Morphology in Flowering Plants Notes

Introduction:

• Plant morphology:(morphe-form, logos-study)
• It may be defined as the branch of botany that deals with the study of the external structure of the plant-like roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, etc., and their modifications.
• The wide range in the structure of higher plants will never fail to fascinate us.
• Even though the angiosperms show such a large diversity in external structure or morphology, they are all characterised by presence of roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits.
  
  
   
• Morphology plays an important role in identifying plants.
• Classification is done also by knowing the morphology of plants.
• It also provides us with range of variations found in different species of plants.
• Morphology helps us to understand different aspects of plant life-like ecology, genetics etc.
• Plant Breeding, crop protection, and crop productivity only depend on morphological characteristics like size, shape, thickness and orientation of leaves, number of flowering shoots, etc.
• It also indicates the structural adaptations of plants to their environment like storage, protection, climbing, etc.
• Plants that have morphological peculiarities are adopted by horticulture for growth in gardens, park, etc.

In this chapter we will learn about the morphology of different plant parts which will cover the following main concepts:

• The Root:
• The Stem:
• The Leaf
• The Inflorescence
• The Flower
• The Fruit
• Types of Fruit
• Classification of fruits
• The Seed
• Semi-Technical Description of a Typical Flowering Plant
• Fabaceae/Pulse family
• Solanaceae/ Vegetable family
• Liliaceae/ Lily family

Quiz

1. Pineapple (ananas) fruit develops from
(1) A unilocular polycarpellary flower
(2) A multipistillate syncarpous flower
(3) A cluster of compactly borne flowers on a common axis
(4) A multilocular monocarpellary flower

2. In which of the following fruits the edible part is the aril ?
(1) Custard apple
(2) Pomegranate
(3) Orange
(4) Litchi

3. In unilocular ovary with a single ovule the placentation is
(1) Axile
(2) Marginal
(3) Basal
(4) Free Central

4. The technical term used for the androecium in a flower of China rose (Hibiscus rosasinensis) is
(1) Polyadelphous
(2) Monoadelphous
(3) Diadelphous
(4) Polyandrous

5. Ovary is half-inferior in the flowers of
(1) Cucumber
(2) Guava
(3) Plum
(4) Brinjal

6. Keel is characteristic of the flowers of
(1) Bean
(2) Gulmohur
(3) Cassia
(4) Calotropis

7. Placentation in tomato and lemon is
(1) Marginal
(2) Axile
(3) Parietal
(4) Free central

8. Vexillary aestivation is characteristic of the family
(1) Solanaceae
(2) Brassicaceae
(3) Fabaceae
(4) Asteraceae

9. Phyllode is present in
(1) Australian Acacia
(2) Opuntia
(3) Asparagus
(4) Euphorbia

10. How many plants in the list given below have composite fruits that develop from an inflorescence?
Walnut, poppy, radish, fig, pineapple, apple, tomato, mulberry
(1) Two
(2) Three
(3) Four
(4) Five

Answer Key:

1. (3)
2. (4)
3. (3)
4. (2)
5. (3)
6. (1)
7. (2)
8. (3)
9. (1)
10. (2)