Resupination is derived from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''resupinus'', meaning "bent back
with the face upward" or "on the back".
"
Resupination" is the
noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
form of the
adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ma ...
"resupine" which means "being upside-down, supine or facing upward".
The word "resupinate" is generally only used in a
botanical context – in everyday language, "supine" has a similar meaning.
In botany, resupination refers to the "twisting" of flowers or leaves through about 180° as they open. Resupinate leaves have the
petiole or "stalk" twisted - resupinate flowers twist as they open.
Botanical examples
Alstroemeriaceae
Plants in the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
Alstroemeria'' have more or less resupinate leaves.
Orchidaceae
The flower of a typical plant in the orchid
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Orchidaceae has three
sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...
s and three
petals. One petal, called the
labellum, "lip" or "tongue", is typically quite different from the other two. It usually functions to attract an insect pollinator. As an orchid flower bud develops, the attachment of the lip to the axis of the flower is above that of the other two petals. In many orchid
genera, as the flower opens, it twists so that the attachment of the "lip" is below that of the other two petals, the three sepals and the sexual parts of the flower known as the
column. Orchid flowers that undergo this twist are called "resupinate" – those that do not are "non-resupinate".
Although
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
did not use the term "resupination", he suggested that having the labellum on the lower part of the flower aids
pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, a ...
by providing a landing place for visiting insects. However, the
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
n bee ''
Euglossa cordata'' pollinates both resupinate and non-resupinate orchid flowers. It has also been suggested that resupination exposes the labellum to sunlight, emphasizing patterns and nectar guides and increases the temperature and thus the vaporisation of floral scents.
Three Australian genera with non-resupinate flowers are ''
Prasophyllum'', ''
Cryptostylis'' and ''
Caleana''.
Calopogon tuberosus
''Calopogon tuberosus'', the tuberous grass pink, is an orchid native to eastern North America.
Distribution
In the United States, it occurs from as far southwest as Texas and Oklahoma and southeast to the Florida Everglades to as far northeast ...
''
File:Alstroemeria cv03.jpg, More or less resupinate leaves of '' Alstroemeria''
Mycology
In
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
, the term "resupinate" describes a
fruiting body
The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cy ...
consisting of a fertile surface
adnate to the
substrate.
Certain genera such as ''
Peniophora
''Peniophora'' is a genus of fungi which are plant pathogens. Members of the genus belong to the class Agaricomycetes, order Russulales, and family Peniophoraceae. The genus is widespread, and contains 62 species. The species of ''Peniophora'' a ...
''
[C. Michael Hogan. 2008]
''Witch's Butter: Tremella mesenterica'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
are notable for many of their species being resupinate.
File:Peniophora-quercina-Crust-fungus-20110225a.JPG, ''Peniophora quercina
''Peniophora quercina'' is a species of wood-decay fungus in the family Peniophoraceae. It produces fruit bodies that vary in appearance depending on whether they are wet or dry. The wet fruit bodies are waxy and lilac, and attached strongly t ...
''
File:Hyphodontia sambuci Eglinton.JPG, '' Hyphodontia sambuci''
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Plant morphology
Fungal morphology and anatomy