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.
Plant
–
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
Plant
–
Green algae from
Ernst Haeckel 's
Kunstformen der Natur, 1904.
Plant
–
Had'n
Plant
–
Dicksonia antarctica, a species of
tree fern
Plant
–
A petrified log in
Petrified Forest National Park.
3.
Flowering plant
–
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
Flowering plant
Flowering plant
–
Bud of a pink
rose
Flowering plant
–
Flowers of
Malus sylvestris (crab apple)
Flowering plant
–
Flowers and leaves of
Oxalis pes-caprae (Bermuda buttercup)
4.
Monocotyledon
–
Monocotyledons, commonly referred to as monocots, are flowering plants whose seeds typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. However, molecular research has shown that while the monocots form a monophyletic group or clade. Monocots have almost always recognized as a group, but with various taxonomic ranks. The APG III system of 2009 recognises a clade called monocots, the monocots include about 60,000 species. The largest family in this group by number of species are the orchids, about half as many species belong to the true grasses, which are economically the most important family of monocots. In agriculture the majority of the biomass produced comes from monocots and these include not only major grains, but also forage grasses, sugar cane, and the bamboos. Other economically important monocot crops include various palms, bananas, gingers and their relatives, turmeric and cardamom, asparagus and the onions and garlic family. Additionally most of the bulbs, plants cultivated for their blooms, such as lilies, daffodils, irises, amaryllis, cannas, bluebells. The monocots or monocotyledons have, as the name implies, a single cotyledon, or embryonic leaf, from a diagnostic point of view the number of cotyledons is neither a particularly useful characteristic, nor is it completely reliable. Nevertheless, monocots are sufficiently distinctive that there has rarely been disagreement as to membership of this group, however, morphological features that reliably characterise major clades are rare. Thus monocots are distinguishable from other angiosperms both in terms of their uniformity and diversity, although largely herbaceous, some arboraceous monocots reach great height, length and mass. The latter include agaves, palms, pandans, and bamboos and this creates challenges in water transport that monocots deal with in various ways. Some such as species of Yucca develop anomalous secondary growth, while palm trees, the axis undergoes primary thickening, that progresses from internode to internode, resulting in a typical inverted conical shape of the basal primary axis. The limited conductivity also contributes to limited branching of the stems, despite these limitations a wide variety of adaptive growth forms has resulted from epiphytic orchids and bromeliads to submarine Alismatales and mycotrophic Burmanniaceae and Triuridaceae. Other monocots, particularly Poales have adopted a life form. Leaves The cotyledon, the primordial Angiosperm leaf consists of a proximal leaf base or hypophyll, in moncots the hypophyll tends to be the dominant part in contrast to other angiosperms. Mature monocot leaves are narrow and linear, forming a sheathing around the stem at its base. There is usually only one leaf per node because the leaf base encompasses more than half the circumference, the evolution of this monocot characteristic has been attributed to developmental differences in early zonal differentiation rather than meristem activity
Monocotyledon
Monocotyledon
–
Comparison of a monocot and dicot sprouting. Note that the visible part of the monocot plant (left) is actually the first true leaf produced from the
meristem; the cotyledon itself remains within the seed.
Monocotyledon
–
Allium crenulatum, an onion, with a typical monocot
perianth and parallel leaf venation
Monocotyledon
–
Slice of onion, showing parallel veins in cross section
5.
Asparagales
–
Asparagales is an order of plants in modern classification systems such as the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group and the Angiosperm Phylogeny Web. The order takes its name from the type family Asparagaceae and is placed in the monocots amongst the lilioid monocots, the order has only recently been recognized in classification systems. It was first put forward by Huber in 1977 and later taken up in the Dahlgren system of 1985 and then the APG in 1998,2003 and 2009. Before this, many of its families were assigned to the old order Liliales, DNA sequence analysis indicated that many of the taxa previously included in Liliales should actually be redistributed over three orders, Liliales, Asparagales and Dioscoreales. The boundaries of the Asparagales and of its families have undergone a series of changes in recent years, future research may lead to further changes and ultimately greater stability. In the APG circumscription, Asparagales is the largest order of monocots with 14 families,1,122 genera, the order is clearly circumscribed on the basis of molecular phylogenetics, but is difficult to define morphologically, since its members are structurally diverse. Most species of Asparagales are herbaceous perennials, although some are climbers, the order also contains many geophytes. According to telomere sequence, at least two evolutionary switch-points happened within the order, basal sequence is formed by TTTAGGG like in majority of higher plants. Basal motif was changed to vertebrate-like TTAGGG and finally the most divergent motif CTCGGTTATGGG appears in Allium, one of the defining characteristics of the order is the presence of phytomelanin, a black pigment present in the seed coat, creating a dark crust. Phytomelanin is found in most families of the Asparagales, the leaves of almost all species form a tight rosette, either at the base of the plant or at the end of the stem, but occasionally along the stem. The flowers are not particularly distinctive, being lily type, with six tepals, from an economic point of view, the order Asparagales is second in importance within the monocots to the order Poales. Species are used as food and flavourings, as cut flowers, and as garden ornamentals. Thus although most species in the order are herbaceous, some no more than 15 cm high, there are a number of climbers, as well as several genera forming trees, succulent genera occur in several families. Almost all species have a cluster of leaves, either at the base of the plant or at the end of a more-or-less woody stem as with Yucca. In some cases the leaves are produced along the stem, the flowers are in the main not particularly distinctive, being of a general lily type, with six tepals, either free or fused from the base and up to six stamina. They are frequently clustered at the end of the plant stem and they are generally geophytes, but with linear leaves, and a lack of fine reticular venation. The seeds characteristically have the external epidermis either obliterated, or if present, have a layer of black carbonaceous phytomelanin in species with dry fruits. The inner part of the coat is generally collapsed, in contrast to Liliales whose seeds have a well developed outer epidermis, lack phytomelanin
Asparagales
Asparagales
–
Seeds of
Hippeastrum with dark phytomelan-containing coat
Asparagales
–
Tree-like
habit created by secondary thickening in
Nolina recurvata
Asparagales
–
Amaryllidaceae: Narcisseae -
Pancratium maritimum Linn. John Lindley, Vegetable Kingdom 1846
6.
Amaryllidaceae
–
The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus Amaryllis and is known as the amaryllis family. The leaves are linear, and the flowers are usually bisexual and symmetrical. The petals and sepals are undifferentiated as tepals, which may be fused at the base into a floral tube, allyl sulfide compounds produce the characteristic odour of the onion subfamily. The family, which was created in 1805, now contains about 1600 species, divided into about 75 genera,17 tribes. Over time, it has seen much reorganisation and at times was combined with the related Liliaceae. Since 2009, a broad view has prevailed based on phylogenetics. The family is found in tropical to subtropical areas of the world and includes many garden plants. The Amaryllidaceae are mainly terrestrial flowering plants that are herbaceous or succulent geophytes that are perennial, most genera grow from bulbs, but a few such as Agapanthus, Clivia and Scadoxus develop from rhizomes. The leaves are simple rather fleshy and two-ranked with parallel veins, leaf shape may be linear, strap like, oblong, elliptic, lanceolate or filiform. The leaves which are grouped at the base or arranged alternatively on the stem may be sessile or petiolate. The perianth consists of six undifferentiated tepals arranged in two whorls of three, the tepals are similar in shape and size, and may be free from each other or fused at the base to form a floral tube. In some genera, such as Narcissus, this may be surmounted by cup or trumpet shaped projection and this may be reduced to a mere disc in some species. The position of the ovary varies by subfamily, the Agapanthoideae and Allioideae have superior ovaries, the six stamens are arranged in two whorls of three, occasionally more as in Gethyllis. The fruit is dry and capsule-shaped, or fleshy and berry-like, the Allioideae produce allyl sulfide compounds which give them their characteristic smell. The name Amaryllis had been applied to a number of plants over the course of history. Hexandria monogynia has come to be treated as either liliaceous or amaryllidaceaous over time. From 1763, when Adanson conceived of these genera as Liliaceae it was included in family, placing Amaryllis in Section VII, Narcissi. of his scheme. With de Jussieu came the establishment of organising genera into families in 1789
Amaryllidaceae
–
Amaryllidaceae
Amaryllidaceae
–
Allium cepa bulbs with
roots
Amaryllidaceae
–
Rhizome of Agapanthus
Amaryllidaceae
–
Narcissus shoots emerging, with sheathed
leaves
7.
Allioideae
–
Allioideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, order Asparagales. It was formerly treated as a family, Alliaceae. The subfamily name is derived from the name of the type genus. It is composed of approximately eighteen genera, the subfamily contains both well known garden plants, but also weeds, such as Nothoscordum. When Linnaeus formerly described the type genus Allium in his Species Plantarum in 1753 and he placed Allium in a grouping he referred to as Hexandria monogynia containing 51 genera in all. In 1763, Adanson, who proposed the concept of families of plants, included Allium and related genera as a grouping within Liliaceae as Section IV, Les Oignons, de Jussieu is officially recognised as the first formal establishment of the suprageneric grouping into families in 1789. In this system Allium was one of fourteen genera in Ordo VI, Asphodeles, in 1786 the Allioideae were first described by their type genus as Alliaceae by Batsch. In 1797, after the appearance of the Jussieu system, this was validated by Borkhausen, jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire, who developed the concept of Amaryllidaceae, continued Jussieus treatment of Allium under Asphodeli. He placed Allium in an unnamed section of Asphodeli defined as Fleurs en ombelle. Subsequently, de Candolle reverted the name back to Liliaceae from Asphodeli. He divided the Liliaceae into a series of Ordres, and the second ordre was named Asphodèles, based on Jussieus family of that name, the term Alliaceae then reappeared in its subfamilial form, Allieae, in Dumortiers Florula Belgica, with six genera. The Alliaceae have been treated as Allieae within the Liliaceae family by most authorities since, in 1830, Lindley, the first English systematist, considered Alliaceae to be part of the Asphodeleae tribe, separating them from the Liliaceae as he understood them. He absorbed Asphodeleae into this family and created a suborder of Scilleae, by the time of the next major British classification, that of Bentham and Hooker, the Allieae had become one of twenty tribes within Liliaceae. The Allieae included Lindleys Gilliesieae as one of its four subtribes, similarly in the German language literature, Englers classification treated Allieae and Gilliesiae as tribes of subfamily Allioideae, within Liliaceae. In the early twentieth century there were doubts expressed about the placement of the genera within Liliaceae. Lotsy was the first taxonomist to propose separating them, and in his system he describes Alliaceae and Gilliesiaceae as new and this approach was later adopted by a number of other authorities, such as Dahlgren and Rahn. In 1926 John Hutchinson moved the Allieae and Gilliesieae tribes from Liliaceae to the Amaryllidaceae, thus Allieae were variously treated as either Liliaceae, Amaryllidaceae or Alliaceae. They divided Alliaceae into three subfamilies, Agapanthoideae, Allioideae, and Gilliesioideae, Allioideae contained two tribes, Brodiaeeae and a broadly defined Allieae, which they considered distinct enough to alternatively consider as subfamilies in their own right
Allioideae
–
Allioideae
Allioideae
–
Adanson 's description of Cepae 1763
Allioideae
–
Batsch 1786
8.
Allium
–
Allium is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants that includes the cultivated onion, garlic, scallion, shallot and leek as well as chives and hundreds of other wild species. The generic name Allium is the Latin word for garlic, some sources refer to Greek αλεω by reason of the smell of garlic. The cooking and consumption of parts of the plants is due to the variety of flavours. The inclusion of a species to the genus Allium is taxonomically difficult, estimates of the number of species have been as low as 260, and as high as 979, but are most likely about 800–850. The type species for the genus is Allium sativum, Allium species occur in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere, except for a few species occurring in Chile, Brazil, and tropical Africa. They vary in height between 5 cm and 150 cm, the flowers form an umbel at the top of a leafless stalk. The bulbs vary in size between species, from small to rather large, some species develop thickened leaf-bases rather than forming bulbs as such. Plants of the Allium genus produce chemical compounds that give them a characteristic onion or garlic taste, many are used as food plants, though not all members of the genus are equally flavorous. In most cases, both bulb and leaves are edible and the taste may be strong or weak, depending on the species, in the rare occurrence of sulfur-free growth conditions, all Allium species lose their usual pungency altogether. In the APG III classification system, Allium is placed in the family Amaryllidaceae, in some of the older classification systems, Allium was placed in Liliaceae. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown this circumscription of Liliaceae is not monophyletic, Allium is one of about fifty-seven genera of flowering plants with more than 500 species. It is by far the largest genus in the Amaryllidaceae, the genus Allium is characterised by herbaceous geophyte perennials with true bulbs, some of which are borne on rhizomes and an onion or garlic odor and flavor. A small number of species have tuberous roots, the bulbs outer coats are commonly brown or grey, with a smooth texture, and are fibrous, or with cellular reticulation. The inner coats of the bulbs are membranous, many alliums have basal leaves that commonly wither away from the tips downward before or while the plants flower, but some species have persistent foliage. Plants produce from one to 12 leaves, most species having linear, the leaf blades are straight or variously coiled, but some species have broad leaves, including A. victorialis and A. tricoccum. The leaves are sessile, and very rarely narrowed into a petiole, the flowers, which are produced on scapes are erect or in some species pendent, having six petal-like tepals produced in two whorls. The flowers have one style and six stamens, the anthers. The ovaries are superior, and three-lobed with three locules, the fruits are capsules that open longitudinally along the capsule wall between the partitions of the locule
Allium
–
Allium
Allium
–
Allium flavum (yellow) and
Allium carinatum (purple)
Allium
–
Capsule of
Allium oreophilum.
Allium
–
Allium ursinum (wild garlic) in a
Bristol,
England, woodland
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.
Genus
–
A genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms in biology. In the hierarchy of classification, genus comes above species. In binomial nomenclature, the name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. Felis catus and Felis silvestris are two species within the genus Felis, Felis is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by a taxonomist, the standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. Moreover, genera should be composed of units of the same kind as other genera. The term comes from the Latin genus, a noun form cognate with gignere, linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753 Species Plantarum, but the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort is considered the founder of the modern concept of genera. The scientific name of a genus may be called the name or generic epithet. It plays a role in binomial nomenclature, the system of naming organisms. The rules for the names of organisms are laid down in the Nomenclature Codes. The standard way of scientifically describing species and other lower-ranked taxa is by binomial nomenclature, the generic name forms its first half. For example, the gray wolfs binomial name is Canis lupus, with Canis being the name shared by the wolfs close relatives. The specific name is written in lower-case and may be followed by names in zoology or a variety of infraspecific names in botany. Especially with these names, when the generic name is known from context. Because animals are typically only grouped within subspecies, it is written as a trinomen with a third name. Dog breeds, meanwhile, are not scientifically distinguished, there are several divisions of plant species and therefore their infraspecific names generally include contractions explaining the relation. For example, the genus Hibiscus includes hundreds of other species apart from the Rose of Sharon or common garden hibiscus, Rose of Sharon doesnt have subspecies but has cultivars that carry desired traits, such as the bright white H. syriaca Diana. Hawaiian hibiscus, meanwhile, includes several separate species, since not all botanists agree on the divisions or names between species, it is common to specify the source of the name using author abbreviations
Genus
–
Number of reptile genera with a given number of species. Most genera have only one or a few species but a few may have hundreds. Based on data from the
Reptile Database (as of May 2015).
14.
Onion
–
The onion, also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable and is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. This genus also contains several other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion, the onion. The name wild onion is applied to a number of Allium species and its ancestral wild original form is not known, although escapes from cultivation have become established in some regions. The onion is most frequently a biennial or a perennial plant, the onion plant has a fan of hollow, bluish-green leaves and its bulb at the base of the plant begins to swell when a certain day-length is reached. The bulbs are composed of shortened, compressed, underground stems surrounded by fleshy modified scale that envelop a central bud at the tip of the stem, in the autumn, the foliage dies down and the outer layers of the bulb become dry and brittle. The crop is harvested and dried and the onions are ready for use or storage, the crop is prone to attack by a number of pests and diseases, particularly the onion fly, the onion eelworm, and various fungi cause rotting. Some varieties of A. cepa, such as shallots and potato onions, Onions are cultivated and used around the world. As a food item, they are served cooked, as a vegetable or part of a prepared savoury dish. They are pungent when chopped and contain certain chemical substances which irritate the eyes, the onion plant, also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. It was first officially described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum, a. cepa is known exclusively from cultivation, but related wild species occur in Central Asia. The most closely related species include A. vavilovii and A. asarense from Iran, however, Zohary and Hopf state that there are doubts whether the A. vavilovii collections tested represent genuine wild material or only feral derivatives of the crop. The vast majority of cultivars of A. cepa belong to the common onion group and are referred to simply as onions. The Aggregatum group of cultivars includes both shallots and potato onions, the genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion, Egyptian onion, and Canada onion. The onion plant has grown and selectively bred in cultivation for at least 7,000 years. It is a plant, but is usually grown as an annual. Modern varieties typically grow to a height of 15 to 45 cm, the leaves are yellowish- to bluish green and grow alternately in a flattened, fan-shaped swathe. They are fleshy, hollow, and cylindrical, with one flattened side and they are at their broadest about a quarter of the way up, beyond which they taper towards a blunt tip. The base of leaf is a flattened, usually white sheath that grows out of a basal disc
Onion
–
Onion
Onion
–
Roots, leaves and developing bulb
Onion
–
Umbel of onion flowers
Onion
15.
Shallot
–
The shallot is a type of onion, specifically a botanical variety of the species Allium cepa. The shallot was formerly classified as a species, A. ascalonicum. Shallots probably originated in Central or Southwest Asia, travelling there to India. The name shallot comes from Ashkelon, an ancient Canaanite city, Indian names for shallots include kaanda or gandana or pyaaz, gundhun, cheriya ulli or chuvanna ulli, ଉଲ୍ଲି ପିଆଜ, chinna ullipayi and chinna vengayam. In the Kashmiri language, shallots are called praan, in Nepal, shallots are called chyapi. In Southeastern Asia, shallots are called bawang merah kecil in Malay, brambang in Java, sibuyas bombay in the Philippines, and hom in Thai. In Cambodian, shallots are called katem kror hom, where katem or ktem is a species of onion, the name shallot is also used for the Persian shallot, from the Zagros Mountains in Iran and Iraq. The term shallot is used for the French red shallot and the French gray shallot or griselle. The name shallot is used for a scallion in New Orleans while the term French shallot refers to the plant referred to on this page. The term eschalot, derived from the French word échalote, can also be used to refer to the shallot, the usage of green onion for shallot is found among English-speaking people in Quebec, but when shallot is used, stress is on the second syllable. Like garlic, shallots are formed in clusters of offsets with a composed of multiple cloves. The skin colour of shallots can vary from brown to gray to rose red. Shallots are extensively cultivated for culinary uses, propagated by offsets, in some regions, the offsets are usually planted in autumn. In some other regions, the suggested planting time for the crop is early spring. In planting, the tops of the bulbs should be kept a little ground. They come to maturity in summer, although fresh shallots can now be found year-round in supermarkets, shallots should not be planted on ground recently manured. In Africa, shallots are grown in the area around Anloga in southeastern Ghana, shallots are used in fresh cooking in addition to being pickled. Finely sliced, deep-fried shallots are used as a condiment in Asian cuisine, as a species of Allium, shallots taste somewhat like a common onion, but have a milder flavor
Shallot
–
Whole French red shallots
Shallot
–
Sliced and whole shallots
Shallot
–
Shallots are called "small onions" in South India and are used extensively in cooking there.
Shallot
–
Shallot plant (A. cepa var. aggregatum) growing in
Castelltallat, Spain
16.
Leek
–
The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of Allium ampeloprasum, the broadleaf wild leek. The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes called a stem or stalk. Historically, many names were used for leeks, but they are now all treated as cultivars of A. ampeloprasum. The name leek developed from the Anglo-Saxon word leac, two closely related vegetables, elephant garlic and kurrat, are also cultivars of A. ampeloprasum, although different in their uses as food. The onion and garlic are also related, being other species of the genus Allium, rather than forming a tight bulb like the onion, the leek produces a long cylinder of bundled leaf sheaths that are generally blanched by pushing soil around them. They are often sold as small seedlings in flats that are started off early in greenhouses, once established in the garden, leeks are hardy, many varieties can be left in the ground during the winter to be harvested as needed. Leek cultivars may be treated as a cultivar group, e. g. as A. ampeloprasum Leek Group. Summer leek types are smaller than overwintering types, overwintering types are generally more strongly flavored. Cultivars include King Richard and Tadorna Blue, leeks are easy to grow from seed and tolerate standing in the field for an extended harvest, which takes place up to 6 months from planting. The soil in which it is grown has to be loose and drained well, leeks usually reach maturity in the autumn months. The thrips species Thrips tabaci is considered a leek pest and leeks can also get leek rust. Leeks can be bunched and harvested early when they are about the size of a finger or pencil, hilling leeks can produce better specimens. Leeks have a mild, onion-like taste, in its raw state, the vegetable is crunchy and firm. The edible portions of the leek are the base of the leaves, the light green parts. One of the most popular uses is for adding flavor to stock, the dark green portion is usually discarded because it has a tough texture, but it can be sautéed or added to stock. A few leaves are sometimes tied with twine and other herbs to form a bouquet garni, leeks are typically chopped into slices 5–10 mm thick. The slices have a tendency to fall apart, due to the structure of the leek. The different ways of preparing the vegetable are, Boiling turns it soft, frying leaves it crunchier and preserves the taste
Leek
–
Leek
Leek
–
Fresh leek sautéing
Leek
–
Still life with leeks by
Carl Schuch (
National Museum in
Warsaw)
Leek
–
Two blooming flower heads
17.
Chive
–
Chives is the common name of Allium schoenoprasum, an edible species of the Allium genus. A perennial plant, it is widespread in nature much of Europe, Asia. A. schoenoprasum is the species of Allium native to both the New and the Old Worlds. The name of the species derives from the Greek σχοίνος, skhoínos and πράσον and its English name, chives, derives from the French word cive, from cepa, the Latin word for onion. Chives are a commonly used herb and can be found in stores or grown in home gardens. In culinary use, the scapes and the unopened, immature flower buds are diced and used as an ingredient for fish, potatoes, soups, chives have insect-repelling properties that can be used in gardens to control pests. Chives are a bulb-forming herbaceous perennial plant, growing to 30–50 cm tall, the bulbs are slender, conical, 2–3 cm long and 1 cm broad, and grow in dense clusters from the roots. The scapes are hollow and tubular, up to 50 cm long and 2–3 mm across, with a texture, although, prior to the emergence of a flower. The leaves, which are shorter than the scapes, are hollow and tubular, or terete. The flowers are purple, and star-shaped with six petals, 1–2 cm wide, and produced in a dense inflorescence of 10-30 together, before opening. The seeds are produced in a small, three-valved capsule, maturing in summer, the herb flowers from April to May in the southern parts of its habitat zones and in June in the northern parts. Chives are the species of Allium native to both the New and the Old Worlds. Sometimes, the found in North America are classified as A. schoenoprasum var. sibiricum. One example was found in northern Maine growing solitary, instead of in clumps, although chives are repulsive to insects in general, due to their sulfur compounds, their flowers attract bees, and they are at times kept to increase desired insect life. Chives are grown for their scapes, which are used for purposes as a flavoring herb. Chives have a variety of culinary uses, such as in traditional dishes in France, Sweden. In his 1806 book Attempt at a Flora, Retzius describes how chives are used with pancakes, soups, fish and they are also an ingredient of the gräddfil sauce with the traditional herring dish served at Swedish midsummer celebrations. The flowers may also be used to garnish dishes, in Poland and Germany, chives are served with quark cheese
Chive
–
Chives Allium schoenoprasum
Chive
Chive
–
A clump of flowering chives
Chive
–
Flower with bud
18.
Allium chinense
–
It is known by these other names in other languages, in Japanese, ラッキョウ, also written as 辣韮, 辣韭, or 薤, in Chinese, Simplified/Traditional, 薤/薤 or 藠头/藠頭, in Vietnamese, củ kiệu. Allium chinense is native to China plus in areas where it is deliberately planted. It is naturalized in parts of Asia as well as in North America. Owing to its mild and fresh taste A. chinense is often pickled and served as a side dish in Japan and Vietnam. For example, in Japanese cuisine it is eaten with Japanese curry as a garnish, in Vietnam, pickled A. chinense is often served during Tết. Allium chinense is used as a medicine in tonics to help the intestines. Garlic chives Pickled onion Botanical drawing of Allium chinense at Tropicos. org Media related to Allium chinense at Wikimedia Commons
Allium chinense
–
Chinese onion Chinese scallion Japanese scallion Kiangsi scallion Oriental onion
Allium chinense
–
Onion cultivars
19.
Central Asia
–
Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. It is also referred to as the -stans as the five countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix -stan. Central Asias five former Soviet republics are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. It has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, the Silk Road connected Muslim lands with the people of Europe, India, and China. This crossroads position has intensified the conflict between tribalism and traditionalism and modernization, in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Central Asia was predominantly Iranian, peopled by Eastern Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians and Chorasmians and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Parthians. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan, the idea of Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was introduced in 1843 by the geographer Alexander von Humboldt. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions, historically built political geography and geoculture are two significant parameters widely used in the scholarly literature about the definitions of the Central Asia. The most limited definition was the one of the Soviet Union. This definition was also used outside the USSR during this period. However, the Russian culture has two terms, Средняя Азия and Центральная Азия. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia, the UNESCO general history of Central Asia, written just before the collapse of the USSR, defines the region based on climate and uses far larger borders. An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity and these areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern Siberia, the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan. Afghanistan as a whole, the northern and western areas of Pakistan, the Tibetans and Ladakhi are also included. Insofar, most of the peoples are considered the indigenous peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is a large region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains, vast deserts. The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with the steppes of Eastern Europe as a geographical zone known as the Eurasian Steppe. Much of the land of Central Asia is too dry or too rugged for farming, the Gobi desert extends from the foot of the Pamirs, 77° E, to the Great Khingan Mountains, 116°–118° E. Central Asia has the following geographic extremes, The worlds northernmost desert, at Buurug Deliin Els, Mongolia, the Northern Hemispheres southernmost permafrost, at Erdenetsogt sum, Mongolia, 46°17′ N
Central Asia
–
On the southern shore of Issyk Kul lake,
Issyk Kul Region.
Central Asia
–
Central Asia
Central Asia
–
Uzbek men from
Khiva, ca. 1861–1880
Central Asia
–
Kazakh man on a horse with golden eagle
20.
Iran
–
Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
Iran
–
Cave painting in Doushe cave,
Lorestan, Iran,
8th millennium BC
Iran
–
Flag
Iran
–
A depiction of the united
Medes and
Persians in
Apadana,
Persepolis
Iran
–
Ruins of the
Gate of All Nations,
Persepolis
21.
Ancient Egypt
–
Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. It is one of six civilizations to arise independently, Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer. In the aftermath of Alexander the Greats death, one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter and this Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province. The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture, the predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world and its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. The Nile has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history, nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Nile valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the climate of Northern Africa became increasingly hot and dry. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was less arid than it is today. Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates, foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Egyptians, and this is also the period when many animals were first domesticated. The largest of these cultures in upper Egypt was the Badari, which probably originated in the Western Desert, it was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools. The Badari was followed by the Amratian and Gerzeh cultures, which brought a number of technological improvements, as early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia, used to shape blades and other objects from flakes. In Naqada II times, early evidence exists of contact with the Near East, particularly Canaan, establishing a power center at Hierakonpolis, and later at Abydos, Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile. They also traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the desert to the west. Royal Nubian burials at Qustul produced artifacts bearing the oldest-known examples of Egyptian dynastic symbols, such as the crown of Egypt. They also developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last predynastic phase, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into a system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language. The Early Dynastic Period was approximately contemporary to the early Sumerian-Akkadian civilisation of Mesopotamia, the third-century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still used today
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Great Sphinx and the
pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt
–
A typical Naqada II jar decorated with gazelles. (Predynastic Period)
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Narmer Palette depicts the unification of the Two Lands.
22.
Traditional medicine
–
Traditional medicine comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within various societies before the era of modern medicine. In some Asian and African countries, up to 80% of the population relies on traditional medicine for their health care needs. When adopted outside of its culture, traditional medicine is often called alternative medicine. Core disciplines which study traditional medicine include herbalism, ethnomedicine, ethnobotany, the line between alternative medicine and quackery is a contentious subject. Traditional medicine may include formalized aspects of medicine, that is to say longstanding remedies passed on. Folk medicine may also be referred to as traditional medicine, alternative medicine, indigenous medicine and these terms are often considered interchangeable, even though some authors may prefer one or the other because of certain overtones they may wish to highlight. Similarly, a remedy is a treatment to cure a disease or ailment that employs certain spices, vegetables. Home remedies may or may not have medicinal properties that treat or cure the disease or ailment in question, in the written record, the study of herbs dates back 5,000 years to the ancient Sumerians, who described well-established medicinal uses for plants. In Ancient Egyptian medicine, the Ebers papyrus from c.1552 BC records a list of folk remedies, the Old Testament also mentions herb use and cultivation in regards to Kashrut. Many herbs and minerals used in Ayurveda were described by ancient Indian herbalists such as Charaka, Latin manuscripts of De Materia Medica were combined with a Latin herbal by Apuleius Platonicus and were incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon codex Cotton Vitellius C. III. These early Greek and Roman compilations became the backbone of European medical theory and were translated by the Persian Avicenna, the Persian Rhazes, Arabic indigenous medicine developed from the conflict between the magic-based medicine of the Bedouins and the Arabic translations of the Hellenic and Ayurvedic medical traditions. Spanish indigenous medicine was influenced by the Arabs from 711 to 1492, islamic physicians and Muslim botanists such as al-Dinawari and Ibn al-Baitar significantly expanded on the earlier knowledge of materia medica. The most famous Persian medical treatise was Avicennas The Canon of Medicine, the Canon was translated into Latin in the 12th century and remained a medical authority in Europe until the 17th century. The Unani system of medicine is also based on the Canon. Translations of the early Roman-Greek compilations were made into German by Hieronymus Bock whose herbal, the book was translated into Dutch as Pemptades by Rembert Dodoens, and from Dutch into English by Carolus Clusius, published by Henry Lyte in 1578 as A Nievve Herball. This became John Gerards Herball or General Hiftorie of Plantes, each new work was a compilation of existing texts with new additions. Womens folk knowledge existed in undocumented parallel with these texts, forty-four drugs, diluents, flavouring agents and emollients mentioned by Dioscorides are still listed in the official pharmacopoeias of Europe. The Puritans took Gerards work to the United States where it influenced American Indigenous medicine, both Hernandez and Ximenez fitted Aztec ethnomedicinal information into the European concepts of disease such as warm, cold, and moist, but it is not clear that the Aztecs used these categories
Traditional medicine
–
Traditional Medicine on a market in
Antananarivo,
Madagascar
Traditional medicine
–
Traditional healer stand in an open market in
Accra,
Ghana
Traditional medicine
–
Botánicas such as this one in
Jamaica Plain,
Massachusetts cater to the
Latino community and sell folk medicine alongside statues of
saints,
candles decorated with
prayers,
lucky bamboo, and other items.
Traditional medicine
–
Sometimes traditional medicines include parts of endangered species, such as the
slow loris in Southeast Asia.
23.
Bulb
–
In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases that function as food storage organs during dormancy. A bulbs leaf bases, also known as scales, generally do not support leaves, at the center of the bulb is a vegetative growing point or an unexpanded flowering shoot. The base is formed by a stem, and plant growth occurs from this basal plate. Roots emerge from the underside of the base, and new stems, tunicate bulbs have dry, membranous outer scales that protect the continuous lamina of fleshy scales. Species in the genera Allium, Hippeastrum, Narcissus, and Tulipa all have tunicate bulbs, non-tunicate bulbs, such as Lilium and Fritillaria species, lack the protective tunic and have looser scales. The technical term geophyte encompasses plants that form underground organs, including bulbs as well as tubers. Some epiphytic orchids form above-ground storage organs called pseudobulbs, that superficially resemble bulbs, nearly all plants that form true bulbs are monocotyledons, and include, Amaryllis, Crinum, Hippeastrum, Narcissus, and several other members of the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. This includes onion, garlic, and other alliums, members of the Amaryllid subfamily Allioideae, lily, tulip, and many other members of the lily family Liliaceae. Two groups of Iris species, family Iridaceae, subgenus Xiphium, oxalis, in the family Oxalidaceae, is the only dicotyledon genus that produces true bulbs. Bulbous plant species cycle through vegetative and reproductive stages, the bulb grows to flowering size during the vegetative stage. Certain environmental conditions are needed to trigger the transition from one stage to the next, bulbs dug up before the foliage period is completed will not bloom the following year but then should flower normally in subsequent years. After the foliage period is completed, bulbs may be dug up for replanting elsewhere, any surface moisture should be dried, then the bulbs may be stored up to about 4 months for a fall planting. Storing them much longer than that may cause the bulbs to dry out inside, a bulbil is a small bulb, and may also be called a bulblet, bulbet, or bulbel. Small bulbs can develop or propagate a large bulb, if one or several moderate-sized bulbs form to replace the original bulb, they are called renewal bulbs. Increase bulbs are small bulbs that develop either on each of the leaves inside a bulb, some lilies, such as the tiger lily Lilium lancifolium, form small bulbs, called bulbils, in their leaf axils. Several members of the family, Alliaceae, including Allium sativum, form bulbils in their flower heads, sometimes as the flowers fade. The so-called tree onion forms small onions which are enough for pickling. Some ferns, such as Hen and Chicken Fern produce new plants at the tips of the fronds pinnae, coccoris, Patricia The Curious History of the Bulb Vase
Bulb
–
Shallot bulbs
Bulb
–
Hippeastrum (amaryllis) bulb
Bulb
–
Cross section of onion bulb
Bulb
–
Bulbils form in the leaf axils of
Lilium lancifolium
24.
Hardiness zone
–
For example, a plant that is described as hardy to zone 10 means that the plant can withstand a minimum temperature of −1 °C. A more resilient plant that is hardy to zone 9 can tolerate a temperature of −7 °C. First developed by the United States Department of Agriculture, the use of the zones has been adopted by other countries, another issue is that the hardiness zones do not take into account the reliability of the snow cover. Snow acts as an insulator against extreme cold, protecting the system of hibernating plants. If the snow cover is reliable, the temperature to which the roots are exposed will not be as low as the hardiness zone number would indicate. As an example, Quebec City in Canada is located in zone 4, but, in Montreal, located to the southwest in zone 5, it is sometimes difficult to cultivate plants adapted to the zone because of the unreliable snow cover. Other factors that affect plant survival, though not considered in hardiness zones, are soil moisture, humidity, the number of days of frost, and the risk of a rare catastrophic cold snap. Some risk evaluation – the probability of getting a severe low temperature – often would be more useful than just the average conditions. Lastly, many plants may survive in a locality but will not flower if the day length is insufficient or if they require vernalization, with annuals, the time of planting can often be adjusted to allow growth beyond their normal geographical range. An alternative means of describing plant hardiness is to use indicator plants, in this method, common plants with known limits to their range are used. Gardening books are available that provide information on climate zones. For example, Sunset Books publishes a series that breaks up climate zones more finely than the USDA zones. They identify 45 distinct zones in the US, incorporating ranges of temperatures in all seasons, precipitation, wind patterns, elevation and this means that the hardiness zones relevant to Britain and Ireland are quite high, from 7 to 10, as shown below. In Scotland the Grampians, Highlands and locally in the Southern Uplands, in England the Pennines, Most of England, Wales and Scotland, parts of central Ireland, and Snaefell on the Isle of Man. Very low-lying coastal areas of the southwest of Ireland and the Isles of Scilly, in 2012 the United Kingdoms Royal Horticultural Society introduced new hardiness ratings for plants, from H7, the hardiest to H1a. Scandinavia lies at the latitude as Alaska or Greenland, but the effect of the warm North Atlantic Current is even more pronounced here than it is in Britain. Save for a small spot near Karasjok, Norway, which is in zone 2. The Faroe Islands, at 62–63°N are in zone 8, as are the outer Lofoten Islands at 68°N
Hardiness zone
–
A garden in
Simrishamn, southern
Sweden.
Hardiness zone
–
Britain and Ireland's hardiness zones
Hardiness zone
–
2012 update of the Hardiness Zone Map
25.
Hermaphrodite
–
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes, in these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which either partner can act as the female or male. For example, the majority of tunicates, pulmonate snails, opisthobranch snails. Hermaphroditism is also found in fish species and to a lesser degree in other vertebrates. Historically, the term hermaphrodite has also used to describe ambiguous genitalia and gonadal mosaicism in individuals of gonochoristic species. A rough estimate of the number of animal species is 65,000. Since the estimated number of animal species is 8.6 million. Arthropods are the phylum with the largest number of species, most hermaphroditic species exhibit some degree of self-fertilization. The distribution of self-fertilization rates among animals is similar to that of plants, suggesting that similar processes are operating to direct the evolution of selfing in animals and plants. The term derives from the Latin, hermaphroditus, from Ancient Greek, ἑρμαφρόδιτος hermaphroditos, which derives from Hermaphroditus, the word hermaphrodite entered the English lexicon as early as the late fourteenth century. Sequential hermaphrodites occur in species in which the individual is born as one sex and this contrasts simultaneous hermaphrodites, in which an individual may possess fully functional male and female gonads. Sequential hermaphroditism is common in fish and some jellyfish, many gastropods, while some sequential hermaphrodites can change sex multiple times, most can only change sex once. Generally one anemone contains a harem, consisting of a female, a smaller reproductive male. If the female is removed, the male will change sex. It has been shown that fishing pressure can change when the switch from male to female occurs, the populations are generally changing sex at a smaller size, due to natural selection. Protogyny, Where the organism is born as a female, and then changes sex to a male. Example, wrasses also have an uncommon life history strategy, which is termed diandry. In these species, two male morphs exists, an initial phase male and a terminal phase male, initial phase males do not look like males and spawn in groups with other females. Terminal phase males are territorial and have a distinctively bright coloration, individuals are born as males or females, but if they are born males, they are not born as terminal phase males
Hermaphrodite
–
Shells of
Crepidula fornicata (common slipper shell).
Hermaphrodite
–
Clownfish are initially male; the largest fish in a group becomes a female.
Hermaphrodite
–
Most species of
parrotfish start life as females and later change into males.
26.
Pollination
–
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred to the female reproductive organs of a plant, thereby enabling fertilization to take place. Like all living organisms, seed plants have a major goal. The reproductive unit is the seed, and pollination is a step in the production of seeds in all spermatophytes. The process is different in angiosperms from what it is in gymnosperms. In angiosperms, after the grain has landed on the stigma. Sperm cells from the pollen grain then move along the tube, enter the egg cell through the micropyle and fertilise it. A successful angiosperm pollen grain containing the gametes is transported to the stigma. Its two gametes travel down the tube to where the containing the female gametes are held within the carpel. One nucleus fuses with the bodies to produce the endosperm tissues. In gymnosperms, the ovule is not contained in a carpel, details of the process vary according to the division of gymnosperms in question. Two main modes of fertilization are found in gymnosperms, the study of pollination brings together many disciplines, such as botany, horticulture, entomology, and ecology. The pollination process as an interaction between flower and pollen vector was first addressed in the 18th century by Christian Konrad Sprengel and it is important in horticulture and agriculture, because fruiting is dependent on fertilization, the result of pollination. The study of pollination by insects is known as anthecology, pollen germination has three stages, hydration, activation and pollen tube emergence. The pollen grain is severely dehydrated so that its mass is reduced enabling it to be easily transported from flower to flower. Germination only takes place after rehydration, ensuring that premature germination does not take place in the anther, hydration allows the plasma membrane of the pollen grain to reform into its normal bilayer organization providing an effective osmotic membrane. Activation involves the development of actin filaments throughout the cytoplasm of the cell, hydration and activation continue as the pollen tube begins to grow. In conifers, the structures are borne on cones. The cones are either pollen cones or ovulate cones, but some species are monoecious, a pollen cone contains hundreds of microsporangia carried on reproductive structures called sporophylls
Pollination
–
Carpenter bee with pollen collected from
Night-blooming cereus
Pollination
–
Tip of a
tulip stamen covered with pollen grains.
Pollination
–
A
hummingbird feeding
Pollination
–
A
European honey bee collects nectar, while pollen collects on its body.
27.
Great Britain
–
Great Britain, also known as Britain, is a large island in the north Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2, Great Britain is the largest European island, in 2011 the island had a population of about 61 million people, making it the worlds third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan. The island of Ireland is situated to the west of it, the island is dominated by a maritime climate with quite narrow temperature differences between seasons. Politically, the island is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island. The term Great Britain often extends to surrounding islands that form part of England, Scotland, and Wales. A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the Kingdom of England, the archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years, the term British Isles derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a name for the British Isles. However, with the Roman conquest of Britain the Latin term Britannia was used for the island of Great Britain, the oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain was by Aristotle, or possibly by Pseudo-Aristotle, in his text On the Universe, Vol. III. To quote his works, There are two large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and Ierne. The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten, Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the writings of the Pytheas around 320 BC. Marcian of Heraclea, in his Periplus maris exteri, described the group as αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι. The peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Πρεττανοί, Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain, Britain, which has the same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic-speaking inhabitants of Ireland. The latter were later called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans, the Greco-Egyptian scientist Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain and to Ireland as little Britain in his work Almagest. The name Albion appears to have out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Britain. After the Anglo-Saxon period, Britain was used as a term only. It was used again in 1604, when King James VI and I styled himself King of Great Brittaine, France, Great Britain refers geographically to the island of Great Britain, politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination
Great Britain
–
Satellite image of Great Britain in April 2002
Great Britain
–
Prima Europe tabula. A copy of
Ptolemy 's 2nd century map of Roman Britain
Great Britain
–
The
robin is popularly known as "Britain's favourite bird".
Great Britain
–
Heather growing wild in the
Highlands at
Dornoch.
28.
Allium ursinum
–
Allium ursinum – known as ramsons, buckrams, wild garlic, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, or bears garlic – is a wild relative of chives native to Europe and Asia. The Latin name is due to the brown bears taste for the bulbs and its habit of digging up the ground to get at them, they are also a favourite of wild boar. In Europe, where ramsons are popularly harvested from the wild, Allium ursinum is a bulbous, perennial herbaceous monocot, that reproduces primarily by seed. The narrow bulbs are formed from a single base and produce bright green entire. The inflorescence is an umbel of six to 20 white flowers only, lacking the bulbils produced by some other Allium species such as Allium vineale, the flowers are star-like with six white tepals, about 16–20 mm in diameter, with stamens shorter than the perianth. It flowers in the British Isles from April to June, starting before deciduous trees leaf in the spring, the flower stem is triangular in cross-section and the leaves are broadly lanceolate similar to those of the lily of the valley. It is native to regions of Europe, from Britain east to the Caucasus. It is common in much of the lowland British Isles with the exception of the far north of Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, a. ursinum is widespread across most of Europe. It grows in woodlands with moist soils, preferring slightly acidic conditions. In the British Isles, colonies are frequently associated with bluebells and it is considered to be an ancient woodland indicator species. The leaves of A. ursinum are edible, they can be used as salad, herb, boiled as a vegetable, in soup, the stems are preserved by salting and eaten as a salad in Russia. A variety of Cornish Yarg cheese has a rind coated in wild garlic leaves, the bulbs and flowers are also edible. It is used for preparing herbed cheese, a Van speciality in Turkey, the leaves are also used as fodder. Cows that have fed on ramsons give milk that tastes slightly of garlic, the first evidence of the human use of A. ursinum comes from the Mesolithic settlement of Barkær, where an impression of a leaf has been found. The leaves of A. ursinum are easily mistaken for lily of the valley, sometimes also those of Colchicum autumnale and Arum maculatum. The leaves of lily of the valley are paired, dull green and come from a single reddish-purple stem, while the leaves of A. ursinum emerge individually and are bright green
Allium ursinum
–
bear garlic
Allium ursinum
–
Wild garlic in Hampshire, UK.
Allium ursinum
–
Allium ursinum completely covering the forest floor of a beech forest in early May. From the forest of
Riis Skov in Denmark.
Allium ursinum
–
Allium ursinum in an English woodland
29.
Allium vineale
–
Allium vineale is a perennial, bulb-forming species of wild onions, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and the Middle East. The species was introduced in Australia and North America, where it has become a noxious weed, all parts of the plant have a strong garlic odour. The underground bulb is 1-2 cm diameter, with an outer layer. The main stem grows to 30-120 cm tall, bearing 2-4 leaves, the leaves are slender hollow tubes, 15-60 cm long and 2-4 mm thick, waxy texture, with a groove along the side of the leaf facing the stem. The inflorescence is a tight umbel surrounded by a bract in bud which withers when the flowers open. Each individual flower is stalked and has a pinkish-green perianth 2.5 to 4.5 mm long, there are six tepals, six stamens and a pistil formed from three fused carpels. Mixed with the flowers are several of yellowish-brown bulbils, the fruit is a capsule but the seeds seldom set and propagation usually takes place when the bulbils are knocked off and grow into new plants. Plants with no flowers, only bulbils, are distinguished as the variety Allium vineale var. compactum. While Allium vineale has been suggested as a substitute for garlic and it imparts a garlic-like flavour and odour on dairy and beef products when grazed by livestock. It is considered an invasive weed, as grain products may become tainted with a garlic odour or flavour in the presence of aerial bulblets at the time of harvest. Wild garlic is resistant to herbicides, which cannot cling well to the vertical, smooth and waxy structure of its leaves
Allium vineale
–
Wild Garlic Crow Garlic stag's garlic
Allium vineale
–
Onion cultivars
30.
Allium oleraceum
–
Allium oleraceum is a Eurasian species of wild onion. It is a perennial that grows wild in dry places. It reproduces by seed, bulbs and by the production of small bulblets in the flower head, unlike A. vineale however, it is very rare with A. oleraceum to find flower-heads containing bulbils only. In addition, the spathe in A. oleraceum is in two parts, Allium oleraceum is widespread across most of Europe, with additional populations in Turkey and the Caucasus. It is sparingly naturalised in scattered locations in North America, in the United Kingdom, A. oleraceum is found in dry, grassy places, usually steeply sloping and calcareous soils, and on open sunny banks in river floodplains. It favours altitudes of 0-365 m. A. oleraceum is scattered throughout England and very scattered in Wales, erosion of coastal areas leads to a reduction in the available habitat for this species, leading to population declines. Girerdii, now called Allium oporinanthum This plant prefers partial or full exposure to sunlight, Allium oleraceum tends to grow in slightly moist, heavy clay-like soil, although it will grow just fine in other soils. This plant spreads quickly, much like a weed, and can be difficult to get rid of
Allium oleraceum
–
Field garlic
Allium oleraceum
–
Allium oleraceum
Allium oleraceum
–
Onion cultivars
China
India
South Korea
Egypt
Russia
. PMID 24468694. doi:10.1503/cmaj.121442.
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