Coralloid Roots
Coralloid (coral-shaped) may refer to: * Cave popcorn, small nodes of calcite, aragonite or gypsum that form on surfaces in caves * Coral shaped forms in plants such as roots of cycads, see Glossary of botanical terms This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

Coral
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. A coral "group" is a colony of very many genetically identical polyps. Each polyp is a sac-like animal typically only a few millimeters in diameter and a few centimeters in height. A set of tentacles surround a central mouth opening. Each polyp excretes an exoskeleton near the base. Over many generations, the colony thus creates a skeleton characteristic of the species which can measure up to several meters in size. Individual colonies grow by asexual reproduction of polyps. Corals also breed sexually by spawning: polyps of the same species release gametes simultaneously overnight, often around a full moon. Fertilized eggs form planulae, a mobile early form of the coral polyp which, when m ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  

Cave Popcorn
Cave popcorn, or coralloids, are small nodes of calcite, aragonite or gypsum that form on surfaces in caves, especially limestone caves. They are a common type of speleothem. Appearance The individual nodules of cave popcorn range in size from 5 to 20 mm and may be decorated by other speleothems, especially aragonite needles or frostwork. The nodules tend to grow in clusters on bedrock or the sides of other speleothems. These clusters may terminate suddenly in either an upward or downward direction, forming a stratographic layer. When they terminate in a downward direction, they may appear as flat bottomed formations known as trays. Individual nodes of popcorn can assume a variety of shapes from round to flattened ear or button like shapes. The color of cave popcorn is usually white, but various other colors are possible depending on the composition. Formation Cave popcorn can form by precipitation. Water seeping through limestone walls or splashing onto them leaves depo ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  

Cycad
Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or female. Cycads vary in size from having trunks only a few centimeters to several meters tall. They typically grow very slowly and live very long. Because of their superficial resemblance, they are sometimes mistaken for Arecaceae, palms or ferns, but they are not closely related to either group. Cycads are gymnosperms (naked-seeded), meaning their fertilization, unfertilized seeds are open to the air to be directly fertilized by pollination, as contrasted with angiosperms, which have enclosed seeds with more complex fertilization arrangements. Cycads have very specialized pollinators, usually a specific species of beetle. Both male and female cycads bear cones (strobilus, strobili), somewhat similar to conife ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]