Vascular Systems of Plants
phloem.
Xylem and phloem make up the big
transportation system of vascular plants. As you
get bigger, it is more difficult to transport
nutrients, water, and sugars around your body.
You have a circulatory system if you want to
keep growing. As plants evolved to be larger,
they also developed their own kind of
circulatory systems. The main parts you will
hear a lot about are called xylem and phloem.
It all starts with a top and a bottom. Logically, it
makes sense. Trees and other vascular
plants have a top and a bottom. The top has a
trunk, branches, leaves, or needles. The bottom
is a system of roots. Each needs the other to
survive. The roots hold the plant steady and
grab moisture and nutrients from the soil. The
top is in the light, conducting photosynthesis
and helping the plant reproduce. You have to
connect the two parts. That's where xylem and
phloem come in.
Zippy Xylem
The xylem of a plant is the system of tubes and
transport cells that circulates water and
dissolved minerals. As a plant, you have roots to
help you absorb water. If your leaves need
water and they are 100 feet above the ground, it
is time to put the xylem into action! Xylem is
made of vessels that are connected end to end
for the maximum speed to move water around.
They also have a secondary function of support.
When someone cuts an old tree down, they
reveal a set of rings. Those rings are the remains
of old xylem tissue, one ring for every year the
tree was alive.
Phloem Fun
The fun never stops in the plant's circulatory
system. Most plants have green leaves, where
the photosynthesis happens. When those
sugars are made, they need to be given to every
cell in the plant for energy. Enter phloem. The
phloem cells are laid out end-to-end throughout
the entire plant, transporting the sugars and
other molecules created by the plant. Phloem is
always alive. Xylem tissue dies after one year
and then develops anew (rings in the tree
trunk). What is the best way to think about
phloem? Think about sap coming out of a tree.
That dripping sap usually comes from the
Plant Reproduction - They'll Make More
If you are an organism, you will need
to reproduce. Otherwise, there will be no more
of your species and the species will die off. You
may have heard of endangered animals. There
are also endangered plants. These endangered
species have very few individuals left and
scientists/naturalists are working together to
make sure the species don't become extinct.
We talked a little about reproduction when we
discussed meiosis in the cells tutorials.
Reproduction is one of two things.
(1) One cell can split into two, giving you two
identical cells. That type is asexual
reproduction.
(2) The second type is when two cells, each with
half of the DNA needed, combine and create a
living cell. That type is sexual reproduction.
When plants hit a point in evolution, the second
is the one that occurs more often.
Making More Mosses
Sporophytes are the reproductive structures
you will find in mosses. They are actually a
phase of the moss life cycle that feeds off the
green parent plant (the gametophyte). The
sporophyte is a stalk that grows after the
haploid sperm of one moss plant is able to mix
with the haploid egg of a female moss plant.
The resulting diploid cell grows into the
sporophyte stalk. When ready, spores stored in
the sporophyte are released and they grow into
new moss plants.
Conifers and Their Cones
While there are male and female mosses,
conifers produce two types of cones on the
same tree. One of the cone types gives off
pollen (the staminate cone). The other type of
cone catches the pollen if the wind is moving in
the right direction. Better yet, the wind blows
the pollen to another conifer of the same
species, and a cone (called theovulate cone)
catches the pollen. Again, the pollen and
megaspore (receiving haploid cell) are haploid
and combine to form a diploid cell. That diploid
cell grows into a zygote (baby conifer) that
eventually lives in a seed.
Flowers and Pollen
The most advanced of the plants have their own
way of sexually reproducing. It is a very fancy
and very complex process. Plants that rely
on flowers for reproduction are also very
dependent on outside help such as insects and
animals. While conifers have the two structures
on one tree, flowering plants went one step
further and put the devices that make and
receive pollen in the same structure.
How does that help? A bee might go to one
flower and get a little pollen on its back. If it
goes to another flower of the same species,
that pollen can land on the stigma. From that
point, one haploid male nucleus combines with
a female nucleus and the other haploid male
nucleus combines with a polar nucleus. If
successful, an embryo andseed/fruit develop
respectively.
Different Parts = Different Advantages
Obviously, not all plants look the same. They
have different flowers, stems, and even root
structures. Extreme examples have given some
plants big advantages. These advantages have
let them settle in new environments and
become more successful.
Specialized Leaves
What kinds of leaves are there? What kinds
aren't there? There are thick ones for storing
water as in succulents. There are long
twisting vine-like leaves that can wrap around
and dig in for support as in grapes. There are
also thorns. Nothing says, "Don't eat me" like a
bunch of sharp thorns on your branches.
Focus On: Succulents Even
though succulent species are flowering plants,
we thought it might be nice to add an example
of plants that are able to survive with little
water. Instead of leaves, succulents have fleshy
structures that efficiently store water. Many
succulents have also developed thorns for
protection. Many animals in arid environments
feed on succulents because they provide a
source of water in their tissues. This image
displays a spiral pattern that several succulents
have developed. Their growth is not a random
growth like a tree or weed. They grow in
specific geometric patterns. Flowers
Flowers have developed such a wide variety.
That variety is often dependent on what kind of
creature helps out with the pollination. If I am a
big insect, I will be looking at plants with big
flowers. If I am a tiny little bug, I might live my
whole life inside a flower. There are also a
variety of colors that attract different insects
and animals.
Stems
Stems are a good place to store water. It's very
efficient to develop a big protected area. Think
about a barrel in hot areas where water is
scarce. Enter a cactus. All stem and trunk. No
leaves. Having no leaves means very
little evaporation on hot days. Other extremes
are plants with no stem. They could grow one,
being vascular plants, but they have found it to
be an advantage to stay near the
ground. Vines are another extreme.
The bark of a tree or plant can also perform a
specific function. Corks in wine bottles are
actually from the bark of a tree (cork tree).
Some bark has been designed to peel away as
the tree grows. Other types of bark are very
thick to protect the plant from animals and
insects.
Epiphytes - Specialized Roots
Not all plants even live in the ground. Some
specialized plants called epiphytes actually live
on the side of other trees or on rocks. They are
able to collect water themselves but do not use
roots to gather it up. Their roots have been
specialized to dig in or grab on to the larger
object. They don't always hurt the trees; they
just hang out on the outside. Epiphytes can
include some seedless species, bromeliads, and
orchids. There are also epiphyte species that
can grow very large and even break tree limbs.
They can suck nutrients away from the tree and
weaken it over time. Several ficus species are
killer parasitic epiphytes.
Mosses and Liverworts These are the little ones.
The most important feature of mosses and
liverworts is that they have no vascular system.
A vascular system in plants is a series of tubes
that can transport water and nutrients over a
distance. That vascular system of xylem and
phloem allows redwood and sequoia trees to
grow to over one hundred feet tall.
Limited in Size Without a vascular system,
mosses, and liverworts cannot grow very large.
If you have seen mosses, you know that they
are actually carpets of individual plants. They
are rarely taller than one inch high. Another
important characteristic of these little guys is
that they require water to reproduce. It's
another characteristic of their low place in plant
evolution. While all plants need water, mosses
and bryophytes need droplets of water to
enable their haploid reproductive cells to
combine. They are all known as the bryophytes.
Mosses Let's start with mosses. These are waxy
little plants with no leaves and no stem that use
each other to stay upright. Their inability to stay
up is why you never see one little moss plant;
it's always a group. That grouping also helps
them retain water in the area. A waxy covering
across their bodies helps keep water from
evaporating. You will usually find them in moist
areas out of the direct sunlight.
Good Worts
We'll cover liverworts and hornworts together.
If you can believe it, the worts are even simpler
than mosses. These are considered to be the
simplest of all plants and often grow flat along
the ground in large leaf-like structures. None of
the bryophytes have roots. They all
have rhizoids (little hairs), and the worts are no
exception. Like mosses, they are found in very
moist areas, and some species even spend their
whole lives in the water.
Ferns and Horsetails -
First Plants with Pipes
These are the first of the vascular plants you will
study. Mosses and worts are non-vascular.
The ferns were the first plant species to develop
a circulatory system that lets them grow larger.
They have roots, leaves, stems, and trunks.
With their new vascular system, the sky was the
limit for plants.
They Like Water
Ferns are often used in landscaping. There's a
good chance you've seen them. They are also
able to live in a variety of climates as long as it is
moist. You will find ferns in Canadian rain
forests just as easily as you will find them near
the equator. They are similar to mosses in that
they need liquid to reproduce. When water is
around, they are able to have baby ferns
called zygotes. Ferns have some neat structural
features. Some have large stems, several feet in
length. Scientists call those bad boys the tree
ferns. Ferns also have specialized leaves
called fronds. They unroll as they mature and
spread out in a fan shape.
Horsetails
Horsetails are related to ferns in that they have
a vascular system. They never developed the
ability to reproduce with seeds. They might be a
little hard for you to see because many of them
are extinct. Because they are better able to
survive in various environments, you can find
them from very northern and southern latitudes
to the equator. Unlike ferns, these are tough
plants. While ferns are soft, horsetails are rough
plants and even have silica (silicon-based
compound) in their epidermal cells. Ouch!
Gymnosperms - First Plants with Seeds So
you've got a vascular system. What comes
next? Seeds. Seeds let you send your offspring
out into the world. Seeds provide a protective
coat so that the embryo plant can develop when
it finds a nice piece of soil. But remember this:
gymnosperms have not developed the ability to
make flowers.Flowers are an evolutionary
advancement after seeds. So if you have a
vascular system, seeds, and no flowers, what
are you? A gymnosperm!
Seeds are a protective structure that lets a plant
embryo survive for long periods of time before
it germinates. Seeds have food sources pre-
packaged for plant embryos to provide for an
embryo's needs in early growth. Seeds let
plants spread their embryos over large areas.
Some are even so lightweight that they are
carried across the planet by strong winds. Seeds
are an advantage if you want to be a plant that
can grow anywhere. Seeds are da bom'!
Cycads in the Tropics Looking like a fern.
Looking like a palm tree. It's actually neither! It's
a cycad. These are another favorite of
landscape designers. These are sturdy little
plants that can survive in harsh conditions. You
won't find them in cold areas like the
conifers. Cycads need warmer weather to
survive. They have cone-like structures for
reproduction. Instead of being on branches,
their cones are in the center of the plant and
can get really large. They also have
big waxy fronds, and when it's time to
reproduce, the female plants have a great fruit
that grows in the middle of their stem.
Conifers in the Forests Pine, cedar, redwood,
and spruce. Sounds like we're at a hardware
store buyinglumber. Not so. We are listing off a
bunch of trees that are called conifers. If you've
ever gone skiing or to northern latitudes you
have seen loads of conifers. The conifers most
people think of are pine trees. Every year
millions of trees are grown for Christmas and
they are all conifers. They usually have needles
and cones (thus the name CONifer).
They are also evergreens: even in cold winter
months they are able to keep their needles.
That ability is one reason they do so well in
northern latitudes. The ever-present needles
allow conifers to take advantage of the Sun
whenever it is around. They are also some of
the tallest plants in the world. They are able to
get very tall and strong because of heavy-duty
xylem that hardens and makes them sturdy.
That sturdiness is why these kinds of trees make
good lumber - hard and strong wood.
Ginkgoes on Your Street
Not every plant made it to the modern
day.Fossil evidence shows what plants used to
be alive in other geological eras. The Ginkgo is
one of the ones that made it. Some people call
it a "Maidenhair Tree". It's the last one of its
kind. It has needles that have combined to form
very sturdy leaf-like structures. You need to
remember they are not like leaves in the
traditional sense. You've probably seen these all
over. Landscape designers love to use them
because they look very nice and are very
resistant to pollution. They are great for cities.
Being able to resist insects and disease has let
this species survive beyond all of its close
relatives.
Angiosperms - First Plants with Flowers
We asked it before. What would give you an
advantage if you were a plant? You have a
vascular system to transport nutrients. You
have seeds for reproduction that allow your
babies to spread out in new areas. What
next? Flowers! Flowers are the most recent
evolutionary advantage for plants.
Looking Good for the Birds and Bugs
When we talked about gymnosperms, we spoke
of seeds. That was a big advantage. The
angiosperms took it one step further. They not
only have seeds, but they also have flowers.
What kind of an advantage is that? Many
angiosperm species use wind for pollination the
way that gymnosperms do. What if you didn't
need to rely on the wind to spread
your pollen around anymore? What if another
creature could do it for you? Maybe an insect?
Sounds like a new advantage.
Those specialized flowers are able to attract
organisms to help pollinate and distribute
seeds. Another cool advantage is the fruit/seed
packaging. Would you rather eat a pine cone or
an apple? A lot of animals would go for the
apple. When they do, they are able to spread
the seeds across wide areas after the animal
poops out the seeds.
Some Withy One Cotyledon
There are two kinds of seeds in the
angiosperms, monocots and dicots. Monocot is
short for monocotyledon. A cotyledon is the
seed leaf. When you are a monocot, your seed
only has one package of food. "Mono" means
one or a single cotyledon. Monocots are made
up of simple flowering plants like grasses, corn,
palm trees, and lilies. Two of the characteristics
of monocots are that their flowers have petals
in numbers of three and their leaves are made
of long strands. Think of the leaves of grass or a
palm frond. +
And Some with Two
The other kind of plant in the flowering plant
world is called a dicot. Dicot is short for
dicotyledon. "Di" means two or a double
cotyledon. These plants have seeds that have
two cotyledons, two seed leaves of food for the
embryo. Most of the flowers you see every day
are dicots. They have flowers with petals in
numbers of four and five. They also have really
complex leaves with veins all over, not long like
monocots. Some examples of dicots are roses,
sunflowers, cacti, apple, and cherry plants.
Humans and Plants Humans need plants. All
animals do. Humanity's relationship with plants
has actually made it possible for us to have a
civilization. Before we had cities, humans went
around in little packs and were hunter-
gatherers. We ate rats, birds, berries, and
whatever food we could find. It wasn't very
efficient. One day someone had the bright idea
to plant the plants we like to eat. When humans
did that, they were able to stay in one place full
time. Then came the cities and a huge system of
agriculture to support millions of people.
Big Time Farming As time has passed, we have
taken farming to new levels. We have
manipulated species to create big apples and
large ears of corn. The plants would never have
done it in the wild. It took man to change the
plants. We are also moving toward the genetic
alteration of plants. We're trying to make
plants that are resistant to disease and bugs.
These stronger plants will allow our crops to
give us more food from the same amount of
space.
Medicines One of the good examples of plants
giving medicine to man is an aloe plant. Inside
the leaves of an aloe plant are compounds that
soothe burns on our skin. Man also gets
something called digitalis from plants. The truly
exciting discoveries are in the future. Scientists
are analyzing plants every day to find out if they
have any compounds that can help humans
survive and lead a better life.
And Places to Live
If you live in a house, chances are it was made
with wood or there is wood in the house. We
have used wood to build our homes for
thousands of years. Huge lumber companies
grow entire forests to supply the amount of
wood needed for our world. As buildings got
larger, construction turned to concrete and
steel. You will probably still find wood fixtures
such as paneling inside these large steel
buildings.