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Quiabentia Verticillata
''Quiabentia verticillata'' is a species of cactus found from Bolivia to Argentina, infrequent in plain or mid-mountain habitats. It grows in dry sandy soils, typically found at the edge of fields, in wastelands, at the side of roads, and opportunistically in vineyards and orchards when they are not irrigated. It is an erect woody succulent plant, growing to 6 m tall. Like many cactuses, it bears leaves which have become specialized as spines (protecting the plant from browsing by herbivores), as well as succulent leaf blades (soon deciduous). The spines actually consist of the stipules of the leaves. The stems are enlarged for water storage, and have a somewhat angular cross-section. Cultivation and uses Like most cactuses, it is a xerophyte, making it capable of growing in areas receiving very little rainfall. It has a laterally extensive, shallow root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can reproduction, produce Fertility, fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology (biology), morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a binomial nomenclature, two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbivore
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthparts adapted to rasping or grinding. Horses and other herbivores have wide flat teeth that are adapted to grinding grass, tree bark, and other tough plant material. A large percentage of herbivores have mutualistic gut flora that help them digest plant matter, which is more difficult to digest than animal prey. This flora is made up of cellulose-digesting protozoans or bacteria. Etymology Herbivore is the anglicized form of a modern Latin coinage, ''herbivora'', cited in Charles Lyell's 1830 '' Principles of Geology''.J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner, eds. (2000) ''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. 8, p. 155. Richard Owen employed the anglicized term in an 1854 work on fossil teeth and skeletons. ''Herbivora'' is derived from Latin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, Rain and snow mixed, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor (reaching 100% relative humidity), so that the water condenses and "precipitates" or falls. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but colloids, because the water vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated: cooling the air or adding water vapor to the air. Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called shower (precipitation), showers. Moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xerophyte
A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or the Arctic. Popular examples of xerophytes are cacti, pineapple and some Gymnosperm plants. The structural features ( morphology) and fundamental chemical processes (physiology) of xerophytes are variously adapted to conserve water, also common to store large quantities of water, during dry periods. Other species are able to survive long periods of extreme dryness or desiccation of their tissues, during which their metabolic activity may effectively shut down. Plants with such morphological and physiological adaptations are .” Xeromorphic”, The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms, Michael Hickey, Clive King, Cambridge University Press, 2001 Xerophytes such as cacti are capable of withstanding extended periods of dry cond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, stores nutrients, and produces new living tissue. The stem can also be called halm or haulm. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes: * The nodes hold one or more leaves, as well as buds which can grow into branches (with leaves, conifer cones, or flowers). Adventitious roots may also be produced from the nodes. * The internodes distance one node from another. The term " shoots" is often confused with "stems"; "shoots" generally refers to new fresh plant growth including both stems and other structures like leaves or flowers. In most plants stems are located above the soil surface but some plants have underground stems. Stems have four main functions which are: * Support for and the elevation of leaves, flowers, and fruits. The st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stipule
In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many species they may be inconspicuous —or sometimes entirely absent, and the leaf is then termed ''exstipulate''. (In some older botanical writing, the term "stipule" was used more generally to refer to any small leaves or leaf-parts, notably prophylls.) The word ''stipule'' was coined by Linnaeus''Concise English Dictionary'' Wordsworth Editions Ltd. 1994, from Latin ''stipula'', straw, stalk. Types of stipules General characteristics The position of stipules on a plant varies widely from species to species, though they are often located near the base of a leaf. Stipules are most common on dicotyledons, where they appear in pairs alongside each leaf. Some monocotyledon plants display stipule-like structures, but only display one per leaf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit. The antonym of ''deciduous'' in the botanical sense is evergreen. Generally, the term "deciduous" means "the dropping of a part that is no longer needed or useful" and the "falling away after its purpose is finished". In plants, it is the result of natural processes. "Deciduous" has a similar meaning when referring to animal parts, such as deciduous antlers in deer, deciduous teeth (baby teeth) in some mammals (including humans); or decidua, the uterine lining that sheds off after birth. Botany In botany and horticulture, deciduous plants, including trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials, are those that lose all of their leaves for part of the year. This process is called a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Succulent
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meaning "juice" or "sap". Succulent plants may store water in various structures, such as leaves and stems. The water content of some succulent organs can get up to 90–95%, such as ''Glottiphyllum semicyllindricum'' and ''Mesembryanthemum barkleyii''. Some definitions also include roots, thus geophytes that survive unfavorable periods by dying back to underground storage organs may be regarded as succulents. The habitats of these water-preserving plants are often in areas with high temperatures and low rainfall, such as deserts, but succulents may be found even in alpine ecosystems growing in rocky soil. Succulents are characterized by their ability to thrive on limited water sources, such as mist and dew, which makes them equipped t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spine (botany)
In plant morphology, thorns, spines, and prickles, and in general spinose structures (sometimes called ''spinose teeth'' or ''spinose apical processes''), are hard, rigid extensions or modifications of leaves, roots, stems or buds with sharp, stiff ends, and generally serve the same function: physically deterring animals from eating the plant material. Description In common language the terms are used more or less interchangeably, but in botanical terms, thorns are derived shoots (so that they may or may not be branched, they may or may not have leaves, and they may or may not arise from a bud),Simpson, M. G. 2010. "Plant Morphology". In: ''Plant Systematics, 2nd. edition''. Elsevier Academic Press. Chapter 9.Judd, Campbell, Kellogg, Stevens, Donoghue. 2007. "Structural and Biochemical Characters". In: ''Plant Systematics, a phylogenetic approach, third edition''. Chapter 4. spines are derived from leaves (either the entire leaf or some part of the leaf that has vascular bund ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word (''káktos''), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Although some species live in quite humid environments, most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought. Many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leaf
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, flower, and fruit collectively form the shoot system. In most leaves, the primary photosynthesis, photosynthetic tissue is the palisade mesophyll and is located on the upper side of the blade or lamina of the leaf but in some species, including the mature foliage of ''Eucalyptus'', palisade mesophyll is present on both sides and the leaves are said to be isobilateral. Most leaves are flattened and have distinct upper (Glossary of botanical terms#adaxial, adaxial) and lower (Glossary of botanical terms#abaxial, abaxial) surfaces that differ in color, hairiness, the number of stomata (pores that intake and output gases), the amount and structure of epicuticular wax and other features. Leaves are mostly green in color due ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Succulent Plant
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meaning "juice" or "sap". Succulent plants may store water in various structures, such as leaf, leaves and Plant stem, stems. The water content of some succulent organs can get up to 90–95%, such as ''Glottiphyllum semicyllindricum'' and ''Mesembryanthemum barkleyii''. Some definitions also include roots, thus geophytes that survive unfavorable periods by dying back to underground storage organs may be regarded as succulents. The habitats of these water-preserving plants are often in areas with high temperatures and low rainfall, such as deserts, but succulents may be found even in Alpine climate, alpine ecosystems growing in rocky soil. Succulents are characterized by their ability to thrive on limited water sources, such as mist and dew, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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