Angiosperms: Flower Power

Glossary of Key Terms

• Aerenchyma tissue:
  Specialised tissue found in rushes and sedges that facilitates oxygen transport to submerged roots, enabling them to survive in oxygen-deprived (waterlogged) conditions.

• Angiosperms:
  The most diverse and widespread group of plants on Earth, also known as flowering plants, characterised by their flowers and seeds enclosed within an ovary.

• Biomass:
  The total mass of organisms in a given area or volume. In the context of plants, it refers to the organic matter produced through photosynthesis.

• Broadleaf trees:
  Also known as deciduous trees, characterised by their broad, flat leaves and woody stems; many shed their leaves seasonally.

• Carbon sequestration:
  The process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide, often performed by plants through photosynthesis, helping to mitigate climate change.

• Carpels/Pistils:
  The female reproductive parts of a flower, housing the ovary where ovules (female gametes) are found.

• Cereal grasses:
  Types of grasses cultivated for their edible grain, such as wheat, rice, and maize, forming staple food crops worldwide.

• Conifers:
  A diverse group of trees belonging to the division Pinophyta, characterised by needle-like or scale-like leaves, cones, and resinous sap, typically retaining foliage year-round.

• Culms:
  The cylindrical stems of rushes, distinguishing them from other graminoid species.

• Deciduous trees:
  Trees that shed their leaves seasonally, typically in autumn, often synonymous with broadleaf trees.

• Ecological engineering:
  The process by which organisms directly or indirectly modulate the availability of resources to other species by causing physical state changes in biotic or abiotic materials. Rushes and sedges are examples.

• Ecosystem services:
  The many and varied benefits that humans freely gain from the natural environment and from properly-functioning ecosystems, such as oxygen production, water purification, and soil stability.

• Flora:
  The collective term for all the plant life present in a particular region or time.

• Gametes:
  Reproductive cells; in plants, male gametes are carried by pollen, and female gametes are found in ovules.

• Grasslands:
  Ecosystems dominated by grasses, supporting diverse plant and animal species and providing essential ecosystem services.

• Hedgerow shrubs:
  Diverse woody plants typically found in hedgerows, linear arrangements of trees and shrubs used for boundaries, shelter, or windbreaks.

• Humus:
  Decomposed organic matter in soil, derived from leaf litter and other plant material, which enriches soil and supports microbial life.

• Ovary:
  The part of the carpel/pistil in flowering plants that contains the ovules and develops into the fruit after fertilization.

• Ovules:
  Female gametes found within the ovary of a flower.

• Photosynthesis:
  The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods with the aid of chlorophyll. It converts carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and glucose.

• Pollinators:
  Animals, often insects or birds, that transfer pollen from one flower to another, facilitating plant reproduction.

• Primary producers:
  Organisms, primarily plants, that produce their own food through photosynthesis, forming the base of food chains.

• Rhizomatous/Stoloniferous growth:
  Growth habits of plants where they spread vegetatively through underground stems (rhizomes) or horizontal stems above ground (stolons), allowing them to colonise new areas.

• Rushes:
  Herbaceous perennial plants (family Juncaceae) characterised by solid, cylindrical stems (culms) and slender leaves, typically found in wetlands.

• Sedges:
  Plants belonging to the family Cyperaceae, characterised by solid, triangular stems and three-ranked leaves, commonly found in wetland habitats.

• Sepals:
  Leaf-like structures that enclose and protect the flower bud, often green but can be coloured.

• Spikelets:
  Small, inconspicuous flowers arranged in clusters, characteristic of grasses and sedges.

• Stamens:
  The male reproductive parts of a flower, producing pollen which carries the male gametes.

• Terrestrial ecosystems:
  Ecosystems found on land, as opposed to aquatic ecosystems.