Latest Plant morphology Stories
Study on maize domestication may help improve crop yieldsUnderstanding the evolution and domestication of maize has been a holy grail for many researchers. As one of the most important crops worldwide and as a crop that appears very different from its wild relatives as a result of domestication, understanding exactly how maize has evolved has many practical benefits and may help to improve crop yields.In the October issue of the American Journal of Botany...
Researchers work on part of Darwin's 'abominable mystery'Approximately 120-130 million years ago, one of the most significant events in the history of the Earth occurred: the first flowering plants, or angiosperms, arose. In the late 1800s, Darwin referred to their development as an "abominable mystery." To this day, scientists are still challenged by this "mystery" of how angiosperms originated, rapidly diversified, and rose to dominance. (See the January 2009 issue of...
After two years of research over five degraded landscapes in the National Park of Sierra Nevada (Granada), scientists have established for the first time that field mice base their diet on holm oak and pine seeds, causing a deterioration of the habitats and an extension of scrubland in the forests.The trees in the forests such as the holm oaks, rowans and pines have unexpected predators which are impeding their expansion over the mountains. In 98.5% of cases it is field mice and other...
With summer in full swing, many plants are at their peak bloom and climbing plants, like clematis, morning glories, and sweet peas, are especially remarkable. Not only are these plants beautiful, but their ability to climb walls and trellises is an impressive feat of biological engineering that has taken millions of years to accomplish.A recent article by Dr. Sandrine Isnard and Dr. Wendy Silk in the July issue of the American Journal of Botany explores the logistics of this incredible...
VACAVILLE, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Mariani Packing Company, Inc., the largest family-owned global producer of dried fruit, has taken one of the hottest trends today, functional foods, and incorporated it into a line of popular dried fruits. To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/mariani/37088/ (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090727/NY51624 ) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081006/AQM516LOGO-b ) With retail sales of...
The owner of a Virginia office building said someone has stolen 18 bushes planted along the front and side of the building. Dan Holly, owner of the Suffolk, Va., office building, said the first 11 bushes went missing more than a week ago and building managers noticed the remaining shrubs were gone Monday morning, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday. For somebody to steal bushes out of the ground? Come on, y'all. That's ridiculous, Holly said Tuesday. Holly said he is offering...
Winter chill, a vital climatic trigger for many tree crops, is likely to decrease by more than 50 percent during this century as global climate warms, making California no longer suitable for growing many fruit and nut crops, according to a team of researchers from the University of California, Davis, and the University of Washington.In some parts of California's agriculturally rich Central Valley, winter chill has already declined by nearly 30 percent, the researchers found."Depending...
The appearance of many species of flowering plants on Earth, and especially their relatively rapid dissemination during the Cretaceous (approximately 100 million years ago) can be attributed to their capacity to transform the world to their own needs. In an article in Ecology Letters, Wageningen ecologists Frank Berendse and Marten Scheffer postulate that flowering plants changed the conditions during the Cretaceous period to suit themselves. The researchers have consequently provided an...
University of California-Santa Barbara scientists say they have identified the genes that are responsible for changing a flower's colors. Professor Scott Hodges and graduate student Nathan Derieg said they studied red columbines pollinated by hummingbirds and white or yellow columbines pollinated by hawkmoths to document the evolution of such flowers in North America. They said their research indicates a color shift from red to white or yellow has occurred five times in that region. What is...
Israeli scientists say they have discovered the self-watering mechanism of the Negev desert rhubarb, which harvests 16 times more water than other plants. Researchers at the University of Haifa-Oranim said the desert rhubarb grows in the mountains of Israel's Negev desert, where average precipitation is particularly low. Unlike most other desert plants that have small leaves to minimize moisture loss, the desert rhubarb is unique in that its leaves are particularly large; each plant's...
Latest Plant morphology Reference Libraries
Kelp forests are areas that are underwater with a high density of kelp. They’re recognized as one of the most dynamic and productive ecosystems on Earth. Smaller regions of anchored kelp are known as kelp beds. Kelp forests can be found worldwide throughout polar and temperate coastal oceans. In the year 2007, kelp forests were discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador as well. While they are physically formed by brown macroalgae of the order Laminariales, kelp forests offer a unique...
The Lily of the Nile or Calla Lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) is a species of plant native to southern Africa in Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland. It has been introduced to Western Australia where it occurs in high periodical water tables and sandy soil. Several hybrids have been established and introduced to other areas around the world. Some hybrids are more suited to cooler climates. One hybrid, Crowborough, grows better in the British Isles and the northwestern United States than it...
The Paper Flower (Bougainvillea glabra), is the most common species used for bonsai.A Brazilian native, it features glossy green leaves with fine hairs and fuchsia colored stalks. It is an evergreen climbing vine whose trunk is typically twisted amid narrow stems with deep green foliage and prickly thorns. Clusters of small white flowers bloom among vividly colored paper like bracts. It is from these bracts that the name "paper flower" is derived. Paper Flowers are versatile and...
Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta), also known as kariba weed after it infested a large portion of the reservoir of the same name, is an aquatic fern, native to south-eastern Brazil. It is a free floating plant that does not attach to the soil, but instead remains buoyant on the surface of a body of water. The fronds are .25 to 1.5 inches long and broad, with a bristly surface, and produced in pairs also with a third modified root-like frond that hangs in the water. This is an example of an...
Daylily comprises the small genus Hemerocallis of flowering plants in the family Hemerocallidaceae. The name Hemerocallis is based on the Greek words for day and beauty, which reflects the fact that the individual flowers last for only one day. They open at sunrise and wither at sunset, to be replaced by another one (sometimes two or none) on the same stem the next day. Originally from Eurasia, a native from Europe to China, Korea, and Japan, their large showy flowers have made them...
