1.
Taxonomy (biology)
–
Taxonomy is the science of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups. The exact definition of taxonomy varies from source to source, but the core of the remains, the conception, naming. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature is considered a part of taxonomy, the broadest meaning of taxonomy is used here. The word taxonomy was introduced in 1813 by Candolle, in his Théorie élémentaire de la botanique, the term alpha taxonomy is primarily used today to refer to the discipline of finding, describing, and naming taxa, particularly species. In earlier literature, the term had a different meaning, referring to morphological taxonomy, ideals can, it may be said, never be completely realized. They have, however, a value of acting as permanent stimulants. Some of us please ourselves by thinking we are now groping in a beta taxonomy, turrill thus explicitly excludes from alpha taxonomy various areas of study that he includes within taxonomy as a whole, such as ecology, physiology, genetics, and cytology. He further excludes phylogenetic reconstruction from alpha taxonomy, thus, Ernst Mayr in 1968 defined beta taxonomy as the classification of ranks higher than species. This activity is what the term denotes, it is also referred to as beta taxonomy. How species should be defined in a group of organisms gives rise to practical and theoretical problems that are referred to as the species problem. The scientific work of deciding how to define species has been called microtaxonomy, by extension, macrotaxonomy is the study of groups at higher taxonomic ranks, from subgenus and above only, than species. While some descriptions of taxonomic history attempt to date taxonomy to ancient civilizations, earlier works were primarily descriptive, and focused on plants that were useful in agriculture or medicine. There are a number of stages in scientific thinking. Early taxonomy was based on criteria, the so-called artificial systems. Later came systems based on a complete consideration of the characteristics of taxa, referred to as natural systems, such as those of de Jussieu, de Candolle and Bentham. The publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species led to new ways of thinking about classification based on evolutionary relationships and this was the concept of phyletic systems, from 1883 onwards. This approach was typified by those of Eichler and Engler, the advent of molecular genetics and statistical methodology allowed the creation of the modern era of phylogenetic systems based on cladistics, rather than morphology alone. Taxonomy has been called the worlds oldest profession, and naming and classifying our surroundings has likely been taking place as long as mankind has been able to communicate
Taxonomy (biology)
–
Title page of
Systema Naturae, Leiden, 1735
Taxonomy (biology)
–
Evolution of the
vertebrates at class level, width of spindles indicating number of families. Spindle diagrams are typical for
Evolutionary taxonomy
Taxonomy (biology)
–
The same relationship, expressed as a
cladogram typical for
cladistics
Taxonomy (biology)
–
Type specimen for
Nepenthes smilesii, a tropical
pitcher plant.
2.
Plantae
–
Plants are mainly multicellular, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. The term is generally limited to the green plants, which form an unranked clade Viridiplantae. This includes the plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns, clubmosses, hornworts, liverworts, mosses and the green algae. Green plants have cell walls containing cellulose and obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts and their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic and have lost the ability to produce amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize. Plants are characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations, although reproduction is also common. There are about 300–315 thousand species of plants, of which the great majority, green plants provide most of the worlds molecular oxygen and are the basis of most of Earths ecologies, especially on land. Plants that produce grains, fruits and vegetables form humankinds basic foodstuffs, Plants play many roles in culture. They are used as ornaments and, until recently and in variety, they have served as the source of most medicines. The scientific study of plants is known as botany, a branch of biology, Plants are one of the two groups into which all living things were traditionally divided, the other is animals. The division goes back at least as far as Aristotle, who distinguished between plants, which generally do not move, and animals, which often are mobile to catch their food. Much later, when Linnaeus created the basis of the system of scientific classification. Since then, it has become clear that the plant kingdom as originally defined included several unrelated groups, however, these organisms are still often considered plants, particularly in popular contexts. When the name Plantae or plant is applied to a group of organisms or taxon. The evolutionary history of plants is not yet settled. Those which have been called plants are in bold, the way in which the groups of green algae are combined and named varies considerably between authors. Algae comprise several different groups of organisms which produce energy through photosynthesis, most conspicuous among the algae are the seaweeds, multicellular algae that may roughly resemble land plants, but are classified among the brown, red and green algae. Each of these groups also includes various microscopic and single-celled organisms
Plantae
–
Green algae from
Ernst Haeckel 's
Kunstformen der Natur, 1904.
Plantae
–
Had'n
Plantae
–
Dicksonia antarctica, a species of
tree fern
Plantae
–
A petrified log in
Petrified Forest National Park.
3.
Angiosperms
–
The flowering plants, also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants, with 416 families, approx. 13,164 known genera and a total of c.295,383 known species, etymologically, angiosperm means a plant that produces seeds within an enclosure, in other words, a fruiting plant. The term angiosperm comes from the Greek composite word meaning enclosed seeds, the ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms in the Triassic Period, during the range 245 to 202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants are known from 160 mya. They diversified extensively during the Lower Cretaceous, became widespread by 120 mya, angiosperms differ from other seed plants in several ways, described in the table. These distinguishing characteristics taken together have made the angiosperms the most diverse and numerous land plants, the amount and complexity of tissue-formation in flowering plants exceeds that of gymnosperms. The vascular bundles of the stem are arranged such that the xylem and phloem form concentric rings, in the dicotyledons, the bundles in the very young stem are arranged in an open ring, separating a central pith from an outer cortex. In each bundle, separating the xylem and phloem, is a layer of meristem or active formative tissue known as cambium, the soft phloem becomes crushed, but the hard wood persists and forms the bulk of the stem and branches of the woody perennial. Among the monocotyledons, the bundles are more numerous in the stem and are scattered through the ground tissue. They contain no cambium and once formed the stem increases in diameter only in exceptional cases, the characteristic feature of angiosperms is the flower. Flowers show remarkable variation in form and elaboration, and provide the most trustworthy external characteristics for establishing relationships among angiosperm species, the function of the flower is to ensure fertilization of the ovule and development of fruit containing seeds. The floral apparatus may arise terminally on a shoot or from the axil of a leaf, occasionally, as in violets, a flower arises singly in the axil of an ordinary foliage-leaf. There are two kinds of cells produced by flowers. Microspores, which divide to become pollen grains, are the male cells and are borne in the stamens. The female cells called megaspores, which divide to become the egg cell, are contained in the ovule. The flower may consist only of parts, as in willow. Usually, other structures are present and serve to protect the sporophylls, the individual members of these surrounding structures are known as sepals and petals. The outer series is usually green and leaf-like, and functions to protect the rest of the flower, the inner series is, in general, white or brightly colored, and is more delicate in structure. It functions to attract insect or bird pollinators, attraction is effected by color, scent, and nectar, which may be secreted in some part of the flower
Angiosperms
Angiosperms
–
Bud of a pink
rose
Angiosperms
–
Flowers of
Malus sylvestris (crab apple)
Angiosperms
–
Flowers and leaves of
Oxalis pes-caprae (Bermuda buttercup)
4.
Eudicots
–
The eudicots, Eudicotidae or eudicotyledons are a monophyletic clade of flowering plants that had been called tricolpates or non-magnoliid dicots by previous authors. The close relationships among flowering plants with tricolpate pollen grains was initially seen in studies of shared derived characters. These plants have a trait in their pollen grains of exhibiting three colpi or grooves paralleling the polar axis. Later molecular evidence confirmed the basis for the evolutionary relationships among flowering plants with tricolpate pollen grains. The term means true dicotyledons, as it contains the majority of plants that have been considered dicots and have characteristics of the dicots, the term eudicots has subsequently been widely adopted in botany to refer to one of the two largest clades of angiosperms, monocots being the other. The remaining angiosperms are sometimes referred to as basal angiosperms or paleodicots, the other name for the eudicots is tricolpates, a name which refers to the grooved structure of the pollen. Members of the group have tricolpate pollen, or forms derived from it and these pollens have three or more pores set in furrows called colpi. In contrast, most of the seed plants produce monosulcate pollen. The name tricolpates is preferred by some botanists to avoid confusion with the dicots, numerous familiar plants are eudicots, including many common food plants, trees, and ornamentals. Most leafy trees of midlatitudes also belong to eudicots, with exceptions being magnolias and tulip trees which belong to magnoliids, and Ginkgo biloba. The name eudicots is used in the APG system, of 1998 and it is applied to a clade, a monophyletic group, which includes most of the dicots. The eudicots can be divided into two groups, the basal eudicots and the core eudicots, basal eudicot is an informal name for a paraphyletic group. The core eudicots are a monophyletic group, a 2010 study suggested the core eudicots can be divided into two clades, Gunnerales and a clade called Pentapetalae, comprising all the remaining core eudicots
Eudicots
–
Eudicots Temporal range:
Early Cretaceous - recent
Eudicots
–
Arabis pollen has three colpi.
5.
Asterids
–
In the APG IV system for the classification of flowering plants, the name asterids denotes a clade. Most of the taxa belonging to this clade had been referred to the Asteridae in the Cronquist system, the name asterids resembles the earlier botanical name but is intended to be the name of a clade rather than a formal ranked name, in the sense of the ICBN. The phylogenetic tree presented hereafter has been proposed by the APG IV project, genetic analysis carried out after APG II maintains that the sister to all other asterids are the Cornales. A second order that split from the base of the asterids are the Ericales, the remaining orders cluster into two clades, the lamiids and the campanulids. The structure of both of these clades has changed in APG III, in APG III system, the following clades were renamed, euasterids I → lamiids euasterids II → campanulids Asterids in Stevens, P. F. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website
Asterids
–
Asterids
Asterids
–
Oregano from Lamiales
6.
Solanales
–
The Solanales are an order of flowering plants, included in the asterid group of dicotyledons. Some older sources used the name Polemoniales for this order, systema Naturae 2000 Media related to Solanales at Wikimedia Commons
Solanales
–
Solanales
7.
Solanaceae
–
The Solanaceae, or nightshades, are an economically important family of flowering plants. Many members of the family contain potent alkaloids, and some are highly toxic, the family belongs to the order Solanales, in the asterid group and class Magnoliopsida. The Solanaceae consists of about 98 genera and some 2,700 species, with a diversity of habitats. The name Solanaceae derives from the genus Solanum, the nightshade plant, the etymology of the Latin word is unclear. The name may come from a resemblance of certain solanaceous flowers to the sun. At least one species of Solanum is known as the sunberry, the family has a worldwide distribution, being present on all continents except Antarctica. The greatest diversity in species is found in South America and Central America, in 2017, scientists reported on their discovery and analysis of a fossil tomatillo found in the Patagonian region of Argentina, dated to 52 million years B. P. The finding has pushed back the earliest appearance of the Solanaceae plant family, as tomatillos likely developed later than other nightshades, this may mean that the Solanaceae may have first developed during the Mesozoic Era. The Solanaceae include a number of collected or cultivated species. The most economically important genus of the family is Solanum, which contains the potato, the tomato, another important genus, Capsicum, produces both chili peppers and bell peppers. The genus Physalis produces the so-called groundcherries, as well as the tomatillo, the Cape gooseberry, the genus Lycium contains the boxthorns and the wolfberry Lycium barbarum. Nicotiana contains, among other species, tobacco, certain species are widely known for their medicinal uses, their psychotropic effects, or for being poisonous. Most of the important genera are contained in the subfamily Solanoideae, with the exceptions of tobacco. Many of the Solanaceae, such as tobacco and petunia, are used as model organisms in the investigation of biological questions at the cellular, molecular. The name Solanaceae comes to scientific vocabulary from New Latin, from Solanum, the type genus, + -aceae. The genus name comes from the Classical Latin word solanum, referring to nightshades, probably from sol, sun, + -anum, Plants in the Solanaceae can take the form of herbs, shrubs, trees, vines and lianas, and sometimes epiphytes. They can be annuals, biennials, or perennials, upright or decumbent and they do not have laticifers, nor latex, nor coloured saps. They can have a basal or terminal group of leaves or neither of these types, the leaves are generally alternate or alternate to opposed
Solanaceae
–
Solanaceae
Solanaceae
–
Cladogram showing the relationship between the three genera of the Solanaceae family
Solanaceae
–
Cestrum elegans, a cestroidea used as an ornamental
Solanaceae
–
Browallia americana
8.
Solanum
–
If used for a particular species, this name usually applies to the Carolina horsenettle. Solanum is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include two food crops of economic importance, the potato and the tomato. It also contains the nightshades and horse nettles, as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers, Solanum species show a wide range of growing habits, such as annual and perennials, vines, subshrubs, shrubs, and small trees. Many formerly independent genera like Lycopersicon and Cyphomandra are now included in Solanum as subgenera or sections, thus, the genus today contains roughly 1, 500–2,000 species. The generic name was first used by Pliny the Elder for a plant also known as strychnos and its derivation is uncertain, possibly stemming from the Latin word sol, meaning sun, referring to its status as a plant of the sun. Another possibility is that the root was solare, meaning to soothe, or solamen, meaning a comfort, the species most commonly called nightshade in North America and Britain is Solanum dulcamara, also called bittersweet or woody nightshade. Its foliage and egg-shaped red berries are poisonous, the principle being solanine. The black nightshade is also generally considered poisonous, but its fully ripened fruit and foliage are cooked, the deadly nightshade is not in the Solanum genus, but is a member of the wider Solanaceae family. Most parts of the plants, especially the parts and unripe fruit, are poisonous to humans. However, several species are used in folk medicine, particularly by native peoples who have long employed them. Solanum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species – see list of Lepidoptera that feed on Solanum, the genus was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. Its subdivision has always been problematic, but slowly some sort of consensus is being achieved, the following list is a provisional lineup of the genus traditional subdivisions, together with some notable species. Many of the subgenera and sections might not be valid, they are used here provisionally as the phylogeny of this genus is not fully resolved yet, cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data suggests that the present subdivisions and rankings are largely invalid. Far more subgenera would seem to warrant recognition, with Leptostemonum being the one that can at present be clearly subdivided into sections. Notably, it includes as a major lineage several members of the traditional sections Cyphomandropsis, Section Allophylla Solanum granuloso-leprosum Section Cyphomandropsis Solanum glaucophyllum Desf. – Waxy-leaved nightshade Section Pachyphylla Solanum betaceum Cav, – Tamarillo Solanum exiguum Solanum roseum Section Acanthophora Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq. Series Androceras Series Violaceiflorum Series Pacificum Section AnisantherumSection CampanulataSection CrinitumSection CroatianumSection Erythrotrichum Solanum robustum H. L. Wendl, – Shrubby nightshade Section GraciliflorumSection Herposolanum Solanum wendlandii Hook. f. – Giant potatocreeper Section Irenosolanum Solanum incompletum Dunal – Pōpolo kū mai Solanum nelsonii Dunal – Nelsons horsenettle, & Arn. Braun – Watermelon nightshade Solanum dimidiatum Raf
Solanum
–
Solanum
Solanum
–
Solanum palinacanthum
Solanum
–
Five-minute Plant (
S. atropurpureum) fruit
Solanum
–
Shrubby Nightshade (
S. robustum) flowers
9.
Binomial nomenclature
–
Such a name is called a binomial name, a binomen, binominal name or a scientific name, more informally it is also called a Latin name. The first part of the name identifies the genus to which the species belongs, for example, humans belong to the genus Homo and within this genus to the species Homo sapiens. The formal introduction of system of naming species is credited to Carl Linnaeus. But Gaspard Bauhin, in as early as 1623, had introduced in his book Pinax theatri botanici many names of genera that were adopted by Linnaeus. Although the general principles underlying binomial nomenclature are common to these two codes, there are differences, both in the terminology they use and in their precise rules. Similarly, both parts are italicized when a binomial name occurs in normal text, thus the binomial name of the annual phlox is now written as Phlox drummondii. In scientific works, the authority for a name is usually given, at least when it is first mentioned. In zoology Patella vulgata Linnaeus,1758, the original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica, the parentheses indicate that the species is now considered to belong in a different genus. The ICZN does not require that the name of the person who changed the genus be given, nor the date on which the change was made, in botany Amaranthus retroflexus L. – L. is the standard abbreviation used in botany for Linnaeus. – Linnaeus first named this bluebell species Scilla italica, Rothmaler transferred it to the genus Hyacinthoides, the ICN does not require that the dates of either publication be specified. Prior to the adoption of the binomial system of naming species. Together they formed a system of polynomial nomenclature and these names had two separate functions. First, to designate or label the species, and second, to be a diagnosis or description, such polynomial names may sometimes look like binomials, but are significantly different. For example, Gerards herbal describes various kinds of spiderwort, The first is called Phalangium ramosum, Branched Spiderwort, is aptly termed Phalangium Ephemerum Virginianum, Soon-Fading Spiderwort of Virginia. The Latin phrases are short descriptions, rather than identifying labels, the Bauhins, in particular Caspar Bauhin, took some important steps towards the binomial system, by pruning the Latin descriptions, in many cases to two words. The adoption by biologists of a system of binomial nomenclature is due to Swedish botanist and physician Carl von Linné. It was in his 1753 Species Plantarum that he first began using a one-word trivial name together with a generic name in a system of binomial nomenclature. This trivial name is what is now known as an epithet or specific name
Binomial nomenclature
–
Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), a Swedish botanist, invented the modern system of binomial nomenclature.
10.
Carl Linnaeus
–
Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who formalised the modern system of naming organisms called binomial nomenclature. He is known by the father of modern taxonomy. Many of his writings were in Latin, and his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus, Linnaeus was born in the countryside of Småland, in southern Sweden. He received most of his education at Uppsala University. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published a first edition of his Systema Naturae in the Netherlands and he then returned to Sweden, where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to collect and classify animals, plants, and minerals, at the time of his death, he was one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau sent him the message, Tell him I know no man on earth. The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, Swedish author August Strindberg wrote, Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist. Among other compliments, Linnaeus has been called Princeps botanicorum, The Pliny of the North and he is also considered as one of the founders of modern ecology. In botany, the abbreviation used to indicate Linnaeus as the authority for species names is L. In older publications, sometimes the abbreviation Linn. is found, Linnæus was born in the village of Råshult in Småland, Sweden, on 23 May 1707. He was the first child of Nicolaus Ingemarsson and Christina Brodersonia and his siblings were Anna Maria Linnæa, Sofia Juliana Linnæa, Samuel Linnæus, and Emerentia Linnæa. One of a line of peasants and priests, Nils was an amateur botanist, a Lutheran minister. Christina was the daughter of the rector of Stenbrohult, Samuel Brodersonius, a year after Linnæus birth, his grandfather Samuel Brodersonius died, and his father Nils became the rector of Stenbrohult. The family moved into the rectory from the curates house, even in his early years, Linnæus seemed to have a liking for plants, flowers in particular. Whenever he was upset, he was given a flower, which calmed him. Nils spent much time in his garden and often showed flowers to Linnaeus, soon Linnæus was given his own patch of earth where he could grow plants
Carl Linnaeus
–
Carl von Linné,
Alexander Roslin, 1775. Oil painting in the portrait collection at
Gripsholm Castle
Carl Linnaeus
–
The
coat of arms of Carl von Linné.
Carl Linnaeus
–
Birthplace of Linnæus at
Råshult
Carl Linnaeus
–
Statue of Linnaeus as a University student in
Lund
11.
Synonym (taxonomy)
–
For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies. This name is no longer in use, it is now a synonym of the current scientific name which is Picea abies, unlike synonyms in other contexts, in taxonomy a synonym is not interchangeable with the name of which it is a synonym. In taxonomy, synonyms are not equals, but have a different status, for any taxon with a particular circumscription, position, and rank, only one scientific name is considered to be the correct one at any given time. A synonym cannot exist in isolation, it is always an alternative to a different scientific name, given that the correct name of a taxon depends on the taxonomic viewpoint used a name that is one taxonomists synonym may be another taxonomists correct name. Synonyms may arise whenever the same taxon is described and named more than once, independently. They may also arise when existing taxa are changed, as when two taxa are joined to one, a species is moved to a different genus. To the general user of scientific names, in such as agriculture, horticulture, ecology, general science. A synonym is a name that was used as the correct scientific name but which has been displaced by another scientific name. Thus Oxford Dictionaries Online defines the term as a name which has the same application as another. In handbooks and general texts, it is useful to have mentioned as such after the current scientific name. Synonyms used in this way may not always meet the strict definitions of the synonym in the formal rules of nomenclature which govern scientific names. Changes of scientific name have two causes, they may be taxonomic or nomenclatural, a name change may be caused by changes in the circumscription, position or rank of a taxon, representing a change in taxonomic, scientific insight. A name change may be due to purely nomenclatural reasons, that is, based on the rules of nomenclature, the earliest such name is called the senior synonym, while the later name is the junior synonym. One basic principle of zoological nomenclature is that the earliest correctly published name, synonyms are important because if the earliest name cannot be used, then the next available junior synonym must be used for the taxon. Objective synonyms refer to taxa with the type and same rank. For example, John Edward Gray published the name Antilocapra anteflexa in 1855 for a species of pronghorn, however, it is now commonly accepted that his specimen was an unusual individual of the species Antilocapra americana published by George Ord in 1815. Ords name thus takes precedence, with Antilocapra anteflexa being a subjective synonym. Objective synonyms are common at the level of genera, because for various reasons two genera may contain the type species, these are objective synonyms
Synonym (taxonomy)
–
The
Latin Caudata and
Greek Urodela both mean "tailed" and have been used as a scientific name at the rank of order for the
salamanders (as opposed to the tail-less
frogs). Thus they are synonyms.
Synonym (taxonomy)
–
The common dandelion
Taraxacum officinale sensu lato is an extremely widespread group of
apomictic lineages, and some scientists apply the "biological species concept" to divide it into many distinct species; other scientists regard all the names for those independent species as synonyms.
12.
Species
–
In biology, a species is the basic unit of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is defined as the largest group of organisms in which two individuals can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. While this definition is often adequate, looked at more closely it is problematic, for example, with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, or in a ring species, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear. Other ways of defining species include similarity of DNA, morphology, all species are given a two-part name, a binomial. The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs, the second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet. For example, Boa constrictor is one of four species of the Boa genus, Species were seen from the time of Aristotle until the 18th century as fixed kinds that could be arranged in a hierarchy, the great chain of being. In the 19th century, biologists grasped that species could evolve given sufficient time, Charles Darwins 1859 book The Origin of Species explained how species could arise by natural selection. Genes can sometimes be exchanged between species by horizontal transfer, and species may become extinct for a variety of reasons. In his biology, Aristotle used the term γένος to mean a kind, such as a bird or fish, a kind was distinguished by its attributes, for instance, a bird has feathers, a beak, wings, a hard-shelled egg, and warm blood. A form was distinguished by being shared by all its members, Aristotle believed all kinds and forms to be distinct and unchanging. His approach remained influential until the Renaissance, when observers in the Early Modern period began to develop systems of organization for living things, they placed each kind of animal or plant into a context. Many of these early delineation schemes would now be considered whimsical, animals likewise that differ specifically preserve their distinct species permanently, one species never springs from the seed of another nor vice versa. In the 18th century, the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus classified organisms according to shared physical characteristics and he established the idea of a taxonomic hierarchy of classification based upon observable characteristics and intended to reflect natural relationships. At the time, however, it was widely believed that there was no organic connection between species, no matter how similar they appeared. However, whether or not it was supposed to be fixed, by the 19th century, naturalists understood that species could change form over time, and that the history of the planet provided enough time for major changes. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, in his 1809 Zoological Philosophy, described the transmutation of species, proposing that a species could change over time, in 1859, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace provided a compelling account of evolution and the formation of new species. Darwin argued that it was populations that evolved, not individuals and this required a new definition of species. Darwin concluded that species are what appear to be, ideas
Species
–
John Ray
Species
–
Carl Linnaeus believed in the fixity of species.
13.
Nightshade
–
The Solanaceae, or nightshades, are an economically important family of flowering plants. Many members of the family contain potent alkaloids, and some are highly toxic, the family belongs to the order Solanales, in the asterid group and class Magnoliopsida. The Solanaceae consists of about 98 genera and some 2,700 species, with a diversity of habitats. The name Solanaceae derives from the genus Solanum, the nightshade plant, the etymology of the Latin word is unclear. The name may come from a resemblance of certain solanaceous flowers to the sun. At least one species of Solanum is known as the sunberry, the family has a worldwide distribution, being present on all continents except Antarctica. The greatest diversity in species is found in South America and Central America, in 2017, scientists reported on their discovery and analysis of a fossil tomatillo found in the Patagonian region of Argentina, dated to 52 million years B. P. The finding has pushed back the earliest appearance of the Solanaceae plant family, as tomatillos likely developed later than other nightshades, this may mean that the Solanaceae may have first developed during the Mesozoic Era. The Solanaceae include a number of collected or cultivated species. The most economically important genus of the family is Solanum, which contains the potato, the tomato, another important genus, Capsicum, produces both chili peppers and bell peppers. The genus Physalis produces the so-called groundcherries, as well as the tomatillo, the Cape gooseberry, the genus Lycium contains the boxthorns and the wolfberry Lycium barbarum. Nicotiana contains, among other species, tobacco, certain species are widely known for their medicinal uses, their psychotropic effects, or for being poisonous. Most of the important genera are contained in the subfamily Solanoideae, with the exceptions of tobacco. Many of the Solanaceae, such as tobacco and petunia, are used as model organisms in the investigation of biological questions at the cellular, molecular. The name Solanaceae comes to scientific vocabulary from New Latin, from Solanum, the type genus, + -aceae. The genus name comes from the Classical Latin word solanum, referring to nightshades, probably from sol, sun, + -anum, Plants in the Solanaceae can take the form of herbs, shrubs, trees, vines and lianas, and sometimes epiphytes. They can be annuals, biennials, or perennials, upright or decumbent and they do not have laticifers, nor latex, nor coloured saps. They can have a basal or terminal group of leaves or neither of these types, the leaves are generally alternate or alternate to opposed
Nightshade
–
Solanaceae
Nightshade
–
Cladogram showing the relationship between the three genera of the Solanaceae family
Nightshade
–
Cestrum elegans, a cestroidea used as an ornamental
Nightshade
–
Browallia americana
14.
South Asia
–
Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, the current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka form the countries of South Asia. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985, South Asia covers about 5.1 million km², which is 11. 51% of the Asian continent or 3. 4% of the worlds land surface area. The population of South Asia is about 1.749 billion or about one fourth of the worlds population, overall, it accounts for about 39. 49% of Asias population and is home to a vast array of peoples. The area of South Asia and its extent is not clear cut as systemic. Aside from the region of South Asia, formerly part of the British Empire, there is a high degree of variation as to which other countries are included in South Asia. Modern definitions of South Asia are consistent in including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar is included by some scholars in South Asia, but in Southeast Asia by others. Some do not include Afghanistan, others question whether Afghanistan should be considered a part of South Asia or the Middle East, the mountain countries of Nepal and Bhutan, and the island countries of Sri Lanka and Maldives are generally included as well. Myanmar is often added, and by various deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the common concept of South Asia is largely inherited from the administrative boundaries of the British Raj, with several exceptions. The Aden Colony, British Somaliland and Singapore, though administered at various times under the Raj, have not been proposed as any part of South Asia. Additionally Burma was administered as part of the Raj until 1937, the 562 princely states that were protected by but not directly ruled by the Raj became administrative parts of South Asia upon joining Union of India or Dominion of Pakistan. China and Myanmar have also applied for the status of members of SAARC. This bloc of countries include two independent countries that were not part of the British Raj – Nepal, and Bhutan, Afghanistan was a British protectorate from 1878 until 1919, after the Afghans lost to the British in the Second Anglo-Afghan war. The United Nations Statistics Divisions scheme of sub-regions include all eight members of the SAARC as part of Southern Asia, population Information Network includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as part of South Asia. Maldives, in view of its characteristics, was admitted as a member Pacific POPIN subregional network only in principle, the Hirschman–Herfindahl index of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the region includes only the original seven signatories of SAARC. The British Indian Ocean Territory is connected to the region by a publication of Janes for security considerations, the inclusion of Myanmar in South Asia is without consensus, with many considering it a part of southeast Asia and others including it within South Asia. Afghanistan was of importance to the British colonial empire, especially after the Second Anglo-Afghan War over 1878–1880, Afghanistan remained a British protectorate until 1919, when a treaty with Vladimir Lenin included the granting of independence to Afghanistan. Following Indias partition, Afghanistan has generally included in South Asia
South Asia
–
While South Asia had never been a coherent
geopolitical region, it has a distinct geographical identity
South Asia
–
South Asia
South Asia
–
Ethno-linguistic families of South Asia.
15.
South Africa
–
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
South Africa
–
Mapungubwe Hill, the site of the former capital of the
Kingdom of Mapungubwe
South Africa
–
Flag
South Africa
–
Arrival of
Jan van Riebeeck, the first European to settle in South Africa, with
Devil's Peak in the background
South Africa
–
Depiction of a
Zulu attack on a Boer camp in February 1838
16.
Tomato
–
The tomato is the edible fruit of Solanum lycopersicum, commonly known as a tomato plant, which belongs to the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The species originated in Central and South America, the Nahuatl word tomatl gave rise to the Spanish word tomate, from which the English word tomato originates. Numerous varieties of tomato are widely grown in temperate climates across the world, with greenhouses allowing its production throughout the year, the plants typically grow to 1–3 meters in height and have a weak stem that often sprawls over the ground and vines over other plants. It is a perennial in its habitat, and grown as an annual in temperate climates. An average common tomato weighs approximately 100 grams and its use as a food originated in Mexico, and spread throughout the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Tomato is consumed in diverse ways, including raw, as an ingredient in dishes, sauces, salads. While tomatoes are botanically fruits, they are considered culinary vegetables. The word tomato comes from the Spanish tomate, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word tomatl and it first appeared in print in 1595. The native Mexican tomatillo is tomate, meaning fat water or fat thing), when Aztecs started to cultivate the Andean fruit, bigger and red, they called the new species xitomatl. It first appeared in print in 1595, the scientific species epithet lycopersicum means wolf peach, and comes from German werewolf myths. The Italian word, pomodoro was borrowed into Polish, and via Russian, the usual pronunciations of tomato are /təˈmeɪtoʊ/ and /təˈmɑːtoʊ/. The words dual pronunciations were immortalized in Ira and George Gershwins 1937 song Lets Call the Whole Thing Off and have become a symbol for nitpicking pronunciation disputes. In this capacity, it has become an American and British slang term. Or Its all the same to me, botanically, a tomato is a fruit, a berry, consisting of the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant. However, the tomato has a lower sugar content than other edible fruits. Typically served as part of a salad or main course of a meal, rather than at dessert, it is, in the US, considered a culinary vegetable. One exception is that tomatoes are treated as a fruit in home canning practices, they are acidic enough to process in a water bath rather than a pressure cooker as vegetables require. Tomatoes are not the food source with this ambiguity, bell peppers, cucumbers, green beans, eggplants, avocados
Tomato
–
Tomato
Tomato
–
Solanum lycopersicum var. lycopersicum. Sheet from the oldest tomato collection of Europe, 1542-1544. Naturalis Leiden.
Tomato
–
Tomatoes for sale in a UK supermarket
Tomato
–
Handful of different tomatoes from Ho Farms in
Kahuku, Hawaii.
17.
Potato
–
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial nightshade Solanum tuberosum. The word potato may refer either to the plant itself or to the edible tuber, in the Andes, where the species is indigenous, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes were introduced to Europe in the half of the 16th century by the Spanish. It is the worlds fourth-largest food crop, following maize, wheat, the green leaves and green skins of tubers exposed to the light are toxic. Wild potato species can be throughout the Americas from the United States to southern Chile. Following centuries of breeding, there are now over a thousand different types of potatoes. However, the importance of the potato is variable and changing rapidly. As of 2007 China led the world in production, and nearly a third of the worlds potatoes were harvested in China. The English word potato comes from Spanish patata, the Spanish Royal Academy says the Spanish word is a compound of the Taíno batata and the Quechua papa. The 16th-century English herbalist John Gerard used the terms bastard potatoes and Virginia potatoes for this species, potatoes are occasionally referred to as Irish potatoes or white potatoes in the United States, to distinguish them from sweet potatoes. The name spud for a small potato comes from the digging of soil prior to the planting of potatoes, the word spud traces back to the 16th century. It subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools, around 1845, the name transferred to the tuber itself. It was Mario Peis 1949 The Story of Language that can be blamed for the false origin. Pei writes, the potato, for its part, was in disrepute some centuries ago, some Englishmen who did not fancy potatoes formed a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet. The initials of the words in this title gave rise to spud. Like most other pre-20th century acronymic origins, this is false, Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about 60 cm high, depending on variety, with the leaves dying back after flowering, fruiting and tuber formation. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow stamens, in general, the tubers of varieties with white flowers have white skins, while those of varieties with colored flowers tend to have pinkish skins. Potatoes are mostly cross-pollinated by insects such as bumblebees, which carry pollen from other potato plants, tubers form in response to decreasing day length, although this tendency has been minimized in commercial varieties
Potato
–
Potato
Potato
–
Flowers of a potato plant
Potato
–
Russet potatoes
Potato
–
Potato plants
18.
Domestication
–
Charles Darwin recognized the small number of traits that made domestic species different from their wild ancestors. There is a difference between domestic and wild populations. The dog was the first domesticated vertebrate, and was established across Eurasia before the end of the Late Pleistocene era, well before cultivation and before the domestication of other animals. Among birds, the domestic species today is the chicken, important for meat and eggs, though economically valuable poultry include the turkey, guineafowl. Birds are also kept as cagebirds, from songbirds to parrots. The longest established invertebrate domesticates are the bee and the silkworm. Terrestrial snails are raised for food, while species from several phyla are kept for research, the domestication of plants began at least 12,000 years ago with cereals in the Middle East, and the bottle gourd in Asia. Agriculture developed in at least 11 different centres around the world, domesticating different crops, Domestication means belonging to the house. Animals domesticated for home companionship are usually called pets, while those domesticated for food or work are called livestock or farm animals and this definition recognizes both the biological and the cultural components of the domestication process and the impacts on both humans and the domesticated animals and plants. All past definitions of domestication have included a relationship between humans with plants and animals, but their differences lay in who was considered as the partner in the relationship. This new definition recognizes a mutualistic relationship in both partners gain benefits. Domestication has vastly enhanced the reproductive output of crop plants, livestock, Domestication syndrome is the suite of phenotypic traits arising during domestication that distinguish crops from their wild ancestors. The domestication of animals is the relationship between animals with the humans who have influence on their care and reproduction. Charles Darwin recognized the small number of traits that made domestic species different from their wild ancestors, there is a genetic difference between domestic and wild populations. Domestication should not be confused with taming, the beginnings of animal domestication involved a protracted coevolutionary process with multiple stages along different pathways. The dog was the first domesticant, and was established across Eurasia before the end of the Late Pleistocene era, well before cultivation and before the domestication of other animals. Humans did not intend to domesticate animals from, or at least they did not envision a domesticated animal resulting from, in both of these cases, humans became entangled with these species as the relationship between them, and the human role in their survival and reproduction, intensified. Although the directed pathway proceeded from capture to taming, the two pathways are not as goal-oriented and archaeological records suggest that they take place over much longer time frames
Domestication
–
Dogs and
sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated.
Domestication
–
Hereford cattle, domesticated for beef production.
Domestication
–
Cow domestication in North India for milk production.
Domestication
–
A herd of Pryor Mustangs
19.
Solanum incanum
–
Solanum incanum is a species of nightshade that is native to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, eastwards to India. Common names include thorn apple, bitter apple, bitterball and bitter tomato It may be confused with the similar S. linnaeanum where their ranges overlap in Africa, in ancient India, Solanum incanum was domesticated into the eggplant, Solanum melongena. In biblical literature, it is used as a hedge of thorns. Media related to Solanum incanum at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Solanum incanum at Wikispecies Solanum incanum L. Sp, Solanum incanum L. Prota database Solanum incanum in West African plants – A Photo Guide
Solanum incanum
–
Solanum incanum
20.
East Asia
–
East Asia is the eastern subregion of the Asian continent, which can be defined in either geographical or ethno-cultural terms. Geographically and geopolitically, it includes China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Korea and Japan, it covers about 12,000,000 km2, or about 28% of the Asian continent, the East Asian people comprise more than 1.5 billion people. About 38% of the population of Asia and 22%, or over one fifth, the overall population density of the region is 133 inhabitants per square kilometre, about three times the world average of 45/km2. Historically, societies in East Asia have been part of the Chinese cultural sphere, major religions include Buddhism, Confucianism or Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion in China and Taiwan, Shinto in Japan, Korean shamanism in Korea. Shamanism is also prevalent among Mongolians and other populations of northern East Asia. The Chinese calendar is the root from which many other East Asian calendars are derived, Chinese Dynasties dominated the region in matters of culture, trade, and exploration as well as militarily for a very long time. There are records of tributes sent overseas from the kingdoms of Korea. There were also considerable levels of cultural and religious exchange between the Chinese and other regional Dynasties and Kingdoms, as connections began to strengthen with the Western world, Chinas power began to diminish. Around the same time, Japan solidified itself as a nation state, throughout World War II, Korea, Taiwan, much of eastern China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam all fell under Japanese control. Culturally, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are commonly seen as being encompassed by cultural East Asia, there are mixed debates around the world whether these countries or regions should be considered in East Asia or not. Vietnam Siberia in Russia Sovereignty issues exist over some territories in the South China Sea, however, in this context, the term Far East is often more appropriate which covers ASEAN countries and the countries in East Asia. However, being a Eurocentric term, Far East describes the geographical position in relation to Europe rather than its location within Asia. Alternatively, the term Asia Pacific Region is often used in describing East Asia and this usage, which is seen in economic and diplomatic discussions, is at odds with the historical meanings of both East Asia and Northeast Asia. The Council on Foreign Relations defines Northeast Asia as Japan and Korea, the military and economic superpower of China became the largest economy in the world in 2014, surpassing the United States of America. Currently in East Asia, trading systems are open, and zero or low duties on imports of consumer and capital goods etc. have considerably helped stimulate cost-efficiency. Free and flexible labor and other markets are important factors making for high levels of business-economic performance. East Asian populations have demonstrated highly positive work ethics, there are relatively large and fast-growing markets for consumer goods and services of all kinds. The culture of East Asia has been influenced by the civilisation of China, East Asia, as well as Vietnam, share a Confucian ethical philosophy, Buddhism, political and legal structures, and historically a common writing system
East Asia
–
Tokyo is the largest city in the world, both in
metropolitan population and
economy.
East Asia
–
East Asia
East Asia
–
Seoul is the capital and largest city of South Korea (ROK), and is a leading global technology hub.
East Asia
–
Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan.
Kaohsiung Harbor is one of the largest harbors in the world.
21.
Perennial plant
–
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is widely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs. Tomato vines, for example, live several years in their natural habitat but are grown as annuals in temperate regions because they dont survive the winter. There is also a class of evergreen, or non-herbaceous, perennials, an intermediate class of plants is known as subshrubs, which retain a vestigial woody structure in winter, e. g. Penstemon. The local climate may dictate whether plants are treated as shrubs or perennials, for instance, many varieties of Fuchsia are shrubs in warm regions, but in colder temperate climates may be cut to the ground every year as a result of winter frosts. The symbol for a plant, based on Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, is. Perennial plants can be short-lived or they can be long-lived, as are some plants like trees. They include an assortment of plant groups from ferns and liverworts to the highly diverse flowering plants like orchids. Plants that flower and fruit only once and then die are termed monocarpic or semelparous, however, most perennials are polycarpic, flowering over many seasons in their lifetime. Perennials typically grow structures that allow them to adapt to living one year to the next through a form of vegetative reproduction rather than seeding. These structures include bulbs, tubers, woody crowns, rhizomes plus others and they might have specialized stems or crowns that allow them to survive periods of dormancy over cold or dry seasons during the year. Many perennials have developed specialized features that allow them to extreme climatic. Some have adapted to hot and dry conditions or cold temperatures. Those plants tend to invest a lot of resource into their adaptations and often do not flower, Many perennials produce relatively large seeds, which can have an advantage, with larger seedlings produced after germination that can better compete with other plants. Some annuals produce many seeds per plant in one season, while some perennials are not under the same pressure to produce large numbers of seeds. In warmer and more favorable climates, perennials grow continuously, in seasonal climates, their growth is limited to the growing season. In some species, perennials retain their foliage all year round, other plants are deciduous perennials, for example, in temperate regions a perennial plant may grow and bloom during the warm part of the year, with the foliage dying back in the winter
Perennial plant
–
Common chicory,
Cichorium intybus, is a herbaceous perennial plant
Perennial plant
–
Dahlia plants are perennial.
Perennial plant
–
Switchgrass is a deep-rooted perennial. These roots are more than 3 meters long.
Perennial plant
22.
Hardiness (plants)
–
Hardiness of plants describes their ability to survive adverse growing conditions. It is usually limited to discussions of climatic adversity, thus a plants ability to tolerate cold, heat, drought, flooding, or wind are typically considered measurements of hardiness. Hardiness of plants is defined by their native extents geographic location, longitude, latitude and these attributes are often simplified to a hardiness zone. In temperate latitudes, the term most often describes resistance to cold, or cold-hardiness, Hardiness of a plant is usually divided into two categories, tender, and hardy. Some sources also use the erroneous terms Half-hardy or Fully hardy, tender plants are those killed by freezing temperatures, while hardy plants survive freezing—at least down to certain temperatures, depending on the plant. Half-hardy is a term used sometimes in horticulture to describe bedding plants which are sown in heat in winter or early spring, Fully hardy usually refers to plants being classified under the Royal Horticultural Society classifications, and can often cause confusion to those not using this method. Plants vary a lot in their tolerance of growing conditions, the selective breeding of varieties capable of withstanding particular climates forms an important part of agriculture and horticulture. Plants adapt to changes in climate on their own to some extent, part of the work of nursery growers of plants consists of cold hardening, or hardening off their plants, to prepare them for likely conditions in later life. Winter-hardy plants grow during the winter, or at least remain healthy, apart from hardy evergreens, these include many cultivated plants, including varieties of cabbage and broccoli, and all kinds of carrot. Some bulbs – such as tulips – need cold winters to bloom, many domestic plants are assigned a hardiness zone that specifies the climates in which they can survive. Winter gardens are dependent upon the cultivation of winter-hardy plants, woody plants survive freezing temperatures by suppressing the formation of ice in living cells or by allowing water to freeze in plant parts that are not affected by ice formation. The common mechanism for plants to survive up to –40 °C is supercooling. Woody plants that survive lower temperatures are dehydrating their cells, allowing water to freeze between cell walls and the cells to survive, plants normally considered hardy may not survive freezing if they are not readily acclimated, which renders them unable to use these mechanisms. The most widely used is the USDA system of Hardiness zone based on average yearly temperatures. This system was developed specifically for the diverse range of conditions in the United States. Another commonly used system is the Sunset Climate Zone system and this system is much more specific to climates and less dependent on the yearly minimum. In contrast the United Kingdom and Western Europe have an oceanic climate and this results in areas like western Scotland experiencing conditions conducive to growing subtropical plants, despite the relatively northerly latitude. The Royal Horticultural Society has published a set of hardiness ratings applicable to the UK, the ratings range from H1a to H7
Hardiness (plants)
–
Heather,
Calluna vulgaris, one of Britain's hardiest plants (
North York Moors)
23.
Annual plant
–
An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seed, within one year, and then dies. Summer annuals germinate during spring or early summer and mature by autumn of the same year, winter annuals germinate during the autumn and mature during the spring or summer of the following calendar year. One seed-to-seed life cycle for an annual can occur in as little as a month in some species, oilseed rapa can go from seed-to-seed in about five weeks under a bank of fluorescent lamps. This style of growing is used in classrooms for education. Many desert annuals are therophytes, because their life cycle is only weeks. In cultivation, many plants are, or are grown as, annuals. Some perennials and biennials are grown in gardens as annuals for convenience, carrot, celery and parsley are true biennials that are usually grown as annual crops for their edible roots, petioles and leaves, respectively. Tomato, sweet potato and bell pepper are tender perennials usually grown as annuals, ornamental perennials commonly grown as annuals are impatiens, wax begonia, snapdragon, Pelargonium, coleus and petunia. Examples of true annuals include corn, wheat, rice, lettuce, peas, watermelon, beans, zinnia, summer annuals sprout, flower, produce seed, and die, during the warmer months of the year. The lawn weed crabgrass is a summer annual, winter annuals germinate in autumn or winter, live through the winter, then bloom in winter or spring. The plants grow and bloom during the season when most other plants are dormant or other annuals are in seed form waiting for warmer weather to germinate. Winter annuals die after flowering and setting seed, the seeds germinate in the autumn or winter when the soil temperature is cool. Winter annuals typically grow low to the ground, where they are sheltered from the coldest nights by snow cover. Some common winter annuals include henbit, deadnettle, chickweed, ironically, the property that they prevent the soil from drying out can also be problematic for commercial agriculture. In 2008, it was discovered that the inactivation of only two genes in one species of annual plant leads to the conversion into a perennial plant, researchers deactivated the SOC1 and FUL genes in Arabidopsis thaliana, which control flowering time. This switch established phenotypes common in plants, such as wood formation
Annual plant
–
Peas are an annual plant.
24.
Temperate climate
–
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of Earth lie between the tropics and the polar regions. The temperatures in these regions are relatively moderate, rather than extremely hot or cold. The north temperate zone extends from the Tropic of Cancer to the Arctic Circle, the south temperate zone extends from the Tropic of Capricorn to the Antarctic Circle. In some climate classifications, the zone is often divided into several smaller climate zones. These include Humid subtropical climate, Mediterranean climate, oceanic, subtropical climates are located between 23. 5° and 35. 0° north or south latitude on the eastern or leeward sides of landmasses. This climate has long, generally hot, summers and short, mild winters and these climates may occur in southern Asia, the southeastern United States, parts of eastern Australia, and in eastern coastal South America. Mediterranean climates, occur between 30° and 42° north and south latitude, on the sides of landmasses. This climate has hot summers and short mild winters, however, seasonal rainfall is the opposite of that of the subtropical humid type. These climates occur near the rimlands of the Mediterranean Sea, in western Australia, in California, the oceanic climates occur in the higher middle latitudes, between 45° and 60° north and south latitude. They are created by the flow from the cool high latitude oceans to their west. This causes the climate to have cool summers and cool winters, annual rainfall is spread throughout the entire year. Regions with this climate include Western Europe, northwestern North America, the Continental climates occur in middle latitudes, between 35° or 40° to 55°. These climates are normally inland or on sides of landmasses. They feature warm to hot summers and cold winters, with a large temperature variation. Regions with this climate include northern temperate Asia, the northern United States, southern Canada, the vast majority of the worlds human population resides in temperate zones, especially in the northern hemisphere, due to its greater mass of land. The richest temperate flora in the world is found in southern Africa, geographical zone Habitat Köppen climate classification Middle latitudes Polar circle Subtropics
Temperate climate
–
The different geographical zones
25.
Spine (botany)
–
Leaf margins may also have teeth, and if those teeth are sharp, they are called spinose teeth on a spinose leaf margin. On a leaf apex, if there is a process, and if it is especially sharp, stiff. When the leaf epidermis is covered very long, stiff trichomes, it may be referred to as a hispid vestiture, if the trichomes are stinging trichomes. There can be found also spines or spinose structures derived from roots, the predominant function of thorns, spines and prickles is deterring herbivory in a mechanical form. For this reason they are classified as physical or mechanical defenses, not all functions of spines or glochids are limited to defense from physical attacks by herbivores and other animals. In some cases, spines have been shown to shade or insulate the plants that grow them, for example, saguaro cactus spines shade the apical meristem in summer, and in members of the Opuntioideae, glochids insulate the apical meristem in winter. Agrawal et al. found that seem to have little effect on specialist pollinators. Thorns are modified branches or stems and they may be simple or branched. Spines are modified leaves, stipules, or parts of leaves, some authors prefer not to distinguish spines from thorns because, like thorns, and unlike prickles, they commonly contain vascular tissue. The plants of the family are particularly well known for their dense covering of spines. Cacti often have a kind of spine called a glochidium or glochid. Prickles are comparable to hairs but can be quite coarse and they are extensions of the cortex and epidermis. Technically speaking, many plants commonly thought of as having thorns or spines actually have prickles, other similar structures are spinose teeth, spinose apical processes, and trichomes. Trichomes are often effective defenses against small insect herbivores, thorns, spines, spinescent is a term describing plants that bear any sharp structures that deter herbivory. It also can refer to the state of tending to be or become spiny in some sense or degree, there are also spines derived from roots, like the ones on the trunk of the Root Spine Palms. The trunk roots of Cryosophila guagara grow downwards to a length of 6–12 cm, then stop growing, the anatomy of crown roots on this species also alters during their life. They initially grow upwards and then turn down and finally they, too, lateral roots on these two types of roots, as well as those on the stilt roots on this species, also become spinous. Some authors believe that some of these short spiny laterals have a ventilating function so they are pneumorhizae, short spiny laterals that may have a ventilating funcion may also be found on roots of Iriartea exorrhiza
Spine (botany)
–
(A) Thorn or spine (B) Prickle
Spine (botany)
–
Smooth, featureless
Citrus thorn.
Spine (botany)
–
Gymnosporia buxifolia thorn, its leaves, nodes, and emergence from an axillary bud demonstrating its nature as a branch.
Spine (botany)
–
Carissa bispinosa showing characteristic branched thorns.
26.
Flower
–
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in plants that are floral. The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs, Flowers may facilitate outcrossing or allow selfing. Some flowers produce diaspores without fertilization, Flowers contain sporangia and are the site where gametophytes develop. Many flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, so as to them to be vectors for the transfer of pollen. After fertilization, the ovary of the flower develops into fruit containing seeds, the essential parts of a flower can be considered in two parts, the vegetative part, consisting of petals and associated structures in the perianth, and the reproductive or sexual parts. A stereotypical flower consists of four kinds of structures attached to the tip of a short stalk, each of these kinds of parts is arranged in a whorl on the receptacle. The four main whorls are as follows, Collectively the calyx, corolla, the next whorl toward the apex, composed of units called petals, which are typically thin, soft and colored to attract animals that help the process of pollination. Androecium, the whorl, consisting of units called stamens. Stamens consist of two parts, a called a filament, topped by an anther where pollen is produced by meiosis. Gynoecium, the innermost whorl of a flower, consisting of one or more units called carpels, the carpel or multiple fused carpels form a hollow structure called an ovary, which produces ovules internally. Ovules are megasporangia and they in turn produce megaspores by meiosis which develop into female gametophytes and these give rise to egg cells. The gynoecium of a flower is described using an alternative terminology wherein the structure one sees in the innermost whorl is called a pistil. A pistil may consist of a carpel or a number of carpels fused together. The sticky tip of the pistil, the stigma, is the receptor of pollen, the supportive stalk, the style, becomes the pathway for pollen tubes to grow from pollen grains adhering to the stigma. The relationship to the gynoecium on the receptacle is described as hypogynous, perigynous, although the arrangement described above is considered typical, plant species show a wide variation in floral structure. These modifications have significance in the evolution of flowering plants and are used extensively by botanists to establish relationships among plant species, the four main parts of a flower are generally defined by their positions on the receptacle and not by their function. Many flowers lack some parts or parts may be modified into other functions and/or look like what is typically another part, in some families, like Ranunculaceae, the petals are greatly reduced and in many species the sepals are colorful and petal-like. Other flowers have modified stamens that are petal-like, the flowers of Peonies and Roses are mostly petaloid stamens
Flower
–
A poster with flowers or clusters of flowers produced by twelve species of flowering plants from different families
Flower
–
Main parts of a mature flower (
Ranunculus glaberrimus)
Flower
–
Reproductive parts of Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum). 1. Stigma, 2. Style, 3. Stamens, 4. Filament, 5. Petal
Flower
–
Left: A normal zygomorphic Streptocarpus flower. Right: An aberrant peloric Streptocarpus flower. Both of these flowers appeared on the Streptocarpus hybrid 'Anderson's Crows' Wings'.
27.
Corolla (flower)
–
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators, together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals, the calyx and the corolla together make up the perianth. When the petals and sepals of a flower are difficult to distinguish, 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 include Liliales, a name is lilioid monocots. Although petals are usually the most conspicuous parts of animal-pollinated flowers, wind-pollinated species, such as the grasses, the role of the corolla in plant evolution has been studied extensively since Charles Darwin postulated a theory of the origin of elongated corollae and corolla tubes. If the petals are free from one another in the corolla, the corolla in some plants forms a tube. Petals can differ dramatically in different species, the number of petals in a flower may hold clues to a plants classification. For example, flowers on eudicots most frequently have four or five petals while flowers on monocots have three or six petals, although there are exceptions to this rule. The petal whorl or corolla may be radially or bilaterally symmetrical. If all of the petals are essentially identical in size and shape, many flowers are symmetrical in only one plane and are termed irregular or zygomorphic. In irregular flowers, other parts may be modified from the regular form. Examples of zygomorphic flowers may be seen in orchids and members of the pea family, in many plants of the aster family such as the sunflower, Helianthus annuus, the circumference of the flower head is composed of ray florets. Each ray floret is anatomically an individual flower with a large petal. Florets in the centre of the disc typically have no or very reduced petals, in some plants such as Narcissus the lower part of the petals or tepals are fused to form a floral cup above the ovary, and from which the petals proper extend. Petal often consists of two parts, the upper, broad part, similar to leaf blade, called the limb, claws are developed in petals of some flowers of the family Brassicaceae, such as Erysimum cheiri. The inception and further development of shows a great variety of patterns
Corolla (flower)
–
Tetrameric flower of a Primrose
willowherb (Ludwigia octovalvis) showing petals and sepals
Corolla (flower)
–
Diagram showing the parts of a mature flower. In this example the perianth is separated into a calyx (sepals) and corolla (petals)
Corolla (flower)
–
A
Tulip 's actinomorphic flower with three petals and three sepals, that collectively present a good example of an undifferentiated perianth. In this case, the word "
tepals " is used.
Corolla (flower)
–
Corolla forming a tube with long points (and a separate green calyx tube)
28.
Stamen
–
The stamen is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium, a stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament and an anther which contains microsporangia. Most commonly anthers are two-lobed and are attached to the filament either at the base or in the area of the anther. The sterile tissue between the lobes is called the connective, a pollen grain develops from a microspore in the microsporangium and contains the male gametophyte. The stamens in a flower are called the androecium. The androecium can consist of as few a one-half stamen as in Canna species or as many as 3,482 stamens which have been counted in Carnegiea gigantea, the androecium in various species of plants forms a great variety of patterns, some of them highly complex. It surrounds the gynoecium and is surrounded by the perianth, a few members of the family Triuridaceae, particularly Lacandonia schismatica, are exceptional in that their gynoecia surround their androecia. Stamen is the Latin word meaning thread, depending on the species of plant, some or all of the stamens in a flower may be attached to the petals or to the floral axis. They also may be free-standing or fused to one another in different ways, including fusion of some. The filaments may be fused and the free, or the filaments free. Rather than there being two locules, one locule of a stamen may fail to develop, or alternatively the two locules may merge late in development to give a single locule, a typical anther contains four microsporangia. The microsporangia form sacs or pockets in the anther, the two separate locules on each side of an anther may fuse into a single locule. Each microsporangium is lined with a tissue layer called the tapetum. These undergo meiosis to form haploid spores, the spores may remain attached to each other in a tetrad or separate after meiosis. Each microspore then divides mitotically to form an immature microgametophyte called a pollen grain, the pollen is eventually released when the anther forms openings. These may consist of longitudinal slits, pores, as in the family, or by valves. More commonly, mature pollen grains separate and are dispensed by wind or water, pollinating insects, pollen of angiosperms must be transported to the stigma, the receptive surface of the carpel, of a compatible flower, for successful pollination to occur. After arriving, the pollen grain typically completes its development and it may grow a pollen tube and undergoing mitosis to produce two sperm nuclei
Stamen
–
Stamens of a
Hippeastrum with white filaments and prominent anthers carrying
pollen
Stamen
–
Hippeastrum flowers showing stamens above the style with its terminal stigma
Stamen
–
Cross section of a Lilium stamen, with four locules surrounded by the tapetum
Stamen
–
Stamen with
pollinia and its
anther cap.
Phalaenopsis orchid.
29.
Leaf
–
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant and is the principal lateral appendage of the stem. The leaves and stem together form the shoot, Leaves are collectively referred to as foliage, as in autumn foliage. Although leaves can be seen in different shapes, sizes and textures, typically a leaf is a thin, dorsiventrally flattened organ, borne above ground. Most leaves have distinctive upper surface and lower surface that differ in colour, hairiness, broad, flat leaves with complex venation are known as megaphylls and the species that bear them, the majority, as broad-leaved or megaphyllous plants. In others, such as the clubmosses, with different evolutionary origins, some leaves, such as bulb scales are not above ground, and in many aquatic species the leaves are submerged in water. Succulent plants often have thick juicy leaves, but some leaves are without major photosynthetic function and may be dead at maturity, as in some cataphylls, furthermore, several kinds of leaf-like structures found in vascular plants are not totally homologous with them. Examples include flattened plant stems called phylloclades and cladodes, and flattened leaf stems called phyllodes which differ from both in their structure and origin. Many structures of plants, such as the phyllids of mosses and liverworts and even of some foliose lichens. Leaves are the most important organs of most vascular plants and these are then further processed by chemical synthesis into more complex organic molecules such as cellulose, the basic structural material in plant cell walls. The plant must therefore bring these three together in the leaf for photosynthesis to take place. Once sugar has been synthesized, it needs to be transported to areas of growth such as the plant shoots and roots. Vascular plants transport sucrose in a tissue called the phloem. The phloem and xylem are parallel to each other but the transport of materials is usually in opposite directions. Within the leaf these vascular systems branch to form veins which supply as much as the leaf as possible and they are arranged on the plant so as to expose their surfaces to light as efficiently as possible without shading each other, but there are many exceptions and complications. For instance plants adapted to windy conditions may have pendent leaves, such as in many willows, the flat, or laminar, shape also maximises thermal contact with the surrounding air, promoting cooling. Functionally, in addition to photosynthesis the leaf is the site of transpiration and guttation. Many gymnosperms have thin needle-like or scale-like leaves that can be advantageous in cold climates with frequent snow and these are interpreted as reduced from megaphyllous leaves of their Devonian ancestors. For xerophytes the major constraint is not light flux or intensity, some window plants such as Fenestraria species and some Haworthia species such as Haworthia tesselata and Haworthia truncata are examples of xerophytes. and Bulbine mesembryanthemoides
Leaf
–
The leaves of a
beech tree
Leaf
–
Near the ground these
Eucalyptus saplings have juvenile dorsiventral foliage from the previous year, but this season their newly sprouting foliage is isobilateral, like the mature foliage on the adult trees above
Leaf
–
A leaf shed in
autumn.
Leaf
–
Cross-section of a leaf
30.
Berry (botany)
–
In botanical terminology, a berry is a fleshy fruit without a stone produced from a single flower containing one ovary. Berries so defined include grapes, currants, and tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, eggplants and bananas, the berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire outer layer of the ovary wall ripens into a potentially edible pericarp. Berries may be formed one or more carpels from the same flower. The seeds are embedded in the fleshy interior of the ovary. Many berries are edible, but others, such as the fruits of the potato, some berries, such as the white and red mulberry, are poisonous when unripe, but are edible in their ripe form. A plant that bears berries is said to be bacciferous or baccate, in everyday English, berry is a term for any small edible fruit. Berries are usually juicy, round, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, in botanical language, a berry is a simple fruit having seeds and fleshy pulp produced from the ovary of a single flower. The ovary can be inferior or superior and it is indehiscent, i. e. it does not have a special line of weakness along which it splits to release the seeds when ripe. The pericarp is divided into three layers, the outer layer is called the exocarp or epicarp, the middle layer, the mesocarp or sarcocarp, the inner layer, the endocarp. Botanists have not applied these terms consistently, exocarp and endocarp may be restricted to more-or-less single-layered skins, or may include tissues adjacent to them, thus on one view, the exocarp extends inwards to the layer of vascular bundles. The inconsistency in usage has been described as a source of confusion, the nature of the endocarp distinguishes a berry from a drupe, which has a hardened or stony endocarp. The two kinds of fruit intergrade, depending on the state of the endocarp, some sources have attempted to quantify the difference, e. g. requiring the endocarp to be less than 2 mm thick in a berry. Examples of botanical berries include, True berries, or baccae, may also be required to have an outer skin. This distinguishes, for example, a Vaccinium or Solanum berry from an Adansonia amphisarca, which has a dry, more rigid and self-supporting skin. The fruit of citrus, such as the orange, kumquat and lemon, is a berry with a thick rind and a juicy interior divided into segments by septae. Another specialized term is used for some Cucurbitaceae fruits, which are modified to have a hard outer rind. These are given the special name pepo, while pepos are most common in the Cucurbitaceae, the fruits of Passiflora and Carica are sometimes also considered pepos. Berries that develop from an inferior ovary are sometimes termed epigynous berries or false berries, as opposed to true berries, in epigynous berries, the berry includes tissue derived from parts of the flower besides the ovary
Berry (botany)
–
Redcurrants, a type of berry derived from a simple (one-carpel) inferior ovary
Berry (botany)
–
Kiwi fruit, a berry derived from a compound (many carpellate) superior ovary
Berry (botany)
–
Coffee berries (Coffea arabica)
Berry (botany)
–
Cross-section of a cucumber pepo (Cucumis sativus)
.JPG)
China
India
Iran
Egypt
Turkey
. PMID 12196412 – via www.genetics.org.
Media related to Solanum melongena at Wikimedia Commons
