Review Questions

Seed plants are ________.

1. all homosporous.
2. mostly homosporous with some heterosporous.
3. mostly heterosporous with some homosporous.
4. all heterosporous.

Besides the seed, what other major structure diminishes a plant’s reliance on water for reproduction?

1. flower
2. fruit
3. pollen
4. spore

In which of the following geological periods would gymnosperms dominate the landscape?

1. Carboniferous
2. Permian
3. Triassic
4. Eocene (present)

Which of the following structures widens the geographic range of a species and is an agent of dispersal?

1. seed
2. flower
3. leaf
4. root

Which of the following traits characterizes gymnosperms?

1. The plants carry exposed seeds on modified leaves.
2. Reproductive structures are located in a flower.
3. After fertilization, the ovary thickens and forms a fruit.
4. The gametophyte is longest phase of the life cycle.

Megasporocytes will eventually produce which of the following?

1. pollen grain
2. sporophytes
3. male gametophytes
4. female gametophytes

What is the ploidy of the following structures: gametophyte, seed, spore, sporophyte?

1. 1n, 1n, 2n, 2n
2. 1n, 2n, 1n, 2n
3. 2n, 1n, 2n, 1n
4. 2n, 2n, 1n, 1n

In the northern forests of Siberia, a tall tree is most likely a:

1. conifer
2. cycad
3. Gingko biloba
4. gnetophyte

Which of the following structures in a flower is not directly involved in reproduction?

1. the style
2. the stamen
3. the sepal
4. the anther

Pollen grains develop in which structure?

1. the anther
2. the stigma
3. the filament
4. the carpel

In the course of double fertilization, one sperm cell fuses with the egg and the second one fuses with ________.

1. the synergids
2. the polar nuclei of the center cell
3. the egg as well
4. the antipodal cells

Corn develops from a seedling with a single cotyledon, displays parallel veins on its leaves, and produces monosulcate pollen. It is most likely:

1. a gymnosperm
2. a monocot
3. a eudicot
4. a basal angiosperm

Which of the following plant structures is not a defense against herbivory?

1. thorns
2. spines
3. nectar
4. alkaloids

White and sweet-smelling flowers with abundant nectar are probably pollinated by

1. bees and butterflies
2. flies
3. birds
4. wind

Abundant and powdery pollen produced by small, indistinct flowers is probably transported by:

1. bees and butterflies
2. flies
3. birds
4. wind

Plants are a source of ________.

1. food
2. fuel
3. medicine
4. all of the above