What are the Aerial Parts of Plants

What are the aerial parts of the plants?    

The aerial parts of the plants refer to those parts that are exposed out in the air and grow above the soil.

Usually, the aerial parts of a plant are:

1.  Stem: It is a long and slender structural axis in a plant that bears the leaves, petiole, flowers, fruits etc. It grows in the opposite direction to the roots, roots being the other structural axis in a plant that usually grows into the ground.

2.  Petiole: A petiole is essentially a stalk that connects the blade of a leaf to the stem. Sometimes the stalk can have a petiole that contains petiolules that bear the leaves.

3.  Leaves: Leaves are photosynthetic units of a plant, often green in colour and blade-like.

4.  Flowers and fruits: Reproductive organs of a plant that are often colourful and have an odour or a taste to attract birds and animals.

·  When a plant seed germinates, it forms two structural axes. The roots find their way into the ground while the shoot grows upwards and later forms the stem, petioles, leaves, etc.

·  Some plants may be classified as vines that also form curly fibrous structures called ‘tendrils’ that help support the plant by attaching themselves to outside support like an arbour

·  Some plants also have aerial roots that grow above the ground to support the plant by acting as anchors

·  The aerial parts of the plant are in synergy with each other and the roots to sustain the plant