Topsoil

Topsoil is actually defined right within the word. It is the top of the soil- the outermost layer of soil that exists. Topsoil can range from 2 inches to 8 inches deep and is usually where mostly all plants are planted. This is because the plants get their nutrients from this layer and it is also where the roots take up water. The layer following topsoil is subsoil.  Most of the earth's biological soil activity takes place in the topsoil, especially since it has an extremely high concentration of organic matter, humus and microorganisms.

 In the picture above, we see the topsoil and some vegetables planted on it. The roots of the plant were able to take up the nutrients from the soil and water to grow to the way it is now.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Plant Nutrition.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 717. Print.

Bryophyte

Bryophytes make up the division Bryophyta. They consist of mosses, liverworts and hornworts. Bryophytes are simple, nonvascular plants that inhabit land, logs, rocks, or streams but they lack may terrestrial adaptations of vascular plants.They have no true roots and no flowers. Above I took a picture of a moss that grew beside a log since mosses are one example of bryophytes.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Plant Diversity I: The Colonization of Land.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 552. Print.

Simple Fruit

The ovary of a flower usually develops into a fruit so that it can protect the seeds inside from wind or animals. The ovary starts to grow because pollination triggers hormonal changes, which causes the fruit to begin developing. The pericarp is the wall of the ovary, which is the thickened wall of the fruit.  As the flower goes away, the ovary grows which parallels the development of seeds. Without the pollination of flowers, the fruit does not develop. A fruit that comes from a single ovary is called a simple fruit, which can be either fleshy or dry. An example of this, as depicted above, would be an apple. An apple is a fleshy fruit. The fleshy part is mostly from flower parts that were fused together located at the base of the flower; the core of the apple was the only thing that develops from the ovary.


Works Cited:
Campbell, Neil, Jane Reece, and Lawrence Mitchell. “Plant Reproduction and Development.” Biology. Fifth ed. Menlo Park: Jim Green Publishing, 1999. 738. Print.