This page will contain news stories about flowers, as they become available.FlowerA flower (<Old French flo(u)r<Latin florem<flos), also known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). The flower structure contains the plant's reproductive organs, and its function is to produce seeds through sexual reproduction. For the higher plants, seeds are the next generation, and serve as the primary means by which individuals of a species are dispersed across the landscape. After fertilization, portions of the flower develop into a fruit containing the seeds. Flower anatomyFlowering plants are heterosporangiate (producing two types of reproductive spores) and the pollen (male spores) and ovules (female spores) are produced in different organs, but these are together in a bisporangiate strobilus that is the typical flower. A flower is regarded as a modified stem (Eames, 1961) with shortened internodes and bearing, at its nodes, structures that may be highly modified leaves. In essence, a flower structure forms on a modified shoot or axis with an apical meristem that does not grow continuously (growth is determinate). The stem is called a pedicel, the end of which is the torus or receptacle. The parts of a flower are arranged in whorls on the torus. The four main parts or whorls (starting from the base of the flower or lowest node and working upwards) are as follows: Poppy
Although the floral structure described above is considered the "typical" structural plan, plant species show a wide variety of modifications from this plan. These modifications have significance in the evolution of flowering plants and are used extensively by botanists to establish relationships among plant species. For example, the two subclasses of flowering plants may be distinguished by the number of floral organs in each whorl: dicotyledons typically having 4 or 5 organs (or a multiple of 4 or 5) in each whorl and monocotyledons having three or some multiple of three. The number of carpels in a compound pistil may be only two, or otherwise not related to the above generalization for monocots and dicots. In the majority of species, individual flowers have both pistils and stamens as described above. These flowers are described by botanists as being perfect, bisexual, or hermaphrodite. However, in some species of plants the flowers are imperfect or unisexual: having only either male (stamens) or female (pistil) parts. In the latter case, if an individual plant is either male or female the species is regarded as dioecious. However, where unisexual male and female flowers appear on the same plant, the species is considered monoecious. Some flowers with both stamens and a pistil are capable of self-fertilization, which does increase the chance of producing seeds but limits genetic variation. The extreme case of self-fertilization occurs in flowers that always self-fertilize, such as the common dandelion. Conversely, many species of plants have ways of preventing self-fertilization. Unisexual male and female flowers on the same plant may not appear at the same time, or pollen from the same plant may be incapable of fertilizing its ovules. The latter flower types, which have chemical barriers to their own pollen, are referred to as self-sterile or self-incompatible (see also: Plant sexuality). Close-up of a Day lily flower showing six stamens and the stigma and style of a pistilAdditional discussions on floral modifications from the basic plan are presented in the articles on each of the basic parts of the flower. In those species that have more than one flower on an axis, the collection of flowers is termed an inflorescence. In this sense, care must be exercised in considering what is a flower. In botanical terminology, a single daisy or sunflower for example, is not a flower but a flower head—an inflorescence comprised of numerous small flowers (sometimes called florets). Each small flower may be anatomically as described above. Floral formulaA floral formula is a way to represent the structure of a flower using specific letters, numbers, and symbols. Typically, a general formula will be used to represent the flower structure of a plant family rather than a particular species. The following representations are used: Ca = calyx (sepal whorl; e.g. Ca5 = 5 sepals) x - to represent a "variable number" A floral formula would appear something like this: Several other symbols are used that will have to await drawings to illustrate here (see [1]). Flower functionGrains of pollen on stigma of a lilyThe function of a flower is to mediate the union of male and female gametes. The process is termed pollination. Many flowers are dependent upon the wind to move pollen between flowers of the same species. Others rely on animals (especially insects) to accomplish this feat. The period of time during which this process can take place (the flower is fully expanded and functional) is called anthesis. Many flowers in nature have evolved to attract animals to pollinate the flower, the movements of the pollinating agent contributing to the opportunity for genetic recombinations within a dispersed plant population. Flowers that are insect pollinated are called entomophilous (literally "insect loving"). Flowers commonly have glands called nectaries on their various parts that attract these animals. Bees and birds are common pollinators: both have color vision, thus selecting for "colorful" flowers. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that are evident in the ultraviolet range, visible to bees but not to humans. Flowers also attract pollinators by scent. In any case, pollinators are attracted to the plant, perhaps in search of nectar, which they eat. The arrangement of the stamens ensures that pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of the pollinator. In gathering nectar from many flowers of the same species, the pollinators transfer pollen between all of the flowers it visits. Flower scent is not always pleasant to our sense of smell. Some plants, such as Rafflesia, the titan arum, and the North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba) are pollinated by flies, so produce a scent imitating rotting meat. Other flowers are pollinated by the wind, and the flowers of these species (for example, grasses) have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to be "showy". Wind pollinated flowers are referred to as anemophilous. Whereas the pollen of entomophilous flowers tends to be large grained, sticky, and contain significant protein (another "reward" for pollinators), Anemophilous flower pollen is usually small grained, very light, and of little nutritional value to insects, though it may still be gathered, in times of dearth. Honeybees and bumblebees actively gather anemophilous corn (maize) pollen, though it is of little value to them. There is much confusion about the role of flowers in allergies. For example the showy and entomophilous goldenrod (Solidago) is frequently blamed for respiratory allergies, of which it is innocent, since its pollen cannot be airborne. Instead the allergen is usually the pollen of the contemporary bloom of anemophilous ragweed (Ambrosia) which can drift for many kilometers. Flowers in gardening and horticultureMain and related articles at: Gardening, Horticulture, List of flowers, and Floristry Flowers in the artsA sunflower being pollinated by a bee.The great variety of delicate and beautiful flowers has inspired the works of many poets, especially from the Romantic era. Famous examples include and William Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and William Blake's Ah! Sun-Flower:
The Roman goddess of flowers, gardens, and the season of Spring is Flora. The Greek goddess of spring, flowers and nature is Chloris. Flowers in everyday lifeIn modern times, people have sought ways to cultivate, buy, wear, or just be around flowers and blooming plants, partly because of their agreeable smell. Around the world, florists sell flowers for a wide range of events and functions that, cumulatively, encompass one's lifetime:
Florists depend on an entire network of commercial growers and shippers to support this trade. To get flowers that are out of season in their country, florists contact wholesalers who have direct connections with growers in other countries to provide those flowers. Flowers as symbolsDaisies symbolize innocence in Western culture.Many flowers have important symbolic meanings in Western culture. The practice of assigning meanings to flowers is known as floriography. Some of the more common examples include:
Flowers within art are also representative of the female genitalia, as seen in the works of artists such as Georgia O'Keefe, Imogene Cunningham, and Judy Chicago. References
This page about flowers includes information from a Wikipedia article. Additional articles about flowers News stories about flowers External links for flowers Videos for flowers Wikis about flowers Discussion Groups about flowers Blogs about flowers Images of flowers |
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Flowers within art are also representative of the female genitalia, as seen in the works of artists such as Georgia O'Keefe, Imogene Cunningham, and Judy Chicago. Though the couple's split is amicable, Zellweger cites fraud as her reason for the annulment. Some of the more common examples include:. I'm pretty firm in my sexuality and my love for women." [2] gu7tgo;gougo; Their annulment was officially finalized in late December 2005, putting an end to speculation that the couple was planning to start over. The practice of assigning meanings to flowers is known as floriography. None of those things are true. Many flowers have important symbolic meanings in Western culture. According to People Magazine, Chesney was upset and responded to these rumors by stating: "They've done nothing short of calling me gay and her a whore. To get flowers that are out of season in their country, florists contact wholesalers who have direct connections with growers in other countries to provide those flowers. [1] Fueled by numerous internet reports, some have speculated that Zellweger discovered Chesney was actually gay. Florists depend on an entire network of commercial growers and shippers to support this trade. Zellweger cited "fraud" as the reason in the related legal papers. Around the world, florists sell flowers for a wide range of events and functions that, cumulatively, encompass one's lifetime:. On September 15, 2005, after only four months of marriage, they announced their plans for an annulment. In modern times, people have sought ways to cultivate, buy, wear, or just be around flowers and blooming plants, partly because of their agreeable smell. Chesney had previously commented that Zellweger was his favorite actress, and he had written a song, "You Had Me From Hello", based on her line from Jerry Maguire. The Greek goddess of spring, flowers and nature is Chloris. The pair met in January 2005 at a tsunami relief benefit. The Roman goddess of flowers, gardens, and the season of Spring is Flora. Virgin Islands. Ah, Sun-flower weary of time, The great variety of delicate and beautiful flowers has inspired the works of many poets, especially from the Romantic era. In January 2005, Chesney released the album Be As You Are: Songs from an Old Blue Chair, supporting the album with his "Somewhere in the Sun" tour and in November 2005, Chesney released his second album of the year The Road And The Radio. Main and related articles at: Gardening, Horticulture, List of flowers, and Floristry. He won the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year honor in 2004. Instead the allergen is usually the pollen of the contemporary bloom of anemophilous ragweed (Ambrosia) which can drift for many kilometers. While some of Chesney's music shows the obvious influence of John Mellencamp and Jimmy Buffett (a point critics are quick to note), he often performs several traditional country songs at his shows (particularly, music from George Jones). For example the showy and entomophilous goldenrod (Solidago) is frequently blamed for respiratory allergies, of which it is innocent, since its pollen cannot be airborne. Notable number twos include "That's Why I'm Here" (1998), "Young" (2002), "Big Star" (2003), "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem" (2003) and "The Woman With You" (2004). There is much confusion about the role of flowers in allergies. Other number one hits included "How Forever Feels" (six weeks in 1999); "The Good Stuff" (2002); "There Goes My Life" (2004); and "When the Sun Goes Down" (a duet with Uncle Kracker in 2004). Honeybees and bumblebees actively gather anemophilous corn (maize) pollen, though it is of little value to them. He hit number one for the first time with "She's Got It All" in August 1997; the song spent three weeks atop Billboard magazine's country singles chart. Whereas the pollen of entomophilous flowers tends to be large grained, sticky, and contain significant protein (another "reward" for pollinators), Anemophilous flower pollen is usually small grained, very light, and of little nutritional value to insects, though it may still be gathered, in times of dearth. However, in 1996, he scored the top 5 hit, "Me and You," and returned again with "When I Close My Eyes" in early 1997. Wind pollinated flowers are referred to as anemophilous. The follow-up, "All I Need to Know," also reached the Top 10, but follow-ups were not so successful. Other flowers are pollinated by the wind, and the flowers of these species (for example, grasses) have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to be "showy". His first major hit was "Fall in Love," which reached the Country Top 10 in 1995. Some plants, such as Rafflesia, the titan arum, and the North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba) are pollinated by flies, so produce a scent imitating rotting meat. . Flower scent is not always pleasant to our sense of smell. Chesney is known for his laid back style of country music. In gathering nectar from many flowers of the same species, the pollinators transfer pollen between all of the flowers it visits. Kenneth Arnold "Kenny" Chesney (born March 26, 1968 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is a popular country music singer and songwriter, known for such works as No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems and When the Sun Goes Down. The arrangement of the stamens ensures that pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of the pollinator. 2004 CMT Male Video of the Year: "There Goes My Life". In any case, pollinators are attracted to the plant, perhaps in search of nectar, which they eat. 2004 CMT Hottest Video of the Year: "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems". Flowers also attract pollinators by scent. 2004 CMA Album of the Year: When The Sun Goes Down. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that are evident in the ultraviolet range, visible to bees but not to humans. 2004 CMA Entertainer of the Year. Bees and birds are common pollinators: both have color vision, thus selecting for "colorful" flowers. 2005 CMT Male Video of the Year. Flowers commonly have glands called nectaries on their various parts that attract these animals. 2005 ACM Entertainer of the Year. Flowers that are insect pollinated are called entomophilous (literally "insect loving"). Many flowers in nature have evolved to attract animals to pollinate the flower, the movements of the pollinating agent contributing to the opportunity for genetic recombinations within a dispersed plant population. The period of time during which this process can take place (the flower is fully expanded and functional) is called anthesis. Others rely on animals (especially insects) to accomplish this feat. Many flowers are dependent upon the wind to move pollen between flowers of the same species. The process is termed pollination. The function of a flower is to mediate the union of male and female gametes. Several other symbols are used that will have to await drawings to illustrate here (see [1]). A floral formula would appear something like this:. x - to represent a "variable number" Ca5 = 5 sepals) A floral formula is a way to represent the structure of a flower using specific letters, numbers, and symbols. Each small flower may be anatomically as described above. In botanical terminology, a single daisy or sunflower for example, is not a flower but a flower head—an inflorescence comprised of numerous small flowers (sometimes called florets). In this sense, care must be exercised in considering what is a flower. In those species that have more than one flower on an axis, the collection of flowers is termed an inflorescence. Additional discussions on floral modifications from the basic plan are presented in the articles on each of the basic parts of the flower. The latter flower types, which have chemical barriers to their own pollen, are referred to as self-sterile or self-incompatible (see also: Plant sexuality). Unisexual male and female flowers on the same plant may not appear at the same time, or pollen from the same plant may be incapable of fertilizing its ovules. Conversely, many species of plants have ways of preventing self-fertilization. The extreme case of self-fertilization occurs in flowers that always self-fertilize, such as the common dandelion. Some flowers with both stamens and a pistil are capable of self-fertilization, which does increase the chance of producing seeds but limits genetic variation. However, where unisexual male and female flowers appear on the same plant, the species is considered monoecious. In the latter case, if an individual plant is either male or female the species is regarded as dioecious. However, in some species of plants the flowers are imperfect or unisexual: having only either male (stamens) or female (pistil) parts. These flowers are described by botanists as being perfect, bisexual, or hermaphrodite. In the majority of species, individual flowers have both pistils and stamens as described above. The number of carpels in a compound pistil may be only two, or otherwise not related to the above generalization for monocots and dicots. For example, the two subclasses of flowering plants may be distinguished by the number of floral organs in each whorl: dicotyledons typically having 4 or 5 organs (or a multiple of 4 or 5) in each whorl and monocotyledons having three or some multiple of three. These modifications have significance in the evolution of flowering plants and are used extensively by botanists to establish relationships among plant species. Although the floral structure described above is considered the "typical" structural plan, plant species show a wide variety of modifications from this plan. The four main parts or whorls (starting from the base of the flower or lowest node and working upwards) are as follows:. The parts of a flower are arranged in whorls on the torus. The stem is called a pedicel, the end of which is the torus or receptacle. In essence, a flower structure forms on a modified shoot or axis with an apical meristem that does not grow continuously (growth is determinate). A flower is regarded as a modified stem (Eames, 1961) with shortened internodes and bearing, at its nodes, structures that may be highly modified leaves. Flowering plants are heterosporangiate (producing two types of reproductive spores) and the pollen (male spores) and ovules (female spores) are produced in different organs, but these are together in a bisporangiate strobilus that is the typical flower. . After fertilization, portions of the flower develop into a fruit containing the seeds. For the higher plants, seeds are the next generation, and serve as the primary means by which individuals of a species are dispersed across the landscape. The flower structure contains the plant's reproductive organs, and its function is to produce seeds through sexual reproduction. A flower (<Old French flo(u)r<Latin florem<flos), also known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York. Morphology of the Angiosperms. 1961. J. Eames, A. Daisies are a symbol of innocence. It is also assosiated with stars (sun) and its petals blooming/shining. Irises/Lily are used in burials as a symbol refering to "resurection/life". In the UK, Australia and Canada, red poppies are worn to commemorate soldiers who have died in times of war. Poppies are a symbol of consolation in time of death. Red roses are given as a symbol of love, beauty, and passion. For funeral flowers and flowers for the grieving. As a gift of remembrance for bon voyage parties, welcome home parties, and "thinking of you" gifts. As brightening decorations within the home. For wedding flowers for the bridal party, and decorations for the hall. As a corsage or boutonniere to be worn at social functions or for holidays. For new births or Christenings Lilium hybrid "Stargazer" is extremely fragrant. . The supportive stalk, the style becomes the pathway for pollen tubes to grow from pollen grains adhering to the stigma, to the ovules, carrying the reproductive material. The sticky tip of the pistil, the stigma, is the receptor of pollen. A pistil may consist of a number of carpels merged together, in which case there is only one pistil to each flower, or of a single individual carpel (the flower is then called apocarpous). The female reproductive organ is the carpel: this contains an ovary with ovules (female gametes). gynoecium (from Greek gynaikos oikia: woman's house) – one or more pistils. Pollen contains the male gametes. androecium (from Greek andros oikia: man's house) – one or two whorls of stamens, each a filament topped by an anther where pollen is produced. corolla – the whorl of petals, which are usually thin, soft and colored to attract insects that help the process of pollination. calyx – the outer whorl of sepals; typically these are green, but are petal-like in some species. |