Plants Morphology

Morphology

Morphology is the branch of biology of that deals with the study and forms of various parts of plants and their specific special features. It includes the external structure of plant such as stem, root, leaves, etc.

Root and its functions:

• it always grown downward into the soil away from sunlight.
• It is always non green.
• It never bears leaves, flowers, fruits, etc.
• Its tips are protected by root caps.

 Kinds of Root

There are two general categories of roots

1. True or tap root system
2. Adventitious roots.

Modification of Tap roots:

Roots Modification	Description	Example
Arial Roots	Grow on bark of other plants,	Banyan and Peepal
Conical	Cone shaped	Carrot
Aquatic Roots	small and few in number and lacks root hairs	Aquatic plants
Napiform	Spherical	Turnip and beet root
Fusiform	Thick and Tapering	Radish
Pneumatophore	Upward movement for getting air for respiration	Rhizophopa

Modification of Adventitious Roots:

Different types of adventitious roots	discription
Fibrous Root	·     Have bushy appearance ·     Formed from base of stem ·     Found in grass, wheat, rice, maize etc.
Prop Root	·     Arise from nodes of arial stem ·     Found in maize, wheat, bamboo etc
Clasping Root	·     Develop from any part of a weak steam ·     Provide grip
Parasitic Root	There are special roots which a parasitic plant, such as , Dodder, produces on host. These roots absorb food from these plants.

Stem:

• Stem is that portion of plant which grows upwards. It may be herbaceous or woody.
• A herbaceous stem is soft, green and crops have herbaceous stems.
• It is develop from plumule

Modification of Stem:

Stem	Type	Example
Rhizome	undergroung	Ginger, turmeric
Tuber	Undergroung	potato
Bulb	Undergroung	Onion, garlic
Corm	undergroung	Saffron, Gladiolus

 Morphology of Leaves:

Major function of leaves is to process photosynthesis. Leaf are made up of leaf base, petiole and lamina.

At the base of leaf small leaf like structure called stipules are present.

Morphology of Flower:

1. Flower is the reproductive part of the plant.
2. Flower are generally modified shoot.

Various parts of flower are as follows

Types of flower	characteristic
Androecium	·     It is the male sex organ develops pollen grain. ·     Its unit is stamen. ·     Anther and filament are part of stamen.
Gynoecium	·     It is the female reproductive organ. ·     Its unit is carpel. ·     Ovary, Style and Stigma are three different part  of Carpel.
Pollination	·     The process of reaching of pollen grains to stigma is called pollination. ·     There are two type of pollination i.e. Self- pollination and Cross-pollination.
Fertilization	·     The process of fusion of male nucleus with egg cell is called fertilization. ·     Fertilized egg is called zygote. ·     In angiosperms the fertilization is triple fusion whereas in other category of plants it is double fusion.
Parthenocarpy	·     When fruit are developed without fertilization i.e. in ovary this is called parthenocarpy. ·     These types of fruits are seedless, example- Banana, Papaya, Orange, Grapes, Pine-apple etc.
Fruits and seeds	·     Fruit is the ripened ovary developed after fertilisation. ·     Seeds are mature ovule developed after fertilisation.

Fruit and seeds:

Fruits are divided into three parts:

• Simple fruits like Banana, Guava etc.
• Aggregate fruits like strawberry, custard apple etc.
• Composite fruits like jackfruit and mulberry

Some fruit and their edible parts:

Fruits	Edible parts	Fruits	Edible parts
Apple	Fleshy Thalamus	Papaya	Mesocarp
Wheat	Starchy endosperm	Tomato	Pericarp and Placenta
Pear	Flashy Thalamus	Coconut	Endosperm
Lichi	Aril	Guava	Entire Fruit
Mango	Mesocarp	Groundnut	Cotlyledons
Orange	Juicy hair	Pineapple	Bract and perianth
Grapes	Pericarp and Placenta	Banana	Mesocarp and Endocarp