1.
Conifer cone
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A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous, the name cone derives from the fact that the shape in some species resembles a geometric cone. The individual plates of a cone are known as scales, the male cone is structurally similar across all conifers, differing only in small ways from species to species. Extending out from an axis are microsporophylls. Under each microsporophyll is one or several microsporangia, the female cone contains ovules which, when fertilized by pollen, become seeds. The female cone structure varies more markedly between the different conifer families, and is crucial for the identification of many species of conifers. The members of the family have cones that are imbricate. The scales are arranged in fibonacci number ratios. The female cone has two types of scale, the scales, derived from a modified leaf, and the seed scales, one subtended by each bract scale. On the upper-side base of each seed scale are two ovules that develop into seeds after fertilization by pollen grains. The bract scales develop first, and are conspicuous at the time of pollination, the scales open temporarily to receive gametophytes, then close during fertilization and maturation, and then re-open again at maturity to allow the seed to escape. Maturation takes 6–8 months from pollination in most Pinaceae genera, but 12 months in cedars, the cones open either by the seed scales flexing back when they dry out, or by the cones disintegrating with the seed scales falling off. The cones are conic, cylindrical or ovoid, and small to large, from 2–60 cm long. After ripening, the opening of non-serotinous pine cones is associated with their moisture content—cones are open when dry and this assures that the small, wind disseminated seeds will be dispersed during relatively dry weather, and thus, the distance traveled from the parent tree will be enhanced. A pine cone will go through cycles of opening and closing during its life span. This process occurs with older cones while attached to branches and even after the cones have fallen to the forest floor. The condition of fallen pine cones is an indication of the forest floors moisture content. Closed cones indicate damp conditions while open cones indicate the forest floor is dry, members of the Araucariaceae have the bract and seed scales fully fused, and have only one ovule on each scale
2.
Juniper
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Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus /dʒuːˈnɪpərəs/ of the cypress family Cupressaceae. The highest-known Juniper forest occurs at an altitude of 16,000 feet in south-eastern Tibet, Junipers vary in size and shape from tall trees, 20–40 m tall, to columnar or low spreading shrubs with long trailing branches. They are evergreen with needle-like and/or scale-like leaves and they can be either monoecious or dioecious. The female seed cones are very distinctive, with fleshy, fruit-like coalescing scales which fuse together to form a structure, 4–27 mm long. In some species these berries are red-brown or orange but in most they are blue, they are often aromatic, the seed maturation time varies between species from 6–18 months after pollination. The male cones are similar to those of other Cupressaceae, with 6–20 scales, in zones 7 through 10, junipers can bloom and release pollen several times each year. A few species of juniper bloom in autumn, while most species pollinate from early winter until late spring. Many junipers have two types of leaves, seedlings and some twigs of trees have needle-like leaves 5–25 mm long. When juvenile foliage occurs on mature plants, it is most often found on shaded shoots, leaves on fast-growing whip shoots are often intermediate between juvenile and adult. In some species, all the foliage is of the juvenile needle-like type, in some of these, the needles are jointed at the base, in others, the needles merge smoothly with the stem, not jointed. The needle-leaves of junipers are hard and sharp, making the juvenile foliage very prickly to handle and this can be a valuable identification feature in seedlings, as the otherwise very similar juvenile foliage of cypresses and other related genera is soft and not prickly. Duplicana feed on the bark around injuries or canker, the number of juniper species is in dispute, with two recent studies giving very different totals, Farjon accepting 52 species, and Adams accepting 67 species. The junipers are divided into sections, though which species belong to which sections is still far from clear. The section Juniperus is a monophyletic group though. The adult leaves are needle-like, in whorls of three, and jointed at the base, Juniperus, Cones with 3 separate seeds, needles with one stomatal band. Juniperus communis - Common Juniper Juniperus communis subsp, alpina - Alpine Juniper Juniperus conferta - Shore Juniper Juniperus rigida - Temple Juniper or Needle Juniper Juniperus sect. Oxycedrus, Cones with 3 separate seeds, needles with two stomatal bands, caryocedrus, Cones with 3 seeds fused together, needles with two stomatal bands. Juniperus drupacea - Syrian Juniper Juniperus sect, the adult leaves are mostly scale-like, similar to those of Cupressus species, in opposite pairs or whorls of three, and the juvenile needle-like leaves are not jointed at the base
3.
Berry
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In everyday language, a berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Berries are usually juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet or sour, common examples are strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and red- and blackcurrants. In Britain, soft fruit is a term for such fruits. The scientific usage of the term differs from common usage. In scientific terminology, a berry is a fruit produced from the ovary of a flower in which the outer layer of the ovary wall develops into an edible fleshy portion. The definition includes many fruits that are not commonly known as berries, such as grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, fruits excluded by the botanical definition include strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, which are aggregate fruits. A plant bearing berries is said to be bacciferous or baccate, while many berries are edible, some are poisonous to humans, such as deadly nightshade and pokeweed. Others, such as the white mulberry, red mulberry, and elderberry, are poisonous when unripe, berries are eaten worldwide and often used in jams, preserves, cakes or pies. The berry industry varies from country to country as do types of cultivated or growing in the wild. Berries have been valuable as a source for humans since before the start of agriculture. They were a staple for early hunter-gatherers for thousands of years. In time, humans learned to store berries so that they could be used in the winter and they may be made into fruit preserves, and among Native Americans, mixed with meat and fats as pemmican. Berries also began to be cultivated in Europe and other countries, in Japan, between the 10th and 18th centuries, the term ichibigo referred to many berry crops. The most widely cultivated berry of modern times, however, is the strawberry, the strawberry was mentioned by ancient Romans, who thought it had medicinal properties, but it was then not a staple of agriculture. Woodland strawberries began to be grown in French gardens in the 14th century, the musky-flavored strawberry began to be grown in European gardens in the late 16th century. Later, the Virginia strawberry was grown in Europe and the United States, the most commonly consumed strawberry, the garden strawberry, is an accidental hybrid of the Virginia strawberry and a Chilean variety Fragaria chiloensis. Soon after, Antoine Nicolas Duchesne began to study the breeding of strawberries and made several discoveries crucial to the science of plant breeding, such as the sexual reproduction of strawberry. A form of the berry is found in all the Germanic languages, for example, Old English berie compares with Old Saxon and Old High German beri
4.
Juniperus communis
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Juniperus communis, the common juniper, is a species of conifer in the genus Juniperus, in the family Cupressaceae. Relict populations can be found in the Atlas Mountains of Africa, Juniperus communis is a small coniferous evergreen tree or shrub, very variable in form, ranging from 10 m —rarely 16 m —tall to a low, often prostrate spreading shrub in exposed locations. It has needle-like leaves in whorls of three, the leaves are green, with a white stomatal band on the inner surface. It is dioecious, with male and female cones, which are wind pollinated, the seeds are dispersed when birds eat the cones, digesting the fleshy scales and passing the hard, unwinged seeds in their droppings. The male cones are yellow, 2–3 mm long, and fall soon after shedding their pollen in March–April. Usually an erect shrub or small tree, leaves long, 8–20 mm, cones small, 5–8 mm, usually shorter than the leaves, communis var. communis – Europe, most of northern Asia subsp. Communis var. depressa Pursh – North America, Sierra Nevada in California subsp, communis var. nipponica E. H. Wilson – Japan subsp. Alpina var. alpina – Greenland, Europe and Asia subsp, alpina var. megistocarpa Fernald & H. St. John – Eastern Canada subsp. Alpina var. jackii Rehder – Western North America Some botanists treat subsp, Juniperus communis is one of Irelands longest established plants. Juniperus communis is cultivated in the trade and used as an evergreen ornamental shrub in gardens. In Scandinavia, however, juniper wood is used for making containers for storing small quantities of products such as butter and cheese. It was also used for trenails in wooden shipbuilding by shipwrights for its tough properties. Various decorative items are common in most Estonian handicraft shops and households, according to the old tradition, on Easter Monday Kashubian boys chase girls whipping their legs gently with juniper twigs. This is to bring good fortune in love to the chased girls and its astringent blue-black seed cones, commonly known as juniper berries, are too bitter to eat raw and are usually sold dried and used to flavour meats, sauces, and stuffings. They are generally crushed before use to release their flavour, since juniper berries have a strong taste, they should be used sparingly. They are generally used to meat with a strong flavour, such as game, including game birds. The cones are used to flavour certain beers and gin, in Finland, juniper is used as a key ingredient in making sahti, a traditional Finnish ale. Also the Slovak alcoholic beverage Borovička and Dutch Genever are flavoured with juniper berry or its extract, juniper is used in the traditional farmhouse ales of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia
5.
Spice
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A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring, coloring or preserving food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, sometimes, spices may be ground into a powder for convenience. Spices are sometimes used in medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics or perfume production, the spice trade developed throughout South Asia and Middle East by at least 2000 BCE with cinnamon and black pepper, and in East Asia with herbs and pepper. The Egyptians used herbs for mummification and their demand for exotic spices and herbs helped stimulate world trade. The word spice comes from the Old French word espice, which became epice, and which came from the Latin root spec, by 1000 BCE, medical systems based upon herbs could be found in China, Korea, and India. Early uses were connected with magic, medicine, religion, tradition, archaeological excavations have uncovered clove burnt onto the floor of a kitchen, dated to 1700 BCE, at the Mesopotamian site of Terqa, in modern-day Syria. The ancient Indian epic Ramayana mentions cloves, the Romans had cloves in the 1st century CE, as Pliny the Elder wrote about them. In the story of Genesis, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers to spice merchants, in the biblical poem Song of Solomon, the male speaker compares his beloved to many forms of spices. The earliest written records of spices come from ancient Egyptian, Chinese, the Ebers Papyrus from Early Egyptians that dates from 1550 B. C. E. Describes some eight hundred different medicinal remedies and numerous medicinal procedures, historians believe that nutmeg, which originates from the Banda Islands in Southeast Asia, was introduced to Europe in the 6th century BCE. Indonesian merchants traveled around China, India, the Middle East, Arab merchants facilitated the routes through the Middle East and India. This resulted in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria being the trading center for spices. The most important discovery prior to the European spice trade were the monsoon winds, sailing from Eastern spice cultivators to Western European consumers gradually replaced the land-locked spice routes once facilitated by the Middle East Arab caravans. Spices were among the most demanded and expensive available in Europe in the Middle Ages. Given medieval medicines main theory of humorism, spices and herbs were indispensable to balance humors in food, in addition to being desired by those using medieval medicine, the European elite also craved spices in the Middle Ages. An example of the European aristocracys demand for spice comes from the King of Aragon and he was specifically looking for spices to put in wine, and was not alone among European monarchs at the time to have such a desire for spice. Spices were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which made them expensive, from the 8th until the 15th century, the Republic of Venice had the monopoly on spice trade with the Middle East, and along with it the neighboring Italian city-states. The trade made the region rich and it has been estimated that around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of the other common spices were imported into Western Europe each year during the Late Middle Ages
6.
European cuisine
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The term is used by East Asians to contrast with Asian styles of cooking. When used by Westerners, the term may refer more specifically to cuisine in Europe, in this context. The cuisines of Western countries are diverse by themselves, although there are characteristics that distinguish Western cooking from cuisines of Asian countries. Compared with traditional cooking of Asian countries, for example, meat is more prominent, steak and cutlet in particular are common dishes across the West. Western cuisines also put emphasis on grape wine and on sauces as condiments, seasonings. Many dairy products are utilised in the process, except in nouvelle cuisine. Cheeses are produced in hundreds of different varieties, and fermented products are also available in a wide selection. Maize is much less common in most European diets than it is in the Americas, however corn meal, is a part of the cuisine of Italy. Although flatbreads, and rice are eaten in Europe, they do not constitute an ever-present staple, salads are an integral part of European cuisine. Formal European dinners are served in distinct courses, European presentation evolved from service à la française, or bringing multiple dishes to the table at once, into service à la russe, where dishes are presented sequentially. Usually, cold, hot and savoury, and sweet dishes are served separately in this order, as hors doeuvre or soup, as entrée and main course. Dishes that are sweet and savoury were common earlier in ancient Roman cuisine, but are today uncommon. A service where the guests are free to take food by themselves is termed a buffet, nevertheless, guests are expected to follow the same pattern. Historically, European cuisine has developed in the European royal. European nobility was usually arms-bearing and lived in separate manors in the countryside, the knife was the primary eating implement, and eating steaks and other foods that require cutting followed. In contrast in the Sinosphere, the class were the court officials. The knife was supplanted by the spoon for soups, while the fork was introduced later in the modern period. Today, eating dinner by hand is no longer considered acceptable, all of these countries have their specialities
7.
Gin
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Gin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries. From its earliest origins in the Middle Ages, gin has evolved from use in medicine to an object of commerce in the spirits industry. Gin is one of the broadest categories of spirits, represented by products of various origins, styles, Gin emerged in England in varying forms as of the early 17th century, and at the time of the Restoration, enjoyed a brief resurgence. Gin drinking in England rose significantly after the Government allowed unlicensed gin production and this created a market for poor-quality grain that was unfit for brewing beer, and thousands of gin-shops sprang up throughout England, a period known as the Gin Craze. Because of the price of gin, when compared with other drinks available at the same time and in the same geographic location. Of the 15,000 drinking establishments in London, not including coffee shops and drinking chocolate shops, Beer maintained a healthy reputation as it was often safer to drink the brewed ale than unclean plain water. Gin, though, was blamed for various problems. The reputation of the two drinks was illustrated by William Hogarth in his engravings Beer Street and Gin Lane, described by the BBC as arguably the most potent anti-drug poster ever conceived. The negative reputation of gin survives today in the English language, in terms like gin mills or the American phrase gin joints to describe disreputable bars, the epithet mothers ruin is a common British name for gin, the origin of which is the subject of ongoing debate. The Gin Act 1736 imposed high taxes on retailers and led to riots in the streets, the prohibitive duty was gradually reduced and finally abolished in 1742. The Gin Act 1751 was more successful, however, it forced distillers to sell only to licensed retailers, Gin in the 18th century was produced in pot stills, and was somewhat sweeter than the London gin known today. In London in the early 18th century, much gin was distilled legally in residential houses and was often flavoured with turpentine to generate resinous woody notes in addition to the juniper. As late as 1913, Websters Dictionary states without further comment, another common variation was to distill in the presence of sulphuric acid. Although the acid itself does not distil, it imparts the aroma of diethyl ether to the resulting gin. Sulphuric acid subtracts one water molecule from two molecules to create diethyl ether, which also forms an azeotrope with ethanol. The result is a spirit, and one that may have possessed additional analgesic or even intoxicating effects – see Paracelsus. Dutch or Belgian gin, also known as jenever or genever, evolved from malt wine spirits, Schiedam, a city in the province of South Holland, is famous for its jenever-producing history. The oude style of jenever remained very popular throughout the 19th century, the 19th century gave rise to a style of gin referred to as Old Tom Gin, which is a softer, sweeter style of gin, often containing sugar
8.
Conifer
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The Pinophyta, also known as Coniferophyta or Coniferae, or commonly as conifers, are a division of vascular land plants containing a single class, Pinopsida. They are gymnosperms, cone-bearing seed plants, all extant conifers are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs, examples include cedars, Douglas firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. As of 1998, the division Pinophyta was estimated to contain eight families,68 genera, although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers are ecologically important. They are the dominant plants over large areas of land, most notably the taiga of the Northern Hemisphere, boreal conifers have many wintertime adaptations. The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs, many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing. While tropical rainforests have more biodiversity and turnover, the conifer forests of the world represent the largest terrestrial carbon sink. Conifers are of economic value for softwood lumber and paper production. The earliest conifers in the record date to the late Carboniferous period, possibly arising from Cordaites. Pinophytes, Cycadophytes, and Ginkgophytes all developed at this time, an important adaptation of these gymnosperms was allowing plants to live without being so dependent on water. Other adaptations are pollen and the seed, which allows the embryo to be transported and developed elsewhere, Conifers appear to be one of the taxa that benefited from the Permian–Triassic extinction event, and were the dominant land plants of the Mesozoic. They were overtaken by the plants, which first appeared in the Cretaceous. They were the food of herbivorous dinosaurs, and their resins and poisons would have given protection against herbivores. Reproductive features of modern conifers had evolved by the end of the Mesozoic era, Conifer is a Latin word, a compound of conus and ferre, meaning the one that bears cone. A descriptive name in use for the conifers is Coniferae. Alternatively, descriptive botanical names may also be used at any rank above family and this means that if conifers are considered a division, they may be called Pinophyta or Coniferae. As a class they may be called Pinopsida or Coniferae, as an order they may be called Pinales or Coniferae or Coniferales. Conifers are the largest and economically most important component group of the gymnosperms, the division Pinophyta consists of just one class, Pinopsida, which includes both living and fossil taxa
9.
Purple
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Purple is a color intermediate between blue and red. It is similar to violet, but unlike violet, which is a color with its own wavelength on the visible spectrum of light, purple is a composite color made by combining red. According to surveys In Europe and the U. S. purple is the color most often associated with royalty, magic, mystery, when combined with pink, it is associated with eroticism, femininity and seduction. Purple was the color worn by Roman magistrates, it became the color worn by the rulers of the Byzantine Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. Similarly in Japan, the color is associated with the Emperor. The complementary color of purple is yellow, the first recorded use of the word purple in the English language was in the year 975 AD. In heraldry, the word purpure is used for purple, in the traditional color wheel used by painters, violet and purple are both placed between red and blue. Purple occupies the space closer to red, between crimson and violet, violet is closer to blue, and is usually less saturated than purple. While the two look similar, from the point of view of optics there are important differences. There is no such thing as the wavelength of purple light, monochromatic violet light cannot be produced by the red-green-blue color system, the method used to create colors on a television screen or computer display. This means that when light strikes the eye, the S-cone should be stimulated strongly. The resulting color has the same hue as pure violet, however, one curious psychophysical difference between purple and violet is their appearance with an increase in luminance. Violet, as it brightens, looks more and more blue, the same effect does not happen with purple. This is the result of what is known as the Bezold–Brücke shift, while the scientific definitions of violet and purple are clear, the cultural definitions are more varied. The color known in antiquity as Tyrian purple ranged from crimson to a deep bluish-purple, in France, purple is defined as a dark red, inclined toward violet. The color called purple by the French, pourpre, contains red and half the amount of blue of the color called purple in the United States. In German, this color is sometimes called Purpurrot to avoid confusion, Purple first appeared in prehistoric art during the Neolithic era. These works have been dated to between 16,000 and 25,000 BC, as early as the 15th century BC the citizens of Sidon and Tyre, two cities on the coast of Ancient Phoenicia, were producing purple dye from a sea snail called the spiny dye-murex
