Review: Monocots have one seed leaf, fibrous roots, flower parts in 3's, and parallel leaf venation. None are truly woody (palms have fibrous stems.)  Today we study three SUBCLASSES
 

ALISMATIDAE

1. Alismataceae--Aquatic herbs, flowers apocarpous. Some have perfect flowers, but the Sagittaria we will see has unisexual flowers.
 

COMMELINIDAE
 

Flowers usually reduced and not showy.
 

1. Commelinaceae--Herbs, flowers primitive in subclass with showy perianth, fruit a capsule. Ex. Tradescantia with hairy filaments and bow-tie anthers.

2. Poaceae (Gramineae)--Herbs; culms (stems) round, with solid or hollow internodes, solid nodes; leaves two-ranked with open sheath, collar, and ligule. Flowers in spikelets, each with two glumes and one or more florets; each floret with lemma and palea; perianth represented by lodicules or absent. Awns may be present. Fruit a caryopsis (grain.) Very large family, including major grain crops--corn, wheat, rice, oats, millet, sorghum, rye, sugarcane, etc. Ex.: Avena (oat) and Bromus.

3. Cyperaceae--Herbs, culms usually angled, stems all solid; leaves usually 3-ranked with closed sheath. Flowers in spikelets NOT like Poaceae. Each flower subtended by 1 bract, perianth of bristles or absent. Fruit an achene. Ex.: Carex, with a sack-like perigynium around the gynoecium.

4. Juncaceae--Herbs, culms round, pithy, becoming hollow with age; leaves often reduced to just sheath. Flowers variously arranged, each subtended by bracts; perianth of 6 scaly parts. Fruit a capsule. Ex.: Juncus

Return to the Monocots I lab exercise

last modified July 24, 2007 by MDR