1. All plants have these four organs
Roots
Stems
Leaves
Reproductive Structures

2. Major Groups of Plants Mosses Ferns and Allies Gymnosperms Angiosperms
Monocots
Dicots

3. The two major classes of flowering plants
Monocots
Dicots

4. Forage Classification
GRASSES
Perennials
Cool Season
Warm Season
Annuals
LEGUMES
Perennials
Cool Season
Warm Season
Annuals
FORAGE: Edible parts of plants, other than separated grain, that can provide feed for grazing animals, or that can be harvested for feeding. Includes browse, herbage, and mast.
Perennial – come back more than once
Annual – grows and dies in one season

5. Plant Vocabulary Grass: monocots (one seed leaf)
herbaceous plant
parallel leaf veins
fibrous root system
Legume: dicots (two seed leaves)
“netted” leaf veins
usually have a taproot
produce seed in a pod
nitrogen fixation
Legumes may contain a bacteria rhizobium with whom they interact to fix Nitrogen leading to a higher N content of the plant. Crude Protein measures of feeds are simply a measure of N content, therefore, legumes have higher CP content than grasses. Increases growth and decreases fertilization needed.
Draw different leaf examples.

6. Grass or Legume? Left – Kentucky Bluegrass
Right – Alfalfa Leave (serrated edges)

7. Plant Vocabulary
Annual: A plant that germinates, grows, reproduces, and dies in one growing season
Perennial: A plant that has the ability to live for more than one year
Biennials – weak perennials that usually die after the second growing season
Annuals reproduce ONLY by seed
Perennials reproduce either by seed or vegetatively (i.e., send up new plants from existing root structure) - may appear to die back, but can recover

8. Plant Vocabulary
Warm Season Plants: plants that begin growth and/or are planted in the spring or early summer and do most of their growth during the warmest part of the year
Cool Season Plants: plants that begin growth and/or are planted in the fall or early spring and do most of their growth during the coolest months of the year (except during winter)
Warm season plants – Most plants native to Maryland
Cool season plants – dormant in the winter

9. Common Characteristics of Some Pasture Species
LEGUMES

10. Legumes Dicot plants Legume roots host Rhizobium bacteria
Two seed-bearing leaves
Legume roots host Rhizobium bacteria
Often have taproots
Trifoliate leaves
Shape of leaflets
Texture (hairy, shiny, etc.)
Dicot = two seed-bearing leaves
Taproot (i.e. carrot-like)
taproots of alfalfa plants have been known to penetrate 20 feet
White clover has a shallow root system
Trifoliate = three leaflets that make up one leaf
Leaf shape can identify the plant

11. Legume Plant Parts

12. Seed dormancy
Seeds can remain dormant in the soil for long periods of time. Dormancy helps ensure that seeds only germinate when conditions are right.
When we weed or cultivate a bare patch of soil, the weeds that sprout up immediately usually come from the “seed bank” already in the soil.

13. Breaking dormancy
Seeds require moisture and the right temperature to germinate.
In addition, some seeds germinate only after certain environmental signals:
Drying
Temperature (period of cold or heat)
Disruption of the seed coat

14. Germination: monocot

15. Germination: dicot

16. Tap root and Fibrous (Diffuse) Root Systems – Both arise from radicle