Deck 37: Plants

Question 1

The progenitor of land plants is most likely to be a chlorophyte from the class

A) Prasinophyceae.
B) Chlorophyceae.
C) Charophyceae.
D) Ginkgophyta.
E) Conjugatophyceae.

Answer 1

Charophyceae.

Question 2

Unlike their green algal relatives, the land plants

A) do not have a gametophyte generation.
B) do not produce spores.
C) have haploid and diploid generations similar in size and shape.
D) retain the zygote on the gametophyte.
E) undergo cell division by mitosis.

Answer 2

retain the zygote on the gametophyte.

Question 3

Coleochaetes are

A) small green algae.
B) generally one cell thick.
C) related to land plants but grow on aquatic plants.
D) have a covering of protective cells around its reproductive structures.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Answer 3

small green algae.

Question 4

Which of the following features shared by Coleochaete and land plants is NOT found in Chara?

A) Glycolate oxidase rather than glycolate dehydrogenase.
B) A covering of protective cells around the reproductive structures.
C) A phragmoplast rather than a phycoplast.
D) Asymmetric, motile, flagellated reproductive cells.
E) A cell wall composed of cellulose.

Question 5

The evolution of the cuticle was imperative before terrestrial habitats could be colonised. While a cuticle prevents desiccation it also prevents gas exchange and must therefore be perforated by air-pores, which then lose water by evaporation. Stomata allow plants to regulate water loss. The most primitive plants with stomata are

A) stoneworts.
B) hornworts.
C) liverworts.
D) mosses.
E) vascular plants.

Question 6

In aquatic environments, the buoyancy of water provides the structural support necessary for the thallus, the photosynthetic structure of algae. On land, however, plants lacking the capacity to support photosynthetic tissues must grow prostrate and will be at a competitive disadvantage. The evolution of lignified tracheids allowed plants to develop shoot systems. The most primitive extant plants with lignified tracheids are the

A) Anthocerotophyta.
B) Bryophyta.
C) Ginkgophyta.
D) Psilophyta.
E) Lycophyta.

Question 7

In aquatic environments, nutrients are readily available to cells in the thallus by simple diffusion from the surrounding water. Thus a holdfast simply anchors algae to hard substrata. On land, however, plants require nutrients and water from the soil and the substratum is relatively soft and unstable. The evolution of roots rather than rhizoids represented a significant step forward in colonising and exploiting terrestrial habitats. The most primitive plants with roots are the

A) mosses.
B) psilophytes.
C) ferns.
D) clubmosses.
E) horsetails.

Question 8

Heterospory is the term used to describe

A) the production of viable spores.
B) the development of the sporangia.
C) the production of diploid spores.
D) the production of two different spore types.
E) the life cycle of ferns.

Question 9

The vegetative propagules of the liverworts are called

A) gemmae.
B) protonema.
C) gametophytes.
D) spores.
E) seta.

Question 10

Which statement is true about reproduction in the Bryophyta?

A) Bryophytes release eggs from the archegonia and sperm from the antheridia, in moist conditions such as early in the morning, when dew is present.
B) Sperm are released when the antheridia rupture, and rely on flagella to swim to the archegonia, which release chemotaxic agents.
C) The sporophyte is dispersed from the capsule by the elaters and is independent of the gametophyte.
D) After fertilisation, the sporophyte is released and germinates as a protonema.
E) Rupture of the annulus releases sporangia, which germinate directly into gametophytes.

Question 11

Which of these sets of structures in mosses is wholly haploid?

A) Archegonium, seta, antheridium, protonema.
B) Protonema, peristome, archegonium, operculum.
C) Calyptra, antheridium, protonema, spore.
D) Antheridium, archegonium, spore, seta.
E) Spore, capsule, antheridium, calyptra.

Question 12

In Bryophytes, after fertilisation of the egg cell

A) the sporophyte remains dependent on the gametophyte.
B) the zygote is released into the environment.
C) a prothallus is formed.
D) the sporophyte is dispersed by action of the elaters.
E) the germinating zygote forms a protonema.

Question 13

An important role played by some mosses in dry Australian environments is to

A) recycle nutrients.
B) speed up the breakdown of plant material.
C) form a soil crust that reduces erosion.
D) form chalky deposits to aerate the soil.
E) help retain water.

Question 14

The psilophytes are very similar in appearance to Cooksonia caledonica, which has provided the oldest macrofossil of a plant. What do these plants look like?

A) Prostrate creepers with proteoid roots, alternately branching microphylls and terminal heterosporous sporangia.
B) Small, erect plants with rhizoids, radially branching microphylls and axial homosporous sporangia.
C) Small, erect plants with coralloid roots, megaphylls, and axial heterosporous sporangia
D) Small, erect plants with rhizoids, megaphylls and homosporous sporangia.
E) Small, erect, dichotomously branched plants with photosynthetic stems, creeping rhizomatous bases and terminal, homosporous sporangia.

Question 15

The Sphenophyta

A) consist of a single existent genus, the herbaceous Equisetum.
B) were a dominant part of the vegetation in the Carboniferous period, and included large trees.
C) have hygroscopic elaters that are analogous, rather than homologous, to the elaters of liverworts.
D) has a creeping, underground rhizome that produces upright stems.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 16

In ferns the

A) mature sporophyte is nutritionally dependent on the prothallus.
B) prothallus is a small and inconspicuous structure.
C) antheridia are found on the underside of the fronds.
D) gametophyte is the dominant, free-living generation.
E) sperm are retained in the antheridium.

Question 17

Many ferns are covered by a protective scale-like membrane called

A) a prothallus.
B) an indusium.
C) an annulus.
D) the megaphylls.
E) a sorus.

Question 18

Which group of plants does NOT produce seeds?

A) Cycadophyta.
B) Coniferophyta.
C) Ginkgophyta.
D) Filicophyta.
E) Gnetophyta.

Question 19

Which of the following features represents a significant event in the evolution of all seed plants?

A) The protection of the egg in the ovary.
B) Transport of the male gamete independently of free water.
C) The development of flowers.
D) The development of a root system.
E) Double fertilisation.

Question 20

In seed plants, the megaspore is

A) naked.
B) multicellular.
C) generally similar in size to the microspore.
D) found in the ovule.
E) produced by mitosis.

Question 21

All seed plants have a number of derived features that represent major events in plant evolution including

A) vascular cambium.
B) non-motile sperm transported to the ovule as pollen.
C) enclosure of the female gametophyte and embryo within a receptacle, which gives rise to fruit with seeds.
D) heterospory, with microspores developing into sperm.
E) vessel members with perforation plates rather than tracheids.

Question 22

Seed plants are distinguished from other vascular plants by

A) the production of four megaspores, each of which develops into a female gametophyte.
B) an evolutionary trend to larger and more elaborate megagametophytes in the more advanced members of the group.
C) microgametophytes which are non-motile and dispersed by wind or animal vectors.
D) having a megagametophyte that is retained within the megasporangium, and is surrounded and protected by the integuments.
E) having different haploid and diploid phases of the life cycle.

Question 23

What type of growth allowed seed plants to grow into large trees?

A) Primary growth.
B) Apical growth.
C) Secondary growth.
D) Terrestrial growth.
E) Development of a root system.

Question 24

Cycads

A) are wind-pollinated.
B) have sperm with a single whiplash flagellum and require free water to effect fertilisation.
C) have microgametophytes, which release two flagellated sperm into the micropylar chamber that both swim to and fertilise a single egg, in a process similar to double fertilisation.
D) have development of a root system.
E) have sperm that are multiflagellated.

Question 25

A new species of land plant has a non-flagellated sperm and the megagametophyte develops on the surface of an ovuliferous scale. The plant is most likely to be a

A) fern.
B) conifer.
C) cycad.
D) monocot.
E) dicot.

Question 26

The Gnetophytes are the most likely progenitors of flowering plants. Which feature is common to both the Gnetophytes and Magnoliophytes and found in no other taxon?

A) Double fertilisation in which one sperm nucleus fuses with the egg nucleus while the other fuses with the nucleus of a sterile neck canal cell of the archegonium, producing two embryos.
B) The complete enclosure of the ovule in bracts or bracteoles to form flowers.
C) Water-conducting cells in a woody xylem.
D) Vessel members with perforation plates at the ends of the cells, as well as tracheids.
E) Phloem sieve elements with companion cells.

Question 27

Which of the following is a defining difference between the Gymnosperms and the Angiosperms?

A) The size of the megaspore.
B) The structure of the root system.
C) The type of enclosure of the ovule within a carpel.
D) The water-conducting cells of the woody xylem.
E) The method of pollen transfer.

Question 28

A feature unique to Angiosperms is

A) the process of microspore development.
B) the formation of a seed.
C) having sperm that lack flagella.
D) having two sperm nuclei involved in fertilisation.
E) the formation of heterospores.

Question 29

Which of the following is NOT a function of fruit?

A) To protect the seed from predators
B) To protect the seed from fire
C) To attract an animal pollinator
D) To allow germination of the seed
E) To attract an animal for dispersal

Question 30

If a plant is described as a monocotyledon, you would expect it to have

A) a tap root system.
B) vascular tissue in a scattered distribution in the stem.
C) flower parts in multiples of fours or fives.
D) a thick unbranched trunk.
E) leaves with reticulate venation.

Question 31

Green algae are similar to land plants. The similarities include all the following EXCEPT

A) they have the same pigments, chlorophyll a and b.
B) they have the same chloroplast structure.
C) they have the same cell wall chemistry, cellulose.
D) they have the same storage molecule, starch.
E) in cell division, they have with no nuclear membrane, and a cell wall forms across the middle of the cell.

Question 32

Gammae are

A) the photosynthetic, free-living gametophyte of the liverworts.
B) elongated, simple filamentous cells which perform the function of roots.
C) a simple plant structure without parts equivalent to roots, stems and leaves.
D) circular shaped cups on some liverworts which contain asexual vegetative propogules.
E) the conspicuous generation of the bryophyte life cycle.

Question 33

Elaters are

A) a part of mosses associated with spore dispersal.
B) specialised elongated water-absorbing cells with a function in spore dispersal.
C) the slender stalk of bryophytes which holds the sporangium.
D) the spore capsule of mosses.
E) simple structures homologous to stomata in mosses.

Question 34

Bryophytes are

A) the earliest form of vascular plants.
B) the first plants to evolve true roots.
C) small, photosynthetic, free-living gametophytes that lack vascular tissue.
D) multicellular photosynthetic organisms adapted to living on land.
E) vascular land plants which have fully developed roots and stems.

Question 35

Which of the following statements about ferns is INCORRECT?

A) The sporophyte of homosporous ferns is photosynthetic, free-living and the dominant life phase.
B) Ferns have flagellated sperm and rely on free-water for sexual reproduction.
C) Fern archegonia are borne on a small, free-living heart-shaped gametophyte.
D) The fern sporophyte develops on the gametophyte, which soon dies and decays.
E) Fern antheridia are on separate plants and require water for the dispersal of sperm.

Question 36

Conifers

A) have a highly modified ovule-bearing structures or cones, which also contain the pollen grains.
B) have pollen grains with s distinctive wall structure unique to conifers.
C) enclose the ovules within a hollow carpel in the cone.
D) are the most diverse and widespread of the living non-flowering plants.
E) have microsporangia which secrete a sticky drop of fluid that aids pollen dispersal and fertilisation.

Question 37

How did heterospory facilitate the colonisation of drier environments?

A) It facilitated the development of more environmentally resilient microspores.
B) It resulted in a single spore with a rigid cell wall that could survive ingestion.
C) Gametangia and megasporogenesis no longer required water for functionality.
D) It overcame the previous requirement for water to disperse pollen.
E) Microsporangia shrunk to a size that facilitated wind dispersal.

Question 38

Molecular data suggests that ferns evolved in how many separate clades?

A) Twelve
B) Two
C) Three
D) Five
E) Eight

Question 39

A cell scientist is given a single cell to study from an unknown origin. After careful examination she notes that the cell has chlorophylls a and b, a cellulosic cell wall and stores carbohydrates as starch. From this evidence the scientist can conclude that

A) the cell is from a plant.
B) the cell is from a green algae.
C) the cell is from a cyanobacteria.
D) the cell could be from any photosynthesising organism.
E) the cell is from a plant or a green algae.

Question 40

Which of the green algae has a phragmoplast and an open spindle very similar to land plants?

A) Charophytes
B) Phycoplasteaceae
C) Phragmotales
D) Zygnematales
E) Zygoidium

Question 41

A diploid sporophyte produces haploid gametophytes from germinating spores. These spores must be produced by

A) mitosis.
B) binary fission.
C) meiosis.
D) budding.
E) mitotic sporogenesis.

Question 42

Why are bryophytes confined to moist environments?

A) The sporophyte lacks true roots.
B) Their vascular tissue lacks an endodermis.
C) The cortex has no cuticle, resulting in susceptibility to dessication.
D) Sperm require the presence of water.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 43

In bryophytes, the diploid sporophyte is dependent upon the dominant gametophyte. As such, what must the ploidy of the rhizoids be?

A) Diploid
B) Haploid
C) Triploid
D) Quadraploid
E) The ploidy will be dependent on the life cycle stage.

Question 44

While on a field trip, a student in a moist, temperate gully discovers a small, haploid Filicophyte. The next stage of the life cycle will be a

A) sporangium.
B) sporophyte.
C) gametophyte.
D) prothallus.
E) leptosporangiate.

Question 45

In Angiosperms, as ovules develop into seeds, the carpel becomes the

A) flower.
B) endosperm.
C) fruit.
D) petiole.
E) testa.