Plant Facts
Diseases & Pests
Grasses
Ag History
Plant Taxonomy
& Evolution
& Evolution
100
This is the physiological response where plants grow toward a light stimulus, such as the Sun.
Phototropism
100
This moth larvae is notorious for the decimation it leaves on every crop field and hay pasture it invades on it's march of destruction, leaving plants skeletal in their wake. General Sherman had nothing on these guys.
Armyworms
100
Cynodon dactylon - This turfgrass is widely grown in warm temperate areas, such as the southern US. There are hundreds of cultivars, some famous ones being Tifton 85 and Coastal. 12 NFL stadiums and 5 MLB stadiums use this turfgrass. Despite its namesake, it is non-native there and highly invasive.
Bermuda Grass
100
In the fields of Monticello, he was an exceptionally progressive farmer back during early America, practicing crop rotation and soil preservation, and introducing numerous new crops from Europe. More famously, he served as the 3rd president of the United States.
Thomas Jefferson 
100
This is the evolutionary step that separates the clubmosses, ferns, and seed plants (collectively called the Tracheophytes) from their more primitive moss and algae cousins. Generally, it comes in two forms: xylem and phloem, and allows for efficient transport of water and nutrients through the plant.
Vascular Tissue
200
Madagascar Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus - it's grown ornamentally on campus) is the source of two drugs, vinblastine and vincristine, that are used to treat this tumorous disease.
Cancer
200
These are tiny obligate parasites, consisting of genetic material and a protein capsule, that infect and replicate within their hosts. The first one in plants or animals to be discovered was Tobacco Mosaic _____, in 1898.
Virus
200
This is the name of the grass family, with ~12,000 member species across 780 genera, making it the 5th largest plant family.
Poaceae
200
This is the amount of agricultural products grown beyond the immediate needs of a population. In US ag history, it has allowed for the expansion, specialization, and urbanization of the population, but in extreme cases it causes the collapse of commodity prices, leading to farm bankruptcies and acreage controls.
Agricultural Surplus
200
This is the evolutionary step that defines the Spermatophytes, which includes the flowering plants and the gymnosperms, but excludes ferns, mosses, and algae. They are composed of a plant embryo and nutrient reserve enclosed by a protective outer covering, botanically called a testa, and allowed for the colonization of less hospitable environments. They are what farmers sow.
Seeds
300
Populus tremuloides - Located in central Utah, there is a 106 acre clonal organism of this tree, with a shared root system and identical genetics, named "Pando." With an estimated 47,000 stems, Pando is estimated to weigh 13.2 million pounds.
Quaking Aspen (Poplar)
300
Multiple Identities:
The Cotton Bollworm (Helicoverpa zea) is polyphagous, or feeds on many different plants, and is known as this pest on the most widely grown crop in the US.
Corn Earworm
300
This is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. They allow for immediate coverage of golf courses and home lawns. They were also used to build roofs and houses on the frontier in the 1800s Great Plains.
Sod
300
It is the federal Act of 1862 that established the system of land-grant universities like the one you're attending now. The namesake senator hailed from Vermont.
Morrill Act
300
Their name means "naked seed." Extant member groups include the conifers (like pine trees and juniper), cycads (like King Sago palm - ornamental), Gingko (one species remains, G. biloba), and the Gnetophytes (these guys are weird, includes Mormon Tea).
Gymnosperms
400
How many thousands of years old is the King Clone creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) in the Mojave Desert?
(Closest guess wins points)
11,700 years old
400
This plant pathogen is fungi-like, but is actually an oomycete. It infects grapes, cucurbits, and soybeans, among others. Not to be confused with Powdery Mildew.
Downy Mildew
400
Stenotaphrum secundatum - This warm climate turfgrass has wider blades and is slightly less drought tolerant than Bermuda grass. It's very common in the Gulf Coast states. The cultivar 'Floratam,' released 1973, was a collaboration between Texas A&M and the Univ. of Florida.
St. Augustine Grass
400
This herbicide and defoliant was two equal parts of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. ~20,000,000 gallons were dropped by the US on Vietnam between 1961-1971. The number of Vietnamese left with health effects was likely in the millions, and the damage dealt to plant ecosystems and diversity was arguably more tragic.
Agent Orange
400
This is the name of the group known as the flowering plants. With ~300,000+ species, ~13,000 genera, 416 families, and 64 orders, they are the currently dominant plant group and make up 80-90% of all plant species. Relatively young, fossil evidence goes back ~130 MYA, although molecular clock evidence goes further.
Angiosperms
500
S. albidum - This native of the eastern US (stretching to around here) was the traditional main ingredient of root beer, as well as medicinal teas, and its leaves even today are used for file powder in gumbo. In 1960 it was banned for commercial sale when the FDA found that mice injected with large amounts of pure safrole oil extract died from cancer. The iconic leaves are irregular and highly diverse on the tree.
Sassafras
500
These are insects in the family Thysanoptera, they are one of the worst early-season pests on cotton. They typically prey on tender growth, while most species eat fungi. They have asymmetric mouthparts and are weak fliers.
Thrips
500
This is the term for the growing point in grasses, at the bases of leaf blades and nodes, which allow for survival and rapid regrowth from grazing or mowing.
Intercalary Meristem
500
In 1971, the first of these machines that compress cotton into large rectangles for transport was designed and built by a team led by Professor Lambert H. Wilkes at Texas A&M University.
In 2002 the ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) dedicated it as an historic landmark of agricultural engineering, naming it "one of the top three inventions in mechanized cotton production."
Cotton Module Builder 
500
This group comprises ~70% of the angiosperms, and is believed to have originated from a genetic tripling polyploidy event. They are often called broadleaves, and have two cotyledons, although they are not the only group that does. They are broken up into the Superrosids and the Superasterids, which can be broken up into the Fabiids and Malviids, and the Lamiids and Campanulids, respectively.
Eudicots