Week 9 - Botany 1: Intro to Botany Class (part c)

Time in: 9am
Time out: 12pm

This week, we learned about sexual and asexual reproduction of plants. We also learned about flower parts. We also learned about the difference between a seed and a spore.

A seed generally comes from a flower-producing plant. It is a complete capsule, equipped with food that can wait for the right moment to germinate. A date palm seed, for example, was discovered in Israel sometime in 2008 and has been carbon-dated to be 2000 year old! Check out this article entitled "Jesus-era seed seed is the oldest to germinate" from the New Scientist magazine.

A spore is what a non-flowering plant would use to germinate. Spores are usually single cells that are not capable of holding its own food, has no embryo and is dependent on water for germination. Examples of a spore are those dots on the back of a fern. Moss, algae and mushrooms also come from spores.

We then took a test that will move us to the second section of Botany Classes.

I must admit, as much as I enjoy and appreciate learning all of this information, I'm itching to get back to the Herb garden!