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A prefix meaning "two", e.g. bisulcate, having two sulci or grooves. biennial A plant which completes its life cycle (i.e. germinates, reproduces, and dies) within two years or growing seasons. Biennial plants usually form a basal rosette of leaves in the first year and then flower and fruit in the second year. bifid
The formation of the seed is the defining part of the process of reproduction in seed plants (spermatophytes). Other plants such as ferns, mosses and liverworts, do not have seeds and use water-dependent means to propagate themselves. Seed plants now dominate biological niches on land, from forests to grasslands both in hot and cold climates.
Pteridospermae, the so-called "seed ferns", were one of the earliest successful groups of land plants, and forests dominated by seed ferns were prevalent in the late Paleozoic. Glossopteris was the most prominent tree genus in the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana during the Permian period.
The remainder of the vascular plant sections address the higher plants (spermatophytes or seed plants, i.e. gymnosperms and angiosperms or flowering plants). In the higher plants, the terrestrial sporophyte has evolved specialised parts. In essence, they have a lower, underground component and an upper, aerial component.
The first column below lists seed-bearing species epithets from Stearn's Dictionary, Latin for Gardeners [4] by Lorraine Harrison, The A to Z of Plant Names by Allen Coombes, The Gardener's Botanical [5] by Ross Bayton, and the glossary of Stearn's Botanical Latin. [6]
Chloroplasts in leaf cells of the moss Mnium stellare. Plant anatomy or phytotomy is the general term for the study of the internal structure of plants.Originally, it included plant morphology, the description of the physical form and external structure of plants, but since the mid-20th century, plant anatomy has been considered a separate field referring only to internal plant structure.
In seed plants (gymnosperms and flowering plants), the sporophyte forms most of the visible plant, and the gametophyte is very small. Flowering plants reproduce sexually using flowers, which contain male and female parts: these may be within the same ( hermaphrodite ) flower, on different flowers on the same plant , or on different plants .
It is helpful to be able to understand the source of scientific names. Although the Latin names do not always correspond to the current English common names, they are often related, and if their meanings are understood, they are easier to recall. The binomial name often reflects limited knowledge or hearsay about a species at the time it was named.