1.
Sporangium
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A sporangium is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a cell or can be multicellular. All plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life cycle, sporangia can produce spores by mitosis, but in nearly all land plants and many fungi, sporangia are the site of meiosis and produce genetically distinct haploid spores. Structure containing the spores in fungal species, in mosses, liverworts and hornworts, an unbranched sporophyte produces a single sporangium, which may be quite complex morphologically. Most non-vascular plants, as well as many lycophytes and most ferns, are homosporous, some bryophytes, most lycophytes, and some ferns are heterosporous. These plants produce microspores and megaspores, which rise to gametophytes that are functionally male or female. In some cases, both kinds of spores are produced in the sporangium, and may even develop together as part of a spore tetrad. However, in most heterosporous plants there are two kinds of sporangia, termed microsporangia and megasporangia, a few ferns and some lycophytes are heterosporous with two kinds of sporangia, as are all the seed plants. Sporangia can be terminal or lateral of stems or associated with leaves, in ferns, sporangia are typically found on the abaxial surface of the leaf and are densely aggregated into clusters called sori. Sori may be covered by a structure called an indusium, some ferns have their sporangia scattered along reduced leaf segments or along the margin of the leaf. Lycophytes, in contrast, bear their sporangia on the surface of leaves or laterally on stems. Leaves that bear sporangia are called sporophylls, if the plant is heterosporous, the sporangia-bearing leaves are distinguished as either microsporophylls or megasporophylls. In seed plants, sporangia are located within strobili or flowers. Cycads form their microsporangia on microsporophylls which are aggregated into strobili, megasporangia are formed within ovules, which are borne on megasporophylls, which are aggregated into strobili on separate plants. Conifers typically bear their microsporangia on microsporophylls aggregated into pollen strobili. Flowering plants contain microsporangia in the anthers of stamens and megasporangia inside ovules inside ovaries, in all seed plants, spores are produced by meiosis and develop into gametophytes while still inside the sporangium. Categorized based on sequence, eusporangia and leptosporangia are differentiated in the vascular plants. In a leptosporangium, found only in ferns, development involves a single cell that becomes the stalk, wall
2.
Flowering plant
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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
3.
Flower
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A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in plants that are floral. The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs, Flowers may facilitate outcrossing or allow selfing. Some flowers produce diaspores without fertilization, Flowers contain sporangia and are the site where gametophytes develop. Many flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, so as to them to be vectors for the transfer of pollen. After fertilization, the ovary of the flower develops into fruit containing seeds, the essential parts of a flower can be considered in two parts, the vegetative part, consisting of petals and associated structures in the perianth, and the reproductive or sexual parts. A stereotypical flower consists of four kinds of structures attached to the tip of a short stalk, each of these kinds of parts is arranged in a whorl on the receptacle. The four main whorls are as follows, Collectively the calyx, corolla, the next whorl toward the apex, composed of units called petals, which are typically thin, soft and colored to attract animals that help the process of pollination. Androecium, the whorl, consisting of units called stamens. Stamens consist of two parts, a called a filament, topped by an anther where pollen is produced by meiosis. Gynoecium, the innermost whorl of a flower, consisting of one or more units called carpels, the carpel or multiple fused carpels form a hollow structure called an ovary, which produces ovules internally. Ovules are megasporangia and they in turn produce megaspores by meiosis which develop into female gametophytes and these give rise to egg cells. The gynoecium of a flower is described using an alternative terminology wherein the structure one sees in the innermost whorl is called a pistil. A pistil may consist of a carpel or a number of carpels fused together. The sticky tip of the pistil, the stigma, is the receptor of pollen, the supportive stalk, the style, becomes the pathway for pollen tubes to grow from pollen grains adhering to the stigma. The relationship to the gynoecium on the receptacle is described as hypogynous, perigynous, although the arrangement described above is considered typical, plant species show a wide variation in floral structure. These modifications have significance in the evolution of flowering plants and are used extensively by botanists to establish relationships among plant species, the four main parts of a flower are generally defined by their positions on the receptacle and not by their function. Many flowers lack some parts or parts may be modified into other functions and/or look like what is typically another part, in some families, like Ranunculaceae, the petals are greatly reduced and in many species the sepals are colorful and petal-like. Other flowers have modified stamens that are petal-like, the flowers of Peonies and Roses are mostly petaloid stamens
4.
Gynoecium
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Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of pistils in a flower and is surrounded by the pollen-producing reproductive organs. The term gynoecium is also used by botanists to refer to a cluster of archegonia and any associated modified leaves or stems present on a shoot in mosses. The corresponding terms for the parts of those plants are clusters of antheridia within the androecium. Flowers that bear a gynoecium but no stamens are called carpellate, flowers lacking a gynoecium are called staminate. The gynoecium is often referred to as female because it gives rise to female gametophytes, however, strictly speaking sporophytes do not have a sex, only gametophytes do. Gynoecium development and arrangement is important in research and identification of angiosperms. The gynoecium may consist of one or more separate pistils, a pistil typically consists of an expanded basal portion called the ovary, an elongated section called a style and an apical structure that receives pollen called a stigma. The ovary, is the basal portion which contains placentas. The placentas and/or ovule may be born on the gynoecial appendages or less frequently on the floral apex, the chamber in which the ovules develop is called a locule. The style, is a pillar-like stalk through which pollen tubes grow to reach the ovary, some flowers such as Tulipa do not have a distinct style, and the stigma sits directly on the ovary. The style is a tube in some plants such as lilies. The stigma, is found at the tip of the style. It is commonly sticky or feathery to capture pollen, the word pistil comes from Latin pistillum meaning pestle. A sterile pistil in a flower is referred to as a pistillode. The pistils of a flower are considered to be composed of carpels, a carpel is a theoretical construct interpreted as modified leaves bearing structures called ovules, inside which the egg cells ultimately form. A pistil may consist of one carpel, with its ovary, style and stigma, or several carpels may be joined together with a single ovary, the gynoecium may consist of one or more uni-carpellate pistils, or of one multi-carpellate pistil. The number of carpels is described by such as tricarpellate
5.
Ovary (botany)
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In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals. The pistil may be made up of one carpel or of several fused carpels, some wind pollinated flowers have much reduced and modified ovaries. A fruit is the ovary or ovaries—together with seeds—from one or more flowers. The fruits of a plant are responsible for dispersing the seeds contain the embryo. In many species, the fruit incorporates some surrounding tissues, or is dispersed with some non-fruit tissues, locules are chambers within the ovary of the flower and fruits. The locules contain the ovules, and may or may not be filled with fruit flesh, depending on the number of locules in the ovary, fruits can be classified as uni-locular, bi-locular, tri-locular or multi-locular. Some plants have septa between the carpels, the number of locules present in a gynoecium may be equal to or less than the number of carpels, the ovules are attached to parts of the interior ovary walls called the placentae. Placental areas occur in various positions, corresponding to parts of the carpels that make up the ovary. An obturator is present in the ovary of some plants, near the micropyle of each ovule and it is an outgrowth of the placenta, important in nourishing and guiding pollen tubes to the micropyle. The ovary of some types of fruit is dehiscent, the ovary wall splits into sections called valves, the terminology of the positions of ovaries is determined by the insertion point, where the other floral parts come together and attach to the surface of the ovary. If the ovary is situated above the point, it is superior, if below. A superior ovary is an attached to the receptacle above the attachment of other floral parts. A superior ovary is found in types of fruits such as true berries, drupes. A flower with this arrangement is described as hypogynous, examples of this ovary type include the legumes. A half-inferior ovary is embedded or surrounded by the receptacle and this occurs in flowers of the Lythraceae family, which includes the Crape Myrtles. Such flowers are termed perigynous or half-epigynous, in some classifications, half-inferior ovaries are not recognized and are instead grouped with either the superior or inferior ovaries. More specifically, a half-inferior ovary has nearly equal portions of ovary above, other varying degrees of inferiority can be described by other fractions
6.
Fruit
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In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate seeds, accordingly, fruits account for a substantial fraction of the worlds agricultural output, and some have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings. On the other hand, in usage, fruit includes many structures that are not commonly called fruits, such as bean pods, corn kernels, tomatoes. The section of a fungus that produces spores is called a fruiting body. Many common terms for seeds and fruit do not correspond to the botanical classifications, however, in botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary or carpel that contains seeds, a nut is a type of fruit and not a seed, and a seed is a ripened ovule. Examples of culinary vegetables and nuts that are botanically fruit include corn, cucurbits, eggplant, legumes, sweet pepper, in addition, some spices, such as allspice and chili pepper, are fruits, botanically speaking. g. Botanically, a grain, such as corn, rice, or wheat, is also a kind of fruit. However, the wall is very thin and is fused to the seed coat. The outer, often edible layer, is the pericarp, formed from the ovary and surrounding the seeds, the pericarp may be described in three layers from outer to inner, the epicarp, mesocarp and endocarp. Fruit that bears a prominent pointed terminal projection is said to be beaked, a fruit results from maturation of one or more flowers, and the gynoecium of the flower forms all or part of the fruit. Inside the ovary/ovaries are one or more ovules where the megagametophyte contains the egg cell, after double fertilization, these ovules will become seeds. The ovules are fertilized in a process starts with pollination. After pollination, a tube grows from the pollen through the stigma into the ovary to the ovule, later the zygote will give rise to the embryo of the seed, and the endosperm mother cell will give rise to endosperm, a nutritive tissue used by the embryo. As the ovules develop into seeds, the ovary begins to ripen and the ovary wall, in some multiseeded fruits, the extent to which the flesh develops is proportional to the number of fertilized ovules. The pericarp is often differentiated into two or three distinct layers called the exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp, in some fruits, especially simple fruits derived from an inferior ovary, other parts of the flower, fuse with the ovary and ripen with it. In other cases, the sepals, petals and/or stamens and style of the fall off. When such other floral parts are a significant part of the fruit, it is called an accessory fruit, since other parts of the flower may contribute to the structure of the fruit, it is important to study flower structure to understand how a particular fruit forms. There are three modes of fruit development, Apocarpous fruits develop from a single flower having one or more separate carpels
7.
Hibiscus
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Hibiscus is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm-temperate. Member species are renowned for their large, showy flowers and are known simply as hibiscus. The genus includes annual and perennial herbaceous plants, as well as woody shrubs and small trees. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἱβίσκος, which was the name Pedanius Dioscorides gave to Althaea officinalis, the leaves are alternate, ovate to lanceolate, often with a toothed or lobed margin. The flowers are large, conspicuous, trumpet-shaped, with five or more petals, color from white to pink, red, orange, peach, yellow or purple, flower color in certain species, such as H. mutabilis and H. tiliaceus, changes with age. The fruit is a dry five-lobed capsule, containing several seeds in each lobe and it is of red and white colours. It is an example of complete flowers, the hibiscus is the national flower of Haiti and is used in their national tourism slogan of Haïti, Experience It. The hibiscus species also represents several other nations, the Hibiscus syriacus is the national flower of South Korea, and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is the national flower of Malaysia. The red hibiscus is the flower of the Hindu goddess Kali, and appears frequently in depictions of her in the art of Bengal, India, often with the goddess, the hibiscus is used as an offering to goddess Kali and Lord Ganesha in Hindu worship. In the Philippines, the gumamela is used by children as part of a bubble-making pastime, the flowers and leaves are crushed until the sticky juices come out. Hollow papaya stalks are then dipped into this and used as straws for blowing bubbles, together with soap, hibiscus juices produce more bubbles. The hibiscus flower is worn by Tahitian and Hawaiian girls. If the flower is worn behind the ear, the woman is married or in a relationship. If the flower is worn on the right, she is single or openly available for a relationship, the hibiscus is Hawaiis state flower. Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie named her first novel Purple Hibiscus after the delicate flower, the bark of the hibiscus contains strong bast fibres that can be obtained by letting the stripped bark set in the sea to let the organic material rot away. Many species are grown for their flowers or used as landscape shrubs, and are used to attract butterflies, bees. Hibiscus is a hardy, versatile plant and in tropical conditions it can enhance the beauty of any garden
8.
Citrus
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Citrus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops like oranges, lemons, grapefruit, pomelo, the most recent research indicates an origin in Australia, New Caledonia and New Guinea. Citrus fruit has been cultivated in an area since ancient times. At various times, citrus plants were thought to be native to Asia, Europe, but the European oranges were originally brought from India at around the time of Alexander the Great, and the native oranges of Florida actually originated with the Spanish Conquistadors. The lemon reached Europe during the time of classical Rome, the generic name originated from Latin, where it referred to either the plant now known as Citron or a conifer tree. It is somehow related to the ancient Greek word for cedar and this may be due to perceived similarities in the smell of citrus leaves and fruit with that of cedar. Collectively, Citrus fruits and plants are known by the Romance loanword agrumes. The large citrus fruit of today evolved originally from small, edible berries over millions of years, Citrus plants diverged from a common ancestor about 15 million years ago, which was about when it diverged from the closely related severinia, for example the Chinese box orange. These estimates are made using genetic mapping of plant chloroplasts, the three original species in the citrus genus that have been hybridized into most modern commercial citrus fruit are the mandarin orange, pummelo, and citron. Within the last few years, all common citrus fruits were created by crossing those original species. Something similar has occurred with the array of chili peppers originating in the hybridization of a few initial species. Natural and cultivated citrus hybrids include commercially important fruit such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, apart from these four core citrus species, there are Australian limes and the recently discovered Mangshanyegan. Kumquats and Clymenia sp. are now considered to belong within the citrus genus. Trifoliate orange, which is used as commercial rootstock, is an outgroup. Phylogenetic analysis suggests the species of Oxanthera from New Caledonia should be transferred to the genus Citrus and these plants are large shrubs or small to moderate-sized trees, reaching 5–15 m tall, with spiny shoots and alternately arranged evergreen leaves with an entire margin. The flowers are solitary or in corymbs, each flower 2–4 cm diameter, with five white petals and numerous stamens. The fruit is a hesperidium, a berry, globose to elongated, 4–30 cm long and 4–20 cm diameter. The outermost layer of the pericarp is a called the flavedo
9.
Solanum
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If used for a particular species, this name usually applies to the Carolina horsenettle. Solanum is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include two food crops of economic importance, the potato and the tomato. It also contains the nightshades and horse nettles, as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers, Solanum species show a wide range of growing habits, such as annual and perennials, vines, subshrubs, shrubs, and small trees. Many formerly independent genera like Lycopersicon and Cyphomandra are now included in Solanum as subgenera or sections, thus, the genus today contains roughly 1, 500–2,000 species. The generic name was first used by Pliny the Elder for a plant also known as strychnos and its derivation is uncertain, possibly stemming from the Latin word sol, meaning sun, referring to its status as a plant of the sun. Another possibility is that the root was solare, meaning to soothe, or solamen, meaning a comfort, the species most commonly called nightshade in North America and Britain is Solanum dulcamara, also called bittersweet or woody nightshade. Its foliage and egg-shaped red berries are poisonous, the principle being solanine. The black nightshade is also generally considered poisonous, but its fully ripened fruit and foliage are cooked, the deadly nightshade is not in the Solanum genus, but is a member of the wider Solanaceae family. Most parts of the plants, especially the parts and unripe fruit, are poisonous to humans. However, several species are used in folk medicine, particularly by native peoples who have long employed them. Solanum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species – see list of Lepidoptera that feed on Solanum, the genus was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. Its subdivision has always been problematic, but slowly some sort of consensus is being achieved, the following list is a provisional lineup of the genus traditional subdivisions, together with some notable species. Many of the subgenera and sections might not be valid, they are used here provisionally as the phylogeny of this genus is not fully resolved yet, cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data suggests that the present subdivisions and rankings are largely invalid. Far more subgenera would seem to warrant recognition, with Leptostemonum being the one that can at present be clearly subdivided into sections. Notably, it includes as a major lineage several members of the traditional sections Cyphomandropsis, Section Allophylla Solanum granuloso-leprosum Section Cyphomandropsis Solanum glaucophyllum Desf. – Waxy-leaved nightshade Section Pachyphylla Solanum betaceum Cav, – Tamarillo Solanum exiguum Solanum roseum Section Acanthophora Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq. Series Androceras Series Violaceiflorum Series Pacificum Section AnisantherumSection CampanulataSection CrinitumSection CroatianumSection Erythrotrichum Solanum robustum H. L. Wendl, – Shrubby nightshade Section GraciliflorumSection Herposolanum Solanum wendlandii Hook. f. – Giant potatocreeper Section Irenosolanum Solanum incompletum Dunal – Pōpolo kū mai Solanum nelsonii Dunal – Nelsons horsenettle, & Arn. Braun – Watermelon nightshade Solanum dimidiatum Raf
10.
Helianthus
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Helianthus or sunflowers L. /ˌhiːliˈænθəs/ is a genus of plants comprising about 70 species in the family Asteraceae. The genus is one of many in the Asteraceae that are known as sunflowers, except for three species in South America, all Helianthus species are native to North America. The common name, sunflower, typically refers to the annual species Helianthus annuus, or the common sunflower. This and other species, notably Jerusalem artichoke, are cultivated in regions as food crops. The largest sunflower field is located in Tuscany, Italy, the domesticated sunflower, H. annuus, is the most familiar species. Perennial sunflower species are not as popular for gardens due to their tendency to spread rapidly and become invasive. Whorled sunflowers, H. verticillatus, were listed as a species in 2014 when the U. S. Fish. The primary threats are industrial forestry and pine plantations in Alabama, Georgia and they grow to 1.8 m and are primarily found in woodlands, adjacent to creeks and moist, prairie-like areas. Sunflowers are usually annual or perennial plants that grow to a height of 300 centimetres or more. They bear one or more wide, terminal capitula, with yellow ray florets at the outside. Several ornamental cultivars of Helianthus annuus have red-colored ray florets, all of them stem from a single original mutant, during growth, sunflowers tilt during the day to face the sun, but stop once they begin blooming. This tracking of the sun in young sunflower heads is called heliotropism, by the time they are mature, sunflowers generally face east. The rough and hairy stem is branched in the part in wild plants but is usually unbranched in domesticated cultivars. The petiolate leaves are dentate and often sticky, the lower leaves are opposite, ovate or often heart-shaped. They are distinguished technically by the fact that the ray florets are sterile, some species also have additional shorter scales in the pappus, and there is one species that lacks a pappus entirely. Another technical feature that distinguishes the genus more reliably, but requires a microscope to see, is the presence of a prominent, sunflowers are especially well known for their symmetry based on Fibonacci numbers and the Golden angle. There is quite a bit of variability among the species that make up the bulk of the species in the genus. Some have most or all of the leaves in a rosette at the base of the plant
11.
Asteraceae
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Asteraceae or Compositae is a very large and widespread family of flowering plants. The family currently has 32,913 accepted species names, in 1,911 genera and 13 subfamilies, in terms of numbers of species, the Asteraceae are rivaled only by the Orchidaceae. Many members have composite flowers in the form of flower heads surrounded by involucral bracts, when viewed from a distance, each capitulum may have the appearance of being a single flower. The name Asteraceae comes from the type genus Aster, from the Greek ἀστήρ, meaning star, Compositae is an older but still valid name which refers to the fact that the family is one of the few angiosperm ones to have composite flowers. Most members of Asteraceae are herbaceous, but a significant number are also shrubs, vines, the family has a worldwide distribution, from the polar regions to the tropics, colonizing a wide variety of habitats. It is most common in the arid and semiarid regions of subtropical, the Asteraceae may represent as much as 10% of autochthonous flora in many regions of the world. Asteraceae is an important family, providing products such as cooking oils, lettuce, sunflower seeds, artichokes, sweetening agents, coffee substitutes. Several genera are of importance, including pot marigold, Calendula officinalis, Echinacea, various daisies, fleabane, chrysanthemums, dahlias, zinnias. Asteraceae are important in medicine, including Grindelia, yarrow. A number of species are considered invasive, including, most notably in North America, dandelion, the name Asteraceae comes to international scientific vocabulary from New Latin, from Aster, the type genus, + -aceae, a standardized suffix for plant family names in modern taxonomy. The genus name comes from the Classical Latin word aster, star, Compositae, an older but still valid name, means composite and refers to the characteristic inflorescence, a special type of pseudanthium found in only a few other angiosperm families. The study of family is known as synantherology. The vernacular name daisy, widely applied to members of family, is derived from its Old English name, dægesege, from dæges eage. This is because the open at dawn and close at dusk. Composite flowers have a distribution, and are found everywhere except Antarctica. They are especially numerous in tropical and subtropical regions, Compositae were first described in 1792 by the German botanist Paul Dietrich Giseke. Traditionally, two subfamilies were recognised, Asteroideae and Cichorioideae, the latter has been shown to be extensively paraphyletic, and has now been divided into 12 subfamilies, but the former still stands. The phylogenetic tree presented below is based on Panero & Funk updated in 2014, the diamond denotes a very poorly supported node, the dot a poorly supported node
12.
Dianthus
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Common names include carnation, pink and sweet william. The species are herbaceous perennials, a few are annual or biennial. The leaves are opposite, simple, mostly linear and often strongly glaucous grey-green to blue-green, the flowers have five petals, typically with a frilled or pinked margin, and are pale to dark pink. One species, D. knappii, has flowers with a purple centre. Some species, particularly the perennial pinks, are noted for their strong spicy fragrance, hybrids include, Devon Xera – Fire Star Dianthus John Prichard The name Dianthus is from the Greek words Διός Dios and ἀνθός anthos, and was cited by the Greek botanist Theophrastus. The color pink may be named after the flower, coming from the edge of the flowers. As is also demonstrated by the name of pinking shears, special scissors for cloth that create a zigzag or decorative edge that discourages fraying. Dianthus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Cabbage Moth, Double-striped Pug, Large Yellow Underwing, also three species of Coleophora case-bearers feed exclusively on Dianthus, C. dianthi, C. dianthivora and C. musculella. In the language of flowers, pink Dianthus symbolize boldness, Dianthus gratianopolitanus – the Cheddar Pink – was chosen as the County flower of Somerset in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity Plantlife. Dianthus Japonicus is the flower of Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Japan. List of Award of Garden Merit dianthus The Plant List
