Series:Plants

Photosynthesis is an immensely important reaction for life on Earth since plants are the primary producers of food for (nearly) all food chains. They get the energy to make their food from sunlight and use it to split carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) into their constituent atoms and reassemble them into glucose (C6H12O6) molecules. Some …
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Leaves are the factories of plants. They have a large surface area for gaseous exchange. They can absorb gases from the air through the tiny pores on their undersides called stomata (singular stoma). They also open and close these to regulate water evaporating from the leaf.

There is a Leaves (Part One) which you could look at before this if you are in any doubt about your leaf knowledge. The above is a cross-section through a typical leaf. There is an actual microscope photograph of a similar leaf below. It should be fairly easy to compare structures between the two pictures. …
Continue reading Leaves (Part Two)…

The above is a labelled diagram of an insect pollinated flower. You can tell that it is pollinated by an insect because of the large petals. In reality it would probably have a bright colour, pleasant smell and nectar to attract the pollinator. What do all the bits do? The anther and filament together are …
Continue reading Flowering Plants…