General notes
All this page is inspired by Dick Rauh.
Plants
They have special characteristics and explore territories. They competing with environments and adapting. They explode in varieties species.
Two divisions between plants and animals. Fungi came in between because they are different (they work together as a single organ).
Plants don't need animals but only insects. Instead animals need plants.
Families of Plants
A: Acearaceae, Alismataceae, Anacardiaceae, Apiaceae, Araceae, Arecaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Asteraceae.
C: Cactaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Celastraceae, Chenopodiaceae, Commelinaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cornaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Cyperaceae.
D: Dipsaceae.
E: Ericaceae, Euphorbiaceae.
G: Geraniaceae, Gesneriaceae.
H: Hamamelidaceae.
I: Iridaceae.
M: Magnoliaceae, Malvaceae, Marantaceae.
N: Nymphaeaceae.
O: Oleaceae, Orchidaceae.
P: Poaceae, Polygonaceae.
R: Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Rutaceae.
S: Salicacea, Sarraceniaceae, Saxifragaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Solanaceae.
U: Ulmaceae.
Flower structure
A flower has 4 principal parts: pistil (carpel), stamen, petal, sepal but also a peduncle, receptacle, tepals, perianth.
A flower has 4 series: gynoecium, androecium, corolla, calyx.
Dicot and and monocots flowers didn't have the same floral parts (between 4 and 5 for the dicot flowers, and series of 4 for the monocots).
Floral Formula
K stands for the calyx.
C stands for corolla.
A stands for the androecium (number of stamens).
G stands for the gynoecium (number of pistils). The infinity symbol represents, sometimes, not a significant number because it's not the same every time. It's random.
Symmetry and Geometry of Plants
Plants have symmetries and follow certain geometric rules in their size, shape, patterns, etc. The most famous example is the Fibonacci sequence.
Left image: workshop with The Prince's Foundation of London.
Ovary position and Placentation
When a flower has all four series (gynoecium, androecium, corolla, calyx) it's said to be complete. Otherwise it can be incomplete perfect, incomplete perfect staminate, incomplete imperfect pistillate, monoecious, or dioecious.
The ovaries can be superior (hypogynous flower), inferior (epigynous flower) or half-inferior (perigynous flower).
The placenta is the tissue to which the eggs are attached in the ovary. There are 4 main forms of placentation: basal placentation, lateral placentation, three pistils/carpels with lateral placentation, axile placentation, free central placentation and parietal placentation.
Inflorescence (raceme, cyme and catkin)
The inflorescence is the structure of the plant, which will be able to determine how the flowers will be able to grow on the branches. The inflorescence can be raceme (racemose raceme), cyme (cymose cyme, scorpoid cyme), ament/catkin (upside-down), spike, panicle, corymb, umbel, compound umbel, etc.
The disk flower can be capitulum (head), spathe/spadix, syconium, cyathium.
Interesting fact about daisies: It's a composite of flowers (what appears to be a flower is actually a multiple false flower). Every petal is a flower!
The Tree of Life of Plants
Plants, like mammals, have evolved from the first cells. They are part of the Kingdom Plantae (itself divided into 5 sub-branches).
To summarize 4.7 billion years of evolution, there was first the formation of the Earth, then the appearance of the first microorganisms, prokaryotes, eukaryotes, algae, first non-vascular land plants (about 340 million years), then the first roots and vascular system, seeds and pollen tubes, etc. The first flowering plants appeared around 140 million years ago.
Taxonomy and Latin for Plants (classification of species)
(reference : Le latin du jardinier - see "sources").
Plants have different names from one country or continent to another, but thanks to the binomial system (created by the naturalist Carl von Linné), the scientific classification of plants has been possible and therefore allows a better exchange of information between scientists, researchers, illustrators, botanists, horticulturists etc.
There are universal rules to apply for the nomenclature of plants and the classification of species:
Division
Class
-Family (end by -ceae): You need to capitalize and italicize the name.
--Genus: You need to capitalize and italicize the name.
---Species: This is written in lowercase and in italics.
----Sub-species: This is written in lowercase and in italics, and preceded by the abbreviation "subsp" or "ssp".
-----Variety (varietas): This is written in lowercase and in italics, and preceded by the abbreviation "var".
------Shape (forma): This is written in lowercase and in italics, and preceded by the abbreviation "f.".
-------Cultivar (These are plants obtained artificially): You need to capitalize, and put single quotes.
--------Hybrid (example Hamamelis x intermedia): You need to capitalize and italicize the name, and add a "x" between the two plants.
---------Synonym for the same plant.
----------Common name: This is written in lowercase.
------------Male, female ou neutral (in Latin as in French or Spanish languages there are three kinds to designate plants).
The Flowering Plant Life Cycle
In the sporophyte generation we talk about staminate and/or pistallate (example with the Begoniaceae).
In the gametophyte generation we talk about male and female.
Double Fertilization (meiosis and mitosis)
This is the stage where DNA is replicated. Dick Rauh explains this process in detail on pages 87-89, but you can see the process in photographs below with a lilly ovary.
Ovary of lilies
Premeiosis
Meiosis
Postmeiosis
Pollination
Insects are the main carriers of pollen (with the wind). Some plants have even adapted to provide them with airstrips! Currently, about 75% of insects have disappeared over the last thirty years in the world. This could pose biodiversity and food problems...
Fruit types
We have two main fruit types:
dry (13 types: achene, cypsela, samara, nut/glans, nutlet, grain/caryopsis, schizocarp, legume/pod, follicle, capsules, poricidal, circumscissile/pyxis, loculicidal/septicidal).
or
fleshy (6 types: berries, false berries, pepo, pome, hesperidium, drupe).
Vegetative Morphology
Stem, twig, roots, vascular system, shoots, habit, leaves, adaptations and storage can come in different shapes and sizes specific to their families, but that would require a second website to explain all these differences.
Flower structure (diagram from the 1st class inspired by Dick Rauh).