*****Note: This page contains many glossary links to help you understand the information on the page!

 Plants often grow from seeds.

 A seed contains its own food supply, which helps the sprouting plant as it begins its new life.

 Some seeds stay alive for only a few days and after that they won't sprout at all. Some other seeds need a rest period before they can sprout.

 The primary root is the first thing to sprout from a seed, and it grows downward.

 Secondary roots grow from the primary root.

 Roots help to anchor plants and give them support.

  Roots are covered with root hairs that absorb water and minerals.

  Buds are small swellings on a plant from which a shoot, leaf, or flower usually develops.

  Stems, leaves, primary roots, secondary roots, root hairs, and buds are plant parts. Click here to see the parts of a plant!

  Water and minerals flow upward through the roots into the stem of the plant and then into the leaves of the plant.

 Carrots, potatoes, and radishes are examples of roots that we eat.

 A plant's stem appears and grows upward shortly after the primary root appears. It continues to grow above ground level.

 Stems usually continue to grow upward above the ground and bear leaves in a pattern along the stem. Click this link to see some plant patterns!

  The stem contains the plant's two-way transportation system made up of two systems of tubes. One tube system carries food and minerals up into the plant. Then when the leaves make food, the other tube system carries the food into the stem and back into the roots for storage.

 There are many different shapes and colors of leaves. Click this link to see leaves of different shapes and colors!

Bracts are modified leaves, which are located at the base of a flower. Bracts are usually smaller than the leaves on the stem. Poinsettia and bougainvillea plants have bracts.

 Grapes and clematis have stems that climb with tendrils, which hold onto a surface, as the stems get longer.

  Leaves have veins that help to carry water and minerals to different parts of each leaf. Sometimes many veins are networked within a single leaf. Click this link to see some leaf veins close up!

 The trunk of a tree is the tree's stem.

 Leaves capture energy from light and change it into energy that plants can use.

  Pistils, stamens, stigmas, anthers, petals, and sepals are all parts of a flower. Click this link to see the parts of a flower!

  Pistils have three parts - the stigma, the style, and the ovary.

  Stamens have two parts - a stalk called the filament and the anther, which is at the tip.

  Petals are usually colorful, and they attract insects and birds that help with pollination.

  Sepals are usually green. They are the first part that forms on a bud and, when the bud opens, the sepals remain beneath the petals of the flower. Sometimes sepals hold tightly against the bottom of the petals, and sometimes they curl away from the petals.

  Composite flowers are really two kinds of flowers in one. Daisies and dandelions are composite flowers. Composite flowers have floral heads that are made up of many, sometimes hundreds, of disk flowers. The floral heads are surrounded by ray flowers, which have petals but do not have pistils or stamens.

  Flowers come in many sizes and shapes. Click this link to see some flowers!

  Fruit is really the part of a flower in which seeds grow. Cherries, apples, and even milkweed pods are fruit.

  Sunflower seeds really aren't seeds at all. They are actually hard, dry fruits called achenes. Inside an achene is one seed. Achenes do not break open to release the seed inside.

 Plants grow because plants use energy to grow nice and tall. Plants are special because some plants people can eat. Plants are healthy to eat. Plants are different colors and sizes. Plants are cool. This information was sent in by a second grader in Room 201 at Reservoir Avenue School in Providence, RI.