Plant Structure Lab Report Form
For this lab you will need: magnifying glass, two stalks celery, red food coloring, cup of water, and knife.
Examine the various leaf samples shown in the course. Identify simple and compound leaves.  Make a quick sketch of an example of each leaf type, and label the petiole, axillary bud, leaf blade, and leaf veins. 
		
Simple leaf sketch			Compound leaf sketch
1) What is the characteristic venation pattern of monocots?

2) What is the characteristic venation pattern of dicots?

Sort the leaves shown in the course into monocots and dicots on the basis of the leaf venation. 
Dicot or moncot?
3) Coffee leaf
4) Sugar maple
5) Horse Chestnut 
6) Oak
7) Carya
8) What cell organelle would you expect to be abundant in the parenchyma of the leaf?

9) What gas is necessary for photosynthesis to occur?

10) What gas is a product of photosynthesis?

Examine the image of the epidermis of lilac leaf. This slide was prepared by peeling the epidermal layer from a leaf. 

Paradermal section of lilac leaf, lower leaf epidermis.
11) You should be able to find guard cells and stomata. Are the stomata open or closed?

Make a sketch of the guard cells as you see them in the above photograph.

Sketch of guard cells

Obtain one or two stalks of celery.  Use a sharp knife and slice cleanly across the bottom of the celery stalk. Repeat the process at least once on another stalk. Place the cut stalks into a glass. Add water and red food coloring solution to the glass, at least one inch deep of solution. Place the glass and stalks in a sunny spot, and check back periodically. 
Once the red color has risen at least half-way up the stalk, place one of these stalks on a plate or cutting board and slice as thin a slice as you can across the stalk base.  Place this small slice on a clean plate and observe the slide with a magnifying glass.
 Do you see any cells? Make a sketch below of what you see.
                                         
Sketch of celery slice:
STEMS:
 
12) What is transported in the xylem? 

13) What is transported in the phloem?

14) Examine the image of a prepared slide of a cross section of Medicago stem (pictured in the drop and drag activity) Notice that the vascular bundles are arranged in a circular arrangement. Is this the stem of a monocot or dicot?

Label the oldest and the youngest xylem in the picture of a woody stem cross section of the woody dicot Tilia shown in the drop and drag activity.  The inner rings are the oldest of the sample with the outer rings are the youngest.
The oldest rings of xylem are generally filled with resins and metabolic wastes and are consequently no longer important in transport within the plant. This heartwood is often the most aromatic and beautiful wood of a tree. 

15) What is the age of the stem you are examining above?

16) The original pith is still located in the center of the stem (inside the vascular bundles). What type of cells makes up the pith?

ROOTS:
Examine the photograph of a prepared slide of the root cross section. Notice that the section is circular in outline since it was cut across the root.  The vascular tissue of the root is concentrated in a single vascular bundle or stele in the center of the root. 

17) How does this compare to the number of vascular bundles in the stem?

A layer of cells called the endodermis surrounds the stele. Xylem is found towards the center of the stele and phloem towards the outside of the stele. 
18) How does this compare to their arrangement in the stem?

19) The meristematic region is protected in the root by the presence of a root cap. How is the meristematic region protected in the stem tip?

20) In which of these regions would you expect to find the specialized cells of vascular tissue?

21) In which of these regions are the cells genetically identical? 

22) Why?