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 ...

word ''resupinus'', meaning "bent back with the face upward" or "on the back". "

Resupination Resupination is derived from the Latin word ''resupinus'', meaning "bent back with the face upward" or "on the back". " Resupination" is the noun form of the adjective "resupine" which means "being upside-down, supine or facing upward". The word ...

" 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: * Organism, Living creatures (including people ...

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 ...

"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 n ...

'' 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 Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

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 coined ...

s and three

petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...

s. 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 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 ...

, 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 A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

. 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 natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

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 ...

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 souther ...

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''. File:Diuris aequalis (labelled).jpg, Resupinate flower of '' Diuris aequalis'' File:Prasophyllum (labelled 2).jpg, Non-resupinate flowers of '' Prasophyllum elatum'' File:Cattleya_aclandiae_Orchi_01.jpg, Resupinate flowers of '' Cattleya aclandiae'' File:Calopogon.web.jpg, Non-resupinate flowers of '' Calopogon tuberosus'' File:Alstroemeria cv03.jpg, More or less resupinate leaves of '' Alstroemeria''

Mycology

fungi A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

, 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 Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (locomotion), the surface over which an organism lo ...

. Certain genera such as '' Peniophora''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'' File:Hyphodontia sambuci Eglinton.JPG, '' Hyphodontia sambuci''

References

{{Reflist, 30em Plant morphology Fungal morphology and anatomy