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Epicuticular Wax
Epicuticular wax is a waxy coating which covers the outer surface of the plant cuticle in land plants. It may form a whitish film or bloom on leaves, fruits and other plant organs. Chemically, it consists of hydrophobic organic compounds, mainly straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons with or without a variety of substituted functional groups. The main functions of the epicuticular wax are to decrease surface wetting and moisture loss. Other functions include reflection of ultraviolet light, assisting in the formation of an ultra-hydrophobic and self-cleaning surface and acting as an anti-climb surface. Chemical composition Common constituents of epicuticular wax are predominantly straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons that may be saturated or unsaturated and contain a variety of functional groups, such as -Hydroxy group, hydroxyl, carboxyl, and -Ketone, ketoyl at the terminal position. This broadens the spectrum of wax composition to Fatty acid, fatty acids, Primary alcohol, primary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dudleya Brittonii
''Dudleya'', commonly known as liveforevers, is a genus of rosette-forming succulent plants in the stonecrop family, Crassulaceae, consisting of about 68 taxa in southwestern North America and Guadalupe Island. The species come in many forms, some large and evergreen, others geophytic and deciduous. Yet, despite their dramatic variations in appearance, most species readily hybridize. The flowers of ''Dudleya'' have parts numbered in fives, with the petals arranged in tubular, star-shaped, and bell-shaped forms and, when fruiting, are filled with tiny, ovoid-crescent-shaped seeds. The genus evolved as neoendemics, from ancestors in the stonecrop genus, ''Sedum''. The ancestors radiated southward from ''Sedum'' during the creation of the dry summer climate, in the California region, five million years ago. Early botanists classified the larger species as ''Echeveria'' and ''Cotyledon'', while the geophytic species were placed under ''Sedum''. Taxonomic efforts, started by Josep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triterpene
Triterpenes are a class of terpenes composed of six isoprene units with the molecular formula C30H48; they may also be thought of as consisting of three terpene units. Animals, plants and fungi all produce triterpenes, including squalene, the precursor to all steroids. Structures Triterpenes exist in a great variety of structures. Nearly 200 different skeletons have been identified. These skeletons may be broadly divided according to the number of rings present. In general pentacyclic structures (5 rings) tend to dominate. Squalene is biosynthesized through the head-to-head condensation of two farnesyl pyrophosphate units. This coupling converts a pair of C15 components into a C30 product. Squalene serves as precursor for the formation of many triterpenoids, including bacterial hopanoids and eukaryotic sterols. Triterpenoids By definition triterpenoids are triterpenes that possess heteroatoms, usually oxygen. The terms ''triterpene'' and ''triterpenoid'' often are used i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mosses
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hornworts. Mosses typically form dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Although some species have conducting tissues, these are generally poorly developed and structurally different from similar tissue found in vascular plants. Mosses do not have seeds and after fertilisation develop sporophytes with unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores. They are typically tall, though some species are much larger. ''Dawsonia'', the tallest moss in the world, can grow to in height. There ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosaceae
Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but some are evergreen. They have a worldwide range but are most diverse in the Northern Hemisphere. Many economically important products come from the Rosaceae, including various edible fruits, such as apples, pears, quinces, apricots, plums, cherries, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, loquats, strawberries, rose hips, hawthorns, and almonds. The family also includes popular ornamental trees and shrubs, such as roses, meadowsweets, rowans, firethorns, and photinias. Among the most species-rich genera in the family are '' Alchemilla'' (270), '' Sorbus'' (260), ''Crataegus'' (260), '' Cotoneaster'' (260), '' Rubus'' (250), and ''Prunus'' (200), which contains the plums, cherries, peaches, apricots, and almonds. However, all of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papaveraceae
The Papaveraceae, informally known as the poppy family, are an economically important family (biology), family of about 42 genera and approximately 775 known species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales. The family is cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan, occurring in temperate and subtropical climates (mostly in the northern hemisphere) like Eastern Asia as well as California in North America. It is almost unknown in the tropics. Most are herbaceous plants, but a few are shrubs and small trees. The family currently includes two groups that have been considered to be separate families: Fumariaceae and Pteridophyllaceae. ''Papaver'' is the classical name for poppy in Latin. Description Papaveraceae are known for diverse and colorful flowers with distinctive sepals. The plants may be annual, biennial, or perennial. Usually herbaceous, a few species form shrubs or evergreen trees. All parts contain a well-developed system of latex ducts called "laticifers", that prod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ranunculaceae
Ranunculaceae (, buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family (biology), family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 species), ''Delphinium'' (365), ''Thalictrum'' (330), ''Clematis'' (380), and ''Aconitum'' (300). Description Ranunculaceae are mostly herbaceous annuals or perennials, but some are woody climbers (such as ''Clematis'') or shrubs (e.g. ''Xanthorhiza''). Most members of the family have bisexual flowers which can be showy or inconspicuous. Flowers are solitary, but are also found aggregated in Cyme (botany), cymes, panicles, or spike (botany), spikes. The flowers are usually radially symmetrical but are also found to be bilaterally symmetrical in the genera ''Aconitum'' and ''Delphinium''. The sepals, petals, stamens and carpels are all generally free (not fused), the outer flower segments typically number four or five. The outer stamens may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitka Spruce
''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to just over tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-largest conifer in the world (behind giant sequoia, coast redwood, kauri, and western red cedar), and the third-tallest conifer species (after coast redwood and South Tibetan cypress). The Sitka spruce is one of only five species documented to exceed in height. Its name is derived from the community of Sitka in southeast Alaska, where it is prevalent. Its range hugs the western coast of Canada and the US and continues south into northern California. Description The bark is thin and scaly, flaking off in small, circular plates across. The inner bark is reddish-brown. The crown is broad conic in young trees, becoming cylindric in older trees; old trees may not have branches lower than . The shoots are very pale buff-brown, almost w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ginkgo Biloba
''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of gymnosperm tree native to East Asia. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossil, Fossils very similar to the living species, belonging to the genus ''Ginkgo'', extend back to the Middle Jurassic epoch approximately 170 million years ago. The tree was cultivated early in human history, remains commonly planted, and is widely regarded as a living fossil. ''G. biloba'' is a long-lived, Disease resistance, disease-resistant, Dioecy, dioecious tree with unique fan-shaped Leaf, leaves, capable of Cloning, clonal reproduction, and known for its striking yellow autumn foliage and resilience in disturbed environments. It was known historically as “silver fruit” or “white fruit” in Chinese language, Chinese and called “ginkgo” due to a centuries-old transcription error. It is closely related to Cycad, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gymnosperms
The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetophyta, gnetophytes, forming the clade Gymnospermae. The term ''gymnosperm'' comes from the composite word in ( and ), and literally means 'naked seeds'. The name is based on the unenclosed condition of their seeds (called ovules in their unfertilized state). The non-encased condition of their seeds contrasts with the seeds and ovules of flowering plants (angiosperms), which are enclosed within an Ovary (botany), ovary. Gymnosperm seeds develop either on the surface of scales or Leaf, leaves, which are often modified to form Conifer cone, cones, or on their own as in Taxus, yew, ''Torreya'', and ''Ginkgo''. The life cycle of a gymnosperm involves alternation of generations, with a dominant diploid sporophyte phase, and a reduced haploid gam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a peel, which may have a variety of colors when ripe. It grows upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless ( parthenocarp) cultivated bananas come from two wild species – '' Musa acuminata'' and ''Musa balbisiana'', or hybrids of them. ''Musa'' species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia; they were probably domesticated in New Guinea. They are grown in 135 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make banana paper and textiles, while some are grown as ornamental plants. The world's largest producers of bananas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnauba
Carnauba (; ), also called Brazil wax and palm wax, is a wax of the leaves of the carnauba palm '' Copernicia prunifera'' (synonym: ''Copernicia cerifera''), a plant native to and grown only in the northeastern Brazilian states of Ceará, Piauí, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Maranhão and Bahia. It is known as the "Queen of Waxes". In its pure state, it is usually available in the form of hard yellow-brown flakes. It is obtained by collecting and drying the leaves, beating them to loosen the wax, then refining and bleaching it. As a food additive, its E number is E903. Composition Carnauba consists mostly of aliphatic esters (40 wt%), diesters of 4-hydroxycinnamic acid (21.0 wt%), ω-hydroxycarboxylic acids (13.0 wt%), and fatty alcohols (12 wt%). The compounds are predominantly derived from acids and alcohols in the C26-C30 range. It is distinctive for its high content of diesters and its methoxycinnamic acid. It is sold in grades of T1, T3 and T4 ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabbage
Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B. oleracea'' var. ''oleracea''), and belongs to the " cole crops" or brassicas, meaning it is closely related to broccoli and cauliflower (var. ''botrytis''); Brussels sprouts (var. ''gemmifera''); and Savoy cabbage (var. ''sabauda''). A cabbage generally weighs between . Smooth-leafed, firm-headed green cabbages are the most common, with smooth-leafed purple cabbages and crinkle-leafed savoy cabbages of both colours being rarer. Under conditions of long sunny days, such as those found at high northern latitudes in summer, cabbages can grow quite large. , the heaviest cabbage was . Cabbage heads are generally picked during the first year of the plant's life cycle, but plants intended for seed are allowed to grow a second year and m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
