Wikispecies
Wikispecies is a wiki-based online project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aim is to create a comprehensive free content catalogue of all species. Jimmy Wales stated that editors are not required to fax in their degrees, but that submissions will have to pass muster with a technical audience. Wikispecies is available under the GNU Free Documentation License and CC BY-SA 3.0. Started in September 2004, with biologists across the world invited to contribute, the project had grown a framework encompassing the Linnaean taxonomy with links to Wikipedia articles on individual species by April 2005. Benedikt Mandl co-ordinated the efforts of several people who are interested in getting involved with the project and contacted potential supporters in early summer 2004. Databases were evaluated and the administrators contacted, some of them have agreed on providing their data for Wikispecies. Mandl defined two major tasks: Figure out how the contents of the data base would need to be presented—by asking experts, potential non-professional users and comparing that with existing databases Figure out how to do the software, which hardware is required and how to cover the costs—by asking experts, looking for fellow volunteers and potential sponsorsAdvantages and disadvantages were discussed by the wikimedia-I mailing list.
The board of directors of the Wikimedia Foundation voted by 4 to 0 in favor of the establishment of a Wikispecies. The project is hosted at species.wikimedia.org. It was merged to a sister project of Wikimedia Foundation on September 14, 2004. On October 10, 2006, the project exceeded 75,000 articles. On May 20, 2007, the project exceeded 100,000 articles with a total of 5,495 registered users. On September 8, 2008, the project exceeded 150,000 articles with a total of 9,224 registered users. On October 23, 2011, the project reached 300,000 articles. On June 16, 2014, the project reached 400,000 articles. On January 7, 2017, the project reached 500,000 articles. On October 30, 2018, the project reached 600,000 articles, a total of 1.12 million pages. Wikispecies comprises taxon pages, additionally pages about synonyms, taxon authorities, taxonomical publications, institutions or repositories holding type specimen. Wikispecies asks users to use images from Wikimedia Commons. Wikispecies does not allow the use of content.
All Species Foundation Catalogue of Life Encyclopedia of Life Tree of Life Web Project List of online encyclopedias The Plant List Wikispecies, The free species directory that anyone can edit Species Community Portal The Wikispecies Charter, written by Wales
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms. Green, sepals function as protection for the flower in bud, as support for the petals when in bloom; the term sepalum was coined by Noël Martin Joseph de Necker in 1790, derived from the Greek σκεπη, a covering. Collectively the sepals are called the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower; the word calyx was adopted from the Latin calyx, not to be confused with a cup or goblet. Calyx derived from the Greek κάλυξ, a bud, a calyx, a husk or wrapping, while calix derived from the Greek κυλιξ, a cup or goblet, the words have been used interchangeably in botanical Latin. After flowering, most plants have no more use for the calyx which becomes vestigial; some plants retain a thorny calyx, either dried or live, as protection for seeds. Examples include species of Acaena, some of the Solanaceae, the water caltrop, Trapa natans. In some species the calyx not only persists after flowering, but instead of withering, begins to grow until it forms a bladder-like enclosure around the fruit.
This is an effective protection against some kinds of birds and insects, for example in Hibiscus trionum and the Cape gooseberry. Morphologically, both sepals and petals are modified leaves; the calyx and the corolla are the outer sterile whorls of the flower, which together form what is known as the perianth. The term tepal is applied when the parts of the perianth are difficult to distinguish, e.g. the petals and sepals share the same color, or the petals are absent and the sepals are colorful. When the undifferentiated tepals resemble petals, they are referred to as "petaloid", as in petaloid monocots, orders of monocots with brightly coloured tepals. Since they include Liliales, an alternative name is lilioid monocots. Examples of plants in which the term tepal is appropriate include genera such as Tulipa. In contrast, genera such as Rosa and Phaseolus have well-distinguished petals; the number of sepals in a flower is its merosity. Flower merosity is indicative of a plant's classification.
The merosity of a eudicot flower is four or five. The merosity of a monocot or palaeodicot flower is a multiple of three; the development and form of the sepals vary among flowering plants. They may be fused together; the sepals are much reduced, appearing somewhat awn-like, or as scales, teeth, or ridges. Most such structures protrude until the fruit is mature and falls off. Examples of flowers with much reduced perianths are found among the grasses. In some flowers, the sepals are fused towards the base. In other flowers a hypanthium includes the bases of sepals and the attachment points of the stamens. Plant morphology
Lamiales
The Lamiales are an order in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It includes about 23,810 species, 1,059 genera, is divided into about 24 families. Well-known or economically important members of this order include lavender, olive, the ash tree, snapdragon, psyllium, garden sage, a number of table herbs such as mint and rosemary. Although exceptions occur, species in this order have the following characteristics: superior ovary composed of two fused carpels four petals fused into a tube bilaterally symmetrical bilabiate corollas four fertile stamens opposite leaves The Lamiales had a restricted circumscription that included the major families Lamiaceae and Boraginaceae, plus a few smaller families. In the classification system of Dahlgren the Lamiales were in the superorder Lamiiflorae. Recent phylogenetic work has shown the Lamiales are polyphyletic with respect to order Scrophulariales and the two groups are now combined in a single order that includes the former orders Hippuridales and Plantaginales.
Lamiales has become the preferred name for this much larger combined group. The placement of the Boraginaceae is unclear, but phylogenetic work shows this family does not belong in Lamiales; the circumscription of family Scrophulariaceae a paraphyletic group defined by plesiomorphic characters and from within which numerous other families of the Lamiales were derived, has been radically altered to create a number of smaller, better-defined, putatively monophyletic families. Much research has been conducted in recent years regarding the dating the Lamiales lineage, although there still remains some ambiguity. A 2004 study, on the molecular phylogenetic dating of asterid flowering plants, estimated 106 million years for the stem lineage of Lamiales. A 2009 study on angiosperm diversification through time, concluded an inferred age of lower Eocene, ca. 50 MY, for Lamiales. Lamiales A parsimony analysis of the Asteridae sensu lato based on rbcL sequences Disintegration of the Scrophulariaceae L. Watson and M.
J. Dallwitz; the families of flowering plants: descriptions, identification, information retrieval. Http://delta-intkey.com http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/vascular/acanth.htm 2002-09-06 http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/d52/52e.htm 2002-09-06 http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/d52/52efam.htm 2002-09-06 http://www.science.siu.edu/parasitic-plants/Relation-Scroph.html http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/web.dbs/genlist.html 2002-09-06
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants. The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs. Flowers may allow selfing; some flowers produce diaspores without fertilization. Flowers are the site where gametophytes develop. Many flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, so as to cause them to be vectors for the transfer of pollen. After fertilization, the ovary of the flower develops into fruit containing seeds. In addition to facilitating the reproduction of flowering plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans to bring beauty to their environment, as objects of romance, religion, medicine and as a source of food; the essential parts of a flower can be considered in two parts: the vegetative part, consisting of petals and associated structures in the perianth, the reproductive or sexual parts. A stereotypical flower consists of four kinds of structures attached to the tip of a short stalk.
Each of these kinds of parts is arranged in a whorl on the receptacle. The four main whorls are as follows: Collectively the calyx and corolla form the perianth. Calyx: the outermost whorl consisting of units called sepals. Corolla: the next whorl toward the apex, composed of units called petals, which are thin and colored to attract animals that help the process of pollination. Androecium: the next whorl, consisting of units called stamens. Stamens consist of two parts: a stalk called a filament, topped by an anther where pollen is produced by meiosis and dispersed. Gynoecium: the innermost whorl of a flower, consisting of one or more units called carpels; the carpel or multiple fused carpels form a hollow structure called an ovary, which produces ovules internally. Ovules are megasporangia and they in turn produce megaspores by meiosis which develop into female gametophytes; these give rise to egg cells. The gynoecium of a flower is described using an alternative terminology wherein the structure one sees in the innermost whorl is called a pistil.
A pistil may consist of a number of carpels fused together. The sticky tip of the pistil, the stigma, is the receptor of pollen; the supportive stalk, the style, becomes the pathway for pollen tubes to grow from pollen grains adhering to the stigma. The relationship to the gynoecium on the receptacle is described as hypogynous, perigynous, or epigynous. Although the arrangement described above is considered "typical", plant species show a wide variation in floral structure; these modifications have significance in the evolution of flowering plants and are used extensively by botanists to establish relationships among plant species. The four main parts of a flower are defined by their positions on the receptacle and not by their function. Many flowers lack some parts or parts may be modified into other functions and/or look like what is another part. In some families, like Ranunculaceae, the petals are reduced and in many species the sepals are colorful and petal-like. Other flowers have modified stamens.
Flowers show great variation and plant scientists describe this variation in a systematic way to identify and distinguish species. Specific terminology is used to describe their parts. Many flower parts are fused together; when petals are fused into a tube or ring that falls away as a single unit, they are sympetalous. Connate petals may have distinctive regions: the cylindrical base is the tube, the expanding region is the throat and the flaring outer region is the limb. A sympetalous flower, with bilateral symmetry with an upper and lower lip, is bilabiate. Flowers with connate petals or sepals may have various shaped corolla or calyx, including campanulate, tubular, salverform or rotate. Referring to "fusion," as it is done, appears questionable because at least some of the processes involved may be non-fusion processes. For example, the addition of intercalary growth at or below the base of the primordia of floral appendages such as sepals, petals and carpels may lead to a common base, not the result of fusion.
Many flowers have a symmetry. When the perianth is bisected through the central axis from any point and symmetrical halves are produced, the flower is said to be actinomorphic or regular, e.g. rose or trillium. This is an example of radial symmetry; when flowers are bisected and produce only one line that produces symmetrical halves, the flower is said to be irregular or zygomorphic, e.g. snapdragon or most orchids. Flowers may be directly attached to the plant at their base; the stem or stalk subtending a flower is called a peduncle. If a peduncle supports more than o
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant and is the principal lateral appendage of the stem. The leaves and stem together form the shoot. Leaves are collectively referred to as foliage, as in "autumn foliage". A leaf is a thin, dorsiventrally flattened organ borne above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. In most leaves, the primary photosynthetic tissue, the palisade mesophyll, is located on the upper side of the blade or lamina of the leaf but in some species, including the mature foliage of Eucalyptus, palisade mesophyll is present on both sides and the leaves are said to be isobilateral. Most leaves have distinct upper surface and lower surface that differ in colour, the number of stomata, the amount and structure of epicuticular wax and other features. Leaves can have many different shapes and textures; the broad, flat leaves with complex venation of flowering plants are known as megaphylls and the species that bear them, the majority, as broad-leaved or megaphyllous plants. In the clubmosses, with different evolutionary origins, the leaves are simple and are known as microphylls.
Some leaves, such as bulb scales, are not above ground. In many aquatic species the leaves are submerged in water. Succulent plants have thick juicy leaves, but some leaves are without major photosynthetic function and may be dead at maturity, as in some cataphylls and spines. Furthermore, several kinds of leaf-like structures found in vascular plants are not homologous with them. Examples include flattened plant stems called phylloclades and cladodes, flattened leaf stems called phyllodes which differ from leaves both in their structure and origin; some structures of non-vascular plants function much like leaves. Examples include the phyllids of liverworts. Leaves are the most important organs of most vascular plants. Green plants are autotrophic, meaning that they do not obtain food from other living things but instead create their own food by photosynthesis, they capture the energy in sunlight and use it to make simple sugars, such as glucose and sucrose, from carbon dioxide and water. The sugars are stored as starch, further processed by chemical synthesis into more complex organic molecules such as proteins or cellulose, the basic structural material in plant cell walls, or metabolised by cellular respiration to provide chemical energy to run cellular processes.
The leaves draw water from the ground in the transpiration stream through a vascular conducting system known as xylem and obtain carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by diffusion through openings called stomata in the outer covering layer of the leaf, while leaves are orientated to maximise their exposure to sunlight. Once sugar has been synthesized, it needs to be transported to areas of active growth such as the plant shoots and roots. Vascular plants transport sucrose in a special tissue called the phloem; the phloem and xylem are parallel to each other but the transport of materials is in opposite directions. Within the leaf these vascular systems branch to form veins which supply as much of the leaf as possible, ensuring that cells carrying out photosynthesis are close to the transportation system. Leaves are broad and thin, thereby maximising the surface area directly exposed to light and enabling the light to penetrate the tissues and reach the chloroplasts, thus promoting photosynthesis.
They are arranged on the plant so as to expose their surfaces to light as efficiently as possible without shading each other, but there are many exceptions and complications. For instance plants adapted to windy conditions may have pendent leaves, such as in many willows and eucalyptss; the flat, or laminar, shape maximises thermal contact with the surrounding air, promoting cooling. Functionally, in addition to carrying out photosynthesis, the leaf is the principal site of transpiration, providing the energy required to draw the transpiration stream up from the roots, guttation. Many gymnosperms have thin needle-like or scale-like leaves that can be advantageous in cold climates with frequent snow and frost; these are interpreted as reduced from megaphyllous leaves of their Devonian ancestors. Some leaf forms are adapted to modulate the amount of light they absorb to avoid or mitigate excessive heat, ultraviolet damage, or desiccation, or to sacrifice light-absorption efficiency in favour of protection from herbivory.
For xerophytes the major constraint drought. Some window plants such as Fenestraria species and some Haworthia species such as Haworthia tesselata and Haworthia truncata are examples of xerophytes. and Bulbine mesembryanthemoides. Leaves function to store chemical energy and water and may become specialised organs serving other functions, such as tendrils of peas and other legumes, the protective spines of cacti and the insect traps in carnivorous plants such as Nepenthes and Sarracenia. Leaves are the fundamental structural units from which cones are constructed in gymnosperms and from which flowers are constructed in flowering plants; the internal organisation of most kinds of leaves has evolved to maximise exposure of the photosynthetic organelles, the chloroplasts, to light and to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide while at the same time controlling water loss. Their surfaces are waterproofed by the plant cuticle and gas exchange between the mesophyll cells and the atmosphere is controlled by minute openings called stomata which open or close to regulate the rate exchange of carbon dioxide and water vapour into
Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society. It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions; the Award of Garden Merit is a mark of quality awarded, since 1922, to garden plants by the United Kingdom, Royal Horticultural Society. Awards are made annually after plant trials intended to judge the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. Trials may last for one or more years, depending on the type of plant being tried out, may be performed at Royal Horticulture Society Garden in Wisley and other gardens or after observation of plants in specialist collections. Trial reports are made available on the website. Awards are reviewed annually in case plants have become unavailable horticulturally, or have been superseded by better cultivars; the award should not be confused with the Royal Horticulture Society's Award of Merit, given to plants deemed'of great merit for exhibition' i.e. for show, not garden, plants.
Since 1989, France has had similar awards called the Mérites de Courson, but these are drawn from a limited number of plants submitted by nurserymen to juries at the twice-yearly Journées des Plantes de Courson and awards are based on the opinions of the jury members as to the plants' performance in French gardens, rather than on extensive trials. The Award of Garden Merit was reviewed in 1992, to increase its prestige. Field trial results gained weight in the assessments and existing AGM plants were reviewed in the light of more recent experience; the AGMs were to be reviewed at 10 year intervals from 1992, but this frequency has been increased to annually. The 2012/13 review, with advice from experts such as Royal Horticultural Society's plant committees, specialist societies, Plant Heritage National Collection holders and others, resulted in many changes. Nearly 1,900 plants lost more than 1,400 plants gained awards. Plants may be added to the Royal Horticultural Society'Sunset List' for rescission for several reasons, including unavailability to gardeners, better plants becoming available, affliction by pests or diseases, or insufficient uniformity.
To qualify for an Award of Garden Merit, a plant must be available horticulturally must be of outstanding excellence for garden decoration or use must be of good constitution must not require specialist growing conditions or care must not be susceptible to any pest or disease must not be subject to an unreasonable degree of reversion. The "Award of Garden Merit" symbol represents a cup-shaped trophy with handles, it is cited together with a hardiness rating as follows: H1 Requires a heated glasshouse H1a Warmer than 15C/59F: tropical plants for indoors and heated greenhouses H1b 10C/50F to 15C/59F: subtropical plants for indoors and heated greenhouses H1c 5C/41F to 10C/50F: warm temperate plants that can go outdoors in summer H2 1C/34F to 5C/41F: plants that need a frost-free greenhouse in winter H3 -5C/23F to 1C/34F: hardy outside in some regions or situations, or which - while grown outside in summer - need frost protection in winter H4 -10C/14F to -5C/23F: plants hardy outside in most of the UK in an average winter H5 -15C/5F to -10C/14F: plants hardy outside in most of the UK in severe winters H6 -20C/-4F to -15C/5F: plants hardy outside in the UK and northern Europe H7 Colder than -20C/-4F: plants hardy outside in the severest European climates List of Award of Garden Merit flowering cherries List of Award of Garden Merit magnolias List of Award of Garden Merit roses List of Award of Garden Merit sweet peas RHS Plant Finder 2005–2006, Dorling Kindersley ISBN 1-4053-0736-6 The Royal Horticultural Society's website - Search facility for AGM plants RHS AGM Plant Awards RHS Plant Committees Search for AGM plants The Royal Horticultural Society Complete AGM lists
Missouri Botanical Garden
The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri, it is known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million specimens, is the second largest in North America, behind only that of the New York Botanical Garden. Founded in 1859, the Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the oldest botanical institutions in the United States and a National Historic Landmark, it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Garden is a center for botanical research and science education of international repute, as well as an oasis in the city of St. Louis, with 79 acres of horticultural display, it includes a 14-acre Japanese strolling garden named Seiwa-en. It is adjacent to another of Shaw's legacies. In 1983, the Botanical Garden was added as the fourth subdistrict of the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District. For part of 2006, the Missouri Botanical Garden featured "Glass in the Garden", with glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly placed throughout the garden.
Four pieces were purchased to remain at the gardens. In 2008 sculptures of the French artist Niki de Saint Phalle were placed throughout the garden. In 2009, the 150th anniversary of the Garden was celebrated, including a floral clock display. After 40 years of service to the Garden, Dr. Peter Raven retired from his presidential post on September 1, 2010. Dr. Peter Wyse Jackson replaced him as President; the Garden is a place for many annual cultural festivals, including the Japanese Festival and the Chinese Culture Days by the St. Louis Chinese Culture Days Committee. During this time, there are showcases of the culture's botanics as well as cultural arts, crafts and food; the Japanese Festival features sumo wrestling, taiko drumming, koma-mawashi top spinning, kimono fashion shows. The Garden is known for its bonsai growing, which can be seen all year round, but is highlighted during the multiple Asian festivals. Major garden features include: Tower Grove House and Herb Garden - Shaw's Victorian country house designed by prominent local architect George I.
Barnett in the Italianate style. Victory of Science Over Ignorance - Marble statue by Carlo Nicoli. Linnean House - Said to be the oldest continually operated greenhouse west of the Mississippi River. Shaw's orangery, in the late 1930s it was converted to house camellias. Gladney Rose Garden - Circular rose garden with arbors. Climatron and Reflecting Pools - the world's first geodesic dome greenhouse designed by architect and engineer Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc. English Woodland Garden - aconite, bluebells, hosta and others beneath the tree canopy. Seiwa-en Japanese Garden - is a 14-acre chisen kaiyu-shiki with lawns and path set around a 4-acre central lake, it is the largest Japanese Garden in North America. Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese Garden - Designed by architect Yong Pan. Blanke Boxwood Garden - walled parterre with a fine boxwood collection. Strassenfest German Garden - flora native to Germany and Central Europe. Ottoman garden with water xeriscape. Douglas Trumbull, director of the 1972 science fiction classic film Silent Running, stated that the geodesic domes on the spaceship Valley Forge were based on the Missouri Botanical Garden's Climatron dome.
Missouri Botanical Garden operates the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield; the Butterfly House includes an 8,000-square-foot indoor butterfly conservatory as well as an outdoor butterfly garden. The EarthWays Center is a group at the Missouri Botanical Garden that provides resources on and educates the public about green practices, renewable energy, energy efficiency, other sustainability matters; the Shaw Nature Reserve was started by the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1925 as a place to store plants away from the pollution of the city. The air in St. Louis cleared up, the reserve has continued to be open to the public for enjoyment and education since; the 2,400-acre reserve is located in Missouri, 35 miles away from the city. The Plant List is an Internet encyclopedia project to compile a comprehensive list of botanical nomenclature, created by the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Missouri Botanical Garden; the Plant List has 1,040,426 scientific plant names of species rank, of which 298,900 are accepted species names.
In addition, the list has 16,167 plant genera. Monsanto has donated $10 million to the Missouri Botanical Garden since the 1970s, which named its 1998 plant science facility the'Monsanto Center'. List of botanical gardens in the United States Peter F. Stevens, a biologist working in the Missouri Botanical Garden Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, journal St. Louis Chinese Culture Day List of National Historic Landmarks in Missouri N
