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Center Of Diversity
A center of origin is a geographical area where a group of organisms, either domesticated or wild, first developed its distinctive properties. They are also considered centers of diversity. Centers of origin were first identified in 1924 by Nikolai Vavilov. Plants Locating the origin of crop plants is basic to plant breeding. This allows one to locate wild relatives, related species, and new genes (especially dominant genes, which may provide resistance to diseases). Knowledge of the origins of crop plants is important in order to avoid genetic erosion, the loss of germplasm due to the loss of ecotypes and landraces, loss of habitat (such as rainforests), and increased urbanization. Germplasm preservation is accomplished through gene banks (largely seed collections but now frozen stem sections) and preservation of natural habitats (especially in centers of origin). Vavilov centers A Vavilov Center (of Diversity) is a region of the world. First indicated by Nikolai Vavilov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Bean
''Canavalia ensiformis'' (jack bean) is a legume which is used for animal fodder and human nutrition, especially in Brazil where it is called ''feijão-de-porco'' ("pig bean"). It is also the source of concanavalin A. Description ''C. ensiformis'' is a twining plant up to in height. It has deep roots, which makes it drought resistant. The plant can spread via long runners. The flowers are pink-purple in colour. The pods are up to long with large white seeds. Uses The plant is not in large-scale commercial cultivation. The beans are mildly toxic, and copious consumption should be avoided. Boiling will, however, remove toxicity if done properly. Young foliage is also edible. The whole plant is used for fodder, although it cannot be used in fodder mixtures containing urea, since it contains large quantities of the enzyme urease, which liberates harmful ammonia from urea. For this reason ''C. ensiformis'' has been investigated as a potential source of the urease enzyme. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cherry Tomato
The cherry tomato is a type of small round tomato believed to be an intermediate genetic admixture between wild currant-type tomatoes and domesticated garden tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball, and can range from spherical to slightly oblong in shape. Although usually red, other colours such as orange, yellow, green, purple, and black also exist. Those shaped like an oblong share characteristics with plum tomatoes and are known as ''grape tomatoes''. The cherry tomato is regarded as a botanical variety of the cultivated berry, ''Solanum lycopersicum'' var. ''cerasiforme''. In supermarkets, cherry tomatoes of different colors are often sold together with the phrase "mixed melody" in the name, indicating the great variance in their colors. History The cherry tomato is believed to be the direct ancestor of modern cultivated tomatoes and is the only wild tomato found outside South America. The tomato is thought to have been first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prunus Serotina
''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the genus ''Prunus''. Despite being called black cherry, it is not very closely related to the commonly cultivated cherries such as sweet cherry (''P. avium''), sour cherry (''P. cerasus'') and Japanese flowering cherries (''P. serrulata'', ''P. speciosa'', ''P. sargentii'', ''P. incisa'', etc.) which belong to ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. Instead, ''P. serotina'' belongs to ''Prunus'' subg. ''Padus'', a subgenus also including Eurasian bird cherry (''P. padus'') and chokecherry (''P. virginiana''). The species is widespread and common in North America and South America. Black cherry is closely related to the chokecherry (''P. virginiana''); chokecherry, however, tends to be shorter (a shrub or small tree) and has smaller, less glossy l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cashew
The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cultivars, growing up to , prove more profitable, with earlier maturity and greater yields. The cashew seed is commonly considered a snack nut (cashew nut) eaten on its own, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or cashew butter. Like the tree, the nut is often simply called a cashew. Cashew allergies are triggered by the proteins found in tree nuts, and cooking often does not remove or change these proteins. In 2019, four million tonnes of cashew nuts were produced globally, with Ivory Coast and India as the leading producers. As well as the nut and fruit, the plant has several other uses. The shell of the cashew seed yields derivatives that can be used in many applications including lubricants, waterproofing, paints, and, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guava
Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. The name guava is also given to some other species in the genus ''Psidium'' such as strawberry guava (''Psidium cattleyanum'') and to the pineapple guava, ''Feijoa sellowiana''. In 2019, 55 million tonnes of guavas were produced worldwide, led by India with 45% of the total. Botanically, guavas are berries. Types The most frequently eaten species, and the one often simply referred to as "the guava", is the apple guava (''Psidium guayava''). Guavas are typical Myrtoideae, with tough dark heavy leaves that are opposite, simple, elliptic to ovate, and long. The flowers are white, with five petals and numerous stamens. The fruits are many-seeded berries. Etymology The term ''guava'' appear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papaya
The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus '' Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and Central America. In 2020, India produced 43% of the world supply of papayas. Etymology The word ''papaya'' comes from Arawak via Spanish, this is also where ''papaw'' and ''pawpaw'' come from. Description The papaya is a small, sparsely branched tree, usually with a single stem growing from tall, with spirally arranged leaves confined to the top of the trunk. The lower trunk is conspicuously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, in diameter, deeply palmately lobed, with seven lobes. All parts of the plant contain latex in articulated laticifers. Flowers Papayas are dioecious. The flowers are five-parted and highly dimorphic; the male flowers have the stamens fused to the petals. The female flowers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capsicum
''Capsicum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae, native to the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their chili pepper or bell pepper fruit. Etymology and names The generic name may come from Latin , meaning 'box', presumably alluding to the pods; or possibly from the Greek word , 'to gulp'. The name "pepper" comes from the similarity of piquance (spiciness or "heat") of the flavor to that of black pepper, '' Piper nigrum'', although there is no botanical relationship with it or with Sichuan pepper. The original term, ''chilli'' (now ''chile'' in Mexico) came from the Nahuatl word ''chīlli'', denoting a larger ''Capsicum'' variety cultivated at least since 3000 BC, as evidenced by remains found in pottery from Puebla and Oaxaca. Different varieties were cultivated in South America, where they are known as ''ajíes'' (singular ''ají''), from the Quechua term for ''Capsicum''. The fruit (technically berries in the strict botanic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arrowroot
Arrowroot is a starch obtained from the rhizomes (rootstock) of several tropical plants, traditionally ''Maranta arundinacea'', but also Florida arrowroot from ''Zamia integrifolia'', and tapioca from cassava (''Manihot esculenta''), which is often labelled as arrowroot. Polynesian arrowroot or pia (''Tacca leontopetaloides''), and Japanese arrowroot (''Pueraria lobata''), also called kudzu, are used in similar ways. History Archaeological studies in the Americas show evidence of arrowroot cultivation as early as 7,000 years ago. The name may come from ''aru-aru'' (meal of meals) in the language of the Caribbean Arawak people, for whom the plant was a staple. It has also been suggested that the name comes from arrowroot's use in treating poison-arrow wounds, as it draws out the poison when applied to the site of the injury. In the early days of carbonless copy paper, arrowroot, because of its fine grain-size, was a widely used ingredient. After an economical way of centrifugally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sweetpotato
The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young shoots and leaves are sometimes eaten as greens. Cultivars of the sweet potato have been bred to bear tubers with flesh and skin of various colors. Sweet potato is only distantly related to the common potato (''Solanum tuberosum''), both being in the order Solanales. Although darker sweet potatoes are often referred to as "yams" in parts of North America, the species is not a true yam, which are monocots in the order Dioscoreales. Sweet potato is native to the tropical regions of the Americas. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of Convolvulaceae, ''I. batatas'' is the only crop plant of major importance—some others are used locally (e.g., ''I. aquatica'' "kangkong"), but many are poisonous. The genus ''Ipomoea'' th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henequen
Henequen (''Agave fourcroydes'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is reportedly naturalized in Italy, the Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Hispaniola, the Cayman Islands and the Lesser Antilles. Overview The leaves of ''Agave fourcroydes'' yield a fiber also called henequen, which is suitable for rope and twine but not of as high a quality as sisal. It is the major plantation fiber agave of eastern Mexico, being grown extensively in Yucatán, Veracruz, and Tamaulipas. It is also used to make ''licor del henequén'', a traditional Mexican alcoholic drink. The plant appears as a rosette of sword-shaped leaves 1.2 to 1.8 meters long, growing out of a thick stem that may reach 1.7 meters (5 ft). The leaves have regularly spaced teeth 3–6 mm long and a terminal spine 2–3 cm long. Like sisal, ''A.fourcroydes'' is a sterile hybrid; the ovaries never produce seeds. The plant does produce bulbi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upland Cotton
''Gossypium hirsutum'', also known as upland cotton or Mexican cotton, is the most widely planted species of cotton in the world. Globally, about 90% of all cotton production is of cultivars derived from this species. In the United States, the world's largest exporter of cotton, it constitutes approximately 95% of all cotton production. It is native to Mexico, the West Indies, northern South America, Central America and possibly tropical Florida. Archeological evidence from the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico shows the cultivation of this species as long ago as 3,500 BC, although there is as yet no evidence as to exactly where it may have been first domesticated. This is the earliest evidence of cotton cultivation in the Americas found thus far. ''Gossypium hirsutum'' includes a number of varieties or cross-bred cultivars with varying fiber lengths and tolerances to a number of growing conditions. The longer length varieties are called "long staple upland" and the shorter length varie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
