BOTANY: LABORATORY PRACTICUM (PLANT ANATOMY AND MORPHOLOGY) - O.A. SHEVCHUK - 2014

OUTLINE FOR MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND IDENTIFICATION TECHNIQUES OF FLOWERING PLANTS

I. General characteristics of the plant.

1. Structural-somatic type (herb, subshrub, shrub, tree).

2. Plant lifespan (annual, biennial, perennial).

3. Ecological-biological type:

a) terrestrial, aquatic, wetland, forest, meadow, steppe, inhabiting sandy or saline soils;

b) monoecious, dioecious; c) parasites, Saprophytes, etc.

4. Pubescence - glabrous, pubescent; texture - soft, rigid, velvety, tomentose, sparse, dense, appressed, patent, consisting of simple, branched, stellate, or glandular hairs. The presence of pubescence on the plant as a whole and on its individual Organs is noted.

5. Height in centimeters.

6. Flowering period.

II. Underground plant parts.

1. ROOT system - taproot, fibrous; dominant root types - primary (taproot), lateral, adventitious.

2. Rhizomes - short, long, slender, thick, branched, unbranched.

3. Presence of bulbs, tubers, root tubers («root cones»), and other subterranean modifications of the root or SHOOT.

III. Stem.

1. Growth habit - erect, ascending, twining, climbing, prostrate, rooting at the nodes, etc.

2. Branching pattern and internode development - unbranched, branched from the base only in the upper part; with shortened internodes, etc.

3. Cross-sectional shape and characteristics - round, 3-4-angled, flattened, winged, sulcate (grooved); solid or hollow.

IV. Leaves.

1. Structure and size:

a) simple, compound;

b) large, small, medium-sized.

2. Composition and attachment to the stem - sessile, petiolate, stipulate, with leaf sheaths, ocrea; amplexicaul (stem-clasping), decurrent, with ligules, auricles, etc.

3. Blade shape - scale-like, acicular, linear, lanceolate, elliptic, oval, orbicular, ovate, obovate, etc.

4. According to the shape of the base, apex, and margin:

a) cuneate, cordate, sagittate, hastate, rounded;

б) acute, sharp-pointed, mucronate;

в) entire, serrate, crenate, sinuate.

5. According to the degree of leaf blade dissection — entire, palmately or pinnately lobed, cleft, divided.

6. Venation types — pinnate, palmate, arch- and parallel-veined.

7. Leaf modifications — spines, tendrils, scales, etc.

8. Phyllotaxy — alternate, opposite, whorled, basal rosette leaves.

V. Flower arrangement and inflorescences.

1. Flowers — sessile or pedunculate; solitary, grouped in 2–3, or in inflorescences.

2. Bracts — present or absent; their shape, size, and characteristics.

3. Flowers grouped into inflorescences:

a) indeterminate — raceme, spike, spadix, catkin (ament), umbel, HEAD, capitulum, compound spike, compound raceme (panicle), etc.;

б) determinate — cyme, cincrinus, bostryx, etc.

VI. Flowers.

1. Bisexual, unisexual, sterile, actinomorphic (regular), zygomorphic (irregular), epigynous, hypogynous, perigynous.

2. Perianth — simple, double, simple calyx-like or corolla-like. For grasses — Structural Features of lemma and palea, glumes, their number, shape, venation, presence of awns and the site of their attachment on the lower glumes and lemmas.

3. Calyx — regular or irregular, its shape: free or synsepalous (dentate, lobed, parted). Number of sepals or lobes, color, pubescence, and other Features of the calyx,

4. Corolla — regular, irregular, sympetalous (gamopetalous), polypetalous (choripetalous); corolla shape. Number of petals or corolla lobes. Site of attachment (to the pedicel, Ovary, calyx). Color, pubescence, and other features of the corolla.

5. Stamens — fused, free; nature of fusion (with each other, with the corolla tube, etc.). Number of stamens. Site of attachment. Stamens equal or unequal in length.

6. Pistil — number of pistils per flower; free, fused with the receptacle or with each other; presence of style and stigma; number of styles and stigmas; shape of stigmas (capitate, stellate, etc.); position of the ovary — superior, inferior, half-inferior; ovary solid, lobed, glabrous, pubescent. Number of locules in the ovary: number of carpels, other features of the pistil.

7. Floral formula: with a simple perianth — P A G; with a double perianth — K C A G.

Note. When writing a floral formula, conventional letter symbols indicate the floral parts. The number of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels is indicated by numbers next to the floral part symbol: when there are more than 12 floral parts, they are denoted by the ∞ symbol. Parentheses in the floral formula indicate the fusion of calyx lobes, corolla segments, etc. THE POSITION OF a line below or above the number of carpels indicates a superior (line below the number) or inferior (line above the number) ovary. A regular flower is conventionally denoted by *, and an irregular one by ↑. If the flowers are unisexual — male flowers are denoted by and female flowers by The letter symbols used in the formula correspond to the Latin names of the floral parts; P — Perigonium — simple perianth; K — Calyx — calyx; C — Corolla — corolla; A — Androecium — stamens, androecium; G — Gynoecium — carpels, gynoecium.

VII. Fruit, multiple fruit.

1. Size, shape, color; fruit glabrous, covered with hairs, prickles, hooks, etc.

2. By origin - true, false: simple, compound, fragmented.

3. By seed count - one-seeded, many-seeded.

4. Fruit type - dry indehiscent (caryopsis, achene, nut, etc.), dry dehiscent (follicle, legume, silique, silicle, capsule, etc.), fleshy (berry, drupe, etc.).

VIII. Seed.

1. Size, shape, color.

2. Other features.

IX. Identification results.

1. Course of identification (key step numbers).

2. Family name - Latin, Ukrainian.

3. Genus name - Latin, Ukrainian.

4. Species name - Latin, Ukrainian.

X. Habitat. For example, dry pine forest; fresh pine forest; fresh oak-hornbeam forest; alder swamp, sphagnum bog; upland meadows, clear-cut area; pine plantations, meadows, roadside, etc.

XI. Economic significance. Poisonous, medicinal, forage, food, honey-producing, industrial, weed, etc.

XII. Location. Region, district, settlement, forestry.

XIII. Date of plant collection.

XIV. Collector (who collected and identified - surname).

XV. Additional information about the plants.

Upon completing the identification, a label is prepared. If handwritten, the labels should not include headings such as "Family", "Genus", or "Species", but simply provide the names (in Ukrainian and Latin). When preparing the label, do not write the genus name separately from the species name: they should be written together on a single line with the full designation of both the genus and the specific epithet.

METHODOLOGICAL GUIDELINES FOR plant identification. Identifying a plant means determining which family, genus, and species it belongs to. Special dichotomous keys are used for plant identification. In addition, students must have a thorough understanding of the morphological features of the root, stem, leaf, flower, and fruit of the plant being identified, and approach this work with careful attention.

Plants are generally identified in a fresh, unwithered state. However, this can also be done using herbarium specimens: dried flowers are carefully placed in a test tube with Water and boiled over a low flame (using an alcohol burner). After boiling, they become soft, elastic, and easily amenable to morphological analysis.

To identify families at the beginning of the identification key—for instance, in the "Keys to the Higher Plants of Ukraine" (1987, p. 11)—a table for determining the plant families of the Ukrainian flora is provided, followed by keys for determining genera within each family. In turn, the genera contain keys for identifying plant species. Botanical keys and identification tools are structured on a dichotomous principle, presented in the tables and keys as a series of steps. All steps are listed on the left and designated by ordinal numbers 1, 2, 3, containing a set of characters, some of which are affirmative while others are contrasting or negative. This means that for each group of characters, the key presents a specific affirmative statement (thesis) immediately followed by the negation of those characters (antithesis). Together, they form a step in plant identification. When identifying a plant, be sure to read the entire text of the step—both the thesis and the antithesis (the first corresponds to the number of the step, while the second is designated in keys by "-", "0", or "+"). By comparing the set of characters of our plant, determined through morphological analysis, with the characters of the thesis or antithesis, we choose the one that best fits our plant: the thesis or the antithesis. All theses and antitheses are marked with numbers on the right side. If the actual characters of the plant match those mentioned in the thesis, one proceeds to the step indicated by the number on the right of the thesis; conversely, if the plant's characters match the antithesis, one moves to the new key step corresponding to the number on the right of the antithesis. Proceeding in this manner from one step to another, one ultimately finds the complex of characters characteristic of a given family, thereby determining the botanical family to which the identified species belongs.

To help you form a proper understanding of the plant identification process, we provide concrete Examples of the sequential identification of Scots pine and the grassy plant stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) using the "Keys to the Higher Plants of Ukraine" (1987).

Identification of Scots pine. Using the table for family identification ("Keys to the Higher Plants of Ukraine", 1987, p. 11), proceeding from step 1 (antithesis - plants divided into herbs, trees, and shrubs) to step 22 (thesis - gymnosperms; ovules, and subsequently seeds, are exposed, not enclosed in an ovary); then to step 23 (antithesis - leaves usually long, green, needle-like - needles, linear-lanceolate, or broad), to step 24 (antithesis - leaves needle-shaped, linear, linear-lanceolate, or scale-like), to step 25 (thesis - seed scales of strobili gathered into more or less elongated woody cones; trees or shrubs), to step 26 (thesis - mature strobili woody, with spirally arranged scales; at the base of each scale are two ovules; staminate cones axillary). Most are evergreen trees with needle-shaped leaves (needles, rarely shrubs), from which we determine that the plant we are identifying belongs to the pine family (Pinaceae). Next, using the genus identification table, proceeding from step 1 (antithesis - terminal shoots elongated, lateral ones shortened) to step 5 (thesis - leaves in bundles of 2-5, needle-shaped), we establish that the given plant belongs to the genus pine - Pinus.

Using the species Identification table for the genus pine, provided on p. 41, proceeding from step 1 (antithesis - needles in bundles of 2-3) to step 5 (antithesis - needles in bundles of two), to step 8 (antithesis - leaves no longer than 6-8 cm), to step 14 (antithesis - annual growth constitutes a single internode), to step 15 (antithesis - leaves bluish-green, prickly), to step 16 (antithesis - cones smooth, flat, matte, grayish-brown), from which we learn that the identified pine species is Scots pine - Pinus sylvestris L. The identification process must reveal the botanical family, genus, and species to which the plant belongs.

Identification of greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea). Using the table for family identification (p. 11), proceeding from step 1 (antithesis - plants reproduce by seeds; herbs, trees, or shrubs) to step 22 (antithesis - angiosperms; ovules located in a closed ovary), to step 28 (thesis - flowers 4- or 5-merous), to step 29 (antithesis - terrestrial plants), to step 45 (antithesis - green plants), to step 49 (thesis - perianth double), to step 50 (thesis - petals free), to step 51 (thesis - ovary superior), to step 52 (antithesis - carpels united to half their length and above, or carpels solitary), to step 56 (thesis - flowers actinomorphic), to step 57 (antithesis - number of stamens equals the number of petals), to step 71 (antithesis - herbaceous plants), to step 87 (antithesis - plant with other characters), to step 88 (antithesis - plant with other characters), to step 89 (antithesis - plant without glands), to step 90 (antithesis - stamens of more or less equal length), to step 91 (antithesis - equal number of sepals and petals), to step 93 (thesis - stem leaves, at least the lower ones, opposite or whorled), to step 94 (antithesis - petals and stamens not attached to the upper margin of the calyx), to step 95 (antithesis - sepals free or connate only at the base), to step 96 (thesis - styles 2-5, free; sepals, petals, and stamens 10 or 5 each, occasionally fewer; fruit a capsule, rarely indehiscent - nut-like or berry-like; leaves entire, uniting at the base into a long sheath). We determine that the plant being identified belongs to the carnation family - Caryophyllaceae. Using the table for identifying genera of the family Caryophyllaceae (p. 65), proceeding from step 1 (antithesis - leaves without stipules), to step 5 (antithesis - sepals completely free), to step 7 (thesis - sepals free from the base), to step 8 (antithesis - petals developed), to step 9 (antithesis - capsule Teeth two or more than the styles), to step 12 (antithesis - styles three), to step 14 (antithesis - petals deeply twice-incised or bipartite), to step 18 (antithesis - petals bipartite almost to the base, rarely absent; capsules spherical or egg-shaped, with six styles), from which we learn that the plant belongs to the genus stitchwort - Stellaria.

Following the taxonomic Key for identifying species of the genus chickweed (p. 66), proceeding from step 1 (thesis: stem quadrangular, glabrous. Perennial plants), to step 2 (thesis: bracts herbaceous, leaves lanceolate), to step 3 (thesis: sepals 7-10 mm long, petals twice as long as sepals), we determine that the species in question is greater stitchwort — Stellaria holostea L.

Thus, we have identified that the plant is greater stitchwort and belongs to the Caryophyllaceae family.