Plietesials are

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

s that grow for a number of years,

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

gregariously (synchronously), set

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

and then die. The length of the cycle can vary between 8 and 16 years. For example, the neelakurinji plant (family

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...

) flowers every 12 years and bloomed as expected in 2006 and 2018 in the

Munnar Munnar () is a town located in the Idukki district of the southwestern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. This ancient plantat ...

region of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Other commonly used expressions or terms describing a plietesial life history include gregarious flowering, mast seeding, and supra-annual synchronized

semelparity Semelparity and iteroparity are two contrasting reproductive strategies available to living organisms. A species is considered ''semelparous'' if it is characterized by a single reproduction, reproductive episode before death, and ''iteroparous ...

(semelparity = monocarpy). Certain species of unrelated families of flowering plants

Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...

, Scrophulariaceae,

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

, and Acanthaceae are plietesial. This type of life history is especially well known among certain bamboos (family

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

) some of which have a life cycle of 40 to 50 years. It is not clear why gregarious flowering after long vegetative intervals would be associated with death after flowering, although both are associated with higher reproductive outputs.

References

Plant life-forms Plant reproduction Fertility {{Botany-stub

See also

References