Deck 28: Green Algae and Land Plants

Question 1

The major function of medicinal compounds in plants is to ________.

A) attract pollinators for seed dispersal
B) attract insects and birds to spread seeds and fruits
C) defend the plant against herbivores
D) defend the plant against microbes

Answer 1

C

Question 2

If humans had been present to build log structures during the Carboniferous period (though they were not!), which plant types would have been suitable sources of logs?

A) whisk ferns and epiphytes
B) horsetails and bryophytes
C) lycophytes and bryophytes
D) ferns, horsetails, and lycophytes
E) charophytes (stoneworts), bryophytes, and gymnosperms

Answer 2

D

Question 3

According to our current knowledge of plant evolution, which group of organisms should feature cell division most similar to that of land plants?

A) unicellular green algae
B) cyanobacteria
C) charophytes
D) red algae
E) multicellular green algae

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Researchers tested nitrogen loss from soil where the moss Dawsonia was growing and compared it to soil from which Dawsonia had been removed. The data are presented in the accompanying figure.
If the actual results most closely resembled those in part (A) in the figure above, then a further question arising from these data is: "Do the Dawsonia rhizoids have to be alive to reduce soil nitrogen loss, or do dead rhizoids have the same effect?" Arrange the following steps in the correct sequence to test this hypothesis.
1) Add metabolic poison to the soil of the experimental plot of mosses.
2) Apply water equally to the experimental and control plots.
3) Measure initial soil nitrogen contents of control and experimental plots.
4) Determine nitrogen loss from the soil of control and experimental plots.
5) Establish two identical plots of Dawsonia mosses; one as a control, the other as the experimental treatment.

A) 5 → 1 → 3 → 2 → 4
B) 5 → 2 → 3 → 1 → 4
C) 5 → 3 → 1 → 2 → 4
D) 4 → 5 → 1 → 3 → 2
E) 5 → 3 → 2 →? 1 → 4

Question 5

The functional role of sporopollenin is primarily to ________.

A) comprise spore surface structures that catch the wind and assist in spore dispersal
B) reduce dehydration
C) make spores less dense and able to disperse more readily
D) repel toxic chemicals
E) provide nutrients to spores

Question 6

You want to get rid of your cough and stuffy nose, and a friend offers you a cup of tea. After you drink the tea, you realize that you are feeling relief from your symptoms. What plant compound was most likely found in the tea?

A) quinine
B) codeine
C) menthol
D) salacin
E) morphine

Question 7

The most direct ancestors of land plants were probably ________.

A) kelp (brown alga) that formed large beds near the shorelines
B) green algae
C) photosynthesizing prokaryotes (cyanobacteria)
D) liverworts and mosses

Question 8

Researchers tested nitrogen loss from soil where the moss Dawsonia was growing and compared it to soil from which Dawsonia had been removed. The data are presented in the accompanying figure.
In the figure, which graph of soil nitrogen loss over time most strongly supports the hypothesis that if the 20-cm-tall Dawsonia acts as a physical buffer, then it reduces water's ability to erode the soil and carry away its nitrogen?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) None of these graphs support the hypothesis.

Question 9

Which of these time intervals, based on plant fossils, came last (most recently)?

A) extensive growth of gymnosperm forests
B) Silurian-Devonian explosion with fossils of plant lineages containing most of the major morphological innovations
C) colonization of land by early liverworts and mosses
D) rise and diversification of angiosperms
E) carboniferous swamps with giant horsetails and lycophytes

Question 10

Molecular phylogenies show all land plants are a monophyletic group. This suggests ________.

A) there were many different transitions from aquatic to terrestrial habitats
B) wind-pollinated plants arose first
C) land plants have undergone a diversification since they first colonized terrestrial habitats
D) there was a single transition from aquatic to terrestrial habitats

Question 11

Why are seedless vascular plants considered paraphyletic rather than monophyletic?

A) Some of the groups within the seedless vascular plants are more closely related to each other than to other groups (such as Lycophyta).
B) They share a more recent common ancestor with seeded plants than they do with the non-vascular plants.
C) All of the groups contained within the seedless vascular plants do not have the same ancestor.
D) The group includes their common ancestor but also the seeded descendants of that same ancestor.

Question 12

As fuels, wood and coal ________.

A) are the main fuel sources in industrialized countries today.
B) are both formed from living or fossil plants.
C) are both formed under pressure deep in the Earth.
D) are sustainable as they are even now being made at high rates.

Question 13

Which of the following should have had gene sequences most similar to the charophyte (stonewort) that was the common ancestor of land plants?

A) early angiosperms
B) early bryophytes
C) early gymnosperms
D) early lycophytes
E) early pterophytes

Question 14

What evidence do paleobotanists look for that indicates the movement of plants from water to land?

A) waxy cuticle to decrease evaporation from leaves
B) loss of structures that produce spores
C) sporopollenin to inhibit evaporation from leaves
D) remnants of chloroplasts from photosynthesizing cells

Question 15

About 450 million years ago, the terrestrial landscape on Earth would have ________.

A) looked very similar to that of today, with flowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees
B) been completely bare rock, with little pools that contained bacteria and cyanobacteria
C) been covered with tall forests in swamps that became today's coal
D) had non-vascular green plants similar to liverworts forming green mats on rock

Question 16

According to the fossil record, plants colonized terrestrial habitats ________.

A) in conjunction with insects that pollinated them
B) in conjunction with fungi that helped provide them with nutrients from the soil
C) to escape abundant herbivores in the oceans
D) only about 150 million years ago

Question 17

Some green algae exhibit alternation of generations. All land plants exhibit alternation of generations. No charophytes (stoneworts) exhibit alternation of generations. Keeping in mind the recent evidence from molecular systematics, the correct interpretation of these observations is that ________.

A) charophytes are not related to either green algae or land plants
B) plants evolved alternation of generations independently of charophytes
C) alternation of generations cannot be beneficial to charophytes
D) land plants evolved directly from the green algae that perform alternation of generations
E) scientists have no evidence to indicate whether or not land plants evolved from any kind of alga

Question 18

Over human history, which process has been most important in improving the features of plants long used by humans as staple foods?

A) genetic engineering
B) artificial selection
C) natural selection
D) sexual selection
E) pesticide and herbicide application

Question 19

Which set contains the most closely related terms?

A) megasporangium, megaspore, pollen, ovule
B) microsporangium, microspore, egg, ovary
C) megasporangium, megaspore, egg, ovule
D) microsporangium, microspore, carpel, ovary

Question 20

You find a green organism in a pond near your house and believe it is a plant, not an alga. The mystery organism is most likely a plant and not an alga if it ________.

A) contains chloroplasts
B) is multicellular
C) is surrounded by a cuticle
D) does not contain vascular tissue
E) has cell walls that are comprised largely of cellulose

Question 21

Which of the following occurs in vascular land plants but not charophytes (stoneworts)?

A) sporopollenin
B) lignin
C) chlorophyll a
D) cellulose
E) chlorophyll b

Question 22

Red, brown, and some green algae exhibit alternation of generations. All land plants exhibit alternation of generations. No charophytes (stoneworts) exhibit alternation of generations. Keeping in mind the recent evidence indicating charophytes are the sister group to land plants, we can infer ________.

A) charophytes are not related to red, brown, or green algae or land plants
B) alternation of generations likely evolved independently in land plants as well as in red and brown algae
C) alternation of generations is not beneficial to charophytes but could re-evolve over time
D) land plants evolved directly from the green algae that perform alternation of generations
E) scientists have no evidence to indicate whether or not land plants evolved from any kind of alga

Question 23

Most moss gametophytes do not have a cuticle and are 1-2 cells thick. What does this imply about moss gametophytes and their structure?

A) They use stomata for gas-exchange regulation.
B) They can easily lose water to, and absorb water from, the atmosphere.
C) Photosynthesis occurs throughout the entire gametophyte surface.
D) They have branching veins in their leaves.

Question 24

Which of the following features of how seedless land plants get sperm to egg are the same as for some of their algal ancestors?

A) Conjugation tubes are formed between sperm and egg cells.
B) Packets of sperm are delivered by wind to the eggs.
C) Aquatic invertebrates carry sperm to eggs.
D) Flagellated sperm swim to the eggs in a water drop.
E) Flagellated sperm meet flagellated eggs in a water drop.

Question 25

Use the following information to answer the question(s) below.
Big Bend National Park in Texas is mostly Chihuahuan desert, where rainfall averages about 24 cm per year. Yet, it is not uncommon when hiking in this bone-dry desert to encounter mosses and ferns. One such plant is called "flower of stone." It is not a flowering plant, nor does it produce seeds. Under arid conditions, its leaf-like structures curl up. However, when it rains, it unfurls its leaves, which form a bright green rosette on the desert floor. Consequently, it is sometimes called the "resurrection plant." At first glance, it could be a fern, a true moss, or a spike moss.
What feature of both true mosses and ferns makes it most surprising that they can survive for many generations in dry deserts?

A) flagellated sperm
B) lack of vascular tissues
C) lack of true roots
D) lack of cuticle
E) a gametophyte generation that is dominant

Question 26

Which of the following features is most important for true mosses and ferns to reproduce in the desert?

A) that the sporophytes occupy only permanently shady, north-facing habitats
B) that the sporophytes hug the ground, growing no taller than a couple of inches
C) either that their gametophytes grow close together, or that they be hermaphroditic
D) that the sporophytes have highly lignified vascular tissues
E) that the gametophytes contain secondary compounds to deter herbivores

Question 27

Arrange the following in the correct sequence, from earliest to most recent, in which these plant traits originated.
1) sporophyte dominance, gametophyte independence
2) sporophyte dominance, gametophyte dependence
3) gametophyte dominance, sporophyte dependence

A) 1 → 2 → 3
B) 2 → 3 → 1
C) 2 → 1 → 3
D) 3 → 2 → 1
E) 3 → 1 → 2

Question 28

Archegonia ________.

A) are sites where male gametes are produced
B) may contain sporophyte embryos
C) have the same function as sporangia
D) are ancestral versions of animal gonads
E) make asexual reproductive structures

Question 29

Which of these are spore-producing structures?

A) sporophyte (capsule) of a moss
B) antheridium of a moss or fern
C) archegonium of a moss or fern
D) gametophyte of a moss

Question 30

The herbicide 2,4-D affects the metabolism of dicots and kills most of them. What is a common feature of plants that are susceptible to 2,4-D?

A) branching leaf veins
B) flower parts in threes
C) one cotyledon in the seed
D) vascular tissue scattered throughout the stem

Question 31

Which of the following is a land plant that has flagellated sperm and a sporophyte-dominated life cycle?

A) fern
B) moss
C) liverwort
D) charophyte (stoneworts)
E) hornwort

Question 32

Which of the following statements correctly describes a portion of the pine life cycle?

A) Female gametophytes use mitosis to produce eggs.
B) Seeds are produced in pollen-producing cones.
C) Pollen grains contain female gametophytes.
D) A pollen tube slowly digests its way through the triploid endosperm.
E) The young seedling grows into a mature gametophyte.

Question 33

Which of the following was a challenge to the survival of the first land plants?

A) too much sunlight
B) a shortage of carbon dioxide
C) desiccation
D) animal predation

Question 34

Which of the following is TRUE of the life cycle of mosses?

A) The haploid generation grows on the sporophyte generation.
B) Spores are primarily distributed by water currents.
C) Antheridia and archegonia are produced by gametophytes.
D) The sporophyte generation is dominant.
E) The growing embryo gives rise to the gametophyte.

Question 35

In terms of alternation of generations, the internal parts of the pollen grains of seed-producing plants are most similar to a ________.

A) moss sporophyte
B) moss gametophyte bearing both male and female gametangia
C) fern sporophyte
D) hermaphroditic fern gametophyte
E) fern gametophyte bearing only antheridia

Question 36

If a fern gametophyte has both male and female gametangia on the same plant, then it ________.

A) belongs to a species that is homosporous
B) must be diploid
C) has lost the need for a sporophyte generation
D) has antheridia and archegonia combined into a single sex organ
E) is actually not a fern, because fern gametophytes are always either male or female

Question 37

In the process of alternation of generations, the ________.

A) sporophyte is haploid and produces gametes
B) sporophyte is diploid and produces spores
C) gametophyte is haploid and produces spores
D) gametophyte is diploid and produces gametes
E) spores unite to form a zygote

Question 38

As you stroll through a moist forest, you are most likely to see a ________.

A) zygote of a green alga
B) gametophyte of a moss
C) sporophyte of a liverwort
D) gametophyte of a fern

Question 39

A botanist discovers a new species of plant in a tropical rain forest. After observing its anatomy and life cycle, he notes the following characteristics: flagellated sperm, xylem with tracheids, separate gametophyte and sporophyte generations with the sporophyte dominant, and no seeds. This plant is probably most closely related to ________.

A) mosses
B) charophytes (stoneworts)
C) ferns
D) gymnosperms
E) flowering plants

Question 40

In plants, which of the following are produced by meiosis?

A) haploid sporophytes
B) haploid gametes
C) diploid gametes
D) haploid spores
E) diploid spores

Question 41

Which structure is common to both gymnosperms and angiosperms?

A) stigma
B) carpel
C) ovule
D) ovary
E) anthers

Question 42

The generative cell of male angiosperm gametophytes is haploid. This cell divides to produce two haploid sperm cells. What type of cell division does the generative cell undergo to produce these sperm cells?

A) binary fission
B) mitosis
C) meiosis
D) mitosis without subsequent cytokinesis
E) meiosis without subsequent cytokinesis

Question 43

Use the following information to answer the question(s) below.
Harold and Kumar are pre-med and pre-pharmacy students, respectively. They complain to their biology professor that they should not have to study about plants because plants have little relevance to their chosen professions.
Which adaptations of land plants are likely to provide Harold with future patients?
I) sporophyte dominance
II) defenses against herbivory
III) adaptations related to wind dispersal of pollen

A) I and II
B) II and III
C) I and III
D) I, II, and III

Question 44

A botanist discovers a new species of land plant with a dominant sporophyte, chlorophylls a and b, and cell walls made of cellulose. In assigning this plant to a phylum, which of the following, if present, would be LEAST useful?

A) endosperm
B) seeds
C) sperm that lack flagella
D) flowers
E) spores

Question 45

Which of the following is a characteristic of all angiosperms?

A) complete reliance on wind as the pollinating agent
B) double internal fertilization
C) free-living gametophytes
D) carpels that contain microsporangia
E) ovules that are not contained within ovaries

Question 46

Use the following information to answer the question(s) below.
The Brazil nut tree, Bertholletia excels, is native to tropical rain forests of South America. It is a hardwood tree that can grow to over 50 meters tall, is a source of high-quality lumber, and is a favorite nesting site for harpy eagles. As the rainy season ends, tough-walled fruits, each containing 8-25 seeds (Brazil nuts), fall to the forest floor. Brazil nuts are composed primarily of endosperm. About $50 million worth of nuts are harvested each year. Scientists have discovered that the pale yellow flowers of Brazil nut trees cannot fertilize themselves and admit only female orchid bees as pollinators. The agouti (Dasyprocta spp.), a cat-sized rodent, is the only animal with teeth strong enough to crack the hard wall of Brazil nut fruits. It typically eats some of the seeds, buries others, and leaves still others inside the fruit, which moisture can now enter. The uneaten seeds may subsequently germinate.
Entrepreneurs attempted, but failed, to harvest nuts from plantations grown in Southeast Asia. Attempts to grow Brazil nut trees in South American plantations also failed. In both cases, the trees grew vigorously, produced healthy flowers in profusion, but set no fruit. Consequently, what is the likely source of the problem?

A) poor sporophyte viability
B) poor sporophyte fertility
C) failure to produce fertile ovules
D) failure to produce pollen
E) pollination failure

Question 47

Which group of seedless vascular plants was the first to evolve roots?

A) club mosses
B) horsetails
C) ferns
D) whisk ferns

Question 48

The fruit of the mistletoe, a parasitic angiosperm, is a one-seeded berry. In members of the genus Viscum, the outside of the seed is viscous (sticky), which permits the seed to adhere to surfaces such as the branches of host plants or the beaks of birds. What should be expected of the fruit if the viscosity of Viscum seeds is primarily an adaptation for dispersal rather than an adaptation for infecting host plant tissues? It should _________.

A) be drab in color
B) be colored so as to provide it with camouflage
C) be nutritious to the dispersing organisms
D) secrete enzymes that can digest bark
E) contain chemicals that cause birds to fly to the ground and vomit

Question 49

Because they are morphologically simple, Psilotophyta (whisk ferns) have traditionally been thought to be a basal group in the radiation of land plants. Molecular phylogenies have challenged this hypothesis and support the alternative hypothesis that they________.

A) are the sister group to the seed plants
B) represent a grade rather than a monophyletic group
C) have lost complex structures in this lineage
D) represent a lineage that forms a monophyletic group with Lycophyta

Question 50

Use the following description to answer the question(s) below.
Cycads, a mostly tropical phylum of gymnosperms, evolved about 300 million years ago and were dominant forms during the Age of the Dinosaurs. Though their sperm are flagellated, their ovules are pollinated by beetles. These beetles get nutrition by eating pollen and microsporophyll tissue and shelter within the male cones (they are dioecious). Upon visiting megasporophylls on nearby female plants, which become attractively aromatic and warm (but are not palatable), the beetles transfer pollen to the exposed ovules. Cycad megasporophyll tissues synthesize neurotoxins, some of which is transferred to the seeds, that are effective against most animals, including humans.
Which feature of cycads distinguishes them from most other gymnosperms?
I) They have exposed ovules.
II) They have flagellated sperm.
III) They are pollinated by animals.

A) I only
B) II only
C) III only
D) II and III
E) I, II, and III

Question 51

Use the following information to answer the question(s) below.
Harold and Kumar are pre-med and pre-pharmacy students, respectively. They complain to their biology professor that they should not have to study about plants because plants have little relevance to their chosen professions.
Which of the following lines of evidence would best support your assertion that a particular plant is an angiosperm?

A) It produces seeds.
B) It retains its fertilized egg within its archaegonium.
C) It lacks gametangia.
D) It undergoes alternation of generations.
E) It produces gametes by mitosis rather than meiosis.

Question 52

What is TRUE about the genus Sphagnum?

A) It is an economically important liverwort.
B) It grows in extensive mats in grassland areas.
C) It is used by gardeners as a fertilizer.
D) It accumulates to form coal and is burned as a fuel.
E) It is an important carbon sink, reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Question 53

Which of the following statements is TRUE of the pine life cycle?

A) Cones are homologous to the capsules of moss plants.
B) The pine tree is a gametophyte.
C) Male and female gametophytes are in close proximity during gamete synthesis.
D) Conifer pollen grains contain male gametophytes.
E) Double fertilization is a relatively common phenomenon.

Question 54

Which plant group is notable for the independence of gametophyte and sporophyte generations from each other?

A) ferns
B) bryophytes
C) charophytes
D) angiosperms
E) gymnosperms

Question 55

Arrange the following structures, which can be found on male pine trees, from the largest structure to the smallest structure (or from most inclusive to least inclusive).
1) sporophyte
2) microspores
3) microsporangia
4) pollen cone
5) pollen nuclei

A) 1, 4, 3, 2, 5
B) 1, 4, 2, 3, 5
C) 1, 2, 3, 5, 4
D) 4, 1, 2, 3, 5
E) 4, 3, 2, 5, 1

Question 56

Orchid bees are to Brazil nut trees as ________ are to pine trees.

A) breezes
B) rain droplets
C) seed-eating birds
D) squirrels
E) both seed-eating birds and squirrels

Question 57

Angiosperms are the most successful terrestrial plants. Which of the following features is unique to them and helps account for their success?

A) wind pollination
B) dominant gametophytes
C) fruits enclosing seeds
D) embryos enclosed within seed coats
E) sperm cells without flagella

Question 58

Where are you LEAST likely to see green algae?

A) as pink snow in the mountains in summer
B) growing symbiotically with fungi in lichens or with some invertebrate animals
C) growing independently on dry rock in meadows
D) growing independently on wet rock in ponds and lakes
E) floating in seas and oceans

Question 59

Liverworts, hornworts, and mosses are grouped together as Bryophytes. Besides not having vascular tissue, what do they all have in common?

A) They are all wind pollinated.
B) They are heterosporous.
C) They can reproduce asexually by producing gemmae.
D) They require water for reproduction.
E) They have the ability to desiccate and rehydrate with no ill effects.