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Floral
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants (Flowering plant, angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: Sepal, calyx, modified leaves; Petal, corolla, the petals; Stamen, androecium, the male reproductive unit consisting of stamens and pollen; and gynoecium, the female part, containing Style (botany), style and Stigma (botany), stigma, which receives the pollen at the tip of the style, and Ovary (botany), ovary, which contains the ovules. When flowers are arranged in groups, they are known collectively as inflorescences. Floral growth originates at stem tips and is controlled by MADS-box genes. In most plant species flowers are heterospory, heterosporous, and so can produce gamete, sex cells of both sexes. Pollination mediates the transport of pollen to the ovules in the ovaries, to facilitate sexual reproduction. It can occur between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal Mutualism (biology), mutualists, which in turn provide plant defense against herbivory#Indirect defenses, herbivore protection. Common nectar-consuming pollinators include mosquitoes, hoverfly, hoverflies, wasps, bees, butterfly, butterflies and moths, hummingbirds, honeyeaters and Bat#Fruit and nectar, bats. Nectar is an economically important substance as it is the sugar source for honey. It is also useful in agriculture and horticulture because the adult stages of some predatory insects feed on nectar. For example, a number of predacious or Parasitoid wasp, parasitoid wasps (e.g., the social wasp species ''Apoica flavissima'') rely on nectar as a primary food source. In turn, these wasps then hunt agricultural pest insects as food ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gynoecium
Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''#Pistil, pistils'' and is typically surrounded by the pollen-producing plant reproductive morphology, reproductive organs, the stamens, collectively called the androecium. The gynoecium is often referred to as the "female" portion of the flower, although rather than directly producing female gametes (i.e. egg cells), the gynoecium produces megaspores, each of which develops into a female gametophyte which then produces egg cells. The term gynoecium is also used by botanists to refer to a cluster of archegonia and any associated modified leaves or stems present on a gametophyte shoot in mosses, Marchantiophyta, liverworts, and hornworts. The corresponding terms for the male parts of those plants are clusters of antheridiu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MADS-box
The MADS box is a conserved sequence motif. The genes which contain this motif are called the MADS-box gene family. The MADS box encodes the DNA-binding MADS domain. The MADS domain binds to DNA sequences of high similarity to the motif CC[A/T]6GG termed the CArG-box. MADS-domain proteins are generally transcription factors. The length of the MADS-box reported by various researchers varies somewhat, but typical lengths are in the range of 168 to 180 base pairs, i.e. the encoded MADS domain has a length of 56 to 60 amino acids. There is evidence that the MADS domain evolved from a sequence stretch of a type II topoisomerase in a common ancestor of all extant eukaryotes. Origin of name and history of research The first MADS-box gene to be identified was ''ARG80'' from budding yeast, ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'', but was at that time not recognized as a member of a large gene family. The MADS-box gene family got its name later as an acronym referring to the four founding members, ig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a main axis (Peduncle (botany), peduncle) and by the timing of its flowering (determinate and indeterminate). Morphology (biology), Morphologically, an inflorescence is the modified part of the Shoot (botany), shoot of spermatophyte, seed plants where flowers are formed on the axis of a plant. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internode (botany), internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. One can also define an inflorescence as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern. General characteristics Inflorescences are described by many different charact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nectar Guide
Nectar guides are markings or patterns seen in flowers of some angiosperm species, that guide pollinators to their Pollination syndrome, rewards. These markings may appear as lines, spots, or "blotches". Such patterns are also known as "pollen guides" and "honey guides", though some authorities argue for the abandonment of such terms in favour of ''floral guides'' (see, for example, Dinkel & Lunau). Pollination Nectar guides serve as an Signalling theory, interspecific signal that the flower contains a reward. Rewards commonly take the form of nectar (plant), nectar, pollen, or both; however, plants may also produce oil, resins, Floral scent, scents, or waxes. Pollinator visitation can select for various floral traits, including nectar guides, through a process called pollinator-mediated selection. For example, nectar guides are thought to increase pollinator foraging efficiency by reducing handling time. These guides may also decrease nectar robbing, which leads more pollen to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usually surrounded by an outer whorl of modified leaves called sepals, that collectively form the ''calyx'' and lie just beneath the corolla. The calyx and the corolla together make up the perianth, the non-reproductive portion of a flower. When the petals and sepals of a flower are difficult to distinguish, they are collectively called tepals. Examples of plants in which the term ''tepal'' is appropriate include genera such as '' Aloe'' and '' Tulipa''. Conversely, genera such as '' Rosa'' and '' Phaseolus'' have well-distinguished sepals and petals. When the undifferentiated tepals resemble petals, they are referred to as "petaloid", as in petaloid monocots, orders of monocots with brightly coloured tepals. Since they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the second and middle period of the Mesozoic, Mesozoic Era as well as the eighth period of the Phanerozoic, Phanerozoic Eon and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified. The start of the Jurassic was marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, associated with the eruption of the Central Atlantic magmatic province, Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). The beginning of the Toarcian Age started around 183 million years ago and is marked by the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, a global episode of Anoxic event, oceanic anoxia, ocean acidification, and elevated global temperatures associated with extinctions, likely caused by the eruption of the Kar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propagated using the movements of humans and other animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the means for seed dispersal for the one group and nutrition for the other; humans, and many other animals, have become dependent on fruits as a source of food. Consequently, fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world's agricultural output, and some (such as the apple and the pomegranate) have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings. In common language and culinary usage, ''fruit'' normally means the seed-associated fleshy structures (or produce) of plants that typically are sweet (or sour) and edible in the raw state, such as apples, bananas, grapes, lemons, oranges, and strawberries. In botanical usage, the term ''fruit'' als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stamen
The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament and an anther which contains sporangium, microsporangia. Most commonly, anthers are two-lobed (each lobe is termed a locule) and are attached to the filament either at the base or in the middle area of the anther. The sterile (i.e. nonreproductive) tissue between the lobes is called the Connective (botany), connective, an extension of the filament containing conducting strands. It can be seen as an extension on the dorsal side of the anther. A pollen grain develops from a microspore in the microsporangium and contains the male gametophyte. The size of anthers differs greatly, from a tiny fraction of a millimeter in ''Wolfia'' spp up to five inches (13 centimeters) in ''Canna iridiflora'' and ''Strelitzia nicolai''. The stamens in a flower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-pollination
Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms) of the same plant. The term cross-pollination is used for the opposite case, where pollen from one plant moves to a different plant. There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred to the 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 microsporangium to ovule within a single ( 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ovary (botany)
In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule(s) and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals. The pistil may be made up of one carpel or of several fused carpels (e.g. dicarpel or tricarpel), and therefore the ovary can contain part of one carpel or parts of several fused carpels. Above the ovary is the Style (botany), style and the stigma, which is where the pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary, and, for each individual pollen grain, to fertilize one individual ovule. Some wind pollinated flowers have much reduced and modified ovaries. Fruits A fruit is the mature, ripened ovary of a flower following double fertilization in an angiosperm. Because gymnosperms do not have an ovary but reproduce through fertilization of unprotected ovules, they produce naked seeds th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helianthus Annuus
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the production of cooking oil, as food for livestock, as bird food, and as plantings in domestic gardens for aesthetics. Wild plants are known for their multiple flower heads, whereas the domestic sunflower often possesses a single large flower head atop an unbranched stem. Description The plant has an erect rough-hairy stem, reaching typical heights of . The tallest sunflower on record achieved . Sunflower leaves are broad, coarsely toothed, rough and mostly alternate; those near the bottom are largest and commonly heart-shaped. Flower The plant flowers in summer. What is often called the "flower" of the sunflower is actually a "flower head" (pseudanthium), wide, of numerous small individual five-petaled flowers ("florets"). The outer f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
