnology
can be used to
enhance the
benefit of plants
to humanity
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfeTtsaZ0pQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWQddH_05Gg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPRqRjCT_vE
Objective #4

Describe the distinguishing features of the
kingdom Plantae
Objective #5

Categorize the
major plant taxa,
giving examples.
◦ Distinguish
bryophytes from
the vascular
plants
◦ Distinguish
between seed
plants and
seedless vascular
plants
◦ Distinguish
between
flowering and
nonflowering
vascular plants
And now, some video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4L3r
_XJW0I
Algae
•Plantlike (autotrophic) protists
•Unicellular or Colonial
•Aquatic (live in water)
The Chlorophytes (green algae) appear to be
ancestral to the plants
Terrestrial (Land) Plants

The move from aquatic habitat to land
creates a number of problems:
◦ Protection against drying
◦ Transport of sperm to egg
◦ Structural support

Plants that have specialized adaptations to
solve these problems can live in drier
environments, while those that do not are
restricted to moist environments
Protection against drying
Water loss in
plants is called
Transpiration
 Terrestrial plants
are protected
against
transpiration by:

◦ Epidermis
◦ Waxy “cuticle”
◦ Stomata
Transport of sperm to egg
Algae and aquatic plants, since they live in
water, have a natural unbroken water
pathway for sperm to swim to the egg
 Seedless plants can only reproduce
sexually under moist conditions. The
“gametophyte” is low to the ground and
only grows in moist habitats
 Seed plants are less restricted because
they provide an internal water pathway in
a specialized “pollen tube”

Structural Support

Algae and aquatic plants are supported by
the buoyancy of the water they live in.
◦ Bryophytes, which lack strong supportive
tissues, are very small and low to the ground
◦ Tracheophytes, supported by a series of
hollow tubes with thickened cell walls, can
grow much taller
Bryophytes
•Lack vascular tissue
•Reproduce with spores
Mosses
Liverworts
Tracheophytes – Vascular plants

Vascular tissue provides advantages
◦ Efficient transport of water and nutrients
◦ Structural support
Vascular Seedless Plants
Ferns and Horsetails
•Have vascular tissue
•Reproduce with Spores
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN8c_X0LNcg
Seed Plants
Seeds provide many advantages over spores
• Stored food
• Protection
• Mechanisms for dispersal
Conifers – Pine seeds
Flowering Plants –
Apple seeds
Gymnosperms (Conifers)
Vascular, seed
producing plants
 “naked seed” – seeds
are not completely
enclosed by the
ripened ovary
 Generally have
needle-like (pines) or
scale-like (cedars)
leaves

Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)
Vascular seed plants
 Have a wide variety
of adaptations for
transferring pollen
 Seeds mature inside
of the ripened ovary
of the flower, forming
“fruit” which
protects, nourishes,
and aids dispersal of
the seeds

Objective #6

Identify several
subdisciplines within
the field of botany

Systematics
◦ Classification and
Taxonomy

Physiology
◦ Function

Anatomy
◦ Structure

Morphology
◦ Life Cycles

Ecology
◦ Interactions

Genetics
◦ Heredity
Vocabulary List

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Alkaloids
Primary producer
Autotroph
Heterotroph
Eukaryote
Prokaryote

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Indeterminate
growth
Determinate growth
Bryophyte
Vascular tissue
Seed
Gymnosperm
Angiosperm