Cool Things that Plants Do AP Biology - LAHS

Cool Things that Plants Do  1. Organ Modification  2. Movement  3. Clonal Colony  4. Grafting  5. Really really cool plants

1. Organ Modification  Plants have organs: stems, roots, leaves, etc.  All stems must have buds/leaves to be classified as stem tissue  Stolon: horizontal stem that is fleshy or semi-woody and lies along the top of the ground (strawberries)  Bulbs: shortened stems surrounded by fleshy scales (modified leaves) that envelop a central bud located at the tip of the stem (garlic, onion)

1. Organ Modification  Tubers: swollen portions of underground stems (stolons)  stems have nodes, and buds arise at nodes  Potatoes  Pneumatophores: spongy outgrowths of underwater roots (plants in swamps)  Facilitate oxygen supply

1. Organ Modification  Buttress Roots: provide stability  Parasitic Roots: stems that lack chlorophyll will produce roots that penetrate host plants

1. Organ Modification  Floral Leaves (bracts): surround the true flowers and perform the same function as showy petals  Poinsettias and dogwoods  Spines: reduction of leaf surface reduces water loss and deters predators  Not to be confused with thorns  cacti

1. Organ Modification  Floating Leaves: Water lilies  Evolved to have very large area to float on water  Victoria amazonica  Leaves can grow to over 2.5 m across  Network of protruding ribs on underside of leaf for buoyancy and stability The leaves are rumored to be able to hold a baby

1. Organ Modification  Insectivorous Leaves: leaves trap insects and digest their soft parts  plants that need nitrogen  Nutrients are absorbed through the leaf surface  Pitcher plants  Sundews  Venus Fly Trap  Almost 200 species of flowering plants that are insectivorous

2. Movement  Plants move via tropisms – slow movement  Plants move for other reasons and can be perceived with the naked eye – rapid plant movement  Venus fly trap  Mimosa  “Telegraph Plant”

2. Movement  Youtube Videos:  Moving Mimosa Plant   Venus Fly Trap  ature=fvwp ature=fvwp  Telegraph Plant “Dancing Plant” 

3. Clonal Colony  Genet: group of genetically identical individuals that grew vegetatively from a common ancestor  An individual of this population – ramet  Each colony shares single root structure  Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides): usually propagates through cloning

3. Clonal Colony  Quaking Aspen  Sexual reproduction not common, since all individuals are all only 1 sex  Pando “The Trembling Giant”  Utah  Heaviest known organism (est. 6,000 tons collectively)  107 acres  47,000 stems  Is claimed to be 80,000 yrs old

4. Really really cool plants  Rafflesia arnoldii (Corpse Flower)  Produces largest individual flower on earth  Flower smells like rotting flesh  Lives as a parasite  Has no visible roots/stems  Does not have chlorophyll  Only visible in flowering state  Attracts flies for pollination

4. Really really cool plants  Polypodium polypodioides  “Resurrection Fern”  Can survive long periods of drought by curling up and appearing desiccated  Will revive within 24 hours after soaking in water  Can survive an estimated 100 years of drought and still “resurrect” after a single soaking

4. Really really cool plants  Romanesco Broccoli  Brassica oleracea  Edible flower species  Varient of Cauliflower  Each bud has smaller buds that occur in a spiral  All buds together occur in an even larger spiral