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UPPCS Biology Gap Sheet: Plant Kingdom, Morphology and Reproduction.
UPPCS has asked 34 of these. 6 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
Use vascular tissue, seeds and flowers to separate plant groups. Bryophytes lack true vascular tissue; ferns have vascular tissue but no seeds; gymnosperms have exposed seeds and angiosperms enclose seeds in fruits.
Fungi are a separate kingdom, not non-green plants. Algae include several lineages; cyanobacteria are prokaryotes. Partnerships such as lichens combine organisms with different nutritional roles. Identify a plant part by its structure, not its position or kitchen use. Underground storage organs may be roots, stems or leaf bases. Fruits develop from ovaries, but accessory fruits also use other floral parts.
✅ Already asked (34)
Plant divisions
- Bryophytes · Non-vascular plants; water is needed for sperm to reach the egg.
- Pteridophytes · Seedless vascular plants such as ferns reproduce by spores.
- Gymnosperms · Seeds are not enclosed in an ovary; examples include pine and Cycas.
- Ginkgo · Gymnosperm often called a living fossil; a surviving ancient lineage.
- Chilgoza pine · Edible seeds of Pinus gerardiana.
- Angiosperms · Flowering plants with ovules enclosed within an ovary.
- Monocots and dicots · Monocots have one cotyledon; typical eudicots have two.
Fungi and microbial products
- Yeast fermentation · Saccharomyces cerevisiae converts sugars to ethanol and CO₂.
- Fungal nutrition · Heterotrophic absorption; chitin-rich walls and no chlorophyll.
- Death cap · Amanita phalloides is highly poisonous; cooking does not make it safe.
- Lichens · Fungus plus photosynthetic partner; many are sensitive to air pollution.
- Lactobacillus · Lactic acid bacteria help convert milk into curd.
- Aspergillus niger · Used for industrial citric acid production.
- Microbial statins · Monascus purpureus produces statin compounds that inhibit cholesterol synthesis.
Algae and nutrition strategies
- Laminaria · Brown seaweed can be a rich iodine source.
- Cuscuta · Parasitic angiosperm draws nutrients through haustoria.
- Nepenthes · Photosynthetic insectivorous plant; traps supplement mineral nutrition.
Modified organs and edible parts
- Potato · Stem tuber; eyes are buds.
- Sweet potato · Tuberous storage root; lacks the stem nodes of potato.
- Ginger and turmeric · Rhizomes: horizontally growing underground stems.
- Onion · Bulb stores food mainly in fleshy leaf bases around a short stem.
- Carrot, radish and turnip · Conical, fusiform and napiform taproots respectively.
- Clove · Dried unopened flower bud.
- Saffron · Dried stigmas of Crocus sativus.
- Coconut · Fibrous drupe; edible white tissue and coconut water are endosperm.
- Litchi · Edible fleshy covering is an aril around the seed.
- Groundnut · A legume, not a botanical nut; fruits develop underground.
- Mulberry and fig · Mulberry is sorosis; fig forms a syconium.
- Rafflesia · Produces very large single flowers; not the tallest inflorescence.
Flowers, seeds and dispersal
- Anther and ovule · Pollen develops in anthers; the female gametophyte develops inside an ovule.
- Seed and fruit formation · Ovule generally becomes seed; ovary generally becomes fruit.
- Parthenocarpy · Fruit develops without fertilisation; often gives seedless fruits.
- Poppy censer dispersal · Seeds shake out through capsule pores; called the censer mechanism.
- Wind dispersal · Light seeds with hairs or wings, as in cotton, can travel by wind.
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🔒 6 items not asked yet
Algae and nutrition strategies: 2 · Flowers, seeds and dispersal: 4
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⚠️ Potato is a stem tuber; sweet potato is a storage root. Saffron is stigma, not seed.
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