Plant Biology: Identification and Function
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1. Is this plant a member of coniferophyta?
2. Provide the physiological and structural characteristics that allow the specimen collected to be classified as the represented phylum.
3. Discuss how this organism obtains and transports water
4. Discuss the acquisition and transportation of nutrients
5. Discuss how this organism exploits an energy source
6. Discuss the structural support of this organism
7. Discuss how this organism reproduces
8. Discuss how this organism disperses
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Solution Summary
This solution is comprised of a very detailed response of about 1100 words. A discussion of general plant biology concepts are discussed in terms of how they apply to the example being investigated in this question.
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1. Is this plant a member of coniferophyta?
Yes it is. It's a cedar or juniper.
2. Provide the physiological and structural characteristics that allow the specimen collected to be classified as the represented phylum.
How do we know? It has scale-like leaves, typical of the junipers and cedars. Both are types of conifers, which is a sub-group of the gymnosperms. Gymnosperms means "naked seeds," and the plants are so-called because they produce seeds on cones, not inside fruits, as do angiosperms. The seeds in gymnosperms are produced on the surface of sporophylls or other similar structures. The seed-bearing sporophylls are often spirally arranged in female cones, which develop on the sporophyte along with smaller male cones that produce the pollen grains.
The conifers are the largest and most significant group of the gymnosperms. Confers contain the pines, firs, spruces, hemlocks, redwoods, cedars, etc. Generally, there are two main types of conifers classified by the type/shape of the leaves. Conifers can have needle-like leaves such as pines, furs, spruce, etc. or they can have scale-like leaves such as in cedars and junipers. The ones shown in the picture are clearly scale-like.
3. Discuss how this organism obtains and transports water
This tree draws up water and minerals from its roots. Water and dissolved minerals enter the plant because there is a negative pressure inside the xylem tissue. The force of transpiration creates the negative pressure. That is, the evaporation of water from the surface of the leaves draws up water from the roots to the leaves through the capillary action and hydrogen-bonding of the water molecules. Remember, water and dissolved minerals are transported ...
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