Plant
Plants are multicellular, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Plants were treated as one of two kingdoms including all living things that were not animals, all algae and fungi were treated as plants. However, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes. By one definition, plants form the clade Viridiplantae, a group that includes the flowering plants and other gymnosperms and their allies, liverworts and the green algae, but excludes the red and brown algae. Green plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts that are derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria, their chloroplasts contain b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic or mycotrophic and have lost the ability to produce normal amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize. Plants are characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations, although asexual reproduction is common.
There are about 320 thousand species of plants, of which the great majority, some 260–290 thousand, are seed plants. Green plants provide a substantial proportion of the world's molecular oxygen and are the basis of most of Earth's ecosystems on land. Plants that produce grain and vegetables form humankind's basic foods, have been domesticated for millennia. Plants have many cultural and other uses, as ornaments, building materials, writing material and, in great variety, they have been the source of medicines and psychoactive drugs; the scientific study of plants is known as a branch of biology. All living things were traditionally placed into one of two groups and animals; this classification may date from Aristotle, who made the distincton between plants, which do not move, animals, which are mobile to catch their food. Much when Linnaeus created the basis of the modern system of scientific classification, these two groups became the kingdoms Vegetabilia and Animalia. Since it has become clear that the plant kingdom as defined included several unrelated groups, the fungi and several groups of algae were removed to new kingdoms.
However, these organisms are still considered plants in popular contexts. The term "plant" implies the possession of the following traits multicellularity, possession of cell walls containing cellulose and the ability to carry out photosynthesis with primary chloroplasts; when the name Plantae or plant is applied to a specific group of organisms or taxon, it refers to one of four concepts. From least to most inclusive, these four groupings are: Another way of looking at the relationships between the different groups that have been called "plants" is through a cladogram, which shows their evolutionary relationships; these are not yet settled, but one accepted relationship between the three groups described above is shown below. Those which have been called "plants" are in bold; the way in which the groups of green algae are combined and named varies between authors. Algae comprise several different groups of organisms which produce food by photosynthesis and thus have traditionally been included in the plant kingdom.
The seaweeds range from large multicellular algae to single-celled organisms and are classified into three groups, the green algae, red algae and brown algae. There is good evidence that the brown algae evolved independently from the others, from non-photosynthetic ancestors that formed endosymbiotic relationships with red algae rather than from cyanobacteria, they are no longer classified as plants as defined here; the Viridiplantae, the green plants – green algae and land plants – form a clade, a group consisting of all the descendants of a common ancestor. With a few exceptions, the green plants have the following features in common, they undergo closed mitosis without centrioles, have mitochondria with flat cristae. The chloroplasts of green plants are surrounded by two membranes, suggesting they originated directly from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. Two additional groups, the Rhodophyta and Glaucophyta have primary chloroplasts that appear to be derived directly from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria, although they differ from Viridiplantae in the pigments which are used in photosynthesis and so are different in colour.
These groups differ from green plants in that the storage polysaccharide is floridean starch and is stored in the cytoplasm rather than in the plastids. They appear to have had a common origin with Viridiplantae and the three groups form the clade Archaeplastida, whose name implies that their chloroplasts were derived from a single ancient endosymbiotic event; this is the broadest modern definition of the term'plant'. In contrast, most other algae not only have different pigments but have chloroplasts with three or four surrounding membranes, they are not close relatives of the Archaeplastida having acquired chloroplasts separately from ingested or symbiotic green and red algae. They are thus not included in the broadest modern definition of the plant kingdom, although they were in the past; the green plants or Viridiplantae were traditionally divided into the green algae (including
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Southeastern United States and the easternmost of the Deep South. It is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River. South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U. S. Constitution on May 23, 1788. South Carolina became the first state to vote in favor of secession from the Union on December 20, 1860. After the American Civil War, it was readmitted into the United States on June 25, 1868. South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and 23rd most populous U. S. state. Its GDP as of 2013 was $183.6 billion, with an annual growth rate of 3.13%. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties; the capital is Columbia with a 2017 population of 133,114. The Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin metropolitan area is the largest in the state, with a 2017 population estimate of 895,923. South Carolina is named in honor of King Charles I of England, who first formed the English colony, with Carolus being Latin for "Charles".
South Carolina is known for its 187 miles of coastline, beautiful lush gardens, historic sites and Southern plantations, colonial and European cultures, its growing economic development. The state can be divided into three geographic areas. From east to west: the Atlantic coastal plain, the Piedmont, the Blue Ridge Mountains. Locally, the coastal plain is referred to the other two regions as Upstate; the Atlantic Coastal Plain makes up two-thirds of the state. Its eastern border is a chain of tidal and barrier islands; the border between the low country and the up country is defined by the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, which marks the limit of navigable rivers. The state's coastline contains many salt marshes and estuaries, as well as natural ports such as Georgetown and Charleston. An unusual feature of the coastal plain is a large number of Carolina bays, the origins of which are uncertain; the bays tend to be oval. The terrain is flat and the soil is composed of recent sediments such as sand and clay.
Areas with better drainage make excellent farmland. The natural areas of the coastal plain are part of the Middle Atlantic coastal forests ecoregion. Just west of the coastal plain is the Sandhills region; the Sandhills are remnants of coastal dunes from a time when the land was sunken or the oceans were higher. The Upstate region contains the roots of an eroded mountain chain, it is hilly, with thin, stony clay soils, contains few areas suitable for farming. Much of the Piedmont was once farmed. Due to the changing economics of farming, much of the land is now reforested in Loblolly pine for the lumber industry; these forests are part of the Southeastern mixed forests ecoregion. At the southeastern edge of the Piedmont is the fall line, where rivers drop to the coastal plain; the fall line was an important early source of water power. Mills built to harness this resource encouraged the growth of several cities, including the capital, Columbia; the larger rivers are navigable up to the fall line. The northwestern part of the Piedmont is known as the Foothills.
The Cherokee Parkway is a scenic driving route through this area. This is. Highest in elevation is the Blue Ridge Region, containing an escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which continue into North Carolina and Georgia, as part of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Sassafras Mountain, South Carolina's highest point at 3,560 feet, is in this area. In this area is Caesars Head State Park; the environment here is that of the Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests ecoregion. The Chattooga River, on the border between South Carolina and Georgia, is a favorite whitewater rafting destination. South Carolina has several major lakes covering over 683 square miles. All major lakes in South Carolina are man-made; the following are the lakes listed by size. Lake Marion 110,000 acres Lake Strom Thurmond 71,100 acres Lake Moultrie 60,000 acres Lake Hartwell 56,000 acres Lake Murray 50,000 acres Russell Lake 26,650 acres Lake Keowee 18,372 acres Lake Wylie 13,400 acres Lake Wateree 13,250 acres Lake Greenwood 11,400 acres Lake Jocassee 7,500 acres Lake Bowen Earthquakes in South Carolina demonstrate the greatest frequency along the central coastline of the state, in the Charleston area.
South Carolina averages 10–15 earthquakes a year below magnitude 3. The Charleston Earthquake of 1886 was the largest quake to hit the Southeastern United States; this 7.2 magnitude earthquake destroyed much of the city. Faults in this region are difficult to study at the surface due to thick sedimentation on top of them. Many of the ancient faults are within plates rather than along plate boundaries. South Carolina has a humid subtropical climate, although high-elevation areas in the Upstate area have fewer subtropical characteristics than areas on the Atlantic coastline. In the summer, South Carolina is hot and humid, with daytime temperatures averaging between 86–93 °F in most of the state and overnight lows averaging 70–75 °F on the coast and from 66–73 °F inland. Winter temperatures are much less uniform in South Carolina. Coastal areas of the state have mild winters, with high temperatures approaching an average of 60 °F and overnight lows around 40 °F. Inland, the average January overnight low is around 32 °F i
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 been recognized in classification systems. It was first put forward by Huber in 1977 and taken up in the Dahlgren system of 1985 and the APG in 1998, 2003 and 2009. Before this, many of its families were assigned to the old order Liliales, a large order containing all monocots with colourful tepals and lacking starch in their endosperm. DNA sequence analysis indicated that many of the taxa included in Liliales should be redistributed over three orders, Liliales and Dioscoreales; the boundaries of the Asparagales and of its families have undergone a series of changes in recent years. In the APG circumscription, Asparagales is the largest order of monocots with 14 families, 1,122 genera, about 36,000 species; the order is 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 and some are tree-like. The order 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 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 all species form a tight rosette, either at the base of the plant or at the end of the stem, but along the stem. The flowers are not distinctive, being'lily type', with six tepals and up to six stamina; the order is thought to have first diverged from other related monocots some 120–130 million years ago, although given the difficulty in classifying the families involved, estimates are to be uncertain.
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, as garden ornamentals. 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, which can exceed 10 m in height. Succulent genera occur in several families. All species have a tight 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 distinctive, being of a general'lily type', with six tepals, either free or fused from the base and up to six stamina. They are clustered at the end of the plant stem; the Asparagales are distinguished from the Liliales by the lack of markings on the tepals, the presence of septal nectaries in the ovaries, rather than the bases of the tepals or stamen filaments, the presence of secondary growth.
They are geophytes, but with linear leaves, 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 seed coat is collapsed, in contrast to Liliales whose seeds have a well developed outer epidermis, lack phytomelanin, display a cellular inner layer. The orders which have been separated from the old Liliales are difficult to characterize. No single morphological character appears to be diagnostic of the order Asparagales; the flowers of Asparagales are of a general type among the lilioid monocots. Compared to Liliales, they have plain tepals without markings in the form of dots. If nectaries are present, they are in the septa of the ovaries rather than at the base of the tepals or stamens; those species which have large dry seeds have a dark, crust-like outer layer containing the pigment phytomelan. However, some species with hairy seeds, berries, or reduced seeds lack this dark pigment in their seed coats.
Phytomelan is not unique to Asparagales but it is common within the order and rare outside it. The inner portion of the seed coat is completely collapsed. In contrast, the morphologically similar seeds of Liliales have no phytomelan, retain a cellular structure in the inner portion of the seed coat. Most monocots are unable to thicken their stems once they have formed, since they lack the cylindrical meristem present in other angiosperm groups. Asparagales have a method of secondary thickening, otherwise only found inDioscorea. In a process called'anomalous secondary growth', they are able to create new
Locule
A locule or loculus is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism. In angiosperms, the term locule refers to a chamber within an ovary of the flower and fruits. Depending on the number of locules in the ovary, fruits can be classified as uni-locular, bi-locular, tri-locular or multi-locular; the number of locules present in a gynoecium may be equal to or less than the number of carpels. The locules contain the seeds; the term may refer to chambers within anthers containing pollen. In Ascomycete fungi, locules are chambers within the hymenium in which the perithecia develop
Zacatecas
Zacatecas the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City. Zacatecas is located in North-Central Mexico, it is bordered by the states of Durango to the northwest, Coahuila to the north, Nayarit to the west, San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León to the east, Jalisco and Aguascalientes to the south. The state is best known for its rich deposits of silver and other minerals, its colonial architecture and its importance during the Mexican Revolution, its main economic activities are mining and tourism. Zacatecas is located in the center-north of Mexico, covers an area of 75,284km2, the tenth largest state in the country, it borders the states of Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, Coahuila and Durango and is divided into fifty-eight municipalities and 4,882 towns and other communities. The state has an average altitude of 2230 meters above sea level, with the capital at 2,496 masl.
The state has three main geographical regions, the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west, the Mexican Plateau and the Sierra Madre Oriental. Most of it is in the Sierra Madre Occidental with rugged peaks of over 2,500 meters above sea level; the mountains of the southeast and northeast are lower but there are large valleys such as the Juchipila and Tlaltenango. Most of the territory has other areas of flat land. In the center of the state there is a small mountain chain called the Sierra de Fresnillo, from which much of the state's mineral wealth comes. In the extreme northwest there is another important mountain chain called the Sierra de Sombrerete, marked by a mountain called Sombreretillo, an important source of mineral wealth. Near this chain is another called the Sierra de Órganos. No major rivers run through the state and most of the waterways run only during the rainy season; the state is part of two water basins. The southeast of the state belongs to the Lerma River basin, which empties in the Pacific Ocean.
Rivers belonging to this basin include the San Pedro, Juchipila and Tlaltenango. The other basin is smaller and endorheic, does not empty into any ocean; the state has eighty dams with a total capacity of 595,337 million cubic meters. The largest of these are the Leobardo Reynoso in Fresnillo, Miguel Aleman in Tepechitlan and El Chique in Tabasco. Much of the state's water is underground divided into twenty hydraulic zones; these are accessed by over 5,800 wells for agricultural use. Most of the territory has a cool, dry climate, although areas in the south have more moisture, with most rain falling between June and September; the driest and coldest areas are in the northeast, known as the Salado because of its saltwater lakes. 75 % of the state is semi arid. 14% is arable and 79% is apt for the grazing of livestock. The average annual temperature is 16C with most of the state being temperate; the coldest months are from November with frost not uncommon. The warmest month is June; the state gets an average rainfall of 400mm per year in the summer, with the warmest and wettest part of the state is along the Sierra Madre Occidental.
Ecosystems vary depending on relief and temperature, leading to a wide variety of vegetation, including forests and grasslands. Arid areas are dominated by various species of cactus. In the far south there are deciduous trees that lose their leaves in spring. Statewide the most common trees are mesquite and palo verde. In the highest altitude, near the Jalisco border, there are mixed forests of pine and holm oak, with the latter dominating along the border with Durango and some along the border with San Luis Potosí. One interesting tree that occurs in Zacatecas is the elephant tree. In the sierras there are white-tailed deer and hares; the extreme northern part of the state is the southern fringe of the Chihuahuan Desert and as such is rich and diverse in biology. This desert is home to a large amount of cacti and is one of the most ecologically diverse deserts on earth; the state name derives from the name of Zacatecas. This word is derived from Nahuatl and means "where there is abundant zacate".
The state seal depicts the Cerro de la Bufa, a landmark of the capital, surrounded by the weapons of the original inhabitants. Above is the motto "Work conquers all." Before the arrival of the Spanish, dominant ethnic groups included the Caxcans and Guachichils, with a probable rivalry between the Guachichils and the Caxcans. The history of these peoples is sketchy and it is not known when the first settlements were founded in the region. Between the fourth and tenth centuries in the Christian era, several large settlements developed such as Altavista, Chalchihuites and La Quemada, considered to be part of Greater Mesoamerica. Areas in the north of the state, without major settlements, were part of what is called Aridoamerica, where inhabitants lived off hunting and gathering; the first of the major population centers emerged along the Suchil and Guadiana Rivers. The archaeological sites of today are all ceremonial centers and/or observatories in the center of metropolises; the first Spanish settlement in the state's current borders was in what is now Nochistlan in 1531, the original Guadalajara.
This settlement was moved to its current location in Jalisco because of water supply problems and indigenous attacks. The capital was founded by Juan de Tolosa with the support of Cristob
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 bulb's leaf bases known as scales do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse weather conditions. At the center of the bulb is an unexpanded flowering shoot; the base is formed by a reduced stem, plant growth occurs from this basal plate. Roots emerge from the underside of the base, new stems and leaves from the upper side. Tunicate bulbs have dry, membranous outer scales that protect the continuous lamina of fleshy scales. Species in the genera Allium, Hippeastrum 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 storage organs, including bulbs as well as tubers and corms. Some epiphytic orchids form above-ground storage organs called pseudobulbs, that superficially resemble bulbs.
Nearly all plants that form true bulbs are monocotyledons, include: Amaryllis, Hippeastrum and several other members of the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. This includes onion and other alliums, members of the Amaryllid subfamily Allioideae. Lily and many other members of the lily family Liliaceae. Two groups of Iris species, family Iridaceae: subgenus subgenus Hermodactyloides. Oxalis, in the family Oxalidaceae, is the only dicotyledon genus. Bulbous plant species cycle through vegetative and reproductive growth stages. Certain environmental conditions are needed to trigger the transition from one stage to the next, such as the shift from a cold winter to spring. Once the flowering period is over, the plant enters a foliage period of about six weeks during which time the plant absorbs nutrients from the soil and energy from the sun for setting flowers for the next year. Bulbs dug up before the foliage period is completed will not bloom the following year but should flower in subsequent years.
After the foliage period is completed, bulbs may be dug up for replanting elsewhere. Any surface moisture should be dried 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 and become nonviable. A bulbil is a small bulb, may be called a bulblet, bulbet, or bulbel. Small bulbs can 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, or else on the end of small underground stems connected to the original bulb; some lilies, such as the tiger lily Lilium lancifolium, form small bulbs, called bulbils, in their leaf axils. Several members of the onion family, including Allium sativum, form bulbils in their flower heads, sometimes as the flowers fade, or instead of the flowers; the so-called tree onion forms small onions. Some ferns, such as the hen-and-chicken fern, produce new plants at the tips of the fronds' pinnae that are sometimes referred to as bulbils.
Coccoris, Patricia The Curious History of the Bulb Vase. Published by Cortex Design. ISBN 978-0956809612
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. It borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east. North Carolina is the 28th-most extensive and the 9th-most populous of the U. S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties; the capital is Raleigh, which along with Durham and Chapel Hill is home to the largest research park in the United States. The most populous municipality is Charlotte, the second-largest banking center in the United States after New York City; the state has a wide range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell, the highest point in North America east of the Mississippi River. The climate of the coastal plains is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the state falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a subtropical highland climate. Woodland-culture Native Americans were in the area around 1000 BCE.
During this time, important buildings were constructed as flat-topped buildings. By 1550, many groups of American Indians lived in present-day North Carolina, including Chowanoke, Pamlico, Coree, Cape Fear Indians, Waxhaw and Catawba. Juan Pardo explored the area in 1566–1567, establishing Fort San Juan in 1567 at the site of the Native American community of Joara, a Mississippian culture regional chiefdom in the western interior, near the present-day city of Morganton; the fort lasted only 18 months. A expedition by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe followed in 1584, at the direction of Sir Walter Raleigh. In June 1718, the pirate Blackbeard ran his flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, aground at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, in present-day Carteret County. After the grounding her crew and supplies were transferred to smaller ships. In November, after appealing to the governor of North Carolina, who promised safe-haven and a pardon, Blackbeard was killed in an ambush by troops from Virginia.
In 1996 Intersal, Inc. a private firm, discovered the remains of a vessel to be the Queen Anne's Revenge, added to the US National Register of Historic Places. North Carolina became one of the English Thirteen Colonies and with the territory of South Carolina was known as the Province of North-Carolina; the northern and southern parts of the original province separated in 1729. Settled by small farmers, sometimes having a few slaves, who were oriented toward subsistence agriculture, the colony lacked cities or towns. Pirates menaced the coastal settlements. Growth was strong in the middle of the 18th century, as the economy attracted Scots-Irish, Quaker and German immigrants. A majority of the colonists supported the American Revolution, a smaller number of Loyalists than in some other colonies such as Georgia, South Carolina, New York. During colonial times, Edenton served as the state capital beginning in 1722, New Bern was selected as the capital in 1766. Construction of Tryon Palace, which served as the residence and offices of the provincial governor William Tryon, began in 1767 and was completed in 1771.
In 1788 Raleigh was chosen as the site of the new capital, as its central location protected it from coastal attacks. Established in 1792 as both county seat and state capital, the city was named after Sir Walter Raleigh, sponsor of Roanoke, the "lost colony" on Roanoke Island; the population of the colony more than quadrupled from 52,000 in 1740 to 270,000 in 1780 from high immigration from Virginia and Pennsylvania plus immigrants from abroad. North Carolina made the smallest per-capita contribution to the war of any state, as only 7,800 men joined the Continental Army under General George Washington. There was some military action in 1780–81. Many Carolinian frontiersmen had moved west over the mountains, into the Washington District, but in 1789, following the Revolution, the state was persuaded to relinquish its claim to the western lands, it ceded them to the national government so that the Northwest Territory could be organized and managed nationally. After 1800, cotton and tobacco became important export crops.
The eastern half of the state the Tidewater region, developed a slave society based on a plantation system and slave labor. Many free people of color migrated to the frontier along with their European-American neighbors, where the social system was looser. By 1810, nearly 3 percent of the free population consisted of free people of color, who numbered more than 10,000; the western areas were dominated by white families Scots-Irish, who operated small subsistence farms. In the early national period, the state became a center of Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy, with a strong Whig presence in the West. After Nat Turner's slave uprising in 1831, North Carolina and other southern states reduced the rights of free blacks. In 1835 the legislature withdrew their right to vote. On May 20, 1861, North Carolina was the last of the Confederate states to declare secession from the Union, 13 days after the Tennessee legislature voted for secession; some 125,000 North Carolinians served in the military.
