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Seed Dispersal
In spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, such as the wind, and living (Biotic component, biotic) vectors such as birds. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant individually or collectively, as well as dispersed in both space and time. The patterns of seed dispersal are determined in large part by the dispersal mechanism and this has important implications for the demographic and genetic structure of plant populations, as well as wikt:migration, migration patterns and species interactions. There are five main modes of seed dispersal: Gravitation, gravity, wind, ballistic, water, and by animals. Some plants are serotinous and only disperse their seeds in response to an environmental stimulus. These modes are typically inferred based on adaptations, such as wings or fle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epilobium Hirsutum - Seed Head - Triptych
''Epilobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Onagraceae, containing about 197 species. The genus has a worldwide distribution. It is most prevalent in the subarctic, temperate and subantarctic regions, whereas in the subtropics and tropics ''Epilobium'' species are restricted to the cool montane biomes, such as the New Guinea Highlands. The Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of the genus has varied between different botanists, but the modern trend is to include the previously recognised genera ''Boisduvalia'', ''Chamaenerion'' (previously ''Chamerion''), ''Pyrogennema'' and ''Zauschneria'' within ''Epilobium'' according to Peter H. Raven, who has extensively studied the willowherbs and merges the other Segregate (taxonomy), segregate genera into ''Epilobium''. Fringed willowherb (''Epilobium ciliatum'') is likely a cryptic species complex; apparently these plants also commonly Hybrid (biology), hybridize with their congeners. Most species are known by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trichome
Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant is an indumentum, and the surface bearing them is said to be Leaf#Surface, pubescent. Algal trichomes Certain, usually filamentous, algae have the terminal cell (biology), cell produced into an elongate hair-like structure called a trichome. The same term is applied to such structures in some cyanobacteria, such as ''Spirulina (dietary supplement), Spirulina'' and ''Oscillatoria''. The trichomes of cyanobacteria may be unsheathed, as in ''Oscillatoria'', or sheathed, as in ''Calothrix''. These structures play an important role in preventing soil erosion, particularly in cold desert climates. The filamentous sheaths form a persistent sticky network that helps maintain soil structure. Plant trichomes Plant trichomes have many diff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euphorbia Heterophylla
''Euphorbia heterophylla'', also known under the common names of Mexican fireplant, painted euphorbia, Japanese poinsettia, paintedleaf, painted spurge and milkweed, is a plant belonging to the Euphorbiaceae or spurge family. Distribution ''Euphorbia heterophylla'' is native to tropical and subtropical America but is now widespread throughout the tropics. Many herbicides fail to control it and hence it has spread rapidly in many parts of the world. This plant has been introduced to South and Southeast Asia as an ornamental plant, having become a weed in India and Thailand, where it has invaded cotton fields and other agricultural terrain. Description Euphorbia heterophylla grows between 30 and 100 cm tall and has hollow stems that may be branched or simple with angular ribs. The leaves of the plant have variable shapes within and between populations. The lower leaves are alternate whereas the upper leaves are opposite and commonly have a whitish or bright red base. Within ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecballium
''Ecballium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cucurbitaceae containing a single species, ''Ecballium elaterium'', also called the squirting cucumber, as well as the noli me tangere and its English translation touch-me-not. Its unusual common name derives from the ripe fruit squirting a stream of mucilaginous liquid containing its seeds as a means of seed dispersal, an example of rapid plant movement. Distribution ''E. elaterium'' is native to Europe, northern Africa, and temperate areas of Asia, and is considered an invasive species. It is grown as an ornamental plant elsewhere, and in some places it has naturalized. Seed dispersal The tissue in the fruit of the ''Ecballium elaterium'' that surrounds the seeds is made of large, thin-walled cells facilitating the propulsive release of seeds by "squirting". Pressure to expel the seeds is created by the increased concentration of a glucoside called elaterinidin in the sap of the fruit tissue's cells, leading ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardamine Hirsuta
''Cardamine hirsuta'', commonly called hairy bittercress or popping cress, is an annual or biennial species of plant in the family Brassicaceae, and is edible as a salad green. It is common in moist areas around the world. Description Depending on the climate ''C. hirsuta'' may complete two generations in a year, one in the spring and one in the fall; also depending on the climate, the seeds may germinate in the fall and the plants may remain green throughout the winter before flowering in the spring. It often grows a rosette (botany), rosette of leaves at the base of the stem, while there may be leaves on the upright stem, most of the leaves will be part of the basal rosette. The leaves in this rosette are pinnately divided into 8–15 leaflets which have short stems connecting them to the petiole. These basal leaves are often 3.5–15 cm long. The leaflets are round to ovate in shape and may have smooth or dentate edges. The leaflet at the tip of the leaf (terminal leafl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arceuthobium
The genus ''Arceuthobium'', commonly called dwarf mistletoes, is a genus of 42 species of parasitic plants that parasitize members of Pinaceae and Cupressaceae in North America, Central America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Of the 42 species that have been recognized, 39 and 21 of these are endemic to North America and the United States, respectively. They all have very reduced shoots and leaves (mostly reduced to scales) with the bulk of the plant living under the host's bark. Recently the number of species within the genus has been reduced to 26 as a result of more detailed genetic analysis. Description They are plant sexuality, dioecious, individual plants being either male or female. The fruit is unusual in that it builds up hydrostatic pressure internally when ripe and shoots the single sticky seed up to speeds nearly , an example of rapid plant movement. The Arceuthobium americanum, lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe,'' Arceuthobium americanum, has been found to explosively-disp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turgor Pressure
Turgor pressure is the force within the cell that pushes the plasma membrane against the cell wall. It is also called ''hydrostatic pressure'', and is defined as the pressure in a fluid measured at a certain point within itself when at equilibrium. Generally, turgor pressure is caused by the osmotic flow of water and occurs in plants, fungi, and bacteria. The phenomenon is also observed in protists that have cell walls. This system is not seen in animal cells, as the absence of a cell wall would cause the cell to lyse when under too much pressure. The pressure exerted by the osmotic flow of water is called turgidity. It is caused by the osmotic flow of water through a selectively permeable membrane. Movement of water through a semipermeable membrane from a volume with a low solute concentration to one with a higher solute concentration is called osmotic flow. In plants, this entails the water moving from the low concentration solute outside the cell into the cell's vacuole. Mec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dehiscence (botany)
Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part. Structures that open in this way are said to be dehiscent. Structures that do not open in this way are called indehiscent, and rely on other mechanisms such as decay, digestion by herbivores, or predation to release the contents. A similar process to dehiscence occurs in some flower buds (e.g., '' Platycodon'', '' Fuchsia''), but this is rarely referred to as dehiscence unless circumscissile dehiscence is involved; anthesis is the usual term for the opening of flowers. Dehiscence may or may not involve the loss of a structure through the process of abscission. The lost structures are said to be caducous. Association with crop breeding Manipulation of dehiscence can improve crop yield since a trait that causes seed dispersal is a disadvantage for fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passionfruit
''Passiflora edulis'', commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to the region of southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy fruit. The fruit is a pepo, a type of botanical berry, round to oval, either yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit is both eaten and juiced, with the juice often added to other fruit juices to enhance aroma. Etymology The passion fruit is so called because it is one of the many species of passion flower, the English translation of the Latin genus name, ''Passiflora''. Around 1700, the name was given by missionaries in Brazil as an educational aid while trying to convert the indigenous inhabitants to Christianity; its name was ''flor das cinco chagas'' or "flower of the five wounds" to illustrate the crucifixion of Christ, with other plant components a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a Nut (fruit), nut. Originally native to Central Indo-Pacific, they are now ubiquitous in coastal tropical regions and are a cultural icon of the tropics. The coconut tree provides food, fuel, cosmetics, folk medicine and building materials, among many other uses. The inner flesh of the mature seed, as well as the coconut milk extracted from it, forms a regular part of the diets of many people in the tropics and subtropics. Coconuts are distinct from other fruits because their endosperm contains a large quantity of an almost clear liquid, called "coconut water" or "coconut juice". Mature, ripe coconuts can be used as edible seeds, or processed for Coconut oil, oil and Coconut milk, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ''Malus sieversii'', is still found. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Eurasia before they were introduced to North America by European colonization of the Americas, European colonists. Apples have cultural significance in many mythological, mythologies (including Norse mythology, Norse and Greek mythology, Greek) and religions (such as Christianity in Europe). Apples grown from seeds tend to be very different from those of their parents, and the resultant fruit frequently lacks desired characteristics. For commercial purposes, including botanical evaluation, apple cultivars are propagated by clonal grafting onto rootstocks. Apple trees grown without rootstocks tend to be larger and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gravity
In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force between objects and the Earth. This force is dominated by the combined gravitational interactions of particles but also includes effect of the Earth's rotation. Gravity gives weight to physical objects and is essential to understanding the mechanisms responsible for surface water waves and lunar tides. Gravity also has many important biological functions, helping to guide the growth of plants through the process of gravitropism and influencing the circulation of fluids in multicellular organisms. The gravitational attraction between primordial hydrogen and clumps of dark matter in the early universe caused the hydrogen gas to coalesce, eventually condensing and fusing to form stars. At larger scales this results in galaxies and clust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
