Question

Questions to complete: 1. How do the life cycles vary among the different plant groups? Gymnosperm vs. Angiosperm. 2. In comparison to mosses and ferns, what adaptations do gymnosperms have that make them better adapted to a dry environment? 3. Why are angiosperms so successful? 4. Compare and contrast a pinecone and a flower in terms of structure and function. 5. Describe flower morphology. 6. Explain why plant diversity can be considered a nonrenewable resource.

Answer 1

1. The various plant groups have different lifecycles as plants alternate between diploid, sporophyte and haploid gametophyte generations and between sexual reproduction with gametes and asexual reproduction with spores.

In non vascular plants the gametophyte generation are dominant.

2. In comparison to the ferns and mosses the gymnosperms make additional adaptations in three aspects;

Smaller gametophyte , pollen and the seed.

Gymnosperms are plants that bear seeds which are naked

These adaptations help them survive in diverse land habitats.

3. Angiosperms are more successful because:

The flowering plants are able to survive in a greater variety of habitats than gymnosperms

Angiosperms mature quickly

Angiosperms produce more seeds

The woody tissue of angiosperms are more complex and specialized

The angiosperms have veined leafs which make them better photosynthesizers.

4. Cones when mature have woody texture , are elongated and made up of scales whereas flowers have sepals, petals , the male and female reproductive portions called as stamen and pistils respectively.

5. A flower is a reproductive organ consisting of an axis bearing a maximum of four sets of appendages : sepals, petals, stamen and carpel. These appendages are actually modified leaves and the sepals are collectively known as calyx.

6. They are non renewable resources because once any of the species gets extinct it is lost forever.