Basic Botany Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pollination

Pollen grains are called microspores. They are produced in large numbers by seed plants (and some other plants which I won't go into here). These pollen grains are produced in pollen sacs called anthers. Pollination is the means of transferring the pollen of plants to other compatible plants of the same type. Biotic pollination is performed by insects, especially bees, as well as by birds, bats and some other animals. There is also cross-pollination, self-pollination, hand pollination and wind pollination.
Life cycle summary = pollination.

Answer: Stamen

The stamen is the male reproductive organ of a flowering plant. It consists of a fine stalk called a filament and the pollen sac which is called the anther. The microspores of pollen are transferred across to the carpel (the female reproductive organ) usually of a different plant of the same type.

This process is called sexual reproduction. There can also be asexual reproduction. Taking cuttings of plants and planting them to grow is one example of asexual reproduction. The calyx is the outmost part of a flower.

A frond is a large leaf like those of ferns.

Answer: Fertilization

The pollen grains go into the carpel, the female organ of the plant. From each pollen grain, a tube grows towards the ovary at the base of the carpel. Here there is at least one ovule which contains the embryo sac with the female cells. Male (sperm) and female cells, both called gametes, fuse together which will then form a zygote, a new cell. This process is called fertilization, an essential process in any form of sexual reproduction, whether plant or animal. What happens to this new cell, the zygote, is the subject of the next question.
Life cycle summary = pollination > fertilization.

Answer: Seed

After fertilization, the reproductive process is finished as the new cell, the zygote, inside the ovary, has grown to form a seed. The seed is composed of an embryo from which a new plant can be formed. It is also composed of food tissue surrounded by the testa which is a hard, dry covering used to protect the inside of the seed.

This growth, or ripening, has taken place along with the growth of the parent plant.

Answer: Fruit

The ripened ovary of a flower is called the fruit, but the fruit may also contain other parts of the flower. Fruit can be classified as either dry or succulent (fleshy). The structure of the fruit is related to the method of seed dispersal of the plant. Simply, animals disperse succulent fruit seeds; dehiscent fruits (such as legumes) split so that the seeds fall on the ground; other dry fruits are dispersed by wind or water.

Life cycle summary = pollination > fertilization > ripening.

Answer: Hesperidium

Hesperidium is a type of modified berry with a leathery rind. The seeds are inside the segments of the fruit. Citrus fruits, such as oranges, grapefruits and lemons, are good examples of these. Drupes, such as plums and cherries, contain a hard stone. Pepos, such as cucumbers and melons, are also succulent fruits with a hard rind. Samara, nut and folicle are all dry fruits.

Answer: Dispersal

Seeds need to disperse away from the parent plant so that a new plant may eventually grow from each of those seeds. Dispersion can be caused by gravity, such as when fruit falls off a tree. It can also be caused by animals, fires, water, wind and even by the heat of the sunlight causing pods to burst open causing their seeds to disperse. Eventually the original plant dies ending its own life cycle, but the seeds bring new life elsewhere.
Life cycle summary = pollination > fertilization > ripening > dispersal.

Answer: First outward signs of growth of a seed

Germination is the first outward sign of the growth of a seed. In some climates, especially where there is a cold season, this does not happen soon after dispersal. There is often a period of time when the seed lies dormant until the right conditions stimulate the germination process.

This dormancy is called after-ripening. Germination depends on such factors as water, oxygen, temperature, the right location (such as soil), gravity and the right proportion light and dark. The root of the embryo, called the radicle, of the seed is the first to emerge through the testa (the hard covering). Life cycle summary = pollination > fertilization > ripening > dispersal > possible after-ripening > germination.

Answer: Photosynthesis

After germination, the nutrients that were already locked inside the seed will have been used up and the new plant will grow stems, leaves and roots using nutrients from outside itself. Water and essential minerals are absorbed through the roots; the light energy from sunlight and carbon dioxide are absorbed by green plants mainly through leaves.

The mechanism by which the energy from sunlight is used by green plants to produce glucose is called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is a pigment in chloroplasts which are organelles in plant cells. Chlorophyll absorbs the blue-violet and red light during photosynthesis, but it reflects green light. That is why most plants appear green. Simply, carbon dioxide and water are converted into glucose and oxygen (formula 6C02 + 6H20 > C6H1206 +6O2). Glucose is processed to become carbohydrates, proteins, fats and other compounds. Photosynthesis is really much more complex than this, but all we need to say here is that plants are the producers of carbon, energy and nutrients in forms that are necessary for life on Earth.

Answer: Yes

Respiration is the mechanism by which plants and animals release the energy that they have stored as food molecules. This released energy is used by the plant's cells for its growth and metabolism and for keeping it alive. Respiration happens at night when it is dark, when the plant absorbs oxygen and converts glucose into pyruvate (glycolysis)and then converts pyruvate into carbon dioxide, water and ATP (Krebs cycle - also called the citric acid cycle). Again, it is more complex than described here.

Life cycle summary = pollination > fertilization > ripening > dispersal > possible after-ripening > germination > growth.

Answer: Transport water and minerals from the roots and help support the plant

Roots have hairs on them to increase the surface area and to maximise the absorption of water and minerals from the soil. Roots also act as an anchor for the plant to hold it in position. Water and dissolved minerals are absorbed through the roots of a plant.

The xylem vessels are dead, hollow cells in vascular plants. They carry the water and minerals up to the leaves and help to support the plant.

Answer: Deciduous

Deciduous plants need to shed their leaves at certain times of the year due to seasonal changes in the climate such as before winter, or during a dry spell. This shedding of leaves is called abscission. In autumn (fall), the amount of sunlight for photosynthesis decreases and the plant absorbs less water as a result.

In dry seasons, there may be more sunlight, but there isn't enough water for successful photosynthesis. In autumn (fall) the amount of chlorophyll decreases and other substances which are yellow, orange and red make the leaves appear in those colours before abscission. Evergreen plants, such as conifers, keep their leaves all through the year.

Answer: Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo Biloba)

Angiosperms (such as the Crabapple, Willow and Laburnum) and gymnosperms (such as Ginkgo Biloba) are both types of seed plants unlike liverworts, mosses and hornworts, which have no seeds. Angiosperms are the flowering plants, the largest division (or phylum) in the plant kingdom. Angiosperms have the ovule and the seeds enclosed within the ovary, i.e. covered seeds.

In gymnosperms, the seeds are naked, such as cones on conifers, but these plants are still pollinated by insects or by the wind. The easiest way to remember which is which might be to invent a mnemonic, such as "Angela Flowers", which is really the name of an art gallery in London, so I can say to myself, "Angela Flowers = Angiosperms Flower".

Answer: Nitrates

The element nitrogen is found in all proteins and therefore in all amino acids. Proteins are organic compounds, found in all living things, and are also made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and some with sulphur. Nitrogen is released into the soil by the decay of dead plants and animals, by nitrogen-fixing bacteria, or when nitrogen in the atmosphere is combined with oxygen during a lightning strike.

They becomes oxides, which dissolve in rain and subsequently fall on the ground, fertilizing the soil.

A shortage of nitrates in the soil causes plants to have poor growth and pale yellow leaves.

Answer: Scent, structure, colours and nectar guides attract them

Nectar is a sugary fluid that is secreted by nectaries. A nectary is a glandular organ found mainly in flowers either in the tip of the flower stalk, or on the petals. Bees use nectar to produce honey for food. This nectar attracts bees by the use of scent indicating where the nectar is; by brighter colours of the flower petals even in some cases by reflecting ultra violet light, called nectar guides, which bees can see, but people cannot. Also some flowers are shaped like female bees to attract the males.

The by-product of this process is the pollination of the plants because insects that take the nectar will also take pollen grains with it. We have come full circle with the life cycle of the flowering plant, but eventually the original plant will die, decompose and then fertilize the new plants. Life cycle summary = pollination > fertilization > ripening > dispersal > possible after-ripening > germination > growth > flowering > (^pollination) > death > decomposition > fertilization.