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 of the ...

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: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...

form of the

adjective In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Tra ...

"resupine" which means "being upside-down, supine or facing upward". The word "resupinate" is generally only used in a

botanical Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

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 extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Alstroemeria ''Alstroemeria'' (), commonly called the Peruvian lily or lily of the Incas, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Alstroemeriaceae. They are all native to South America, although some have become naturalized in the United States, Mexi ...

'' have more or less resupinate leaves.

Orchidaceae

The flower of a typical plant in the orchid

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 b ...

s and three

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

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 nomenclat ...

, 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 naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

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 southe ...

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 ''Prasophyllum'', commonly known as leek orchids, is a genus of about 140 species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae and is found in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian species are found in all states but have not been re ...

'', ''

Cryptostylis ''Cryptostylis'', commonly known as tongue orchids, is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family. Tongue orchids are terrestrial herbs with one to a few stalked leaves at the base of the flowering stem, or leafless. One to a few dull c ...

'' and ''

Caleana ''Caleana'', commonly known as duck orchids, is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae that is found in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian species are found in all states but have not been recorded in the Northern ...

''. File:Diuris aequalis (labelled).jpg, Resupinate flower of ''

Diuris aequalis ''Diuris aequalis'', commonly called the buttercup doubletail, is a species of orchid which is endemic to New South Wales. It has two rolled leaves and spikes of two to five golden-yellow to orange flowers and is classified as "vulnerable". Des ...

'' File:Prasophyllum (labelled 2).jpg, Non-resupinate flowers of ''

Prasophyllum elatum ''Prasophyllum elatum'', commonly known as the tall leek orchid, snake orchid or piano orchid is a species of orchid in the family Orchidaceae which is endemic to Australia. It is one of the tallest orchids found in Western Australia as well as ...

'' File:Cattleya_aclandiae_Orchi_01.jpg, Resupinate flowers of ''

Cattleya aclandiae ''Cattleya aclandiae'', or Lady Ackland's cattleya, is a species of orchid from the genus ''Cattleya'', named in honor of Lady Lydia Elizabeth Ackland, wife of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet who was the first European to grow the plant succ ...

'' File:Calopogon.web.jpg, Non-resupinate flowers of ''

Calopogon tuberosus ''Calopogon tuberosus'', the tuberous grass pink, is an orchid native to eastern North America. Distribution In the United States, it occurs from as far southwest as Texas and Oklahoma and southeast to the Florida Everglades to as far northeast ...

'' File:Alstroemeria cv03.jpg, More or less resupinate leaves of ''

Mycology

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

, 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 Adnate may refer to: * Adnation, in botany, the fusion of two or more whorls of a flower * Adnate, in mycology, a classification of lamellae (gills) * Conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are ...

to the substrate. Certain genera such as ''

Peniophora ''Peniophora'' is a genus of fungi which are plant pathogens. Members of the genus belong to the class Agaricomycetes, order Russulales, and family Peniophoraceae. The genus is widespread, and contains 62 species. The species of ''Peniophora'' a ...

''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 ''Peniophora quercina'' is a species of wood-decay fungus in the family Peniophoraceae. It produces fruit bodies that vary in appearance depending on whether they are wet or dry. The wet fruit bodies are waxy and lilac, and attached strongly t ...

'' File:Hyphodontia sambuci Eglinton.JPG, ''

Hyphodontia sambuci ''Hyphodontia sambuci'', or elder whitewash, is a basidiomycete fungal pathogen on deadwood, especially elder.Phillips, Roger (2006), Mushrooms. Pub. McMilan, . P. 322. It is resupinate, forming a very thin structure which is white, pruinose ( ...

References

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