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4: How Plants Grow, Part 2

  • Page ID
    93157
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    Learning objectives
    • Recognize the general patterns of plant growth and the diversity of flowers found in angiosperms.
    • Distinguish the two types of growth patterns found in angiosperms — determinate and indeterminate.
    • Compare the diversity and types of compound inflorescences.

    In this chapter we explore the two main types of plant growth, determinant and indeterminate, and the vast diversity in form and number of inflorescences. As you learn the vocabulary, think about why each plant has these growth forms. A species with more flowers and seeds, for example, may be a better fit in its environment than a plant with a small number of flowers, but larger and more robust seeds.

    Thumbnail: Salvia farinacea (Blue Sage). guzhengmanCC BY-NC-SA 2.0


    This page titled 4: How Plants Grow, Part 2 is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Tom Michaels, Matt Clark, Emily Hoover, Laura Irish, Alan Smith, and Emily Tepe (Minnesota Libraries Publishing Project) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.