1.
Nelumbo nucifera
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Nelumbo nucifera, also known as Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, Egyptian bean or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. The Linnaean binomial Nelumbo nucifera is the currently recognized name for this species and this plant is an aquatic perennial. Native to Tropical Asia, and Queensland, Australia, it is cultivated in water gardens. It is also the flower of India, and Vietnam. The lotus is often confused with the water lilies, in fact, several older systems, such as the Bentham & Hooker system call the lotus Nymphaea nelumbo or Nymphaea stellata. Far from being in the family, Nymphaea and Nelumbo are members of different orders. The roots of lotus are planted in the soil of the pond or river bottom, the flowers are usually found on thick stems rising several centimeters above the leaves. The plant normally grows up to a height of about 150 cm and a spread of up to 3 meters. The leaves may be as large as 60 cm in diameter, researchers report that the lotus has the remarkable ability to regulate the temperature of its flowers to within a narrow range just as humans and other warmblooded animals do. Dr. Roger S. Seymour and Dr and they suspect the flowers may be doing this to attract coldblooded insect pollinators. The study, published in the journal Nature, is the latest discovery in the field of thermoregulation, heat-producing, two other species known to be able to regulate their temperature include Symplocarpus foetidus and Philodendron selloum. An individual lotus can live for over a thousand years and has the ability to revive into activity after stasis. In 1994, a seed from a lotus, dated at roughly 1,300 years old ±270 years, was successfully germinated. As mentioned earlier, the traditional Sacred Lotus is only related to Nymphaea caerulea. Both Nymphaea caerulea and Nelumbo nucifera contain the alkaloids nuciferine and aporphine, the genome of the sacred lotus was sequenced in May 2013. The distinctive dried seed heads, which resemble the spouts of watering cans, are sold throughout the world for decorative purposes. The flowers, seeds, young leaves, and roots are all edible, in Asia, the petals are sometimes used for garnish, while the large leaves are used as a wrap for food, not frequently eaten. In Korea, the leaves and petals are used as a tisane, yeonkkotcha is made with dried petals of white lotus and yeonipcha is made with the leaves
2.
Turmeric
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Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to southern Asia, requiring temperatures between 20 and 30 °C and an amount of annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered annually for their rhizomes and propagated from some of those rhizomes in the following season, although long-used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat various diseases, there is little high-quality clinical evidence for use of turmeric or its main constituent, curcumin, as a therapy. Turmeric has been used in Asia for thousands of years and is a part of Siddha medicine. It was first used as a dye, and then later for its medicinal properties, the origin of the name is uncertain, possibly deriving from Middle English/early modern English as turmeryte or tarmaret. Speculation exists that it may be of Latin origin, terra merita, the name of the genus, Curcuma, is from an Arabic name of both saffron and turmeric. Turmeric is a herbaceous plant that reaches up to 1 m tall. Highly branched, yellow to orange, cylindrical, aromatic rhizomes are found, the leaves are alternate and arranged in two rows. They are divided into leaf sheath, petiole, and leaf blade, from the leaf sheaths, a false stem is formed. The petiole is 50 to 115 cm long, the simple leaf blades are usually 76 to 115 cm long and rarely up to 230 cm. They have a width of 38 to 45 cm and are oblong to elliptic, in China, the flowering time is usually in August. Terminally on the stem is a 12 to 20 cm long inflorescence stem containing many flowers. The bracts are green and ovate to oblong with a blunt upper end with a length of 3 to 5 cm. At the top of the inflorescence, stem bracts are present on which no flowers occur, these are white to green and sometimes, tinged reddish-purple, the hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and threefold. The three 0.8 to 1.2 cm long sepals are fused, white, have fluffy hairs, the three bright-yellow petals are fused into a corolla tube up to 3 cm long. The three corolla lobes have a length of 1.0 to 1.5 cm, and are triangular with soft-spiny upper ends, while the average corolla lobe is larger than the two lateral, only the median stamen of the inner circle is fertile. The dust bag is spurred at its base, all other stamens are converted to staminodes. The outer staminodes are shorter than the labellum, the labellum is yellowish, with a yellow ribbon in its center and it is obovate, with a length from 1.2 to 2.0 cm
3.
Stolon
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In biology, stolons, also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton, typically, in botany, stolons are stems which grow at the soil surface or just below ground that form adventitious roots at the nodes, and new plants from the buds. Rhizomes, in contrast, are root-like stems that may either grow horizontally at the surface or in other orientations underground. Thus, not all horizontal stems are called stolons, plants with stolons are called stoloniferous. A stolon is a plant propagation strategy and the complex of individuals formed by a plant and all its clones produced from stolons form a single genetic individual. Stolons may or may not have long internodes, the leaves along the stolon are usually very small, but in a few cases such as Stachys sylvatica are normal in size. Stolons arise from the base of the plant, the nodes of the stolons produce roots, often all around the node and hormones produced by the roots cause the stolon to initiate shoots with normal leaves. A number of plants have soil-level or above-ground rhizomes, including Iris species and he recognized stolons as axillary, subterranean branches that do not bear green leaves but only membranaceous, scale-like ones. In some Cyperus species the stolons end with the growth of tubers, some species of crawling plants can also sprout adventitious roots, but are not considered stoloniferous, a stolon is sprouted from an existing stem and can produce a full individual. Examples of plants that extend through stolons include some species from the genera Argentina, Cynodon, Fragaria, other plants with stolons below the soil surface include many grasses, Ajuga, Mentha, and Stachys. Lily-of-the-valley has rhizomes that grow stolon-like stems called stoloniferous rhizomes or leptomorph rhizomes, a number of plants have stoloniferous rhizomes including Asters. These stolon-like rhizomes are long and thin, with long internodes and indeterminate growth with lateral buds at the node, in potatoes, the stolons start to grow within 10 days of plants emerging above ground, with tubers usually beginning to form on the end of the stolons. The tubers are modified stolons that hold food reserves, with a few buds grow into stems. Since it is not a rhizome it does not generate roots, see also BBCH-scale Hydrilla use stolons that produce tubers to spread themselves and to survive dry periods in aquatic habitats. Erythronium, commonly called Trout Lily, have white stolons growing from the bulb, most run horizontally, either underground or along the surface of the ground under leaf litter. A number of species produce stolons, such as Erythronium propullans. Flowering plants often produce no stolons, convolvulus arvensis is a weed species in agriculture that spreads by under ground stolons that produce rhizomes. In studies on grass species, with plants that produce stolons or rhizomes, in mycology, a stolon is defined as an occasionally septate hypha, which connects sporangiophores together
4.
Corm
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The word cormous is used to describe plants growing from corms, in analogy to the use of the terms tuberous and bulbous to describe plants growing from tubers and bulbs. A corm consists of one or more internodes with at least one growing point, the tunic of a corm is formed from dead petiole sheaths, remnants of leaves produced in previous years. They act as a covering, protecting the corm from insects, digging animals, flooding, and water loss. The tunics of some species are thin, dry, and papery, at least in plants, however, in some families, such as Iridaceae. For example, some of the species of Watsonia accumulate thick, rot-resistant tunics over a period of some years. Other species, such as many in the genus Lapeirousia, have tunics of hard, internally a typical corm mostly consists of parenchyma cells rich in starch, above a circular basal node from which roots grow. Long-lived cormous plants vary in their long-term development, some regularly replace their older corms with a stack of younger corms, increased more or less seasonally. By splitting such a stack before the older corm generations wither too badly, other species seldom do anything of that kind, their corms simply grow larger in most seasons. Yet others split when multiple buds or stolons on a large corm sprout independently, corms can be dug up and used to propagate or redistribute the plant. Plants with corms generally can be propagated by cutting the corms into sections, suitably treated, each section with at least one bud usually can generate a new corm. Corms are sometimes confused with true bulbs, they are similar in appearance to bulbs externally. Corms are stems that are structured with solid tissues, which distinguishes them from bulbs. As a result, when a corm is cut in half it is solid, corms are structurally plant stems, with nodes and internodes with buds and produce adventitious roots. On the top of the corm, one or a few grow into shoots that produce normal leaves. Corms can form many small cormlets called cormels, from the areas of the new growing corms. They are used to propagate corm-forming plants, corms of a number of species of plants are replaced every year by the plant with growth of a new corm, this process starts after the shoot has developed fully expanded leaves. The new corm forms at the base just above the old corm. As the new corm is growing, short stolons are produced that end with the growing small cormels
5.
Crocosmia
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Crocosmia is a small genus of flowering plants in the iris family, Iridaceae. It is native to the grasslands of southern and eastern Africa, one species is endemic to Madagascar. They can be evergreen or deciduous perennials that grow from basal underground corms, the alternate leaves are cauline and ensiform. The corms are unusual in forming vertical chains with the youngest at the top, the roots of the lowermost corm in a chain are contractile roots and drag the corm deeper into the ground where conditions allow. The chains of corms are fragile and easily separated, a quality that has enabled species to become invasive. They have colourful inflorescences of 4 to 20 vivid red and orange flowers on a divaricately branched stem. The terminal inflorescence can have the form of a cyme or a raceme and these flower from early summer well into fall. The flowers are sessile on a flexuose arched spike, all stamens have an equal length. The style branches are apically forked and they are pollinated by insects, birds or by the wind. The dehiscent capsules are shorter than they are wide and they are commonly known in the United States as coppertips or falling stars, and in the United Kingdom as montbretia. Other names, for hybrids and cultivars, include antholyza, the genus name is derived from the Greek words krokos, meaning saffron, and osme, meaning odor – from the dried leaves emitting a strong smell like that of saffron – when immersed in hot water. Crocosmias are grown worldwide, and more than 400 cultivars have been produced, some hybrids have become invasive species, especially C. × crocosmiiflora hybrids, which are invasive in the UK, New Zealand, the American Pacific Northwest, and probably elsewhere. Crocosmia are winter-hardy in temperate regions and they can be propagated through division, removing offsets from the corm in spring. The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, Manning – Madagascar Crocosmia aurea Planch. – eastern + southern Africa from Cape Province to Sudan, naturalised in Azores Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora N. E. Br, – Lesotho, Free State, Drakensberg Mountains in Mpumalanga Crocosmia pottsii N. E. Br. – Cape Province, KwaZulu-Natal Crocosmia × curtonus Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora Lucifer scarlet De Vos, flora of Southern Africa 7, 129-138. Peter Goldblatt, John Manning, Gary Dunlop, Auriol Batten - Crocosmia and Chasmanthe Kostelijk, P. J. Crocosmia in gardens
6.
Botany
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Botany, also called plant science, plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field, the term botany comes from the Ancient Greek word βοτάνη meaning pasture, grass, or fodder, βοτάνη is in turn derived from βόσκειν, to feed or to graze. Nowadays, botanists study approximately 410,000 species of plants of which some 391,000 species are vascular plants. Medieval physic gardens, often attached to monasteries, contained plants of medical importance and they were forerunners of the first botanical gardens attached to universities, founded from the 1540s onwards. One of the earliest was the Padua botanical garden and these gardens facilitated the academic study of plants. Efforts to catalogue and describe their collections were the beginnings of plant taxonomy, in the last two decades of the 20th century, botanists exploited the techniques of molecular genetic analysis, including genomics and proteomics and DNA sequences to classify plants more accurately. Modern botany is a broad, multidisciplinary subject with inputs from most other areas of science, dominant themes in 21st century plant science are molecular genetics and epigenetics, which are the mechanisms and control of gene expression during differentiation of plant cells and tissues. Botany originated as herbalism, the study and use of plants for their medicinal properties, many records of the Holocene period date early botanical knowledge as far back as 10,000 years ago. This early unrecorded knowledge of plants was discovered in ancient sites of human occupation within Tennessee, the early recorded history of botany includes many ancient writings and plant classifications. Examples of early works have been found in ancient texts from India dating back to before 1100 BC, in archaic Avestan writings. His major works, Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants, constitute the most important contributions to science until the Middle Ages. De Materia Medica was widely read for more than 1,500 years, important contributions from the medieval Muslim world include Ibn Wahshiyyas Nabatean Agriculture, Abū Ḥanīfa Dīnawarīs the Book of Plants, and Ibn Bassals The Classification of Soils. In the early 13th century, Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati, and Ibn al-Baitar wrote on botany in a systematic and scientific manner and these gardens continued the practical value of earlier physic gardens, often associated with monasteries, in which plants were cultivated for medical use. They supported the growth of botany as an academic subject, lectures were given about the plants grown in the gardens and their medical uses demonstrated. Botanical gardens came much later to northern Europe, the first in England was the University of Oxford Botanic Garden in 1621, throughout this period, botany remained firmly subordinate to medicine. German physician Leonhart Fuchs was one of the three German fathers of botany, along with theologian Otto Brunfels and physician Hieronymus Bock, Fuchs and Brunfels broke away from the tradition of copying earlier works to make original observations of their own. Bock created his own system of plant classification, physician Valerius Cordus authored a botanically and pharmacologically important herbal Historia Plantarum in 1544 and a pharmacopoeia of lasting importance, the Dispensatorium in 1546. Naturalist Conrad von Gesner and herbalist John Gerard published herbals covering the medicinal uses of plants, naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi was considered the father of natural history, which included the study of plants
7.
Dendrology
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Dendrology or xylology is the science and study of wooded plants, specifically, their taxonomic classifications. Some families include only a few woody species, Dendrology, as a discipline of industrial forestry, tends to focus on identification of economically useful woody plants and their taxonomic interrelationships. As an academic course of study, Dendrology will include all plants, native and non-native. A related discipline is the study of Sylvics, which focuses on the autecology of genera, Dendrology is often confused with botany. However, botany is the study of all types of general plants, Dendrology may be considered a subcategory of botany that specializes in the characterization and identification of woody plants. Mike Baillie, Queens University of Belfast Viscount Philippe de Spoelberch Ludwig Beissner Francis A
8.
Ancient Greek
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Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
9.
Plant stem
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A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. The stem is divided into nodes and internodes, The nodes hold one or more leaves. Adventitious roots may also be produced from the nodes, the internodes distance one node from another. The term shoots is often confused with stems, shoots generally refers to new plant growth including both stems and other structures like leaves or flowers. In most plants stems are located above the surface but some plants have underground stems. Stems have four main functions which are, Support for and the elevation of leaves, flowers, the stems keep the leaves in the light and provide a place for the plant to keep its flowers and fruits. Transport of fluids between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem Storage of nutrients Production of new living tissue, the normal lifespan of plant cells is one to three years. Stems have cells called meristems that annually generate new living tissue, Stems are often specialized for storage, asexual reproduction, protection or photosynthesis, including the following, Acaulescent – used to describe stems in plants that appear to be stemless. Actually these stems are just extremely short, the leaves appearing to rise out of the ground. Arborescent – tree like with woody stems normally with a single trunk, branched – aerial stems are described as being branched or unbranched Bud – an embryonic shoot with immature stem tip. Bulb – a short underground stem with fleshy storage leaves attached, e. g. onion, daffodil. Bulbs often function in reproduction by splitting to form new bulbs or producing small new bulbs termed bulblets, bulbs are a combination of stem and leaves so may better be considered as leaves because the leaves make up the greater part. Caespitose – when stems grow in a mass or clump or in low growing mats. Cladode – a flattened stem that appears more-or-less leaf like and is specialized for photosynthesis, climbing – stems that cling or wrap around other plants or structures. Corm – a short enlarged underground, storage stem, e. g. taro, decumbent – stems that lie flat on the ground and turn upwards at the ends. Fruticose – stems that grow shrublike with woody like habit, herbaceous – non woody, they die at the end of the growing season. Pedicel – stems that serve as the stalk of a flower in an inflorescence or infrutescence. Peduncle – a stem that supports an inflorescence Prickle – a sharpened extension of the outer layers
10.
Root
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In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. Roots can also be aerial or aerating, that is growing up above the ground or especially above water, furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either. Therefore, the root is best defined as the non-leaf, non-nodes bearing parts of the plants body, however, important internal structural differences between stems and roots exist. The fossil record of roots – or rather, infilled voids where roots rotted after death – spans back to the late Silurian and their identification is difficult, because casts and molds of roots are so similar in appearance to animal burrows. They can be discriminated using a range of features, the first root that comes from a plant is called the radicle. In response to the concentration of nutrients, roots also synthesise cytokinin, Roots often function in storage of food and nutrients. The roots of most vascular plant species enter into symbiosis with fungi to form mycorrhizae. In its simplest form, the root architecture refers to the spatial configuration of a plant’s root system. This system can be complex and is dependent upon multiple factors such as the species of the plant itself, the composition of the soil. The configuration of root systems serves to support the plant, compete with other plants. Roots grow to specific conditions, which, if changed, can impede a plants growth. For example, a system that has developed in dry soil may not be as efficient in flooded soil, yet plants are able to adapt to other changes in the environment. Root architecture plays the important role of providing a supply of nutrients and water as well as anchorage. The main terms used to classify the architecture of a system are, Branch magnitude. Root angle, the angle of a lateral root’s base around the parent root’s circumference, the angle of a lateral root from its parent root. Link radius, the diameter of a root, all components of the root architecture are regulated through a complex interaction between genetic responses and responses due to environmental stimuli. These developmental stimuli are categorised as intrinsic, the genetic and nutritional influences, or extrinsic, the main hormones and respective pathways responsible for root architecture development include, Auxin – Auxin promotes root initiation, root emergence and primary root elongation. Cytokinins – Cytokinins regulate root apical meristem size and promote lateral root elongation, gibberellins – Together with ethylene they promote crown primordia growth and elongation
11.
Shoot
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In botany, shoots consist of stems including their appendages, the leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop, in the spring, perennial plant shoots are the new growth that grows from the ground in herbaceous plants or the new stem or flower growth that grows on woody plants. In everyday speech, shoots are often synonymous with stems, stems, which are an integral component of shoots, provide an axis for buds, fruits, and leaves. Young shoots are eaten by animals because the fibres in the new growth have not yet completed secondary cell wall development, making the young shoots softer and easier to chew. As shoots grow and age, the cells develop secondary cell walls that have a hard, some plants produce toxins that make their shoots inedible or less palatable. Many woody plants have distinct short shoots and long shoots, in some angiosperms, the short shoots, also called spur shoots or fruit spurs, produce the majority of flowers and fruit. A similar pattern occurs in some conifers and in Ginkgo, although the short shoots of some such as Picea are so small that they can be mistaken for part of the leaf that they have produced. A related phenomenon is seasonal heterophylly, which involves visibly different leaves from spring growth, whereas spring growth mostly comes from buds formed the previous season, and often includes flowers, lammas growth often involves long shoots
12.
Axillary bud
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The axillary bud is an embryonic shoot located in the axil of a leaf. Each bud has the potential to form shoots, and may be specialized in producing either vegetative shoots or reproductive shoots, once formed, a bud may remain dormant for some time, or it may form a shoot immediately. An axillary bud is a shoot which lies dormant at the junction of the stem. It arises exogenously from outer layer of cortex of the stem, axillary bud do not become actively growing shoots on plants with strong apical dominance. Apical dominance occurs because the shoot apical meristem produces auxin which prevents axillary buds from growing, axillary buds can be used to differentiate if the plant is single-leafed or multi-leafed. Simply count the number of leaves after an axillary bud, if there is only one leaf, then the plant is considered single-leafed, if not it is considered multi-leafed. An example of axillary buds are the eyes of the potato, as the apical meristem grows and forms leaves, it leaves behind a region of meristematic cells at the node between the stem and the leaf. These axillary buds are usually dormant, inhibited by auxin produced by the apical meristem, if the apical meristem is removed, or has grown a sufficient distance away from an axillary bud, the axillary bud may become activated. Like the apical meristem, axillary buds can develop into a stem or flower, certain plant diseases - notably phytoplasmas - can cause the proliferation of axillary buds, and cause plants to become bushy in appearance
13.
Strawberry
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The garden strawberry is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus Fragaria. It is cultivated worldwide for its fruit, the fruit is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness. It is consumed in quantities, either fresh or in such prepared foods as preserves, fruit juice, pies, ice creams, milkshakes. Artificial strawberry flavorings and aromas are also used in many products like lip gloss, candy, hand sanitizers, perfume. Cultivars of Fragaria × ananassa have replaced, in production, the woodland strawberry. Technically, the strawberry is an accessory fruit, meaning that the fleshy part is derived not from the plants ovaries. Each apparent seed on the outside of the fruit is one of the ovaries of the flower. The first garden strawberry was grown in Brittany, France during the late 18th century, prior to this, wild strawberries and cultivated selections from wild strawberry species were the common source of the fruit. The strawberry fruit was mentioned in ancient Roman literature in reference to its medicinal use, the French began taking the strawberry from the forest to their gardens for harvest in the 14th century. Charles V, Frances king from 1364 to 1380, had 1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden, in the early 15th century western European monks were using the wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscripts. The strawberry is found in Italian, Flemish, and German art, the entire strawberry plant was used to treat depressive illnesses. By the 16th century references of cultivation of the strawberry became more common, people began using it for its supposed medicinal properties and botanists began naming the different species. In England the demand for regular strawberry farming had increased by the mid-16th century, the combination of strawberries and cream was created by Thomas Wolsey in the court of King Henry VIII. Instructions for growing and harvesting strawberries showed up in writing in 1578, by the end of the 16th century three European species had been cited, F. vesca, F. moschata, and F. viridis. The garden strawberry was transplanted from the forests and then the plants would be propagated asexually by cutting off the runners, two subspecies of F. vesca were identified, F. sylvestris alba and F. sylvestris semperflorens. The introduction of F. virginiana from Eastern North America to Europe in the 17th century is an important part of history because this gave rise to the modern strawberry. The new species gradually spread through the continent and did not become completely appreciated until the end of the 18th century, when a French excursion journeyed to Chile in 1712, it introduced the strawberry plant with female flowers that resulted in the common strawberry that we have today. The Mapuche and Huilliche Indians of Chile cultivated the female strawberry species until 1551 when the Spanish came to conquer the land, in 1765, a European explorer recorded the cultivation of F. chiloensis, the Chilean strawberry
14.
Tuber
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Tubers are enlarged structures in some plant species used as storage organs for nutrients. They are used for the plants perennation, to energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season. Stem tubers form from thickened rhizomes or stolons, common plant species with stem tubers include potato and yam. Some sources also treat modified lateral roots under the definition, these are encountered in sweet potato, cassava, the term originates from Latin tuber, meaning lump, bump, swelling. Some sources define the term tuber to mean only structures derived from stems, a stem tuber forms from thickened rhizomes or stolons. The top sides of the tuber produce shoots that grow into stems and leaves. They tend to form at the sides of the parent plant and are most often located near the soil surface, the underground stem tuber is normally a short-lived storage and regenerative organ developing from a shoot that branches off a mature plant. The offsprings or new tubers are attached to a parent tuber or form at the end of a hypogeogenous rhizome, some plants also form smaller tubers and/or tubercules which act like seeds, producing small plants that resemble seedlings. Stem tubers generally start off as enlargements of the section of a seedling. Tuberous begonia, yams, and Cyclamen are commonly grown stem tubers, mignonette vine produces aerial stem tubers on 12-to-25-foot-tall vines, the tubers fall to the ground and grow. Enlarged stolons thicken to develop into storage organs, the tuber has all the parts of a normal stem, including nodes and internodes. The nodes are the eyes and each has a leaf scar, the nodes or eyes are arranged around the tuber in a spiral fashion beginning on the end opposite the attachment point to the stolon. The terminal bud is produced at the farthest point away from the stolon attachment, internally, a tuber is filled with starch stored in enlarged parenchyma like cells. The inside of a tuber has the cell structures of any stem, including a pith, vascular zones. The tuber is produced in one growing season and used to perennate the plant, as the main shoot develops from the tuber, the base of the shoot close to the tuber produces adventitious roots and lateral buds on the shoot. The shoot also produces stolons that are long etiolated stems, the stolon elongates during long days with the presence of high auxins levels that prevent root growth off of the stolon. Before new tuber formation begins, the stolon must be a certain age, the enzyme lipoxygenase makes a hormone, jasmonic acid, which is involved in the control of potato tuber development. The stolons are easily recognized when potato plants are grown from seeds, as the plants grow, stolons are produced around the soil surface from the nodes
15.
Storage organ
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A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are protected from attack by herbivores. Plants that have a storage organ are called geophytes in the Raunkiær plant life-form classification system. Storage organs often, but not always, act as perennating organs which enable plants to survive adverse conditions, storage organs may act as perennating organs. These are used by plants to survive adverse periods in the plants life-cycle, during these periods, parts of the plant die and then when conditions become favourable again, re-growth occurs from buds in the perennating organs. For example geophytes growing in woodland under deciduous trees die back to storage organs during summer when tree leaf cover restricts light. However, perennating organs need not be storage organs, equally, storage organs need not be perennating organs. Many succulents have leaves adapted for storage, which they retain in adverse conditions. g. Intermediates and combinations of the above are found, making classification difficult. As an example of an intermediate, the tuber of Cyclamen arises from the stem of the seedling, which forms the junction of the roots and stem of the mature plant. In some species come from the bottom of the tuber, suggesting that it is a stem tuber, in others roots come largely from the top of the tuber. As an example of a combination, juno irises have both bulbs and storage roots, underground storage organs used for food may be generically called root vegetables, although this phrase should not be taken to imply that the class only includes true roots. Succulents are plants which are adapted to periods of drought by their ability to store moisture in specialized storage organs. Leaf succulents store water in their leaves, which are thickened, fleshy. They may also contain mucilagenous compounds, some leaf succulents have leaves which are distributed along the stem in a similar fashion to non-succulent species, their stems may also be succulent. In others, the leaves are more compact, forming a rosette, pebble-plants or living stones have reduced their leaves to just two, forming a fleshy body, only the top of which may be visible above ground. Stem succulents are generally either leafless or have leaves which can be shed in the event of drought. Photosynthesis is then taken over by the stems, as with leaf succulents, stems may be covered with a waxy coating or fine hairs to reduce evaporation
16.
Starch
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Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants as an energy store and it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets and is contained in large amounts in staple foods such as potatoes, wheat, maize, rice, and cassava. Pure starch is a white, tasteless and odorless powder that is insoluble in water or alcohol. It consists of two types of molecules, the linear and helical amylose and the branched amylopectin, depending on the plant, starch generally contains 20 to 25% amylose and 75 to 80% amylopectin by weight. Glycogen, the store of animals, is a more branched version of amylopectin. In industry, starch is converted into sugars, for example by malting and it is processed to produce many of the sugars used in processed foods. Dissolving starch in water gives wheatpaste, which can be used as a thickening, stiffening or gluing agent. The biggest industrial non-food use of starch is as an adhesive in the papermaking process, starch can be applied to parts of some garments before ironing, to stiffen them. The word starch is from a Germanic root with the strong, stiff. Amylum for starch is from the Greek αμυλον, amylon which means not ground at a mill, the root amyl is used in biochemistry for several compounds related to starch. Starch grains from the rhizomes of Typha as flour have been identified from grinding stones in Europe dating back to 30,000 years ago, starch grains from sorghum were found on grind stones in caves in Ngalue, Mozambique dating up to 100,000 years ago. Pure extracted wheat starch paste was used in Ancient Egypt possibly to glue papyrus, the extraction of starch is first described in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder around AD 77–79. Romans used it also in cosmetic creams, to powder the hair, persians and Indians used it to make dishes similar to gothumai wheat halva. Rice starch as surface treatment of paper has been used in production in China. In addition to starchy plants consumed directly,66 million tonnes of starch were being produced per year world-wide by 2008. In the EU this was around 8.5 million tonnes, with around 40% being used for applications and 60% for food uses. Most green plants use starch as their energy store, an exception is the family Asteraceae, where starch is replaced by the fructan inulin. In photosynthesis, plants use light energy to produce glucose from carbon dioxide, the glucose is used to make cellulose fibers, the structural component of the plant, or is stored in the form of starch granules, in amyloplasts
17.
Potato
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The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial nightshade Solanum tuberosum. The word potato may refer either to the plant itself or to the edible tuber, in the Andes, where the species is indigenous, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes were introduced to Europe in the half of the 16th century by the Spanish. It is the worlds fourth-largest food crop, following maize, wheat, the green leaves and green skins of tubers exposed to the light are toxic. Wild potato species can be throughout the Americas from the United States to southern Chile. Following centuries of breeding, there are now over a thousand different types of potatoes. However, the importance of the potato is variable and changing rapidly. As of 2007 China led the world in production, and nearly a third of the worlds potatoes were harvested in China. The English word potato comes from Spanish patata, the Spanish Royal Academy says the Spanish word is a compound of the Taíno batata and the Quechua papa. The 16th-century English herbalist John Gerard used the terms bastard potatoes and Virginia potatoes for this species, potatoes are occasionally referred to as Irish potatoes or white potatoes in the United States, to distinguish them from sweet potatoes. The name spud for a small potato comes from the digging of soil prior to the planting of potatoes, the word spud traces back to the 16th century. It subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools, around 1845, the name transferred to the tuber itself. It was Mario Peis 1949 The Story of Language that can be blamed for the false origin. Pei writes, the potato, for its part, was in disrepute some centuries ago, some Englishmen who did not fancy potatoes formed a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet. The initials of the words in this title gave rise to spud. Like most other pre-20th century acronymic origins, this is false, Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about 60 cm high, depending on variety, with the leaves dying back after flowering, fruiting and tuber formation. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow stamens, in general, the tubers of varieties with white flowers have white skins, while those of varieties with colored flowers tend to have pinkish skins. Potatoes are mostly cross-pollinated by insects such as bumblebees, which carry pollen from other potato plants, tubers form in response to decreasing day length, although this tendency has been minimized in commercial varieties
18.
Protein
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Proteins are large biomolecules, or macromolecules, consisting of one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, responding to stimuli, a linear chain of amino acid residues is called a polypeptide. A protein contains at least one long polypeptide, short polypeptides, containing less than 20–30 residues, are rarely considered to be proteins and are commonly called peptides, or sometimes oligopeptides. The individual amino acid residues are bonded together by peptide bonds, the sequence of amino acid residues in a protein is defined by the sequence of a gene, which is encoded in the genetic code. In general, the code specifies 20 standard amino acids, however. Sometimes proteins have non-peptide groups attached, which can be called prosthetic groups or cofactors, proteins can also work together to achieve a particular function, and they often associate to form stable protein complexes. Once formed, proteins only exist for a period of time and are then degraded and recycled by the cells machinery through the process of protein turnover. A proteins lifespan is measured in terms of its half-life and covers a wide range and they can exist for minutes or years with an average lifespan of 1–2 days in mammalian cells. Abnormal and or misfolded proteins are degraded more rapidly due to being targeted for destruction or due to being unstable. Like other biological macromolecules such as polysaccharides and nucleic acids, proteins are essential parts of organisms, many proteins are enzymes that catalyse biochemical reactions and are vital to metabolism. Proteins also have structural or mechanical functions, such as actin and myosin in muscle and the proteins in the cytoskeleton, other proteins are important in cell signaling, immune responses, cell adhesion, and the cell cycle. In animals, proteins are needed in the diet to provide the essential amino acids that cannot be synthesized, digestion breaks the proteins down for use in the metabolism. Methods commonly used to study structure and function include immunohistochemistry, site-directed mutagenesis, X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance. Most proteins consist of linear polymers built from series of up to 20 different L-α-amino acids, all proteinogenic amino acids possess common structural features, including an α-carbon to which an amino group, a carboxyl group, and a variable side chain are bonded. Only proline differs from this structure as it contains an unusual ring to the N-end amine group. The amino acids in a chain are linked by peptide bonds. Once linked in the chain, an individual amino acid is called a residue, and the linked series of carbon, nitrogen. The peptide bond has two forms that contribute some double-bond character and inhibit rotation around its axis, so that the alpha carbons are roughly coplanar
19.
Vegetative reproduction
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Vegetative reproduction is a form of asexual reproduction in plants. It is a process by which new organisms arise without production of seeds or spores and it can occur naturally or be induced by horticulturists. Although most plants normally reproduce sexually, many have the ability for vegetative propagation and this is because meristematic cells capable of cellular differentiation are present in many plant tissues. Horticulturalists are interested in understanding how meristematic cells can be induced to reproduce an entire plant, success rates and difficulty of propagation vary greatly. For example, willow and coleus can be propagated merely by inserting a stem in water or moist soil, on the other hand, monocotyledons, unlike dicotyledons, typically lack a vascular cambium and therefore are harder to propagate. In a wide sense, methods of propagation include cutting, vegetative apomixis, layering, division, budding, grafting. Cutting exploits the ability of plants to grow adventitious roots under certain conditions, vegetative propagation is usually considered a cloning method. However, there are cases where vegetatively propagated plants are not genetically identical. Root cuttings of thornless blackberries will revert to type because the adventitious shoot develops from a cell that is genetically thorny. Thornless blackberry is a chimera, with the epidermal layers genetically thornless, similarly, leaf cutting propagation of certain chimeral variegated plants, such as snake plant, will produce mainly nonvariegated plants. Grafting is often not a complete cloning method because seedlings are used as rootstocks, in that case only the top of the plant is clonal. In some crops, particularly apples, the rootstocks are vegetatively propagated so the entire graft can be if the scion. Apomixis is a type of reproduction that does not involve fertilisation, in flowering plants, unfertilized seeds are involved, or plantlets that grow instead of flowers. Hawkweed, dandelion, some citrus and many such as Kentucky blue grass all use this form of asexual reproduction. Bulbils are sometimes formed instead of the flowers of garlic, virtually all types of shoots and roots are capable of vegetative propagation, including stems, basal shoots, tubers, rhizomes, stolons, corms, bulbs, and buds. In a few species, leaves are involved in vegetative reproduction, the rhizome is a modified underground stem serving as an organ of vegetative reproduction, e. g. Polypodium, iris, couch grass and nettles, prostrate aerial stems, called runners or stolons are important vegetative reproduction organs in some species, such as the strawberry, numerous grasses, and some ferns. Adventitious buds form on roots near the surface, on damaged stems
20.
Bamboo
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The bamboos /bæmˈbuː/ are evergreen perennial flowering plants in the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. The dicotyledonous woody xylem is also absent, the absence of secondary growth wood causes the stems of monocots, including the palms and large bamboos, to be columnar rather than tapering. Bamboos include some of the plants in the world, due to a unique rhizome-dependent system. Certain species of bamboo can grow 91 cm within a 24-hour period, giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. Bamboos are of economic and cultural significance in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source. Bamboo has a higher compressive strength than wood, brick, or concrete. The word bamboo comes from the Kannada term bambu, which was introduced to English through Indonesian, the subfamily in its current sense belongs to the BOP clade of grasses, where it is sister to the Pooideae. The woody bamboos do not form a group, instead. Altogether, more than 1,400 species are placed in 115 genera, most bamboo are native to warm and moist tropical and warm temperate climates. However, many species are found in climates, from hot tropical regions to cool mountainous regions. In the Asia-Pacific region they occur across East Asia, from 50°N latitude in Sakhalin south to Northern Australia, and west to India, China, Japan, Korea, India, and Australia, all have several endemic populations. They also occur in numbers in sub-Saharan Africa, confined to tropical areas, from southern Senegal in the north to southern Mozambique. Bamboo is also native through Central America and Mexico, northward into the Southeastern United States, canada and continental Europe is not known to have any native species of bamboo. Recently, some attempts have been made to grow bamboo on a basis in the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa. In the United States, several companies are growing, harvesting, bamboos include some of the fastest-growing plants on Earth, with reported growth rates up to 91 cm in 24 hours. Primarily growing in regions of warmer climates during the late Cretaceous period, some of the largest timber bamboo can grow over 30 m tall, and be as large as 25–30 cm in diameter. However, the range for mature bamboo is species-dependent, with the smallest bamboos reaching only several inches high at maturity. A typical height range that would cover many of the common bamboos grown in the United States is 4. 6–12 m, depending on species
21.
Tussock (grass)
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Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are found as native plants in natural ecosystems, as forage in pastures, and as ornamental grasses in gardens. As perennial plants usually, they more than one season. Many species have long roots that may reach 2 meters or more into the soil, which can aid slope stabilization, erosion control, also, their roots can reach moisture more deeply than other grasses and annual plants during seasonal or climatic droughts. The plants provide habitat and food for insects, birds, small animals and larger herbivores, the leaves supply material, such as for basket weaving, for indigenous peoples and contemporary artists. In western North American wildfires, bunch grasses tend to smolder and not ignite into flames, flavescens Festuca novaezelandiae Poa caespitosa P. colensoi P. http, //www. landcareresearch. co. nz/resources/identification/plants/grass-key
22.
Hops
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Hops are the flowers of the hop plant Humulus lupulus. The hop plant is a vigorous, climbing, herbaceous perennial, usually trained to grow up strings in a called a hopfield, hop garden. Many different varieties of hops are grown by farmers around the world, the first documented use of hops in beer is from the 9th century, though Hildegard of Bingen,300 years later, is often cited as the earliest documented source. Before this period, brewers used gruit, composed of a variety of bitter herbs and flowers, including dandelion, burdock root, marigold, horehound, ground ivy. Early documents include mention of a hop garden in the will of Charlemagnes father, historically, traditional herb combinations for beers were believed to have been abandoned when beers made with hops were noticed to be less prone to spoilage. The first documented hop cultivation was in 736, in the Hallertau region of present-day Germany, however, in a will of Pepin the Short, the father of Charlemagne,768 hop gardens were left to the Cloister of Saint-Denis. Not until the 13th century did hops begin to start threatening the use of gruit for flavoring, gruit was used when taxes were levied by the nobility on hops. Whichever was taxed made the then quickly switch to the other. In Britain, hopped beer was first imported from Holland around 1400, yet hops were condemned as late as 1519 as a wicked, in 1471, Norwich, England, banned use of the plant in the brewing of ale. In Germany, using hops was also a religious and political choice in the early 16th century, there was no tax on hops to be paid on the Catholic church, unlike on gruit, for which the Protestant preferred hopped beer. Therefore, in the hop industry there are words which originally were Dutch words. Hops were then grown as far north as Aberdeen, near breweries for infrastructure convenience, in England there were many complaints over the quality of imported hops, the sacks of which were often contaminated by stalks, sand or straw to increase their weight. Hop cultivation was begun in the present-day United States in 1629 by English, before national alcohol prohibition, cultivation was mainly centered around New York, California, Oregon, and Washington. Problems with powdery mildew and downy mildew devastated New Yorks production by the 1920s, Hops production is concentrated in moist temperate climates, with much of the worlds production occurring near the 48th parallel north. Historically, hops were not grown in Ireland, but were imported from England, in 1752 more than 500 tons of English hops were imported through Dublin alone. Important production centers today are the Hallertau in Germany, the Yakima and Willamette valleys, the principal production centers in the UK are in Kent which produces Kent Goldings hops, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Essentially all of the hops are used in beer making. Although hops are grown in most of the continental United States and Canada, as hops are a climbing plant, they are trained to grow up trellises made from strings or wires that support the plants and allow them significantly greater growth with the same sunlight profile
23.
Asparagus
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Asparagus, or garden asparagus, scientific name Asparagus officinalis, is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennial plant species in the genus Asparagus. Asparagus officinalis is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, Asparagus is a herbaceous, perennial plant growing to 100–150 cm tall, with stout stems with much-branched, feathery foliage. The leaves are in fact needle-like cladodes in the axils of leaves, they are 6–32 mm long and 1 mm broad. The root system is adventitious and the type is fasciculated. It is usually dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, the fruit is a small red berry 6–10 mm diameter, which is poisonous to humans. Plants native to the coasts of Europe are treated as Asparagus officinalis subsp. Distinguished by its low-growing, often prostrate stems growing to only 30–70 cm high and it is treated as a distinct species, Asparagus prostratus Dumort, by some authors. Asparagus has been used as a vegetable and medicine, owing to its flavour, diuretic properties. It is pictured as an offering on an Egyptian frieze dating to 3000 BC, in ancient times, it was also known in Syria and in Spain. Greeks and Romans ate it fresh when in season, and dried the vegetable for use in winter, Roman Epicureans even froze it high in the Alps, emperor Augustus created the Asparagus Fleet for hauling the vegetable, and coined the expression faster than cooking asparagus for quick action. A recipe for cooking asparagus is in the oldest surviving book of recipes, Apicius’s third-century AD De re coquinaria, the ancient Greek physician Galen mentioned asparagus as a beneficial herb during the second century AD, but after the Roman empire ended, asparagus drew little medieval attention. That piece of writing celebrates its aphrodisiacal power, a virtue that the Indian Ananga Ranga attributes to special phosphorus elements that also counteract fatigue. By 1469, asparagus was cultivated in French monasteries, Asparagus appears to have been hardly noticed in England until 1538, and in Germany until 1542. The finest texture and the strongest and yet most delicate taste is in the tips, the points damour were served as a delicacy to Madame de Pompadour. Asparagus became available to the New World around 1850, in the United States, only young asparagus shoots are commonly eaten, once the buds start to open, the shoots quickly turn woody. Water makes up 93% of asparaguss composition, Asparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. The amino acid asparagine gets its name from asparagus, as the plant is relatively rich in this compound. The shoots are prepared and served in a number of ways around the world, in Asian-style cooking, asparagus is often stir-fried
24.
Ginger
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Ginger is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or simply ginger, is widely used as a spice or a folk medicine. It is a perennial which grows annual stems about a meter tall bearing narrow green leaves. Ginger is in the family Zingiberaceae, to also belong turmeric, cardamom. Ginger originated in the tropical rainforest in Southern Asia, although ginger no longer grows wild, it is thought to have originated on the Indian subcontinent because the ginger plants grown in India show the largest amount of genetic variation. Ginger was exported to Europe via India in the first century AD as a result of the spice trade and was used extensively by the Romans. The distantly related dicots in the genus Asarum are commonly called wild ginger because of their similar taste. But this may be Sanskrit folk etymology, and the word may be from an ancient Dravidian name that produced the Tamil and Malayalam name for the spice, inchi-ver. The word probably was readopted in Middle English from Old French gingibre, ginger produces clusters of white and pink flower buds that bloom into yellow flowers. Because of its appeal and the adaptation of the plant to warm climates. It is a perennial plant with annual leafy stems, about a meter tall. Traditionally, the rhizome is gathered when the stalk withers, it is scalded, or washed and scraped, to kill it. The fragrant perisperm of the Zingiberaceae is used as sweetmeats by Bantu, ginger produces a hot, fragrant kitchen spice. Young ginger rhizomes are juicy and fleshy with a mild taste. They are often pickled in vinegar or sherry as a snack or cooked as an ingredient in many dishes and they can be steeped in boiling water to make ginger tisane, to which honey is often added, sliced orange or lemon fruit may be added. Ginger can be made into candy, or ginger wine, which has been made commercially since 1740, mature ginger rhizomes are fibrous and nearly dry. Fresh ginger can be substituted for ground ginger at a ratio of six to one, although the flavors of fresh, powdered dry ginger root is typically used as a flavoring for recipes such as gingerbread, cookies, crackers and cakes, ginger ale, and ginger beer. Candied ginger, or crystallized ginger, is the root cooked in sugar until soft, fresh ginger may be peeled before eating. For longer-term storage, the ginger can be placed in a plastic bag, in Indian cuisine, ginger is a key ingredient, especially in thicker gravies, as well as in many other dishes, both vegetarian and meat-based
25.
Iris (plant)
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Iris is a genus of about 260–300, species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, some authors state that the name refers to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species. As well as being the name, iris is also very widely used as a common name for all Iris species. A common name for some species is flags, while the plants of the subgenus Scorpiris are widely known as junos and it is a popular garden flower. The often-segregated, monotypic genera Belamcanda, Hermodactylus, and Pardanthopsis are currently included in Iris, Iris is the national flower of Croatia. Irises are perennial plants, growing from creeping rhizomes or, in drier climates and they have long, erect flowering stems which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The rhizomatous species usually have 3–10 basal sword-shaped leaves growing in dense clumps, the bulbous species have cylindrical, basal leaves. The inflorescences are in the shape of a fan and contain one or more symmetrical six-lobed flowers and these grow on a pedicel or peduncle. The three sepals, which are usually spreading or droop downwards, are referred to as falls and they expand from their narrow base, into a broader expanded portion and can be adorned with veining, lines or dots. In the centre of the blade, some of the rhizomatous irises have a beard, the three, sometimes reduced, petals stand upright, partly behind the sepal bases. Some smaller iris species have all six lobes pointing straight outwards and they are united at their base into a floral tube that lies above the ovary. The styles divide towards the apex into petaloid branches, this is significant in pollination, the iris flower is of interest as an example of the relation between flowering plants and pollinating insects. The iris fruit is a capsule which opens up in three parts to reveal the seeds within. In some species, the bear a aril. Iris is the largest genus of the family Iridaceae with up to 300 species – many of natural hybrids. Modern classifications, starting with Dykes, have subdivided them, Dykes referred to the major subgroupings as sections. Subsequent authors such as Lawrence and Rodionenko have generally called them subgenera, while essentially retaining Dykes groupings, of these, section Limneris was further divided into sixteen series. Rodionenko also reduced the number of sections in subgenus Iris, from six to two, depending on the presence or absence of arils on the seeds, referred to as arilate or nonarilate, taylor provides arguments for not including all arilate species in Hexapogon
26.
Lily of the valley
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It is possibly the only species in the genus Convallaria. In the APG III system, the genus is placed in the family Asparagaceae and it was formerly placed in its own family Convallariaceae, and, like many lilioid monocots, before that in the lily family Liliaceae. Convallaria majalis is a perennial plant that forms extensive colonies by spreading underground stems called rhizomes. New upright shoots are formed at the ends of stolons in summer and these grow in the spring into new leafy shoots that still remain connected to the other shoots under ground, often forming extensive colonies. The stems grow to 15–30 cm tall, with one or two leaves 10–25 cm long, flowering stems have two leaves and a raceme of 5–15 flowers on the stem apex. The fruit is a small orange-red berry 5–7 mm diameter that contains a few large whitish to brownish colored seeds that dry to a clear translucent round bead 1–3 mm wide, plants are self-sterile, and colonies consisting of a single clone do not set seed. Convallaria majalis is a native of Europe, where it avoids the Mediterranean. An eastern variety, C. majalis var. manschurica occurs in Japan, a limited native population of C. majalis var. montana occurs in the Eastern United States. There is, however, some debate as to the status of the American variety. Like many perennial flowering plants, C. majalis exhibits dual reproductive modes by producing offspring asexually by vegetative means, Convallaria majalis is a plant of partial shade, and mesophile type that prefers warm summers. It likes soils that are silty or sandy and acid to moderately alkaline, the Royal Horticultural Society states that slightly alkaline soils are the most favoured. It is an Euroasiatic and suboceanic species that lives in mountains up to 1,500 m altitude, Convallaria majalis is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the grey chi. Adults and larvae of the leaf beetle Lilioceris merdigera are also able to tolerate the cardenolides, there are three varieties that have sometimes been separated out as distinct species or subspecies by some botanists. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, in favourable conditions it can form large colonies. Various kinds and cultivars are grown, including those with flowers, rose-colored flowers, variegated foliage. C. majalis Rosea sometimes found under the name C. majalis var. rosea, has pink flowers, traditionally Convallaria majalis has been grown in pots and winter forced to provide flowers during the winter months, both for as potted plants and as cut flowers. All parts of the plant are poisonous, including the red berries which may be attractive to children. If ingested—even in small amounts—the plant can cause pain, vomiting, reduced heart rate, blurred vision, drowsiness
27.
Canna (plant)
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Canna is a genus of 10 species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the plant families of the order Zingiberales. Canna is the genus in the family Cannaceae. The APG II system of 2003 assigns it to the clade commelinids, Plants have large foliage and horticulturists have turned it into a large-flowered garden plant. It is also used in agriculture as a source of starch for human. See the Canna cultivar gallery for photographs of Canna cultivars, the name Canna originates from the Latin word for a cane or reed. The plants are large tropical and subtropical perennial herbs with a rhizomatous rootstock, the broad, flat, alternate leaves that are such a feature of this plant, grow out of a stem in a long, narrow roll and then unfurl. The leaves are solid green, but some cultivars have glaucose, brownish, maroon. The flowers are composed of three sepals and three petals that are seldom noticed by people, they are small and hidden under extravagant stamens, what appear to be petals are the highly modified stamens or staminodes. The staminodes number 3 (with at least one staminodal member called the labellum, a specialized staminode, the stamen, bears pollen from a half-anther. A somewhat narrower petal is the pistil which is connected down to a three-chambered ovary, the flowers are typically red, orange, or yellow or any combination of those colours, and are aggregated in inflorescences that are spikes or panicles. Although gardeners enjoy these odd flowers, nature really intended them to attract pollinators collecting nectar and pollen, such as bees, hummingbirds, sunbirds, the pollination mechanism is conspicuously specialized. Later cultivars have a lower anther, and rely on pollinators alighting on the labellum and touching first the terminal stigma, and then the pollen. The wild species grow to at least 2–3 m in height. Canna is the member of the Liliopsida class in which hibernation of seed is known to occur, due to its hard. The first species of Canna introduced to Europe was C. indica L. which was imported from the East Indies, charles de lEcluse, who first described and sketched C. Without exception, all Canna species that have been introduced into Europe can be traced back to the Americas, if the soils of India or Africa had produced some of them, they would have been imported before the 1860s into European gardens. Both reduced the number of species from the 50-100 accepted previously and this reduction in species is also confirmed by work done by Kress and Prince at the Smithsonian Institution, however, this only covers a subset of the species range
28.
Orchidaceae
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The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms that are often colourful and often fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants, the Orchidaceae have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera. The determination of which family is larger is still under debate, regardless, the number of orchid species nearly equals the number of bony fishes and is more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. The family also encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants, the largest genera are Bulbophyllum, Epidendrum, Dendrobium and Pleurothallis. The family also includes Vanilla, Orchis, and many cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis. Moreover, since the introduction of species into cultivation in the 19th century, horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids. Orchids are easily distinguished from plants, as they share some very evident, shared derived characteristics. Among these are, bilateral symmetry of the flower, many flowers, a nearly always highly modified petal, fused stamens and carpels. All orchids are perennial herbs that lack any permanent woody structure and they can grow according to two patterns, Monopodial, The stem grows from a single bud, leaves are added from the apex each year and the stem grows longer accordingly. The stem of orchids with a monopodial growth can reach several metres in length, as in Vanda, Sympodial, Sympodial orchids have a front and a back. The plant produces a series of adjacent shoots which grow to a size, bloom. Sympodial orchids grow laterally rather than vertically, following the surface of their support, the growth continues by development of new leads, with their own leaves and roots, sprouting from or next to those of the previous year, as in Cattleya. While a new lead is developing, the rhizome may start its growth again from a so-called eye, Sympodial orchids may have visible pseudobulbs joined by a rhizome, which creeps along the top or just beneath the soil. Terrestrial orchids may be rhizomatous or form corms or tubers, the root caps of terrestrial orchids are smooth and white. Some sympodial terrestrial orchids, such as Orchis and Ophrys, have two subterranean tuberous roots, one is used as a food reserve for wintry periods, and provides for the development of the other one, from which visible growth develops. In warm and constantly humid climates, many terrestrial orchids do not need pseudobulbs, epiphytic orchids, those that grow upon a support, have modified aerial roots that can sometimes be a few meters long. In the older parts of the roots, a modified spongy epidermis and it is made of dead cells and can have a silvery-grey, white or brown appearance. In some orchids, the velamen includes spongy and fibrous bodies near the passage cells, the cells of the root epidermis grow at a right angle to the axis of the root to allow them to get a firm grasp on their support
29.
Galangal
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Galangal /ɡəˈlæŋɡəl/ is a common name that is loosely attributed to any of several tropical rhizomatous spices. Polish Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka is flavoured with galangal, in ethnobotany, each of the various galangals are attributed with specific medical virtues. In commerce, galangals are commonly available in Asian markets as whole fresh rhizome, or in dried and sliced, qureshi, S. Shah, A. Ageel, A. Toxicity Studies on Alpinia galanga and Curcuma longa, bendjeddou, D, Lalaoui, K, Satta, D. Immunostimulating activity of the hot water-soluble polysaccharide extracts of Anacyclus pyrethrum, Alpinia galanga and Citrullus colocynthis. Cytotoxic and Antifungal Diterpenes from the Seeds of Alpinia galanga, oonmetta-Aree, Jirawan, Suzuki, Tomoko, Gasaluck, Piyawan, Eumkeb, Griangsak. Antimicrobial properties and action of galangal on Staphylococcus aureus, LWT - Food Science and Technology. Itokawa, Hideji, Morita, Hiroshi, Sumitomo, Takayoshi, Totsuka, Nobuo, Takeya, matsuda, Hisashi, Pongpiriyadacha, Yutana, Morikawa, Toshio, Ochi, Momotaro, Yoshikawa, Masayuki. Gastroprotective effects of phenylpropanoids from the rhizomes of Alpinia galanga in rats, Structural requirements, mitsui, Seiji, Kobayashi, Shinsaku, Nagahori, Hitoshi, Ogiso, Akira. Constituents from seeds of Alpinia galanga Wild, matsuda, Hisashi, Morikawa, Toshio, Managi, Hiromi, Yoshikawa, Masayuki. Antiallergic principles from Alpinia galanga, Structural requirements of phenylpropanoids for inhibition of degranulation and release of TNF-α, de Pooter, Herman L. Omar, Muhammad Nor, Coolsaet, Brigitte A. Schamp, Niceas M. The essential oil of greater galanga from Malaysia, two phenolic constituents from Alpinia galanga rhizomes. Borthakur, M. Hazarika, J. Singh, R. S, a protocol for micropropagation of Alpinia galanga. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, haraguchi, Hiroyuki, Kuwata, Yoshiharu, Inada, Kozo, Shingu, Kazushi, Miyahara, Kazumoto, Nagao, Miyoko, Yagi, Akira. Antifungal Activity from Alpinia galanga and the Competition for Incorporation of Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Cell Growth
30.
Boesenbergia rotunda
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Boesenbergia rotunda, commonly known as Chinese keys, fingerroot, lesser galangal or Chinese ginger, is a medicinal and culinary herb from China and Southeast Asia. In English, the root has traditionally been called fingerroot, because the shape of the rhizome resembles that of growing out of a center piece. Cambodian, kcheay Indonesian, temu kunci Sinhalese, haran kaha Thai, krachai Vietnamese and it is widely used in Javanese cuisine in Indonesia. In Thai cooking it is called krachai and is an ingredient of dishes such as kaeng tai pla and it is used in some kroeung pastes of Cambodian cuisine and is known as kcheay. In the west it is usually found pickled or frozen and it is sometimes confused with Alpinia officinarum, another plant in the family Zingiberaceae which is also known as lesser galangal. In Meitei, it is called Yai-macha, gernot Katzers Spice Pages – Fingerroot Boesenbergia rotunda
31.
Ethylene
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Ethylene is a hydrocarbon which has the formula C 2H4 or H2C=CH2. It is a flammable gas with a faint sweet and musky odour when pure. Ethylene is widely used in the industry, and its worldwide production exceeds that of any other organic compound. Much of this production goes toward polyethylene, a used plastic containing polymer chains of ethylene units in various chain lengths. Ethylene is also an important natural plant hormone, used in agriculture to force the ripening of fruits and this hydrocarbon has four hydrogen atoms bound to a pair of carbon atoms that are connected by a double bond. All six atoms that comprise ethylene are coplanar, the H-C-H angle is 117. 4°, close to the 120° for ideal sp² hybridized carbon. The molecule is relatively rigid, rotation about the C-C bond is a high energy process that requires breaking the π-bond. The π-bond in the molecule is responsible for its useful reactivity. The double bond is a region of high density, thus it is susceptible to attack by electrophiles. Many reactions of ethylene are catalyzed by metals, which bind transiently to the ethylene using both the π and π* orbitals. Being a simple molecule, ethylene is spectroscopically simple and its UV-vis spectrum is still used as a test of theoretical methods. In the United States and Europe, approximately 90% of ethylene is used to produce ethylene oxide, ethylene dichloride, most of the reactions with ethylene are electrophilic addition. Polyethylene consumes more than half of the worlds ethylene supply, polyethylene, also called polyethene, is the worlds most widely used plastic. It is primarily used to make films in packaging, carrier bags, linear alpha-olefins, produced by oligomerization are used as precursors, detergents, plasticisers, synthetic lubricants, additives, and also as co-monomers in the production of polyethylenes. Ethylene is oxidized to ethylene oxide, a key raw material in the production of surfactants and detergents by ethoxylation. Ethylene oxide is hydrolyzed to produce ethylene glycol, widely used as an automotive antifreeze as well as higher molecular weight glycols, glycol ethers. Ethylene undergoes oxidation by palladium to give acetaldehyde and this conversion remains a major industrial process. The process proceeds via the initial complexation of ethylene to a Pd center, major intermediates from the halogenation and hydrohalogenation of ethylene include ethylene dichloride, ethyl chloride and ethylene dibromide
32.
Jasmonic acid
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Jasmonic acid is an organic compound found in several plants. The molecule is a member of the class of plant hormones. It is biosynthesized from linolenic acid by the octadecanoid pathway and its biosynthesis starts from the fatty acid linolenic acid, which is oxygenated and cyclizes. The major function of JA and its various metabolites is regulating plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses as well as plant growth, regulated plant growth and development processes include growth inhibition, senescence, tendril coiling, flower development and leaf abscission. JA is also responsible for formation in potatoes and yams. It has an important role in response to wounding of plants, the Dgl gene is responsible for maintaining levels of JA during usual conditions in Zea mays as well as the preliminary release of jasmonic acid shortly after being fed upon. When plants are attacked by insects, they respond by releasing JA, JA may have a role in pest control. Indeed JA has been considered as a treatment in order to stimulate the natural anti-pest defenses of the plants that germinate from the treated seeds. In this application jasmonates are sprayed onto plants that have started growing. However, due to its relationship with salicylic acid in some plant species, it may result in an increased susceptibility to viral agents. In Zea mays, salicylic acid and JA are mediated by NPR1, an Armyworm like the Spodoptera spp. Jasmonic acid is converted to a variety of derivatives including the ester methyl jasmonate. It is also be conjugated to amino acids in some biological contexts, decarboxylation affords the related fragrance jasmone. Sankawa, Ushio, Barton, Derek H. R. Nakanishi, Koji, Meth-Cohn, Otto, comprehensive Natural Products Chemistry, Polyketides and Other Secondary Metabolites Including Fatty Acids and Their Derivatives
33.
Rhubarb
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Rhubarb is a species of plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is a perennial growing from short, thick rhizomes. It produces large poisonous leaves that are triangular, with long fleshy edible stalks. In culinary use, fresh raw leaf stalks are crisp with a strong, although rhubarb is not a true fruit, in the kitchen it is usually prepared as if it were. Most commonly, the stalks are cooked with sugar and used in pies, crumbles, a number of varieties have been domesticated for human consumption, most of which are recognised as Rheum x hybridum by the Royal Horticultural Society. Rhubarb contains anthraquinones including rhein, and emodin and their glycosides and it is hence useful as a cathartic in case of constipation. Rhubarb is grown widely, and with greenhouse production it is available throughout much of the year, Rhubarb grown in hothouses is called hothouse rhubarb, and is typically made available at consumer markets in early spring, before outdoor cultivated rhubarb is available. Hothouse rhubarb is usually red, more tender and sweeter-tasting than outdoors rhubarb. In temperate climates, rhubarb is one of the first food plants harvested, usually in mid- to late spring, in the northwestern US states of Oregon and Washington, there are typically two harvests, from late April to May and from late June into July. Rhubarb is ready to consume as soon as harvested, and freshly cut stalks are firm and glossy. In the United Kingdom, the first rhubarb of the year is harvested by candlelight in forcing sheds where all light is excluded – a practice that produces a sweeter. These sheds are dotted around the noted Rhubarb Triangle of Wakefield, Leeds, because rhubarb is a seasonal plant, obtaining fresh rhubarb out of season is difficult in colder climates, such as in the UK, Ireland, Russia, etc. Rhubarb thrives in areas of sunlight and can successfully be planted in containers if they are large enough to accommodate a seasons growth. Rhubarb damaged by severe cold should not be eaten, as it may be high in oxalic acid, the color of rhubarb stalks can vary from the commonly associated crimson red, through speckled light pink, to simply light green. Rhubarb stalks are poetically described as crimson stalks, the color results from the presence of anthocyanins, and varies according to both rhubarb variety and production technique. The color is not related to its suitability for cooking, The green-stalked rhubarb is more robust and has a higher yield, but the red-coloured stalks are much more popular with consumers. During Islamic times, it was imported along the Silk Road, reaching Europe in the 14th century through the ports of Aleppo and Smyrna, later, it started arriving also via other via the new maritime routes or overland through Russia. The Russian rhubarb was the most valued, probably because of the quality control system maintained by the Russian Empire
34.
Zingiberaceae
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Many of the familys species are important ornamental, spice, or medicinal plants. Ornamental genera include the shell gingers, Siam or summer tulip, Globba, ginger lily, Kaempferia, torch-ginger Etlingera elatior, Renealmia, spices include ginger, galangal or Thai ginger, melegueta pepper, myoga, korarima, turmeric, and cardamom. Members of the family are small to large plants with distichous leaves with basal sheaths that overlap to form a pseudostem. The plants are either self-supporting or epiphytic, flowers are hermaphroditic, usually strongly zygomorphic, in determinate cymose inflorescences, and subtended by conspicuous, spirally arranged bracts. The perianth is composed of two whorls, a tubular calyx, and a tubular corolla with one lobe larger than the other two. Flowers typically have two of their stamenoids fused to form a lip, and have only one fertile stamen. The ovary is inferior and topped by two nectaries, the stigma is funnel-shaped, some genera yield essential oils used in the perfume industry. B. The University of North Carolina Press
35.
Venus flytrap
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The Venus flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a trapping structure formed by the portion of each of the plants leaves. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, Dionaea is a monotypic genus closely related to the waterwheel plant and sundews, all of which belong to the family Droseraceae. The Venus flytrap is a plant whose structure can be described as a rosette of four to seven leaves. Each stem reaches a size of about three to ten centimeters, depending on the time of year, longer leaves with robust traps are usually formed after flowering. Flytraps that have more than seven leaves are formed by rosettes that have divided beneath the ground. The leaf blade is divided into two regions, a flat, heart-shaped photosynthesis-capable petiole, and a pair of terminal lobes hinged at the midrib, the upper surface of these lobes contains red anthocyanin pigments and its edges secrete mucilage. The lobes exhibit rapid plant movements, snapping shut when stimulated by prey, the trapping mechanism is tripped when prey contacts one of the three hair-like trichomes that are found on the upper surface of each of the lobes. The edges of the lobes are fringed by stiff hair-like protrusions or cilia and these protrusions, and the trigger hairs are likely homologous with the tentacles found in this plant’s close relatives, the sundews. Scientists have concluded that the snap trap evolved from a trap similar to that of Drosera. The holes in the meshwork allow small prey to escape, presumably because the benefit that would be obtained from them would be less than the cost of digesting them, if the prey is too small and escapes, the trap will usually reopen within 12 hours. If the prey moves around in the trap, it tightens, speed of closing can vary depending on the amount of humidity, light, size of prey, and general growing conditions. The speed with which traps close can be used as an indicator of a general health. Venus flytraps are not as humidity-dependent as are some other plants, such as Nepenthes, Cephalotus, most Heliamphora. The Venus flytrap exhibits variations in shape and length and whether the leaf lies flat on the ground or extends up at an angle of about 40–60 degrees. Except for filiformis, all of these can be stages in leaf production of any plant depending on season, length of photoperiod, the plants common name refers to Venus, the Roman goddess of love. The genus name, Dionaea, refers to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, while the species name, historically, the plant was also known by the slang term tipitiwitchet or tippity twitchet, possibly an oblique reference to the plants resemblance to human female genitalia. Most carnivorous plants selectively feed on specific prey and this selection is due to the available prey and the type of trap used by the organism
36.
Physalis alkekengi
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Physalis alkekengi is a relative of P. peruviana. It is easily identifiable by the large, bright orange to red papery covering over its fruit and it grows naturally in the regions covering Southern Europe to South Asia and Japan. It is a herbaceous plant growing to 40–60 cm tall, with spirally arranged leaves 6–12 cm long. The flowers are white, with a five-lobed corolla 10–15 mm across, with an inflated basal calyx which matures into the orange fruit covering, 4–5 cm long. It is an ornamental plant, though it can be invasive with its wide-spreading root system sending up new shoots some distance from where it was originally planted. In various places around the world, it has escaped cultivation, the dried fruit of P. alkekengi is called the golden flower in the Unani system of medicine, and used as a diuretic, antiseptic, liver corrective, and sedative. Like a number of species in the genus Physalis, it contains a wide variety of physalins. When isolated from the plant, these have antibacterial and leishmanicidal activities in vitro and it also contains caffeic acid ethyl ester,25, 27-dehydro-physalin L, physalin D, and cuneataside E. In Japan, its seeds are used as part of the Bon Festival as offerings to guide the souls of the deceased, also, an annual market is dedicated to the flower called hōzuki-ichi, which occurs in Asakusa around Sensō-ji every year on July 9 and 10. Physalis alkekengi seed fossils are known from Miocene of Siberia, Pliocene of Europe, Physalis alkekengi pollen have been found in early Pleistocene sediments in Ludham east of Wroxham, East Anglia
37.
Toxicodendron diversilobum
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Toxicodendron diversilobum, commonly named Pacific poison oak or western poison oak, is a woody vine or shrub in the Anacardiaceae family. It is widely distributed in western North America, inhabiting conifer and mixed forests, woodlands, grasslands. Like other members of the Toxicodendron genus, T. diversilobum causes itching, Toxicodendron diversilobum is found in California, the Baja California Peninsula, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. The related T. pubescens is native to the Southeastern United States, T. diversilobum and T. rydbergii hybridize in the Columbia River Gorge area. Toxicodendron diversilobum is common in habitats, from mesic riparian zones to xeric chaparral. It thrives in shady and dappled light through full and direct sunlight conditions, the vining form can climb up large shrub and tree trunks into their canopies. Sometimes it kills the plant by smothering or breaking it. Toxicodendron diversilobum is extremely variable in habit and leaf appearance. The plant is deciduous, so that after cold weather sets in. Without leaves the stems may sometimes be identified by occasional black marks where its milky sap may have oozed and dried, the leaves are divided into three leaflets,3.5 to 10 centimetres long, with scalloped, toothed, or lobed edges. They generally resemble the leaves of a true oak, though tend to be more glossy. Leaves are typically bronze when first unfolding in February to March, bright green in the spring, yellow-green to reddish in the summer, white flowers form in the spring, from March to June. If they are fertilized, they develop into greenish-white or tan berries, botanist John Howell observed that the toxicity of T. Toxicodendron diversilobum leaves and twigs have a surface oil, urushiol, which causes an allergic reaction. It causes contact dermatitis – an immune-mediated skin inflammation – in four-fifths of humans, however, most, if not all, will become sensitized over time with repeated or more concentrated exposure to urushiol. The active components of urushiol have been determined to be unsaturated congeners of 3-heptadecylcatechol with up to three double bonds in an unbranched C17 side chain, in poison ivy, these components are unique in that they contain a -CH2CH2- group in an unbranched alkyl side chain. Toxicodendron diversilobum skin contact first causes itching, then evolves into dermatitis with inflammation, colorless bumps, severe itching, in the dormant deciduous seasons the plant can be difficult to recognize, however leafless branches and twigs contact also causes allergic reactions. Urushiol volatilizes when burned, and human exposure to T. diversilobum smoke is extremely hazardous, from wildfires, controlled burns, the smoke can poison people who thought they were immune. Branches used to toast food over campfires can cause reactions internally and externally, urushiol is also found in the skin of mangos, posing a danger to people already sensitized to T. diversilobum when eating the fruit while it is still in the rind
38.
Alstroemeria
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Alstroemeria, commonly called the Peruvian lily or lily of the Incas, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Alstroemeriaceae. They are all native to South America although some have naturalized in the United States, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Madeira. Almost all of the species are restricted to one of two centers of diversity, one in central Chile, the other in eastern Brazil. Species of Alstroemeria from Chile are winter-growing plants while those of Brazil are summer-growing, all are long-lived perennials except A. graminea, a diminutive annual from the Atacama Desert of Chile. The genus was named after the Swedish baron Clas Alströmer by his close friend Carl Linnaeus, plants of this genus grow from a cluster of tubers. They send up fertile and sterile stems, the stems of some species reaching 1.5 meters in height. The leaves are arranged and resupinate, twisted on the petioles so that the undersides face up. The leaves are variable in shape and the blades have smooth edges, the flowers are solitary or borne in umbels. The flower has six tepals each up to 5 centimeters long and they come in many shades of red, orange, purple, green, and white, flecked and striped and streaked with darker colors. The fruit is a capsule with three valves, Alstroemeria are classified as an inferior monocot, meaning the petals are located above the ovary and the leaves are parallel. Many hybrids and at least 190 cultivars have been developed, featuring many different markings and colors, including white, yellow, orange, apricot, pink, red, purple, and lavender. The most popular and showy hybrids commonly grown today result from crosses between species from Chile with species from Brazil and this strategy has overcome the florists problem of seasonal dormancy and resulted in plants that are evergreen, or nearly so, and flower for most of the year. This breeding work derives mainly from trials that began in the United States in the 1980s, the flower, which resembles a miniature lily, is very popular for bouquets and flower arrangements in the commercial cut flower trade. Most cultivars available for the garden will bloom in the late spring. The roots are hardy to a temperature of 23 °F, the plant requires at least six hours of morning sunlight, regular water, and well-drained soil
39.
Johnson grass
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Johnson grass or Johnsongrass, Sorghum halepense, is a plant in the grass family, Poaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, but grows throughout Europe and the Middle East. The plant has been introduced to all continents except Antarctica, and most larger islands and it reproduces by rhizomes and seeds. The foliage can cause bloat in such herbivores from the accumulation of excessive nitrates, otherwise and it grows and spreads so quickly, it can choke out other cash crops planted by farmers. This species occurs in fields, pastures, abandoned fields, rights-of-way, forest edges. It thrives in open, disturbed, rich, bottom ground, Johnson grass resistant to the common herbicide glyphosate has been found in Argentina and the United States. It is considered to be one of the ten worst weeds in the world and it is named after an Alabama plantation owner, Colonel William Johnson, who sowed its seeds on river-bottom farm land circa 1840. The plant was established in several US states a decade earlier. Johnsongrass - US Department of Agriculture Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - JOHNSON GRASS page, Species Profile- Johnsongrass, National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for Johnsongrass
40.
Cynodon dactylon
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Although it is not native to Bermuda, it is an abundant invasive species there. It is presumed to have arrived in North America from Bermuda, in Bermuda it has been known as crab grass. The blades are a color and are short, usually 2–15 cm long with rough edges. The erect stems can grow 1–30 cm tall, the stems are slightly flattened, often tinged purple in colour. The seed heads are produced in a cluster of two to six together at the top of the stem, each spike 2–5 cm long. It has a root system, in drought situations with penetrable soil. The grass creeps along the ground and roots wherever a node touches the ground, C. dactylon reproduces through seeds, runners, and rhizomes. Growth begins at temperatures above 15 °C with optimum growth between 24 and 37 °C, in winter, the grass becomes dormant and turns brown, growth is promoted by full sun and retarded by full shade, e. g. close to tree trunks. Cynodon dactylon is widely cultivated in warm climates all over the world between about 30° S and 30° N latitude, and that get between 625 and 1,750 mm of rainfall a year. It is also found in the U. S. mostly in the half of the country. Control/eradication It is fast-growing and tough, making it popular and useful for sports fields and it is a highly desirable turf grass in warm temperate climates, particularly for those regions where its heat and drought tolerance enable it to survive where few other grasses do. This combination makes it a frequent choice for golf courses in the southern and southeastern U. S and it has a relatively coarse-bladed form with numerous cultivars selected for different turf requirements. It is also aggressive, crowding out most other grasses and invading other habitats. This weedy nature leads some gardeners to give it the name of devil grass, Bermuda grass is incredibly difficult to control in flower beds and most herbicides do not work. However, Ornamec, Ornamec 170 and Turflon ester have shown effectiveness as well as Imazapyr. All of these items are difficult to find in stores as they are primarily marketed to professional landscapers. The hybrid variety Tifton 85, like some other grasses, produces cyanide under certain conditions, and has been implicated in several livestock deaths
41.
Cyperus rotundus
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Cyperus rotundus is a species of sedge native to Africa, southern and central Europe, and southern Asia. The word cyperus derives from the Greek κύπερος, kyperos, and rotundus is from Latin, the earliest attested form of the word cyperus is the Mycenaean Greek
42.
Aspen
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Aspen is a common name for certain tree species, some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section Populus, of the Populus genus. They are all medium-sized deciduous trees reaching 15–30 m tall, each individual tree can live for 40–150 years above ground, but the root system of the colony is long-lived. In some cases, this is for thousands of years, sending up new trunks as the older trunks die off above ground, for this reason, it is considered to be an indicator of ancient woodlands. One such colony in Utah, given the nickname of Pando, is estimated to be 80,000 years old, some aspen colonies become very large with time, spreading about 1 m per year, eventually covering many hectares. They are able to survive forest fires, because the roots are below the heat of the fire, aspens do not thrive in the shade, and it is difficult for seedlings to grow in an already mature aspen stand. Fire indirectly benefits aspen trees, since it allows the saplings to flourish in open sunlight in the burned landscape, young aspen bark is an important seasonal forage for the European hare and other animals in early spring. Aspen is also a tree of choice of the European beaver, aspen wood is white and soft, but fairly strong, and has low flammability. It has a number of uses, notably for making matches, shredded aspen wood is used for packing and stuffing, sometimes called excelsior. It is also a popular animal bedding, since it lacks the phenols associated with pine and juniper, heat-treated aspen is a popular material for the interiors of a sauna. Trees portal Fox, Mark, Linda E. Tackaberry, Pascal Drouin, Yves Bergeron, Robert L. Bradley, microbial community structure of soils under four productivity classes of aspen forests in Northern British Columbia
43.
Mycorrhiza
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A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular host plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungi in the plants rhizosphere, mycorrhizae play important roles in soil biology and soil chemistry. In a mycorrhizal association, the fungus colonizes the host plants root tissues, either intracellularly as in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, the association is generally mutualistic, but in particular species or in particular circumstances, mycorrhizae may be variously pathogenic in the host plants. Mycorrhizal fungi form a relationship with the roots of most plant species. In such a relationship, both the plants themselves and those parts of the roots that host the fungi, are said to be mycorrhizal, the Orchidaceae are notorious as a family in which the absence of the correct mycorrhizae is fatal even to germinating seeds. Recent research into plants in boreal forests has indicated that mycorrhizal fungi. This relationship was noted when mycorrhizal fungi were found to be hoarding nitrogen from plant roots in times of nitrogen scarcity. Researchers argue that some mycorrhizae distribute nutrients based upon the environment with surrounding plants, the mycorrhizal mutualistic association provides the fungus with relatively constant and direct access to carbohydrates, such as glucose and sucrose. The carbohydrates are translocated from their source to root tissue and on to the fungal partners. The effect is thus to improve the plants mineral absorption capabilities, unaided plant roots may be unable to take up macronutrients that are chemically or physically immobilised, examples include phosphate ions and micronutrients such as iron. One form of such immobilization occurs in soil with clay content. The mycelium of the fungus can, however, access many such nutrient sources. Thus many plants are able to obtain phosphate, without using soil as a source, Suillus tomentosus, a basidiomycete fungus, produces specialized structures known as tuberculate ectomycorrhizae with its plant host lodgepole pine. These structures have shown to host nitrogen fixing bacteria which contribute a significant amount of nitrogen. The mechanisms by which mycorrhizae increase absorption include some that are physical, chemically, the cell membrane chemistry of fungi differs from that of plants. For example, they may secrete organic acid that dissolve or chelate many ions, mycorrhizae are especially beneficial for the plant partner in nutrient-poor soils. Mycorrhizal plants are more resistant to diseases, such as those caused by microbial soil-borne pathogens. AMF was also correlated with soil biological fertility variables such as soil fungi and soil bacteria
44.
Henry Liddell
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Lewis Carroll wrote Alices Adventures in Wonderland for Henry Liddells daughter Alice. Liddell received his education at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford and he gained a double first degree in 1833, then became a college tutor, and was ordained in 1838. Liddell was Headmaster of Westminster School from 1846 to 1855, meanwhile, his life work, the great lexicon, which he and Robert Scott began as early as 1834, had made good progress, and the first edition of Liddell and Scotts Lexicon appeared in 1843. It immediately became the standard Greek–English dictionary, with the 8th edition published in 1897, as Headmaster of Westminster Liddell enjoyed a period of great success, followed by trouble due to the outbreak of fever and cholera in the school. In 1855 he accepted the deanery of Christ Church, Oxford, in the same year he brought out his History of Ancient Rome and took a very active part in the first Oxford University Commission. His tall figure, fine presence and aristocratic mien were for years associated with all that was characteristic of Oxford life. In 1859 Liddell welcomed the then Prince of Wales when he matriculated at Christ Church, while he was Dean of Christ Church, he arranged for the building of a new choir school and classrooms for the staff and pupils of Christ Church Cathedral School on its present site. Before then the school was housed within Christ Church itself, in July 1846, Liddell married Miss Lorina Reeve, with whom he had several children, including Alice Liddell of Lewis Carroll fame. In conjunction with Sir Henry Acland, Liddell did much to encourage the study of art at Oxford, in 1891, owing to advancing years, he resigned the deanery. The last years of his life were spent at Ascot, where he died on 18 January 1898, Two roads in Ascot, Liddell Way and Carroll Crescent honour the relationship between Henry Liddell and Lewis Carroll. Liddell was an Oxford character in later years and he figures in contemporary undergraduate doggerel, I am the Dean, this Mrs Liddell. She plays first, I, second fiddle and she is the Broad, I am the High – We are the University. The Victorian journalist, George W. E and his father was Henry Liddell, Rector of Easington, the younger son of Sir Henry Liddell, 5th Baronet and the former Elizabeth Steele. His fathers elder brother, Sir Thomas Liddell, 6th Baronet, was raised to the Peerage as Baron Ravensworth in 1821 and his mother was the former Charlotte Lyon, a daughter of Thomas Lyon and the former Mary Wren. On 2 July 1846, Henry married Lorina Reeve and they were parents of ten children, Edward Harry Liddell. Alice Pleasance Liddell, for whom the story of the childrens classic Alices Adventures in Wonderland was originally told, rhoda Caroline Anne Liddell, she was invested as an Officer, Order of the British Empire in 1920. Albert Edward Arthur Liddell, he died in infancy, violet Constance Liddell, she was invested as a Member, Order of the British Empire in 1920. Sir Frederick Francis Liddell, First Parliamentary Counsel and Ecclesiastical Commissioner, lionel Charles Liddell, he was British Consul to Lyons and Copenhagen
. PMID 16998090.
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