1. BOTANY2010 is for Master Gardeners
Dan Culbert, Extension Agent III – Environmental Horticulture
UF/IFAS – Okeechobee County
Botany is the study of Plant Biology. Botany can be boring if you let it, but it is quite useful and essential. This presentation will give you an overview of some of the botanical concepts and terms as used by horticulturalists. This is boiled down botany – and you are encouraged to spend a lot of time doing more in-depth reading and practicing with this stuff so it will help you be a better Gardener.

2. What is Botany? And for that matter, what is Horticulture?
Horticulture is the Art & Science of growing plants
using intensive rather than extensive inputs
What do you think?
Rutgers University horticulture professor, Dr. Norman Childers, ingrained in me the following working definition of horticulture:
Care to know more? The study of Horticulture seems to have began relatively recently, in the past 200 years. According to a Purdue University lecture on the origins of Horticultural science, three horticulturists can be considered as the Fathers of Horticultural Science:
Thomas Andrew Knight,
John Lindley, and
Liberty Hyde Bailey.

3. Plant Classification (Taxonomy)
There are many methods for identifying or grouping plants for communication
There are lots of systems of classification
Which ones can you think of?
Plant scientists need some way to make sense of all of this.
What are some of the ways that we group plants into different kinds of groups?
What works for you?

4. Life cycle Annual Biennial Perennial
Short-lived plant. The entire life cycle is completed in one growing season.
Biennial
Two seasons to complete life cycle
Perennial
Live from year to year, either woody or herbaceous.
One ways is to group plants according to how long they live.
Annuals take one growing season to grow from seed to seed;
Bi-annuals need two years,
while Perennials live on and on for many years, flowering and fruiting after a juvenile period.

5. Morphology or appearance
Evergreen, deciduous
Woody, herbaceous
Vines, trees, shrubs
Opposite or alternate leaves
Fruit, seed, etc. types
The physical appearance of various plant organs or structures can help us group plants.
We’ll get to more “mor-phology” in a minute!

6. When do you plant cool season crops in southern Florida?
Environmental
Xerophyte, halophyte, hydrophyte
Hardy, tender
Temperate, tropical, subtropical
Warm season, cool season
When do you plant cool season crops in southern Florida?
What kind of environment does a plant thrive in?
What kind of situations can a plant tolerate?

7. What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?
Usage
fruit, vegetable, ornamental
Think about a tomato. Is it a fruit? Or a vegetable?
Legally in some places it is a vegetable. Botanists will call it a fruit. So which is it?
In regard to the use of the final product:
a vegetable is used during the main part of the meal,
while a fruit can be used during mealtime or as a snack.
What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?

8. Define: rose Common names
Right. How many different plants do you know of that have “rose” as part of their common name?
(Clockwise, from top left)
Rose Apple
Garden Rose
Corn Rose [poppy]
Rose moss [Portulaca]
Confederate or Cotton Rose
Chinese Rose or Rose Mallow [Chinese Hibiscus]
Sun Rose [Ice plant]
Bailey’s Hortus gives us even more roses: Bridal rose, California rose, Christmas rose, Rose Mallow, Rose of Heaven, Rose of Jericho, Rose of Sharon, Rock rose, Rush rose
So, are common names a “rosy-way” to classify plants?

9. Scientific nomenclature
Kingdom
Animalia
Others
Plantae
Division (several, those with horticultural interest -) Pterodophyta - ferns
Spermatophyta – seed bearing plants
Class
Gymnospermae – naked seeds
Angiospermae
Subclass
Monocotyledonae (monocots) - 49,000 types
Dicotyledonae (dicots) - 237,000 types
Here's the way scientists divide up organisms into related groups.
And this is only half of it

10. The Family Tree of Plants
This diagram gives us a really rough idea of how plants grew from simple to complex life forms
Graphic courtesy of : Prof. Kevin Murray University of Montana
Spring Science

11. Plants without seeds Not all plants have seed.
Mosses and ferns and a few other neat kinds of plants produce dust-like spores that allow them to spread.
Some ferns are cultivated as horticultural plants. Others are important native plants.
We even have invasive ferns that are a real problem in Florida:
Japanese Climbing Fern & Old World Climbing Fern.

12. Seed Plants without Fruit
Cycads and Conifers
produce separate male & female cones = dioecious
Most plants we know of have seeds within fruit. A few of our plants produce seeds but they are not enclosed in the fleshy things that botanists call fruit.
Cycads can be thought of as a group of primitive plants that have cones and fern-like fronds. The small container has a Coontie - a good example of a cycad familiar to us in Florida.
Pine trees are in a group of plants called Gymnosperms. The seed are produced on scales in female cones.
Both of these plant groups have separate cones for pollen and ovules- so they’re dioecious. This word come from Greek meaning "two households".
Cypress trees (lower right) are another example of gymnosperms, which are also called “Conifers” - cone bearing plants.
Hollies are also dioecious, but they are not Gymnosperms.

13. Plant ID by the numbers: One or Two, and threes or fours/fives
A big first step in plant ID is to determine if it is more like a palm or an oak,
i.e., a corn plant or a petunia
Plant identification by the numbers means that you should look at the number of parts in the seed (seed leaves)
and count the numberof flower parts.
This will give you an idea if this is a Monocot or Dicot.
There are lots more different kinds of Dicots.
So if it’s a monocot, you have made the task of plant identification much easier.

14. Once more - is it a Monocot or Dicot ?
Number of cotyledons in seed
Venation pattern
Number of flower parts
Arrangement of vascular bundles
Here are the key things to look at to see if it is a Monocot, or not!
So which group of plants do these examples belong?
[Cabbage] Palms are Monocots,
Broadleaf trees like this Sugarberry tree are Dicots.
Do I need to know all this stuff?

15. Scientific names Binomial nomenclature – Genus and species
Order
Family - ‘aceae’ usual ending
First place you may start in identification
Genus
Species
Authority -
Cultivar- cultivated variety
Variety - botanical variety
etc.
Binomial nomenclature – Genus and species
You can thank Linnaeus for all this!
Good plant lists – even from nurseries - list plants Latin or botanical names.
You don’t have to know scientific [botanical] names well enough to speak fluent Latin, but feel comfortable with them.
Blame this guy for all this Latin talk: Carle von Linne, a.k.a. Linnaeus
I wrote a column on Linnaeus in May 2007; he’s just over 300th years old

16. CULTIVAR = CULTIVATED VARIETY
“Assemblage of cultivated plants which is clearly distinguished by any characters and which, when reproduced (sexually or asexually) retains its distinguishing characters.” Liberty Hyde Bailey
*Botanical varieties naturally breed true from seed
*Cultivars are asexually cloned or by controlled sexual crossing of breeding lines
An example of a naturally occurring botanical variety is the old Hayden cultivar, a chance selection that from a Mulgoba Mango fruit brought from WPB to a compost pile in Coconut grove.
A cultivar recently released by UF is ‘Sugar Belle’ - a bold mandarin orange hybrid
For more on Liberty Hyde Bailey:
“A short biography of Michigan State Alumni and Cornell Dean LH Bailey” :

17. Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum L. Big Boy
Order Solanales
Family Solanaceae
Genus Lycopersicon
species esculentum
Botanical variety esculentum
Naming authority L. [ for Linnaeus]
Cultivar Big Boy
Burpee's Big Boy Hybrid is a popular home gardener tomato. It is a hybrid, introduced in 1949.
Lycopersion: “Wolf peach”, referring to belief that tomatoes were poisonous
esculentus: succulent, delicious, ripe
Also see “How Plants Get their Names” by LH Bailey, 1933
Here’s a website that might help make sense of this Greek stuff:
The Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
Many other books and websites also have rough translations of botanical names – take a look at them.
Scientific names may tell you something about the plant.

18. Even more on scientific nomenclature
Most commonly used system of nomenclature
System is not static
As you move down though the sections, plants are more closely related
Based on flower and plant morphology
Scientific nomenclature is under a constant state of change – this is typical of scientific knowledge.
As we learn more about plant relationships, the names may change.
Expect to see even more name changes as botanists begin to look at DNA for the relationships between plants.

19. It’s all in the Family
Being able to identify an unknown plant to its family is a valuable skill
Look at botanical characteristics and see if it reminds you of another plant
Look at references under the name of the family to speed up your search
Once you know the family, there are web-based sites that can help you though the rest of the way.
Here's one from the University of Wisconsin-Madison:
A look at Wikpedia, on the web, lists at least 423 different plant families:

20. - Robert Frost, "The Rose Family”
Common Plant Families
Anacardiaceae
Apocynaceae
Cruciferae
Fagaceae
Gramineae
Labiatae
Leguminosae
Rosaceae
The rose is a rose and was always a rose; But the theory now goes That the apple's a rose, And the pear is, and so's The plum, I suppose. The dear only knows What will next prove a rose. You, of course, are a rose, but were always a rose.
- Robert Frost, "The Rose Family”
Here are a few common plant families of interest to Florida gardeners:
Anacardiaceae = Poison Ivy Family; (Cashew fruit)
Apocynaceae = Dogbane family;
Cruciferae = mustard or Cole Crops;
Fagaceae - Oak Family; (pictured fruit)
Gramineae – former name for Poaceae; (pictured seed)
Labiatae = Mints; (pictured flower)
Leguminosae - former name for Fabaceae – Beans or peas ;
Rosaceae – Rose family, about 3,000-4,000 species (pictured flower)

21. More Common plant families
Asteraceae
Brassicaceae
Poaceae
Clusiaceae
Lamiaceae
Fabaceae
Arecaceae
Apiaceae
Zamiaceae
Asteraceae = Compositae Daisy family
Brassicaceae = Cruciferae (both names are allowed) mustard & cole crops
Poaceae = Grasses & cereals (pictured rice)
Clusiaceae = Guttiferae or Hypericaceae – Pitch Apple, St. John’s wort
Lamiaceae formerly Labitaceae - Mint family (pictured foliage)
Fabaceae - beans
Arecaceae – formerly Palmae or Palmaceae = palms (graphic)
Apiaceae or Umbelliferae (both names are allowed) - parsley, carrot, and other aromatic plants with hollow stems and umbrella shaped flowers (pictured)
Zamiaceae - the Cycads (botany print)

22. A family portrait
Here’s a good example of how family relationships matter:
Consider the lowly mustard plant: Brassica oleracea – from this one plant , gardeners and plant breeders have selected these four common vegetables.
They all have similare cultural requirements, and are effected by the same pests.

23. What makes a plant a plant and not an animal?
Cell walls
Ability to make own food
Special kinds of anatomical (plant) parts
Here’s what’s different about plants…

24. Gross Anatomy Major plant organs include: roots stems leaves
reproductive organs:
flowers or cones
fruits and seeds
Know the Node!
On some plants, some of these organs may be missing, but something else must adapt to allow the plant to “play on”

25. This Bud’s for You! New growth comes from Buds, or meristems.
Apical meristems
Lateral or auxiliary meristems
Crown buds
Root tips
Growth comes from the tips, where new cells divide and then enlarge.
Growth can occur from the top, bottom and sometimes even the side of the plant.

26. Roots Fibrous roots Taproot Functions absorption of water & nutrients
anchoring
conductance
storage
What are roots for?
Did you know that Monocot roots look different that Dicot roots?
They differ both in internal structure as well as the arrangement of the root system.
Fibrous roots Taproot

27. Roots Morphology primary root/secondary roots tap root/fibrous roots
adventitious roots
root hairs
Here are some specialized terms that apply to roots

28. Types of Tree Roots Small absorbing roots Lateral roots
Knowing where tree roots are located can help us protect them.
We need to know where to apply mulch, water, fertilizer and other materials needed to promote root growth.
80% of all plant roots are in the upper 12” to 18” of soil.
Small absorbing roots Lateral roots
Sinker roots Taproot

29. Tree Root Spread Whether a younger or an older plant, roots extend ...
If roots grow this far out, what do you think can happen to them when:
Herbicides are applied to lawns
Vehicles drive over them
Trenches are cut through the landscape
Etc…..
… 2 to 4 times beyond the drip line.

30. Stolons (runners) are above ground stems
Roots can be Special
Rhizomes are roots
Tubers are stems
Stolons (runners) are above ground stems
Roots can be modified to perform special functions or help the plant adapt to special conditions.
Some special structures that look “rooty” are not roots, but may actually be stems.
Pneumatophores = Knees

31. Stem Functions Morphology Conductance Support Photosynthesis
Gas exchange
lenticels
Morphology
Nodes/internodes
Modifications
tendril
thorn
Anyone recognize the stem at the right? It’s called the Senator, Florida’s Biggest Tree – in Sanford, Seminole County.
Tendrils and thorns are also special stem modifications – on this Greenbrier Vine
Twig graphic:

32. Stem: Movin’ on up (and down)
Phloem – tubes that conduct food & hormones produced by the plant, from leaves to entire plant
Xylem – tubes that conduct water and minerals from roots to entire plant
These tissues are formed by the vascular cambium

33. Stem Growth - Monocots Shoot Elongation Leaf Growth Diameter Growth
from a low growing point pushing upwards.
Leaf Growth
Occurs from one bud, one growing point.
Diameter Growth
Stem diameter is determined within growing point - no cambium layer.
Grasses and other monocots have different arrangement of growing points and conductive tissues.
These differences allow grass to be mowed,
but prevent corn plants from being grafted
and make palm trunk wounds permanent.

34. Palms are different! Palms only have one bud at the top of the stem
Many palm roots do not have the ability to branch if they are cut
Boot
Palms are Dicots, more clsoely related to grass plants than to oak trees.
The structure of palms makes the way we manage them in the nursery or landscape different that other kinds of “trees”.
There are also words that are used when talking about palms too.
Top a palm’s stem, and it is dead.
There is a root disc where whole new palm roots have to form if a root is damaged.

35. Stem Growth - Dicots Shoot Elongation Leaf Growth
Shoots grow in height at branch tips
Leaf Growth
Occurs from the buds, making new cells.

36. Stem Growth - Dicots (herbaceous vs. woody)
Herbaceous stem growth:
Bundles arranged in a ring
Younger broad leaved plants have vascular bundles arranged in a ring.
If the plant will mature as a woody stem, the bundles will grow together to fill in the spaces.
The actively dividing cells between the wood (xylem) and bark (phloem) will increase the diameter of the stem.
Woody stem growth:
Between wood & bark is a thin layer of dividing cells (cambium)

37. Weed Eater damage = dead plant
Phloem –
just beneath the bark
transport of food & other products made by the plant down to the roots
No food to roots – roots die – plant dies

38. Girdling = dead plant Here’s another way to kill a plant with love:
Staking of trees is sometimes needed, but remember to take off the ties, certainly within a year of planting.

39. Leaf Functions Collection of light Photosynthesis Gas exchange Storage
What does a leaf do for the plant?
Stomata are the openings on a plant leaf that allow gas exchange to occur.

40. More Leaf Functions Collection of light Photosynthesis Gas exchange
Storage
C4 plants are those grasses that have a more efficient means of capturing sunlight and converting it to food.
They may be better choices for biofuel production as they capture more of the sun’s energy.
What’s a C3 plant?
What’s a C4 plant?

41. Leaves are different Monocot Leaf Dicot Leaf
Chief veins are parallel or nearly so.
Typically grasses, palms
Dicot Leaf
Veins form a net-like pattern.
Commonly referred to as “Broadleaves”.
The venation may be used to distinguish the two great subdivisions of flowering plants, Monocots and Dicots.

42. Getting Attached Morphology Blade/petiole Shape of blade Margin
Attachment to stem
Number and arrangement of leaflets
Take a careful look at how leaves are attached to the plant.

43. Leaf Shapes are Simple
The overall shape of the leaf is important for plant identification.
There are many specialized words used for overall leaf shapes.
Check your Botany Handbook to get some definitions – and check other references that use pictures to help you separate the chordates from the spatultaes in your botanical garden….

44. I’m Getting Edgy!
Again, there are many special words describe the edge of the leaf.
This is called the Leaf margin.
Look carefully at the words and you can recognize what they mean.

45. How many leaves are on this slide?
Leaf Me Alone!
And be certain that what you are looking at is a leaf, not a leaflet, or even a sub-leaflet.
At the base of each leaf is a bud!
Pinnate? Palmate? When you get confused, look at your hand – It is Palmate – all from one point.
The other kind of bird is featherlike - pinnate – which is Feather in Latin!
How many leaves are on this slide?

46. Flowers Function Control pollination Develop into fruit and seed
Morphology
We need many slides for this!
Remember – much of the classification of plants is based on floral morphology
Gardeners may think that flowers are for smelling and looking, but the plant really knows what this is all about – reproduction!
All these pictures show reproductive parts of the Gardenia.

47. Flower morphology petals - corolla sepals - calyx receptacle pistil
ovary/ovules
style
stigma
stamen
filament
anther
pollen
OK - Can you identify the parts of this flower?

48. Peas, if you please… Pollen Grains
Here’s another view of flower parts.
And then if you are really focusing in on a particular plant Family, the parts are sometimes modified into other structures or may be entirely missing.
Peas, if you please…

49. More-phology Complete Perfect Flower types
has petals, sepals, stamens and pistils
Perfect
has both stamens and pistils
staminate
pistillate
Flower types
monoecious
dioecious
When looking at botanical descriptions of flowers, another whole set of words is used.
Here’s a comparison of complete and incomplete flowers – can you tell the differences?

50. Fruits and seeds Function Morphology seed dispersal seed protection
contain genetic information for next generation and structures to create new plant
Morphology
Ovary development
Cotyledons/endosperm, embryo
Here’s what happens to many flowers – they are pollinated and the ripened ovary matures into a fruit.
The fruit may contain one seed, or many.

51. Seed Parts
Ok – remember we said monocots vs. dicots? Here’s the proof...one or two seed leaves.
Can you think of other seeds, and identify which is which?

52. Fruity, seedy words… Dry fruits Fleshy fruits Dehiscent or indehiscent
Multiple/aggregate
And then there more fruity words to know too...
Different fruit forms have different words to describe their shape and form.

53. And what kind is this?
Actually – its not a fruit at all– it is a gall on a Laurel Oak.
So, be sure of what you are looking at!

54. So when someone brings me a plant, how do I get to the scientific name?
Dichotomous keys
Plant ID books
Glossaries of terms
Websites
One of your goals will be to get to know the reference books that you feel comfortable with when trying to identify plants.
Pictured here are three UF/IFAS books that should be on every Florida Master Gardener bookshelf.
Ask the veterans which ones are their favorites - or just look to see which one is the most worn-out copy – that’s a good clue as to the value of a particular ID book!
The “good books” also have references to the Family that a plant belongs, and include some of the basic botany terms that apply to these plants.

55. Dichotomous keys are useful in making decisions about identifying plants.
They involve making a choice, either “A” or “B” [or 1 or 2], and you move through the choices until you get your answer.
The handout, BotanyWebsites4 MGs has a couple websites to practice using this ID tool.
They are limited if the key does not actually contain the plant (or critter) you are looking to identify.
You may practice using a Dichotomous key in today’s Activity #1.

56. Back to Plant ID: Who ya gonna call?
The first line of assistance is your county agent.
Other local experts are available
Despite our best efforts at Plant ID, there always is that situation the requires a little extra help.
Your county agent may know, but more important is, they also might know who else may know.
Special plant societies can be a help, as can certain nurseries. But who helps these experts?

57. Who ya gonna call? Herbarium – sent to UF though Extension office.
IFAS Form 3100/ required
No fee (right now)
Distance Diagnostic &
Identification System
UF maintains a plant identification service that can accept actual plant specimens that are submitted for identification.
Here’s a link to the Extension bulletin RFSR013 that describes the program: ;
The submittal form is IFAS Form 3100/ and it can be found on-line at:
A better way is to make use of the DDIS system. DDIS also involves your county Extensions office. It allows digital photos to be sent over the internet with all the other information needed to help with ID. DDIS is also used for Insect, disease, and the identification of environmental factors the effect plant and animal problems. is the DDIS home page.

58. DDIS Report Report will include: Grower Information
Where/when collected
Plant/Weed characteristics
Photos must be high quality
The report can be printed and given to the customer as a receipt.
Each report has a unique file number, e.g. DDIS ID :
Agents answer all the questions, attach photos, then send it to appropriate specialists.
Once a response is received, the final report can be sent to the customer.

59. Plants & their Environment
Back in the dark ages, the study of pretty plants was called Ornamental Horticulture. Horticulturalists realized that in order to grow better plants, they needed to modify the environment to make plants do what they wanted them to do.
It's no wonder that the academic department that supports the major part of our Florida Master Gardener program is now called the Department of Environmental Horticulture.
Here’s a link if you must know more:
In this next section we will introduce a little about some of the environmental influences that effect plant growth – and what we can do about it.

60. Plant Growth
Plants make their own food - by converting energy from sunlight.
All living things require energy, not just for growth and reproduction, but also for the maintenance of life.
To produce food, plants require energy, carbon dioxide, water, and the essential nutrients.
Energy comes from the chemical energy in the food consumed by all living things.
Food has its origin in photosynthesis. Without photosynthesis, life on earth would not exist – at least not in its current form.
Plant energy comes from sunlight, and is stored by combining carbon dioxide from air and water from the soil.

61. Plants and energy (simplified)
Photosynthesis
The process of turning light energy into energy that can be transported and stored by the plant
The answer to this question can be appreciated when you consider two different times – night time and winter time.
Why not just use the energy directly?

62. 6 CO2 + 12 H2O + light + chlorophyll =
Eeek! Chemistry!
6 CO H2O + light + chlorophyll =
C6H12O H2O O2
Photosynthesis - it means that we get to eat!
What does this mean to you?

63. Eeek! Chemistry!
6 CO H2O + light + chlorophyll = C6H12O6 + 6 H2O + 6 O2
C6H12O6 is the general formula for carbohydrates
Sugars can be transported
Starches can be stored
Starches are sugars that are bound together to be a little less soluble –they take a little effort to break them down for use.
What happens when you clump starches into even more complex structures? “Wood” you know the answer to that question?
Both are forms of carbohydrates – as anyone on the Atkins diet can tell you!

64. More energy stuff
Respiration
Breaking the carbohydrates into a form of energy the plant can use
Although we think of respiration in humans as breathing, breathing is really the gas exchange that supports respiration.
Adding oxygen to carbohydrates is respiration. What will be the result?

65. And more chemistry C6H12O6 + 6 H2O + 6 O2 + mitochondria =
6 CO H2O + energy in a useable form
Does anything about this formula look familiar?
Respiration is a slow form of burning, and releases heat.
Living things have learned how to slowly burn up their sugar, rather than by letting it all go up in smoke.

66. A Balance Photosynthesis Respiration Produces food Energy is Stored
Occurs in Cells with Chloroplasts
Oxygen is released
CO2 is used
Occurs in light
Respiration
Uses food for Energy
Energy is released
Occurs in all cells
Oxygen is used
Water is produced
CO2 is produced
Occurs in Dark or Light
Carbohydrates made during photosynthesis are of value to the plant when they are converted to energy.
This energy is used to building new tissues, in other words to support growth of the plant.
This is the process of respiration.

67. What’s all this used for, anyway?
Plant growth and development
Cell division
Cell elongation
Where does growth occur in plants?
Meristems
So the heat is released and new complex molecules can be formed, growth can occur, and we get to eat the plants or appreciate their beauty.

68. Plants and the environment
Light
Water
Nutrients
Temperature
Air
There are many things that effect the system in which plants grow.
Sometimes we can take advantage of these influences to improve plant growth – other times we forget, and the result is less than optimum plant growth.

69. Light Color Why don’t plants grow well in green light? Intensity
Shade plants & full sun plants
Duration
Total amount in a day
Photoperiod and flowering
Plants have developed a lot of secondary responses to light that cause them to have different colors, become adapted to different kinds of shade conditions.
Changes in light can also be a signal to tell plants when to grow new leaves or when to produce flowers.
Can you think of a short-day plant?

70. Water 90% of the plant is water Water is a carrier for nutrients
Water is essential in chemical reactions – like?
Too much water will suffocate plant toots
Too little water will cause wilting and death
Water management is called irrigation – another whole class

71. Nutrients Required for growth Environmental elements: C, H, O Macro
N, P, K, S, Mg, Ca
Micro
Mn, Mo, Zn, Bo, Fe, Cu, Cl
Here’s a review from next week… “C-Hopkins Café. Mighty Good. Mob comes in.”
The important point here is that changing the level of nutrients can change the rates of growth of plants

72. Temperature
Heat and cold effect the rate of chemical reactions and therefore, plant growth.
Effective Plant growth stops above 84 degrees F. – the basis for the AHS Heat Zone map ©:
And cold temperatures cause water to turn solid, so plant growth stops at the other end of the thermometer. The USDA Hardiness Zone Map

73. Air Source of some nutrients Gases for chemical reaction
Even some plant hormones are gases
CO2 is a nutrient the plant gets from the air. CO2 generators have been used to sped up plant growth.
Other gasses change plant growth processes – like ripening. Ethylene is a plant growth regulator
see:

74. Soil Aeration Roots must have oxygen: for respiration
to absorb essential elements.
If soil atmospheres are less than 2% oxygen, plant roots will decline and die.
Soil oxygen levels also effect soil microbes too.

75. Have you gone fruity yet?
So what kind of fruit is this?
It’s a Corn-nana and a waterlemon

76. Activity (1) Using a Plant Key for Identification or
(2) Start Your own Plant ID Notebook:
press a plant
complete the Plant ID Note Sheet
Work with your local training coordinators to do one of these two activities – or choose both if you have time.
We will resume the broadcast with the next speaker in a few minutes.

77. Acknowledgements:
This presentation was adapted from a PowerPoint originally developed by: Dr. Elizabeth Lamb, Cornell University IPM program – UF/IFAS IRREC
Other contributors include:
Adrian Hunsberger, Miami Dade Extension Agent
Kim Gabel, Hort. Agent - Monroe County (THE KEYS)
Stan Rosenthal, Extension Agent – Forestry, UF/IFAS Leon County Extension
Jim Chatfield, Extension Specialist, the Ohio State University
Paul Baumann, Weed Specialist – TAMU
Oregon State Univ. Master Gardener Botany page:
Gabel:
Chatfield:

78. Questions? Thanks for your Attention! Dan Culbert,
Call or Write if you have more questions:
Dan Culbert,
Okeechobee Co. Extension Service
Go Gators!