|
Staminodes
In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. London, 4th ed 1928 Staminodes are frequently inconspicuous and stamen-like, usually occurring at the inner whorl of the flower, but are also sometimes long enough to protrude from the corolla. Sometimes, the staminodes are modified to produce nectar, as in the witch-hazel ''(Hamamelis)''.jin lu mei shu. Hamamelis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 124. 1753. Flora of China 9: 32. 2003 Staminodes can be a critical characteristic for differentiating between species, for instance in the orchid genus ''Paphiopedilum'', and among the penstemons. In the case of cannas, the petals are inconsequential and the staminodes are refined into eye-catching petal-like replacements. A spectacular example of staminode is given by ''Couroupita guianensis'', a t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canna (plant)
''Canna'' or canna lily is a genus of flowering plants consisting of 10 species. It is the only genus in the family Cannaceae.The Cannaceae of the World, Hiltje Maas-van de Kamer, H. Maas-van der Kamer & Paulus Johannes Maria Maas, P.J.M. Maas, BLUMEA 53: 247–318 All of the genus's species are native to the Neotropical realm, American tropicsLamarck, Jean-Baptiste. ''Botanical Encyclelopédie''. and were naturalized in Europe, India and Africa in the 1860s.Chaté, E. (1867).'' Le Canna, son histoire, sa culture. ''Libraire Centrale d'Agriculture et de Jardinage Although they grow native to the tropics, most cultivars have been developed in temperateness, temperate climates and are easy to grow in most countries of the world, as long as they receive at least 6–8 hours average sunlight during the summer, and are moved to a warm location for the winter. See the Canna (Plant) Gallery, ''Canna'' cultivar gallery for photographs of ''Canna'' cultivars. Cannas are not true lili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Botany
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field. "Plant" and "botany" may be defined more narrowly to include only land plants and their study, which is also known as phytology. Phytologists or botanists (in the strict sense) study approximately 410,000 species of Embryophyte, land plants, including some 391,000 species of vascular plants (of which approximately 369,000 are flowering plants) and approximately 20,000 bryophytes. Botany originated as history of herbalism#Prehistory, prehistoric herbalism to identify and later cultivate plants that were edible, poisonous, and medicinal, making it one of the first endeavours of human investigation. Medieval physic gardens, often attached to Monastery, monasteries, contained plants possibly having medicinal benefit. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stamen
The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament and an anther which contains sporangium, microsporangia. Most commonly, anthers are two-lobed (each lobe is termed a locule) and are attached to the filament either at the base or in the middle area of the anther. The sterile (i.e. nonreproductive) tissue between the lobes is called the Connective (botany), connective, an extension of the filament containing conducting strands. It can be seen as an extension on the dorsal side of the anther. A pollen grain develops from a microspore in the microsporangium and contains the male gametophyte. The size of anthers differs greatly, from a tiny fraction of a millimeter in ''Wolfia'' spp up to five inches (13 centimeters) in ''Canna iridiflora'' and ''Strelitzia nicolai''. The stamens in a flower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophytes during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants, or from the male Conifer cone, cone to the female cone of gymnosperms. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it Germination, germinates, producing a pollen tube that transfers the sperm to the ovule containing the female gametophyte. Individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is highly useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology, and Forensic science, forensics. Pollen in plants is used for transferring Ploidy#Haploid and monoploid, haploid male genetic ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal Mutualism (biology), mutualists, which in turn provide plant defense against herbivory#Indirect defenses, herbivore protection. Common nectar-consuming pollinators include mosquitoes, hoverfly, hoverflies, wasps, bees, butterfly, butterflies and moths, hummingbirds, honeyeaters and Bat#Fruit and nectar, bats. Nectar is an economically important substance as it is the sugar source for honey. It is also useful in agriculture and horticulture because the adult stages of some predatory insects feed on nectar. For example, a number of predacious or Parasitoid wasp, parasitoid wasps (e.g., the social wasp species ''Apoica flavissima'') rely on nectar as a primary food source. In turn, these wasps then hunt agricultural pest insects as food ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamamelis
Witch-hazels or witch hazels (''Hamamelis'') are a genus of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, with three species in North America ('' H. ovalis'', '' H. virginiana'', and '' H. vernalis''), and one each in Japan ('' H. japonica'') and China ('' H. mollis''). The North American species are occasionally called winterbloom. Description The witch-hazels are deciduous shrubs or (rarely) small trees growing to 3 to 7.5 m tall, even more rarely to 12 m tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, oval, 5 to 15 cm long, and 2.5 to 10 cm wide, with a smooth or wavy margin. The genus name, ''Hamamelis'', means "together with fruit", referring to the simultaneous occurrence of flowers with the maturing fruit from the previous year. ''H. virginiana'' blooms in September–November while the other species bloom from January–March. Each flower has four slender strap-shaped petals 1 to 2 cm long, pale to dark yellow, orange, or red. The fruit is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paphiopedilum
''Paphiopedilum'', often called the Venus slipper, is a genus of the lady slipper orchid subfamily '' Cypripedioideae'' of the flowering plant family Orchidaceae. The genus comprises some 80 accepted taxa including several natural hybrids. The genus is native to Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, southern China, New Guinea and the Solomon and Bismarck Islands. The type species of this genus is '' Paphiopedilum insigne''. The species and their hybrids are extensively cultivated, and are known as either paphiopedilums, or by the abbreviation paphs in horticulture. Due to their popularity, Paphiopedilums have been ruthlessly gathered and poached from the wild, making them very rare or extinct there. As soon as a new species or population is discovered, poachers will take the plants for orchid collectors who pay large sums of money. Habitat destruction is an additional factor contributing to their rarity. Description ''Paphiopedilum'' species naturally occur among humu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penstemon
''Penstemon'' , the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 280 species of flowering plants native to North America from northern Canada to Central America. It is the largest genus of flowering plants endemic to North America. As well as being the scientific name, penstemon is also widely used as a common name for all ''Penstemon'' species alongside beardtongues. Formerly placed in the family Scrophulariaceae by the Cronquist system, new genetic research has placed it in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae. The total number of species is uncertain due to on going research into if some of the named species are actually subspecies or misidentifications of already identified species. Description They have opposite leaves, partly tube-shaped, and two-lipped flowers and seed capsules. The most distinctive feature of the genus is the prominent staminode, an infertile stamen. The staminode takes a variety of forms in the different species; while it is typically a long stra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Couroupita Guianensis
''Couroupita guianensis'', known by a variety of common names including cannonball tree, is a deciduous tree in the flowering plant family Lecythidaceae. It is native to lowland tropical rainforests of Central and South America, from Costa Rica, south to Brazil and northern Bolivia and it is cultivated in many other tropical areas throughout the world because of its fragrant flowers and large fruits, which are brownish grey. There are potential medicinal uses for many parts of ''Couroupita guianensis'', and the tree has cultural and religious significance in South and Southeast Asia. In Sri Lanka and India, the cannonball tree has been widely misidentified as the Sal tree (''Shorea robusta''), after its introduction to the island by the British in 1881, and has been included as a common item in Buddhist temples as a result. Description ''Couroupita guianensis'' is a tree that reaches heights of up to . The leaves, which occur in clusters at the ends of branches, are usually 8 to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Tree
Tropical vegetation is any vegetation in tropical latitudes. Plant life that occurs in climates that are warm year-round is in general more biologically diverse than in other latitudes. Some tropical areas may receive abundant rain the whole year round, but others have long dry seasons which last several months and may vary in length and intensity with geographic location. These seasonal droughts have a great impact on the vegetation, such as in the Madagascar spiny forests. Rainforest vegetation is categorized by five layers. The top layer being the emergents, or the upper tree layer. Here you will find the largest and widest trees in all the forest, commonly 165 feet (fifty meters) and higher. These trees tend to have very large canopies so they can be fully exposed to sunlight. A layer below that is the canopy, or middle tree layer, averaging 98 to 130 feet (30 to 40 meters) in height. Here you will find more compact trees and vegetation. These trees tend to be more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Anatomy
Plant anatomy or phytotomy is the general term for the study of the internal Anatomy, structure of plants. Originally, it included plant morphology, the description of the physical form and external structure of plants, but since the mid-20th century, plant anatomy has been considered a separate field referring only to internal plant structure. Plant anatomy is now frequently investigated at the Plant cell, cellular level, and often involves the sectioning of tissue (biology), tissues and microscopy. Structural divisions Some studies of plant anatomy use a systems approach, organized on the basis of the plant's activities, such as nutrient transport, flowering, pollination, embryogenesis or seed development. Others are more classically divided into the following structural categories: * Flower anatomy, including study of the Sepal, calyx, Corolla (flower), corolla, androecium, and gynoecium * Leaf#Anatomy (medium and small scale), Leaf anatomy, including study of the Epidermis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
