Do you know how to dissect a flower? Or, have you ever taken a close look at the outside and inside of the flower? Well, to examine each floral part, we can perform flower dissection. Flowers are aesthetic to watch and add beauty to the world. They are colourful and scented, which makes them more …
The difference between monocot and dicot stem is mainly in the arrangement and type of the vascular system. Vascular structures in the stem facilitate the upward and downward flow of water and nutrients from the root to the leaves and vice versa. The vascular bundles in the monocot stem are dispersed, whereas the monocot stem …
Seed dispersal is an essential mechanism through which spermatophytes or seed-bearing plants disperse their seeds via dispersal agents like wind, water, fruit explosion and animals. Seeds disperse into new sites where they grow or germinate under favourable conditions. Seeds first grow into seedlings and later into well-developed plants and trees, thereby providing food, shelter and …
Nastic movement is another form of curvature movement shown by some members of plants. It occurs in response to diffuse external stimuli. A stimulus that does not affect the plant’s orientation is called a diffuse stimulus. The direction of response in the nastic movement is independent of stimuli direction. Nastic movement is also referred to …
Tropic movements in plants are the types of paratonic or induced movements. Paratonic movements include both tropic and nastic movements. In this module, we will only discuss the tropic movements in plants. Various external stimuli or environmental factors like light, gravity, water, temperature, and other factors influence tropic movement. The phenomenon of tropic movements in …
The mode of nutrition in algae is primarily of three types, namely photoautotrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic. Algae show some properties similar to plants due to the presence of chloroplasts and eukaryotic cellular construction. Also, they share some features similar to animals in having flagella and centriole. Algae represent a group of highly diversified organisms that …
The difference between simple and compound leaves is due to the factors like attachment of leaves to the leaf blade and the presence of lateral bud on the leaf’s axil. Simple leaves have the undivided or partly incised leaf blade. Conversely, compound leaves possess a variable number of leaflets on a single leaf blade. Simple …
A fungal cell commonly exists in two forms like moulds and yeasts. Fungi are eukaryotic organisms possessing fruiting bodies or spores. Unlike plants, they lack chlorophyll. Moulds are the type of fungus that appears filamentous and multicellular in appearance. Conversely, yeasts are the fungus-like cells that include Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Sporobolomyces roseus, etc. and seem unicellular …
Guard cells appear bean-shaped. They are found in pairs, and a cleft between them constitute the stomatal pore or stoma. Therefore, two guard cells enclosing stomatal aperture colloquially form a structure called stomata. Guard cells reside in the layer of the leaf epidermis. Stomatal guard cells perform two functional roles like influx or efflux carbon …
Mineral nutrition is important for plant sustainable growth and yield. The root system of plant uptakes minerals in the form of ions from the soil, while the minerals naturally remain in the soil as salts. Plants obtain basic nutrients such as C, N, H and O from the sources like air and water. Thus, roots …