Plant Characteristics

Vocabulary

1. Alternation of Generations

• A haploid plant (gametophyte) and a diploid plant (sporophyte) alternate to complete a plant’s life cycle.

5. Diploid

• (2N). A cell with two copies of each chromosome. The sporophyte generation and spores are diploid.

14. Haploid

• (1N). A cell with only 1 copy of each chromosome. The gametophyte generation and gametes are haploid.

16. Meiosis

• Cell reproductive process that yields four genetically unique haploid cells.

18. Mitosis

• Cell reproductive process that yields two genetically identical copies of cells.

11. Gamete

• Egg or sperm. Haploid.

25. Spore

• A haploid cell that grows into the gametophyte.

8. Fertilization

• The fusing of a haploid egg and haploid sperm to produce a unique diploid zygote/embryo.

29. Zygote

• The single diploid cell resulting from the fertilization of an egg cell by a sperm cell.

6. Embryo

• The diploid result of fertilization of two gametes. Develops into the sporophyte.

12. Gametophyte

• The haploid generation in a plant’s life cycle that produces gametes.

10. Gametangium

• Tissue in gametophyte that produces gametes.

27. Sporophyte

• The diploid generation in a plant’s life cycle that produces haploid spores.

24. Sporangium

• Tissue in sporophyte that produces spore cells

3. Bryophyte

• Mosses, liverworts and hornworts. Gametophyte is dominant generation. Sporophyte often dependent on gametophyte. No vascular system, leaves or roots. Spread by spores. Relies on water for sperm to travel.

22. Rhizoid

• The root-like supportive structures of moss and other non-vascular plants.

7. Fern (and fern allies)

• Have vascular system, true roots, leaves (called fronds) and stems. Sporophyte and gametophyte generations live independently. Spread by spores. Relies on water for sperm to travel.

9. Frond

• Fern leaf that starts as a “fiddlehead.” Often have sporangia on back.

13. Gymnosperm

• Pines, cycad, ginkgo. Gametophyte generation is tiny and lives within the cone. Pollen travels by wind. Embryo contained in a seed.

21. Pollen

• Houses male gametophyte that produces sperm in seed plants.

23. Seed

• Gymnosperm and angiosperm structure for dispersal. Contains an embryo, stored food and a seed coat.

2. Angiosperm

• Flowering plant. Gametophyte tiny and lives in the flower of a sporophyte. Produce seeds surrounded by fruit. Often pollinated and dispersed by animals.

4. Carpel

• The female part of a flower (all the carpels together make a pistil). Contains an ovary with the gametophyte that produces egg cells.

19. Ovary

• The female reproductive organ of angiosperms where eggs develop. Becomes the fruit surrounding the seeds.

28. Stamen

• The male reproductive structure of angiosperms that produce pollen.

20. Photosynthesis

• The process by which plants convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. Captures the sun’s energy making it available to all life.