Plant stemA stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, engages in photosynthesis, stores nutrients, and produces new living tissue. The stem can also be called the culm, halm, haulm, stalk, or thyrsus. The woody stem of a tree is known as a trunk.
Watsonia (plant)Watsonia (bugle lily) is a genus of plants in the family Iridaceae, subfamily Crocoideae. Watsonias are native to southern Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini). The genus is named after Sir William Watson, an 18th-century Britishbotanist. DiversityThere are 56 accepted species in southern Africa, with two varieties and about 112 names either unresolved or regarded as synonyms. All are perennial herbs growing from corms and producing erect spikes of showy flowers.
BulbIn botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases that function as food storage organs during dormancy. In gardening, plants with other kinds of storage organ are also called ornamental bulbous plants or just bulbs. DescriptionThe bulb's leaf bases, also known as scales, generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. At the center of the bulb is a vegetative shoot.
Storage organA storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy (generally in the form of carbohydrates) or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores. Plants that have an underground storage organ are called geophytes in the Raunkiær plant life-form classification system.
TuberTubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate (survive winter or dry months), provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduction. Stem tubers manifest as thickened rhizomes (underground stems) or stolons (horizontal connections between organisms); examples include the potato and yam.
LapeirousiaLapeirousia is a genus in the plant family Iridaceae. It is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, about a third of the species occurring in fynbos. Origin of genus nameThe genus Lapeirousia was described by Pierre André Pourret in Mém. Acad. Sci. Toulouse 3 : 79 (1788); Bak. In FC. 6 : 88 (1896) in part; Goldblatt in Contrib. Bol. Herb. 4 : 1 (1972); Sölch & Roessl. in FSWA. 155 : 6 (1969). Chasmatocallis Foster in Contrib. Gray Herb. 127 : 40 (1939).
IridaceaeIridaceae () is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises. It has a nearly global distribution, with 69 accepted genera with a total of about 2500 species. It includes a number of economically important cultivated plants, such as species of Freesia, Gladiolus, and Crocus, as well as the crop saffron. Members of this family are perennial plants, with a bulb, corm or rhizome.
Tunica (biology)In biology, a tunica (, UK: ; pl.: tunicae) is a layer, coat, sheath, or similar covering. The word came to English from the Neo-Latin of science and medicine. Its literal sense is about the same as that of the word tunic, with which it is cognate. In biology, one of its senses used to be the taxonomic name of a genus of plants, but the nomenclature has been revised and those plants are now included in the genus Petrorhagia.
Petiole (botany)In botany, the petiole (), commonly known as the leaf stem or leaf stalk, is the stalk that attaches the leaf to the twigs, branches or stems of a plant. The terms and are applied, respectively, to leaves with and without petioles. DescriptionThe petiole is a stalk that attaches a leaf to the rest of a plant. In some species, it is able to twist the leaf to face the sun, thus optimizing its exposure to sunlight.
PerennationIn botany, perennation is the ability of organisms, particularly plants, to survive from one germinating season to another, especially under unfavourable conditions such as drought or winter cold. It typically involves development of a perennating organ, which stores enough nutrients to sustain the organism during the unfavourable season, and develops into one or more new plants the following year. Perennation is done by stems in plants to tide over unfavourable conditions.
ParenchymaParenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ such as the brain or lungs, or a structure such as a tumour. In zoology, it is the tissue that fills the interior of flatworms. In botany, it is some layers in the cross-section of the leaf.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.