Question 1

The meristem responsible for increase in the LENGTH of the plant, present at root and shoot tips, is the:

Accepted Answer

Apical meristem. Apical meristems at tips cause primary growth (elongation); lateral meristems cause girth (secondary) growth.

Question 2

A simple permanent tissue with living, thin-walled cells that stores food and performs photosynthesis is:

Accepted Answer

Parenchyma. Parenchyma is the basic living tissue; collenchyma gives flexible support and sclerenchyma rigid support.

Question 3

The epidermal tissue system includes the epidermis, stomata and:

Accepted Answer

Epidermal appendages (trichomes and root hairs). The epidermal system covers the plant and includes stomata and appendages (root hairs, trichomes).

Question 4

Stomata are guarded by two ______ that regulate transpiration and gas exchange:

Accepted Answer

Guard cells. Guard cells (bean-shaped in dicots, dumbbell in grasses) open/close the stomatal pore.

Question 5

The number of xylem bundles ("arches") helps identify roots. A dicot root is typically:

Accepted Answer

Tetrarch to hexarch (2–6 xylem bundles). Dicot roots have limited (2–6) xylem bundles; monocot roots are polyarch (many, often >6).

Question 6

The innermost layer of the cortex with a Casparian strip, regulating water entry to the stele, is the:

Accepted Answer

Endodermis. The endodermis with Casparian strips controls the radial flow of water into the vascular cylinder.

Question 7

In a dicot stem, the vascular bundles are arranged in a ______, whereas in a monocot stem they are ______:

Accepted Answer

Ring; scattered. Dicot stem bundles form a ring; monocot stem bundles are scattered in the ground tissue.

Question 8

Vascular bundles of a dicot stem are ______ (contain cambium and can grow), while those of a monocot stem are ______:

Accepted Answer

Open; closed. Dicot bundles are "open" (with cambium → secondary growth); monocot bundles are "closed" (no cambium).

Question 9

A dorsiventral (dicot) leaf has its mesophyll differentiated into:

Accepted Answer

Palisade parenchyma (upper) and spongy parenchyma (lower). Dorsiventral leaves have an upper palisade and lower spongy mesophyll; isobilateral leaves have undifferentiated mesophyll.

Question 10

The chloroplast-rich, elongated cells packed just below the upper epidermis of a dicot leaf are the:

Accepted Answer

Palisade parenchyma. Palisade cells are the main photosynthetic tissue, densely packed with chloroplasts near the upper surface.

Question 11

A plant increases in girth every year through the activity of a meristem that lies along the sides of the stem and root. This meristem is best classified as:

Accepted Answer

Lateral meristem. Vascular cambium and cork cambium lie laterally and add to girth (secondary growth), so they are lateral meristems. Apical and intercalary meristems add to length.

Question 12

Both the vascular cambium and the cork cambium appear later in the plant body and are responsible for growth in thickness. On the basis of their time of origin they are grouped as:

Accepted Answer

Secondary meristems. Meristems that arise later from already differentiated tissue (like cork cambium) are secondary meristems; apical and intercalary meristems are primary because they appear early in embryonic life.

Question 13

A sclerenchyma cell that is long, narrow, and pointed at both ends, occurring in patches that give hardness to the plant, is a:

Accepted Answer

Fibre. Elongated, tapering sclerenchyma cells are fibres; sclereids (stone cells) are short, isodiametric or irregular cells found in nut shells and guava pulp.

Question 14

In the phloem, the elongated tube-like conducting cells arranged end to end, whose end walls are perforated to form a sieve plate, are the:

Accepted Answer

Sieve tube elements. Sieve tube elements are placed end to end forming long sieve tubes; their sieve plates (perforated end walls) allow food to move. Companion cells sit beside them but do not conduct.

Question 15

Multicellular appendages that project from the stem epidermis, may be branched or unbranched, and help reduce water loss are called:

Accepted Answer

Trichomes. Stem epidermal outgrowths are multicellular trichomes; root hairs are unicellular elongations of the root epidermal cells. Both are part of the epidermal tissue system.

Question 16

Which of the following tissues does NOT belong to the ground tissue system?

Accepted Answer

Phloem. The ground tissue system is everything except the epidermis and vascular bundles — it includes cortex, pericycle, pith and medullary rays. Phloem is part of the vascular tissue system.

Question 17

In a vascular bundle the protoxylem lies toward the centre and the metaxylem toward the periphery. Such an arrangement of primary xylem is described as:

Accepted Answer

Endarch. When protoxylem is on the inner side (toward the pith) and metaxylem outward, the xylem is endarch, as in stems. Exarch (protoxylem outward) is typical of roots.

Question 18

A vascular bundle in which the xylem is completely surrounded by phloem is a concentric bundle of the type called:

Accepted Answer

Amphicribral. Amphicribral (phloem surrounding xylem) concentric bundles occur in many ferns; amphivasal bundles have xylem surrounding phloem (e.g. Dracaena).

Question 19

Certain thin-walled cells of the endodermis that lie opposite the protoxylem points remain unthickened and allow water to pass into the stele. These are called:

Accepted Answer

Passage cells. Passage cells are endodermal cells opposite the protoxylem that stay thin-walled, permitting water and mineral entry into the vascular cylinder despite the Casparian strips elsewhere.

Question 20

In a monocot root the parenchymatous tissue occupying the centre, well developed and large, is the:

Accepted Answer

Pith. Monocot roots have a large, well-developed pith at the centre; in typical dicot roots the pith is small or absent because the xylem reaches the centre.

Anatomy of Flowering Plants — NEET Biology MCQs with Solutions

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