Tammy Algood of the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service explains some of the basics of botany. Plants have different kinds of root structures: primary, or tap, roots; secondary, or feeder, roots; and fibrous roots. A carrot is a good example of a tap root, which stores food for the plant. Feeder roots extend from the primary root and carry nutrients and moisture back to the plant. Fibrous roots travel into the surrounding soil in search of nutrients, and act as an anchor for the plant. The vascular system in the stem or trunk of a plant carries nutrients from the roots to the leaves and back again. It also stores food for the plant and supports the leaves. The cambium, the layer of tissue just under the bark that carries nutrients, acts much as our own skin does and protects the fleshy part of the stem, the xylem. Through photosynthesis leaves manufacture food, which is carried down to the roots. New branches grow at the leaf axils (figure A), which act as an emergency standby system if anything happens to the main growth terminal at the top of the plant. When you remove the main growth terminal to encourage a plant to grow bushy and full, you force growth at the leaf axils. Leaf veins provide a capillary system that carries nutrients from the leaf to the stem and root system (figure B).
Flowers are plants' sexual organs. Birds, bees and other pollinators do the job of carrying pollen to plants and fertilizing them. If you deadhead plants after they bloom--thus preventing seed formation--they'll often bloom again in an effort to complete the reproductive cycle.
RESOURCES :
For plants from Wolf River Valley Farms
Wolf River Valley Farms
Pall Mall, TN 38577
Fax: 1-931-879-5479
Email: pwpg@twlakes.net
Website: www.wolfriver.net
GUESTS :
Tammy Algood
UT Agricultural Extension Service
5201 Marchant Drive
Nashville, TN 37211-5201
Phone: 615-834-5162
Fax: 615-832-0043
Email: Talgood1@utk.edu
Website: http://www.utextension.utk.edu
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