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Heterocarpy
Amphicarpy is a reproductive strategy that occurs with 13 plant families, expressed mostly in species with an annual life cycle. It is characterized by production of two types of fruit, for different ecological roles. It is sometimes restricted to the situation where one fruit type is aerial and the other subterranean (hypogeous), and similar to, but distinguished from, heterocarpy, which latter means a plant that carries two distinct types of fruit or seeds. The word amphicarp is the contraction of the Greek words ''ἀμφί'' meaning "of both kinds" and ''καρπός'' meaning fruit. In a typical plant with amphicarpy, one fruit type is underground. These underground fruits usually develop from self-pollinating flowers. The fruits that develop from the aerial flowers may often be the result of cross-pollination. Plants use this strategy to increase the chance that their genetic material is passed on. It can be referred to as bet hedging in which an organism produces several di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reproductive Strategy
Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual organism exists as the result of reproduction. There are two forms of reproduction: asexual and sexual. In asexual reproduction, an organism can reproduce without the involvement of another organism. Asexual reproduction is not limited to single-celled organisms. The cloning of an organism is a form of asexual reproduction. By asexual reproduction, an organism creates a genetically similar or identical copy of itself. The evolution of sexual reproduction is a major puzzle for biologists. The two-fold cost of sexual reproduction is that only 50% of organisms reproduce and organisms only pass on 50% of their genes.John Maynard Smith ''The Evolution of Sex'' 1978. Sexual reproduction typically requires the sexual interaction of two specialize ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geocarpy
Geocarpy is "an extremely rare means of plant reproduction", in which plants produce diaspores within the soil. This may occur with subterranean flowers (protogeocarpy), or from aerial flowers, parts of which penetrate the soil after flowering (hysterocarpy). It has evolved as an effective means of ensuring a suitable environment for the plant's offspring. Geocarpy is also linked with solifluction soils, where rapid thawing and freezing of surface soil causes almost continuous movement. This phenomenon is prevalent in high altitude areas of East Africa. In order to reproduce, geocarpic plants bend their stems so that the fruit can be embedded in the soil during the freezing process while the fruit is still attached to the plant itself. Geocarpy is most frequent in tropical or semi-desert areas, and geocarpic species may be found in the families Araceae, Begoniaceae, Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), Callitrichaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), Loganiaceae, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-pollination
Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the Stigma (botany), stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred to the Stigma (botany), stigma of the same flower; in geitonogamy, pollen is transferred from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower on the same flowering plant, or from Microsporangia, microsporangium to ovule within a single (Monoecy, monoecious) gymnosperm. Some plants have mechanisms that ensure autogamy, such as flowers that do not open (cleistogamy), or stamens that move to come into contact with the stigma. The term selfing that is often used as a synonym, is not limited to self-pollination, but also applies to other types of self-fertilization. Occurrence Few plants self-pollinate without the aid of pollen vectors (such as wind or insects). The mechanism is seen most often in some legumes such as p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, and bats; water; wind; and even plants themselves, when self-pollination occurs within a closed flower. Pollination often occurs within a species. When pollination occurs between species, it can produce hybrid offspring in nature and in plant breeding work. In angiosperms, after the pollen grain (gametophyte) has landed on the stigma, it germinates and develops a pollen tube which grows down the style until it reaches an ovary. Its two gametes travel down the tube to where the gametophyte(s) containing the female gametes are held within the carpel. After entering an ovum cell through the micropyle, one male nucleus fuses with the polar bodies to produce the endosperm tissues, while the other fuses with the ovule to produce the embr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bet-hedging (biology)
Biological bet hedging occurs when organisms suffer decreased fitness in their typical conditions in exchange for increased fitness in stressful conditions. Biological bet hedging was originally proposed to explain the observation of a seed bank, or a reservoir of ungerminated seeds in the soil. For example, an annual plant's fitness is maximized for that year if all of its seeds germinate. However, if a drought occurs that kills germinated plants, but not ungerminated seeds, plants with seeds remaining in the seed bank will have a fitness advantage. Therefore, it can be advantageous for plants to "hedge their bets" in case of a drought by producing some seeds that germinate immediately and other seeds that lie dormant. Other examples of biological bet hedging include female multiple mating, foraging behavior in bumble bees, nutrient storage in rhizobia, and bacterial persistence in the presence of antibiotics. Overview Categories There are three categories (strategies) of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phenotypes
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological properties, its behavior, and the products of behavior. An organism's phenotype results from two basic factors: the expression of an organism's genetic code, or its genotype, and the influence of environmental factors. Both factors may interact, further affecting phenotype. When two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species, the species is called polymorphic. A well-documented example of polymorphism is Labrador Retriever coloring; while the coat color depends on many genes, it is clearly seen in the environment as yellow, black, and brown. Richard Dawkins in 1978 and then again in his 1982 book ''The Extended Phenotype'' suggested that one can regard bird nests and other built structures such as cad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Article 18.5 states: "The following names, of long usage, are treated as validly published: ....Leguminosae (nom. alt.: Fabaceae; type: Faba Mill. Vicia L.; ... When the Papilionaceae are regarded as a family distinct from the remainder of the Leguminosae, the name Papilionaceae is conserved against Leguminosae." English pronunciations are as follows: , and . commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, are a large and agriculturally important of |
International Association For Plant Taxonomy
The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and stability in plant names. The IAPT was founded on July 18, 1950, at the Seventh International Botanical Congress in Stockholm, Sweden. The IAPT headquarters is located in Bratislava, Slovakia. Its president, since 2017, is Patrick S. Herendeen of the Chicago Botanic Garden; vice-president is Gonzalo Nieto Feliner of the Real Jardín Botánico, Madrid; and secretary-general is Karol Marhold of the Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava. Both the taxonomic journal ''Taxon'' and the series ''Regnum Vegetabile'' are published by the IAPT. The latter series includes the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'', ''Index Nominum Genericorum'', and ''Index Herbariorum''. Purpos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catananche Lutea
''Catananche lutea'', is a woolly annual plant, in the family Asteraceae, with most leaves in a basal rosette, and some smaller leaves on the stems at the base of the branches. Seated horizontal flowerheads develop early on under the rosette leaves. Later, not or sparingly branching erect stems grow to 8–40 cm high, carrying solitary flowerheads at their tips with a papery involucre whitish to beige, reaching beyond the yellow ligulate florets. Flowers are present between April and June. This plant is unique for the five different types of seed it develops, few larger seeds from the basal flowerheads, which remain in the soil, and smaller seeds from the flowerheads above ground that may be spread by the wind or remain in the flowerhead when it breaks from the dead plant. This phenomenon is known as amphicarpy. The seeds germinate immediately, but in one type, germination is postponed. It naturally occurs around the Mediterranean. Sources in English sometimes refer to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gymnarrhena Micrantha
''Gymnarrhena'' is a deviant genus of plants in the family Asteraceae, with only one known species, ''Gymnarrhena micrantha''. It is native to North Africa and the Middle East, as far east as Balochistan. Together with the very different '' Cavea tanguensis'' it constitutes the tribe Gymnarrheneae, and in the subfamily Gymnarrhenoideae. ''Gymnarrhena'' is a small, flowering, winter annual with a rosette of simple, narrow leaves and flower heads cropped at its hart. It does not contain latex and does not carry spines. ''Gymnarrhena'' flowers in March and April. One of the common names in Arabic is كَف الكَلْب meaning "dog's footprint", while in Hebrew it is called מוצנית קטנת-פרחים meaning "small chaff flower". Description ''Gymnarrhena micrantha'' is a dwarf annual herb of ½–2½ cm high, with all its leaves in rosette of up to 10 cm in diameter, and its flowers tucked away in the hart of this rosette, that is lacking latex, and does not h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polygala Lewtonii
''Polygala lewtonii'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common name Lewton's polygala, or Lewton's milkwort. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it is limited to the central ridge of the peninsula. There are about 49 occurrences of the plant remaining.USFWS''Polygala lewtonii'' Five-year Review.August 2010. Most occurrences contain very few plants. The species is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat.''Polygala lewtonii''. The Nature Conservancy. This is a federally listed |
Trifolium Polymorphum
Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with highest diversity in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics. They are small annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial herbaceous plants, typically growing up to 30 cm tall. The leaves are trifoliate (rarely quatrefoiled; see four-leaf clover), monofoil, bifoil, cinquefoil, hexafoil, septfoil, etcetera, with stipules adnate to the leaf-stalk, and heads or dense spikes of small red, purple, white, or yellow flowers; the small, few-seeded pods are enclosed in the calyx. Other closely related genera often called clovers include ''Melilotus'' (sweet clover) and ''Medicago'' (alfalfa or Calvary clover) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
