Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dicots under the Microscope

Dicotyledons (dicots) are a group of flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves. Flowering plants that are not dicots are monocots, having one embryonic leaf.

FEATURE MONOCOT DICOT
# of parts of each flower
In 3s
In 4s or 5s
# of furrows or pores in pollen
1
3
# of cotyledons (leaves in the seed)
1
2
Arrangement of vascular bundles in stem
scattered
concentric circles
Roots
adventitious
develop from radicle
Arrangement of major leaf veins
parallel
reticulate

A magnolia is an example of a dicot.

 Dicot captured using a student biology microscope using the MW5-CCD microscope camera.