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Adansonia Grandidieri
''Adansonia grandidieri'' is the biggest and most famous of Madagascar's six species of baobabs. It is sometimes known as Grandidier's baobab or giant baobab. In French it is called Baobab malgache. The local name is renala or reniala (from mg, reny ala "mother of the forest"). Ambrose-Oji, B. & Mughogho, N., 2007. Adansonia grandidieri Baill. nternetRecord from PROTA4U. van der Vossen, H.A.M. & Mkamilo, G.S. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. . Accessed 30 March 2022. This tree is endemic to the island of Madagascar, where it is an endangered species threatened by the encroachment of agricultural land. This is the tree found at the Avenue of the Baobabs. Description Grandidier's baobabs have massive, cylindrical, thick trunks, up to three meters across, covered with smooth, reddish-grey bark. They can reach in height. The crown is flat-topped, with horizontal main branches. Leav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avenue Of The Baobabs
The Avenue of the Baobabs, or Alley of the Baobabs, is a prominent group of Grandidier's baobabs (''Adansonia grandidieri'') lining the dirt road between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region of western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forestry – a step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument. Description Along a stretch of the road is a grove of 20–25 ''Adansonia grandidieri'' baobabs. An additional 25 or so trees of this species are found growing over nearby rice paddies and meadows within of land. The trees, which are endemic to Madagascar, are about in height. The baobab trees, known locally as ''renala'' or ''reniala'' (from Malagasy ''reny ala'' "mother of the forest"), Ambrose-Oj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Ernest Baillon
Henri Ernest Baillon was a French botanist and physician. He was born in Calais on 30 November 1827 and died in Paris on 19 July 1895. Baillon spent his professional life as a professor of natural history, and he published numerous works on botany. He was appointed to the Légion d'honneur in 1867 and joined the Royal Society in 1894. Baillon put together the "Dictionnaire de botanique", for which Auguste Faguet produced the wood engravings. The plant genus '' Baillonia'' (family Verbenaceae) was named in his honor by Henri Théophile Bocquillon Henri Théophile Bocquillon (5 June 1834, Crugny – 15 May 1884, Paris) was a French botanist. In Paris, he successively worked as an instructor at the Lycée Napoleon (from 1858), Lycée Louis-le-Grand (from 1862), Lycée Henri-IV (from .... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced 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 cone to the female cone of gymnosperms. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it 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 forensics. Pollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a single flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this process takes place from the an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adansonia Suarezensis
''Adansonia suarezensis'', the Suarez baobab, is an endangered species of ''Adansonia '' endemic to Madagascar. It is locally called "bozy" (pronounced "boojy"), the common name used for all baobabs in northern Madagascar.Baum, D.A., 1995, A Systematic Revision of Adansonia (Bombacaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden , 1995, Vol. 82, No. 3 (1995), pp. 440-471 Description ''Adansonia suarezensis'' is a large tree up to tall, with a cylindrical trunk to in diameter. The bark is smooth and greyish-brown and a photosynthetic greenish layer can be seen underneath. The short, thick branches project horizontally from high on the trunk forming a horizontal crown. The leaves are palmate with 6 to 9 leaflets, yellowish-green, untoothed and deciduous. Large white flowers, drying to reddish brown, are produced after the leaves have fallen. They open at dusk and the reproductive phase is over by dawn. Flowers are pollinated by fruit bats. Flowering occurs in late May to early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malvales
The Malvales are an order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by APG II-system, the order includes about 6000 species within 9 families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, which are part of the eudicots. The plants are mostly shrubs and trees; most of its families have a cosmopolitan distribution in the tropics and subtropics, with limited expansion into temperate regions. An interesting distribution occurs in Madagascar, where three endemic families of Malvales (Sphaerosepalaceae, Sarcolaenaceae and Diegodendraceae) occur. Many species of Malvaceae ''sensu lato'' are known for their wood, with that of '' Ochroma'' (balsa) being known for its lightness, and that of ''Tilia'' (lime, linden, or basswood) as a popular wood for carving. Fruit of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao'') are used as an ingredient for chocolate. Kola nuts (genus ''Cola'') are notable for their high content of caffeine and, in past, were commonly used for preparing of various cola drinks. Other well ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malvaceae
Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ornamentals, such as '' Alcea'' (hollyhock), '' Malva'' (mallow), and '' Tilia'' (lime or linden tree). The largest genera in terms of number of species include '' Hibiscus'' (300 species), '' Sterculia'' (250 species), ''Dombeya'' (250 species), '' Pavonia'' (200 species) and '' Sida'' (200 species). Taxonomy and nomenclature The circumscription of the Malvaceae is controversial. The traditional Malvaceae '' sensu stricto'' comprise a very homogeneous and cladistically monophyletic group. Another major circumscription, Malvaceae '' sensu lato'', has been more recently defined on the basis that genetics studies have shown the commonly recognised families Bombacaceae, Tiliaceae, and Sterculiaceae, which have always been considered clo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bombacoideae
Bombacoideae is a subfamily of the mallow family, Malvaceae. It contains herbaceous and woody plants. Their leaves are alternate, commonly palmately lobed, with small and caducous stipules. The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic; the calyx has 5 sepals united at the base, which are not accompanied by an epicalyx (involucel). The corolla has 5 free petals and an androecium of numerous stamens, typically with free filaments which are not fused in a staminal tube (column). The pollen is smooth and the ovary superior and pluricarpellate. The fruits are schizocarpous or capsular. Genera Classification Some taxa in this subfamily were previously grouped under the now-obsolete family Bombacaceae, as recent phylogenetic research has shown that Bombacaceae as traditionally circumscribed (including tribe Durioneae) is not a monophyletic group. '' Camptostemon'', ''Lagunaria'', '' Pentaplaris'' and ''Uladendron'' might more appropriately be placed in Malvoideae, as might the tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diploid
Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively, in each homologous chromosome pair, which chromosomes naturally exist as. Somatic cells, tissues, and individual organisms can be described according to the number of sets of chromosomes present (the "ploidy level"): monoploid (1 set), diploid (2 sets), triploid (3 sets), tetraploid (4 sets), pentaploid (5 sets), hexaploid (6 sets), heptaploid or septaploid (7 sets), etc. The generic term polyploid is often used to describe cells with three or more chromosome sets. Virtually all sexually reproducing organisms are made up of somatic cells that are diploid or greater, but ploidy level may vary widely between different organisms, between different tissues within the same organism, and at different stages in an organism's life cycle. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Grandidier
Alfred Grandidier (20 December 1836 – 13 September 1921) was a French naturalist and explorer. From a very wealthy family, at the age of 20, he and his brother, Ernest Grandidier (1833–1912), undertook a voyage around the world. At first they were led by the astronomer and physicist Pierre Jules César Janssen (1824–1907), but when Janssen fell sick and had to return to France after about six months, the brothers continued the journey. They visited South America in 1858 and 1859 and in particular the Andes, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil. During this voyage they gathered a significant collection of specimens which were analyzed, in 1860, by Ernest. The two brothers parted ways after this. Ernest Grandidier went to China and collected a vast number of specimens which are now in the Louvre and the Guimet museum. Alfred travelled to India, reaching it in 1863. He had intended to explore the high plateau of Tibet, but was prevented by a severe attack of fever. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michel Adanson
Michel Adanson (7 April 17273 August 1806) was an 18th-century French botanist and naturalist who traveled to Senegal to study flora and fauna. He proposed a "natural system" of taxonomy distinct from the binomial system forwarded by Linnaeus. Personal history Adanson was born at Aix-en-Provence. His family moved to Paris in 1730. After leaving the Collège Sainte-Barbe he was employed in the cabinets of R. A. F. Réaumur and Bernard de Jussieu, as well as in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. He attended lectures at the Jardin du Roi and the Collège Royal in Paris from 1741 to 1746. At the end of 1748, funded by a director of the Compagnie des Indes, he left France on an exploring expedition to Senegal. He remained there for five years, collecting and describing numerous animals and plants. He also collected specimens of every object of commerce, delineated maps of the country, made systematic meteorological and astronomical observations, and prepared grammars and dictiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. ''Panthera leo'' (lion) and ''Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus '' Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should clea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephant Bird
Elephant birds are members of the extinct ratite family Aepyornithidae, made up of flightless birds that once lived on the island of Madagascar. They are thought to have become extinct around 1000-1200 CE, probably as a result of human activity. Elephant birds comprised the genera '' Mullerornis'', '' Vorombe'' and '' Aepyornis''. While they were in close geographical proximity to the ostrich, their closest living relatives are kiwi (found only in New Zealand), suggesting that ratites did not diversify by vicariance during the breakup of Gondwana but instead evolved from ancestors that dispersed more recently by flying. In September 2018, scientists determined that ''Vorombe titan'' reached weights of and stood tall, making it the world's largest and heaviest bird, slightly larger than the much older '' Dromornis stirtoni''. Other members of the family were also very large, exhibiting the phenomenon of island gigantism. Description Elephant birds have been extinct since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
