Plants and Human Affairs:
Questions to think about.
1. Contrast the origin
and development of agriculture in the old
and new
worlds. How do you account for the differences?
2. What roles do hybridization,
introgression and polyploidy play
in the
evolution of wheat?
3. Compare the ways
in which natural selection has operated in
plant
evolution with the ways in which people have selected
plants
during their appearance on earth.
4. Compare the early
history of the development of wheat and corn
with respect
to: a) evidence, b) locations, c) structure of
the plant
part used.
5. Describe a typical
a) seedling, b) mature plant, and c) fruit
of the
Gramineae. In what respects is corn not typical?
6. Select a root or
tuber crop and a grain crop and compare them
with reference
to the following: a) climate, b) soil, c)
yield,
d) nutritional value.
7. Which of the following
are stems and explain how you know this
to be
the case: potato, cassava, onion, taro.
8. What is endosperm
and how is it formed? Describe the changes
that take
place in wheat endosperm during germination.
9. Compare and contrast:
a) beer and wine, b) sap wood and heart
wood,
c) jute and cotton, d) seed and fruit, e) multiple and
aggregate
fruit.
10. In what ways are
forest ecosystems of value other than in the
production of wood and wood products?
11. Describe how the
nitrogen cycle works and what might be the
effects of agriculture and forestry upon it?
12. Define and alkaloid.
Chose two cases and describe: a) the
compound itself, b) its distribution within the plant, c) its
probable origin, d) its role in history.
13. What characteristics
of soil important to plant growth are
controlled by good structure? Explain how structure may be
maintained or destroyed by cultivation proctices.
14. What are fertilizers
made of? Why?
15. Contrast lateritic
and podzolic soils with regard to relative
agricultureal importance.
16. Distinguish chemically
between essential oils, resins, and
rubber. Select an example of each and give: a) a name of the
plant which produced it, b) where the plant grows, c) the
plant part from which the product is commercially obtained.
17. Discuss how the
search for such luxuries as spices has
affected history. What other plant products have played
important historical roles?
18. Compare and contrast:
a) black tea and green tea, b) black
pepper, white pepper and paprika, c) herb and spice plant.
19. What is a polyunsaturaterd
fat? What is the distinction
between an essential oil and an essential lipid?
20. Discuss three problems
that illustrate how land usage
problems are essentially plant usage problems.
21. Consider some important
plant diseases and discuss ways in
which modern agriculturists are attempting to control them.
22. What are some commercial
applications of our knowledge about
plant growth regulators.
23. What is(was?) the
"Green Revolution." Is(was?) it successful?