Seeds
Seed
is an
embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering. The formation
of the seed is part of the process of
reproduction in seed plants, the
spermatophytes, including the
gymnosperm and
angiosperm plants. A mature
fertilized plant ovule consisting of an
embryo and its food source and having a protective coat or testa. Place
seeds in or on the
ground for future growth.
Most
fruits have
seeds
and
most
vegetables don't have
seeds.
Go to Seed -
Dormant -
Spores.
Seed Library
is an institution that lends or shares seed. It is distinguished from a
seedbank in that the main purpose is not to store or hold germplasm or
seeds against possible destruction, but to disseminate them to the public
which preserves the shared plant varieties through propagation and further
sharing of seed. Seed libraries usually maintain their collections through
donations from members. but may also operate as pure charity operations
intent on serving gardeners and farmers. A common attribute of many seed
libraries is to preserve agricultural biodiversity by focusing on rare,
local, and heirloom seed varieties. Seed libraries use varied methods for
sharing seeds, primarily by: seed swaps otherwise known as seed exchanges,
in which library members or the public meet and exchange seeds. Seed
"lending," in which people check out seed from the library's collection,
grow them, save the seed, and return seed from the propagated plants to the library.
Seed Libraries
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Seed Libraries Weebly
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Seed Library Map
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Seed Library
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Seed Libraries.
Seed Preservation
Global Seed Vault is a secure seed bank on the Norwegian
island of Spitsbergen near Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic
Svalbard
archipelago, about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) from the North Pole.
Conservationist Cary Fowler, in association with the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (
CGIAR),
started the vault to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds that are
duplicate samples, or "spare" copies, of seeds held in
Gene
Banks worldwide. The seed vault is an attempt to insure against the
loss of seeds in other genebanks during large-scale regional or global
crises. The seed vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite
agreement between the Norwegian government, the Crop Trust and the Nordic
Genetic Resource Center (NordGen). The Norwegian government entirely
funded the vault's approximately 45 million kr (US$9 million)
construction. Storing seeds in the vault is free to end users, with Norway
and the Crop Trust paying for operational costs. Primary funding for the
Trust comes from organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
and from various governments worldwide.
Knowledge Preservation.
Seed Banking is Not an Option for over a Third of Threatened Species.
36 percent of 'critically endangered' species produce recalcitrant seeds.
This means they can't tolerate the drying process and therefore cannot be
frozen, the key process they need to go through to be safely 'banked.'
cryopreservation -- a form of
Preservation using
liquid nitrogen which offers a potential long-term storage solution for
recalcitrant seeds. In seed banks, seeds are dried and frozen at -20°C
whereas cryopreservation involves removing the embryo from the seed and
then using liquid nitrogen to freeze it at a much colder temperature of
-196°C.
Seed Savers -
Save Seed Sharing Petition
Kokopelli Organic Heirloom Seeds that are royalty-free and
reproducible.
American Seed Trade Association
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Sustainable Economies Law Center
The
Edible Archives -
The
African Seed Access Index -
Spirit of the Earth
International Center
for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas. The gene bank can hold as
many as
120,000 varieties of plants. Many
of the seeds come from crops as old as agriculture itself. They're sown by
farmers in the Fertile Crescent region, where cultivation began some
11,000 years ago. Other seeds were deposited
by researchers who've hiked in the past four decades through forests and
mountains in the Middle East, Asia and North Africa, searching for wild
relatives of wheat, legumes and other crops that are important to the
human diet. The research center, formed in the 1970s, once mostly helped
farmers in poorer countries in hot,
dry climates. But now it also sends seeds to scientists in Europe,
Canada and the United States, helping lead to breakthroughs in improving
certain crops' resilience to the effects of
climate change. Tens of
thousands of seeds are stored at a constant temperature of minus-4 degrees
Fahrenheit. After being threshed and cleaned, the seeds are placed inside
small, sealed foil packets and stored on rows of heavy, sliding metal
shelves. Ancient seeds from the Fertile Crescent could help save us from
climate change.
Heirloom
Plant is an old cultivar that is maintained by gardeners and
farmers, particularly in isolated or ethnic minority communities in
western countries. These may have been commonly grown during earlier
periods in human history, but are not used in modern large-scale
agriculture.
Heirloom is something
that
has been in a family for generations.
Heirloom in law is any property that is considered by law or custom as
inseparable from an inheritance is inherited with that inheritance.
Heirloom Seeds come from
open-pollinated plants that pass on similar
characteristics and traits from the parent plant to the child plant.
How Plants Form Their Seeds. Around 80 to 85 percent of our
calorie needs is
covered through seeds either directly as food or indirectly through use as
feed. Seeds are the result of plant reproduction. During the flowering
period, the male and female tissues interact with each other in a number
of ways. When
pollen lands on the flower’s stigma,
it germinates and forms a pollen tube, which then quickly grows towards
the plant’s ovary. Once it finds an ovule, the pollen tube bursts to
release sperm cells, which fertilize the ovule and initiate seed
formation.
Native Seeds. Crop diversity is
key to achieving
sustainable food security both globally and within our
own region of focus, the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. Our
approach to food security focuses on Our programs are designed to address
these goals and broadly entail:
Seed Banking
to ensure the survival of unique agricultural biodiversity and to document
its traits.
Seed Distribution so that these crops continue to
contribute to the region's food systems.
Support for on-farm maintenance
of dynamically-evolving crop varieties.
Research into low-input and
climate-appropriate agricultural practices.
Education in managing local
crop diversity and contributing to regional efforts.
Seed Security relies on the conservation
and sharing of appropriate crop diversity and the knowledge to use that
diversity effectively.
Knowledge Preservation
Native
Plant Trust conserves and promotes New England’s native plants to
ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.
Crop Trust
formerly known as the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is an international
nonprofit organization which works to preserve
crop diversity in order to protect global food security. It was
established through a partnership between the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization and the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research acting through
Bioversity International, which is a global research-for-development
organization with a vision – that agricultural biodiversity nourishes
people and sustains the planet.
Crop Trust Website.
Global Crop
Diversity Trust aims to collect important species of crop wild
relatives, ensure their long-term
conservation, and
facilitate their use in breeding new, improved crops.
Wild Seed Project builds
awareness of the vital importance of native plants and to provide people
with the tools to restore biodiversity in their own communities. We equip
community members, public officials and municipalities, and land-holding
individuals and organizations – from farmers to land trusts – with the
skills and resources they need to collectively repopulate landscapes with
native plants that expand wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, and
build climate resilience.
Heather McCargo and the Wild Seed Project want us all to think
differently about what we plant and yeah, to think about it in the winter.
Fairchild Garden. We save
tropical plant diversity by exploring, explaining and conserving the world
of tropical plants; fundamental to this task is inspiring a greater
knowledge and love for plants and gardening so that all can enjoy the
beauty and bounty of the tropical world.
David Fairchild (1869-1954), was known for traveling the world in
search of useful plants, but he was also an educator and a renowned
scientist. At the age of 22, he created the Section of
Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction of the United States Department of
Agriculture, and for the next 37 years, he traveled the world in
search of plants of potential use to the American people. Fairchild
visited every continent in the world (except Antarctica) and brought back
hundreds of important plants, including mangos, alfalfa, nectarines,
dates, cotton, soybeans, bamboos and the flowering cherry trees that grace
Washington D.C..
The U.S. Plant Introduction Garden Records.
Gene Bank platform supports the core
activities of the CGIAR genebanks: Conserving and making available crop
and tree diversity. It ensures that the genebanks meet international
standards, improve efficiency and ensure more effective use within an
enabling policy environment.
GMO.
Ex situ Conservation or
off-site conservation,
is the process of protecting an
endangered species,
variety or breed, of plant or animal outside its
natural habitat; for
example, by removing part of the population from a threatened habitat and
placing it in a new location, which may be a wild area or within the care
of humans. The degree to which humans control or modify the natural
dynamics of the managed population varies widely, and this may include
alteration of living environments, reproductive patterns, access to
resources, and protection from predation and mortality. Ex situ management
can occur within or outside a species' natural geographic range.
Individuals maintained ex situ exist outside an ecological niche. This
means that they are not under the same selection pressures as wild
populations, and they may undergo artificial selection if maintained ex
situ for multiple generations. Agricultural biodiversity is also
conserved in ex situ collections. This is primarily in the form of gene
banks where samples are stored in order to conserve the genetic
resources of major crop plants and their wild relatives.
Seeds come in all shapes and sizes.
Some tropical rainforest orchids have seeds that are smaller than a
pinhead—so small, in fact, that they are like dust. At the other end of
the scale is the enormous Coco de Mer seed which can be up to 40
centimetres long and weigh as much as 18 kilograms, about the same weight
as a medium-sized dog!
Dormancy
Recalcitrant Seed are seeds that
do not
survive drying and freezing during ex-situ conservation and vice
versa. By and large, these seeds cannot resist the effects of drying or
temperatures less than 10 °C; thus, they cannot be stored for long periods
like orthodox seeds because they can lose their viability. Plants that
produce recalcitrant seeds include avocado, mango, mangosteen, lychee,
cocoa, rubber tree, some horticultural trees, aquatic plants, such as
Nymphaea caerulea, and several plants used in traditional medicine, such
as species of Virola and Pentaclethra. Generally speaking, most tropical
pioneer species have orthodox seeds but many climax species have
recalcitrant or intermediate seeds.
Orthodox Seed are seeds which will
survive
drying and/or freezing during ex-situ conservation. According to
information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there is variation in
the ability of orthodox seeds to withstand drying and storage, with some
seeds being more sensitive than others. Thus some seeds are considered
intermediate in their storage capability while others are fully orthodox.
One notable example of a long-lived orthodox seed which survived
accidental storage followed by controlled germination is the case of the
2,000-year-old Judean date palm (cultivar of Phoenix dactylifera) seed
which successfully sprouted in 2005. This particular seed is reputed to be
the oldest viable seed, but the upper survival time limit of properly
stored seeds remains unknown.
Cryopreservation is a process where organelles, cells, tissues,
extracellular matrix, organs or any other
biological constructs susceptible to damage caused by unregulated
chemical kinetics are preserved by cooling to very low
temperatures (typically −80 °C
using solid carbon dioxide or −196 °C using liquid nitrogen). At low
enough temperatures, any enzymatic or chemical activity which might cause
damage to the
biological material in
question is effectively stopped. Cryopreservation methods seek to reach
low temperatures without causing additional damage caused by the formation
of
ice crystals during freezing. Traditional
cryopreservation has relied on coating the material to be frozen with a
class of molecules termed cryoprotectants. New methods are constantly
being investigated due to the inherent toxicity of many cryoprotectants.
By default it should be considered that cryopreservation alters or
compromises the structure and function of cells unless it is proven
otherwise for a particular cell population. Cryoconservation of animal
genetic resources is the process in which animal genetic material is
collected and stored with the intention of conservation of the breed.
Hidden in the seeds: Bacteria found to survive the harsh interior of
passion fruit seeds. Plant endophytic microorganisms, especially those
growing inside seeds, can survive antimicrobial compounds and have
attracted attention for their potential biocatalytic activity. Recently,
researchers successfully isolated several strains of endophytic bacteria
that survive in high concentrations of antimicrobial resveratrol and
piceatannol inside passion fruit seeds and get transmitted to
next-generation seedlings. One of the bacteria could convert resveratrol
and piceatannol to their respective derivatives. These findings will
significantly advance endophyte and biocatalyst research.
Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research. The
CGIAR Genebank Platform led by the Crop Trust, enables CGIAR genebanks
to fulfill their legal obligation to conserve and make available
accessions of crops and trees on behalf of the global community under
the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture.
How to
Harvest - Lettuce Seed (video)
Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
Nixtamalization refers to a process for the
preparation of maize, or
other grain, in which the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline
solution, usually limewater, and hulled. The term can also refer to the
removal via an alkali process of the pericarp from other grains such as
sorghum. Nixtamalized maize has several benefits over unprocessed grain:
it is more easily ground; its nutritional value is increased; flavor and
aroma are improved; and mycotoxins are reduced. Lime and ash are highly
alkaline: the alkalinity helps the dissolution of hemicellulose, the
major glue-like component of the maize cell walls, and loosens the hulls
from the kernels and softens the maize. Some of the corn oil is broken
down into emulsifying agents (monoglycerides and diglycerides), while
bonding of the maize proteins to each other is also facilitated. The
divalent calcium in lime acts as a cross-linking agent for protein and
polysaccharide acidic side chains. As a result, while cornmeal made from
untreated ground maize is unable by itself to form a dough on addition of
water, the chemical changes in masa allow dough formation. These benefits
make nixtamalization a crucial preliminary step for further processing of
maize into food products, and the process is employed using both
traditional and industrial methods, in the production of tortillas and
tortilla chips (but not corn chips), tamales, hominy, and many other
items.
These
Seeds are Sacred and He's Saving Them (youtube)
4 Sisters - Corn, Bean, Squash, Sunflower
Cherokee Nation to Disperse Rare, Traditional Seeds.
White Tepary Beans is a dietary staple of
native American tribes in Arizona, they are very high in protein and have
a low glycemic index. There are two varieties, brown and white. The
teparies have a particularly sweet, meaty flavor.
Domesticated rice has just been found in China, and it's about 9,000 years old.
Seed Corn is the seed of corn that is
kept aside from a harvest in order to plant for the following year's
production.
Eating Seeds
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Survival Tips and Information
Scientists Revive Ancient Trees From 2,000-Year-Old Seeds. Date trees
are either male or female and each tree makes either pollen or fertile
flowers. It takes both a male and female tree to produce fruit.
Counterfeit Seeds can be reduced with 'unclonable' labels.
Fake seeds can cost farmers more than
two-thirds of expected crop yields and threaten food security. As a way to
reduce seed counterfeiting, researchers developed a silk-based tag that,
when applied to seeds, provides a unique code that cannot be duplicated.
Seed Resources
Fruits and Vegetables Become Less Nutritious. Mass Produced Vegetables
are grown close together, which means that each vegetable has less
nutrients to extract from the soil. And if the vegetables are hybrid,
clones or
GMO, they will have even less
vitamins, nutrients and flavor, but a longer shelf life, which makes
growing food more about profit, and less about producing healthy food.
https://www.dw.com/en/agriculture-seeds-seed-laws-agribusinesses-climate-change-food-security-seed-sovereignty-bayer/a-57118595.
And 3 of those corporations also sell 3 million tons of pesticides. So if
they are not starving you to death, they're poisoning you to death, all
because they love money more than people, the same people they take money
from. This is way beyond parasitic, they are predators, and they want your
flesh, either in the ground or on the plate.
Monopolies are killing America.
Planting - Sowing
Sowing is the process of
planting seeds. An area or object that has had seeds planted will be described as being sowed.
Sow is to place seeds in or on the ground
for future growth. Introduce into an environment.
Harvest is the
process
of gathering a ripe crop from the fields after seeds have grown into
mature plants.
Return
on Investment.
Reap is to
gather, as of natural products. To harvest a crop.
Sheave is a bundle of grain stalks laid
lengthwise and tied together after reaping. A bundle of objects of one
kind, especially papers.
Bringing In the Sheaves (wiki).
Seed Drill or
Mechanical Seed
Planter is a device that sows the seeds for crops by
metering out the individual seeds, positioning them in the
soil, and covering them to a certain average
depth. The seed drill sows the seeds at equal distances and proper depth,
ensuring that the seeds get covered with soil and are saved from being
eaten by birds. Before the introduction of the seed drill, a common
practice was to
plant seeds by hand.
Besides being wasteful, planting was usually imprecise and led to a poor
distribution of seeds, leading to low productivity. The use of a seed
drill can improve the ratio of crop yield (seeds harvested per seed
planted) by as much as nine times. Some machines for metering out seeds
for planting are called planters. The concepts involved (such as
mechanisms that pick up seeds from a bin and deposit them down a tube) are
largely the same. Seed drills of earlier centuries included single-tube
seed drills in Sumer and multi-tube seed drills in China, and later a seed
drill by
Jethro Tull that was influential in the growth of farming technology
in recent centuries. Even for a century after Tull, hand sowing of grain
remained common.
Hydroseeding is a planting process that uses a slurry of
seed and mulch. It is often used as an erosion control technique on
construction sites, as an alternative to the traditional process of
broadcasting or sowing dry seed. (also known as hydraulic mulch seeding,
hydro-mulching, hydraseeding).
Broadcast Seeding is a method of seeding that involves scattering
seed, by hand or mechanically, over a relatively large area. This is in
contrast to: precision seeding, where seed is placed at a precise spacing
and depth; hydroseeding, where a slurry of seed, mulch and water is
sprayed over prepared ground in a uniform layer.
Dispersal: When seeds get carried away,
animals and insects give seeds a helping hand. Bees help fertilize
flowering plants by carrying pollen from one flower to another. But many
plants also rely on insects and animals to transform from a seed to a
seedling. Animals help seeds by carrying them to a place where they can
germinate. This may be as simple as a bird knocking seeds to the ground
while landing on a branch. Perhaps more significantly, by eating the seeds
(often attracted by the ripened fruit surrounding them), birds, bats,
insects and other animals may carry them away from the parent plant in
their gut, to be deposited somewhere else—in their poo. Spreading seeds
out means less competition between the seedling and its parent plant,
and between the young seedlings. Also, seeds may be moved to places that
are more suitable for germination. The cadagai eucalypt, for instance, has
a resin that stingless bees like to use in nest building. They collect the
resin from inside the eucalypt fruit (capsule) and, inadvertently, the
seeds as well. This is beneficial for the seed if it gets carried away to
a suitable habitat.
Planting Seeding Methods
-
Germination
-
Micro-Greens -
Plant Breeding -
Pollination
The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who
Transformed. What America Eats by Daniel Stone. (amazon)
Seed Time - Visualize
exactly when to seed, transplant, or harvest crops in your garden all year
round - based on your local area.
Advance Sowing consists in dry-sowing crops directly into
existing pastures without using tillage, fertilizer or
chemicals.
Priming is a form of seed planting preparation in which the seeds are pre-soaked before planting.
Stratification is a process of treating seeds to simulate natural
conditions that the seeds must experience before germination can occur.
Many seed species have an embryonic dormancy phase and generally will not
sprout until this dormancy is broken.
Cold
Stratification is the process of subjecting seeds to both cold and
moist conditions. Seeds of many trees, shrubs and perennials require these
conditions before germination will ensue.
More than just Seeds
You're Going to Reap what you Sow.
The more good things that you add to life, the more good things you will
receive from life. You will always
harvest what you plant, just as long as
you are
responsible for it's
maintenance and stay
resilient when things
change or when
things go wrong.
“You
Reap
what you
Sow" - Everything you do, everything you say, every
choice you make, sooner or later
comes back around.
Whatever you do today is directly proportional to what will happen to you
tomorrow. You’ll never change your life until you change your choices."
Karma -
Be careful what you wish for -
Blowback
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Feedback Loop -
Chain Reactions
-
Dilemmas -
Chaos -
Two Sides to a Coin
-
Two Wrongs
What Goes Around Comes Around means
that people's actions will eventually have
consequences which they
will eventually have to deal with themselves. If you are bad to people,
people and life will be bad to you. If you hate others, others will hate
you.
Reciprocation -
Symbiotic
Life is like a Boomerang - "Our thoughts,
our deeds, and our words
return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.” Grant M. Bright.
And... in the
end... the love you take... is equal to... the love you make (youtube)
"Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that
you plant." –
Robert Louis Stevenson.
"Life is for Sowing for the Harvest is not yet here".
"With every deed you
are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see."
"Words are seeds, they do more than blow around, they
land in our hearts and not on the ground. Be careful what you plant and
be careful what you say.
You might have to eat what you planted one day."
"We can plant
seeds in our own souls and minds at any season of the year, any day and
any hour, and make that day the beginning of a new cycle in the doing of
things and thinking of things."
Seeds of Change is something that
makes a new situation start to grow and develop.
Good
ideas can spread like seeds in
the wind, waiting to
grow in the
mind of the person who can
recognize
the value of the seed.
Sapling - Seedlings
Seedling or
Sapling is a
Young
Plant
sporophyte developing out of a
plant embryo from a seed. Seedling
development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling
consists of three main parts: the radicle (
embryonic root), the hypocotyl
(
embryonic shoot), and the cotyledons (seed leaves). The two classes of
flowering plants (angiosperms) are distinguished by their numbers of seed
leaves: monocotyledons (monocots) have one blade-shaped cotyledon, whereas dicotyledons (dicots) possess two round cotyledons. Gymnosperms are more
varied. For example, pine seedlings have up to eight cotyledons. The
seedlings of some flowering plants have no cotyledons at all. These are
said to be acotyledons. The plumule is the part of a seed embryo that
develops into the shoot bearing the first true leaves of a plant. In most
seeds, for example the sunflower, the plumule is a small conical structure
without any leaf structure. Growth of the plumule does not occur until the
cotyledons have grown above ground. This is epigeal germination. However,
in seeds such as the broad bean, a leaf structure is visible on the
plumule in the seed. These seeds develop by the plumule growing up through
the soil with the cotyledons remaining below the surface. This is known as
hypogeal Germination.
Micro-Greens -
Plant Breeding -
Pruning
Bud is an
undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf
or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a
dormant condition, or it may form a
shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short
shoots, or may have the potential for general shoot
development. Bud is a
partially opened flower. A swelling on a plant stem consisting of
overlapping immature leaves or petals.
Budding
is the beginning to develop or to start to grow or develop or
develop buds. Reproduction
of some unicellular organisms (such as yeasts) by growth and
specialization followed by the separation by constriction of a part of the
parent. The term
bud is also used in zoology, where it refers to an
outgrowth from the body which can
develop into a new individual.
Fruit Spur
is a short fat branch that bears flower buds and, therefore, fruit. Spurs
may form in clusters, such as on apple trees, or along lateral branches,
such as on peach trees.
Husk in botany is the
outer shell or coating of a seed. It often refers to the leafy outer
covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a
husk or hull includes the protective outer covering of a seed, fruit, or
vegetable. It can
also refer to the
exuvia of
bugs or small animals left behind after moulting.
Shoot
consists 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.
Fertilisation is the fusion of gametes to initiate the development of
a new individual organism. The cycle of fertilisation and development of
new individuals is called
sexual
reproduction. During double fertilisation in angiosperms the haploid
male
gamete
combines with two haploid polar nuclei to form a triploid primary
endosperm nucleus by the process of vegetative fertilisation.
Plant Reproductive Morphology is the study of the physical form and
structure (
the
morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned
with sexual reproduction.
Flowering Plant are the most diverse group of land plants, with 416
families, approximately 13,164 known genera and c. 295,383 known species.
Like
gymnosperms,
angiosperms are
seed-producing plants. However, they are
distinguished from gymnosperms by characteristics including
flowers,
endosperm within the seeds, and the production of fruits that contain the
seeds. Etymologically, angiosperm means a plant that produces seeds within
an enclosure; in other words, a fruiting plant. The term comes from the
Greek words angeion ("case" or "casing") and sperma ("seed"). In flowering
plants, seeds develop in a fruit. The fruit protects seeds but also helps
with their
dispersal from one place to another.
Sometimes the fruit is nice and soft and delicious, like a berry that
attracts animals who then accidently carry the seed to a new home.
Sex
Organ is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual
reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive
system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female,
are called the primary sex organs. All others are called secondary sex
organs, divided between the external sex organs—the genitals or genitalia,
visible at birth in both sexes—and the internal sex organs. Mosses, ferns,
and some similar plants have gametangia for reproductive organs, which are
part of the gametophyte. The flowers of flowering plants produce pollen
and egg cells, but the sex organs themselves are inside the gametophytes
within the pollen and the ovule. Coniferous plants likewise produce their
sexually reproductive structures within the gametophytes contained within
the cones and pollen. The cones and pollen are not themselves sexual
organs.
Plant
Embryogenesis or
Plant Embryonic Development is a process that occurs after the fertilization of an
ovule to produce a fully developed plant embryo. This is a pertinent stage
in the plant life cycle that is followed by
dormancy and
germination. The
zygote produced after fertilization, must undergo various cellular
divisions and differentiations to become a mature embryo. An end stage
embryo has five major components including the shoot apical meristem,
hypocotyl, root meristem, root cap, and cotyledons. Unlike animal
embryogenesis, plant embryogenesis results in an immature form of the
plant, lacking most structures like leaves, stems, and reproductive
structures.
Somatic Embryogenesis is an artificial process in which a plant or
embryo is derived from a single somatic cell. Somatic embryos are formed
from plant cells that are not normally involved in the development of
embryos, i.e. ordinary plant tissue. No endosperm or seed coat is formed
around a somatic embryo.
Mung
Beans Time Lapse with X-Ray (youtube).
Spermatophyte comprise those
plants that produce seeds, hence the
alternative name seed plants. They are a subset of the embryophytes or
land plants.
Gymnosperm are a group of
seed-producing plants that includes
conifers, cycads,
Ginkgo, and gnetophytes.
Endosperm is the tissue produced inside the seeds of most of the
flowering plants following fertilization. It surrounds the embryo and
provides nutrition in the form of starch, though it can also contain oils
and protein. This can make endosperm a source of nutrition in the human
diet. For example, wheat endosperm is ground into flour for bread (the
rest of the grain is included as well in whole wheat flour), while barley
endosperm is the main source of sugars for beer production. Other examples
of endosperm that forms the bulk of the edible portion are coconut "meat"
and coconut "water", and corn. Some plants, such as orchids, lack
endosperm in their seeds.
Germ
is the reproductive part that
germinates
to grow into a plant; it is the embryo of the seed. Along with bran, germ
is often a by-product of the milling that produces refined grain products.
Cereal grains
and their components, such as wheat germ oil,rice bran oil, and maize, may
be used as a source from which vegetable oil is extracted, or used
directly as a food ingredient. The germ is retained as an integral part of
whole-grain foods. Non-whole grain methods of milling are intended to
isolate the endosperm, which is ground into flour, with removal of both
the husk (bran) and the germ. Removal of bran is aimed at producing a
flour with a white rather than a brown color, and eliminating fiber, which
reduces nutrition. The germ is rich in polyunsaturated fats (which have a
tendency to oxidize and become rancid on storage) and so germ removal
improves the storage qualities of
flour.
Wheat germ or wheatgerm is a concentrated
source of several essential nutrients, including vitamin E, folate (folic
acid), phosphorus, thiamin, zinc, and magnesium, as well as essential
fatty acids and fatty alcohols. It is a good source of fiber. White
bread is made
using flour that has had the germ and bran removed.
Spore is
a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal
and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavorable
conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants,
algae,
fungi and
protozoa. Bacterial spores are not part of a sexual cycle but
are resistant structures used for survival under unfavourable conditions.
Myxozoan spores release amoebulae into their hosts for
parasitic
infection, but also reproduce within the hosts through the pairing of two
nuclei within the plasmodium, which develops from the amoebula. Spores are
usually haploid and
unicellular and are produced by meiosis in the
sporangium of a diploid sporophyte. Under favourable conditions the spore
can develop into a new organism using mitotic division, producing a
multicellular gametophyte, which eventually goes on to produce gametes.
Two gametes fuse to form a zygote which develops into a new sporophyte.
This cycle is known as alternation of generations. The spores of seed
plants are produced internally, and the megaspores (formed within the
ovules) and the microspores are involved in the formation of more complex
structures that form the dispersal units, the seeds and pollen grains.
Embryo
is an early stage of development of a multicellular diploid
eukaryotic organism.
In general, in organisms that reproduce sexually, an embryo develops from
a zygote, the single cell resulting from the fertilization of the female
egg cell by the male sperm cell. The zygote possesses half the DNA from
each of its two parents. In plants, animals, and some protists, the zygote
will begin to divide by mitosis to produce a multicellular organism. The
result of this process is an embryo.
Germination is the process by which a
plant grows from a
seed. The most common example of germination is the
sprouting of
a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. In
addition, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the
spores of hyphae from fungal spores, is also germination. Thus,
in a general sense, germination can be thought of as anything
expanding into greater being from a small existence or germ.
Plant seeds are encased within an outer shell of varying thicknesses. The
shell protects the tiny embryo within from parasites, injury or extreme
temperatures. Inside the shell also is the endosperm, the food that
nourishes the embryo during its early stages of growth.
Germination Process: The seed takes up
water, activating
enzymes that begin
the growth process. The embryo swells and lengthens. The embryo breaks
through the seed’s covering layers. The root meristem is activated and the
embryonic root (radicle) pushes through. Cotyledons (embryonic leaves)
break out. The shoot meristem is activated. ‘True’ leaves form—the plant
is now able to get energy from the sun.
Malting.
Dormancy is a state of
suspended animation
in which seeds delay germination until conditions are right for survival
and
growth. The dormant embryo is a young plant
that formed from a
fertilized egg cell. The seed
coat is a protective layer surrounding the whole package. The food store
contains all the nutrients (carbohydrates and protein) an embryonic plant
needs to get going.
Dormancy
is a period in an organism's life cycle when growth, development, and (in
animals) physical activity are temporarily stopped. This minimizes
metabolic activity and therefore helps an organism to conserve energy.
Seeds may look like they’re pretty inactive—it can be easy to assume
there’s nothing much going on in there. In fact, experiments show that
some of the tissues inside of seeds remain active, and even carry out some
basic metabolic processes, such as cellular respiration . In other words,
seeds use small amounts of stored energy, staying alive and ‘waiting’ for
good conditions to begin to grow.
Suspended Animation is the inducement of a temporary cessation or
decay of main body functions, including the brain, to a hypometabolic
state in order to try to preserve its mental and physiological
capabilities.
Hibernation is a mechanism used by many mammals to reduce energy
expenditure and survive food shortage over the winter. is a state of
inactivity and metabolic depression in endotherms. Hibernation refers to a
season of heterothermy characterized by low body temperature, slow
breathing and heart rate, and low metabolic rate. It is most commonly
observed during the winter months.
Diapause is common in insects, allowing them to suspend development
between autumn and spring, and in mammals such as the roe deer (Capreolus
capreolus, the only ungulate with embryonic diapause), in which a delay in
attachment of the embryo to the uterine lining ensures that offspring are
born in spring, when conditions are most favorable.
In plant physiology,
dormancy is a period of arrested plant growth. It is a survival strategy
exhibited by many plant species, which enables them to survive in climates
where part of the year is unsuitable for growth, such as winter or dry
seasons. Seed dormancy is referred to as embryo dormancy or internal
dormancy and is caused by endogenous. Dormancy should not be confused with
seed coat dormancy, external dormancy, or hardseededness, which is caused
by the presence of a hard seed covering or seed coat that prevents water
and oxygen from reaching and activating the embryo. It is a physical
barrier to germination, not a true form of dormancy. Many plant species
that exhibit dormancy have a biological clock that tells them when to slow
activity and to prepare soft tissues for a period of freezing temperatures
or water shortage. On the other hand, dormancy can be triggered after a
normal growing season by decreasing temperatures, shortened day length,
and/or a reduction in rainfall. Chemical treatment on dormant plants has
been proven to be an effective method to break dormancy, particularly in
woody plants such as grapes, berries, apples, peaches and kiwis.
Specifically,
hydrogen
cyanamide stimulates cell division and growth in dormant plants,
causing budbreak when the plant is on the edge of breaking dormancy.
Slight injury of cells may play a role in the mechanism of action. The
injury is thought to result in increased permeability of cellular
membranes. The injury is associated with the inhibition of catalase, which
in turn stimulates the pentose phosphate cycle. Hydrogen cyanamide
interacts with the
cytokinin metabolic cycle, which results in triggering a new growth
cycle.
Dormancy is a way that plants improve the
chances of their offspring’s survival and growth. It allows seeds
to delay germination until, for example, temperatures are just right for
the seedling to thrive. It also means that seeds can wait to become
seedlings until they are at a distance from the parent plant (for example,
by being eaten by animals and excreted elsewhere), which reduces
competition with other seeds from the same parent. Finally, it allows the
germination of seeds to be staggered—so, if bad weather comes along and
destroys the first batch of seedlings, there will be some ‘back-up’ seeds.
Dormancy happens through a few different kinds of mechanisms, some of
which happen outside the embryo (exogenous dormancy), others inside it
(physiological dormancy). An example of an exogenous dormancy mechanism is
a hard seed coat, which stops the seed absorbing water, and sometimes air.
The hard seed coat may need to be broken by heat, freezing, or by passing
through an animal’s acidic guts. Dormancy may also be triggered by factors
inside the embryo, especially chemical changes, which need to occur in the
seed before it will germinate. Some seeds, for example, need a period of
light or dark to germinate. Spinifex hirsutus, which grows in the sand
dunes of Western Australia, has a better chance of growing when its seeds
are deep in the dunes where the sand is stable and there is more moisture
and nutrients—so its seeds won’t germinate unless it’s dark. Another kind
of physiological dormancy is where a seed won’t germinate until the embryo
has grown to a certain size. People working in the agricultural industry
will often carry out processes that imitate these natural ones in order to
break dormancy and get seeds to germinate—for instance, by chilling seeds
to imitate cold weather or by applying abrasives to weaken the seed coat.
Freezing Ice -
Ice Therapy.
Seeds wait to Germinate until
three needs are met:
water, correct
temperature (warmth),
oxygen, and a good location
(such as in
soil). Some plants need fire or smoke
to germinate, while others rely on insects and animals.
Seeds need the right temperature to germinate,
and this varies depending on the species of plant and its environment.
Some need fluctuations in temperature. Some need very cold conditions for
a few weeks or even months before they will germinate at a higher
temperature. This ensures that cold climate seeds, for example, delay
germination until after winter. Maintain an ambient temperature between 20
and 25 °C, otherwise the seeds will not or at least not optimally
germinate.
If a seed needs light, it won't
germinate until it's close to the soil surface. That way, it has a chance
to survive. But before a seed begins to grow up, it grows down, anchoring
itself with a root, the first life to emerge from the seed coat.
Science.org.au.
During its early stages
of growth, the seedling relies upon the food supplies stored with it in
the seed
until it is large enough for its own leaves to begin making food through
photosynthesis.
The embryo gets energy by breaking down its food stores. Like all
organisms, this is done through a process known as aerobic respiration —a
series of reactions where energy is released from glucose, using oxygen.
During aerobic respiration: Glucose and oxygen are used up. Carbon dioxide
and water are produced as waste, and energy is released.
Chemical discovery gets reluctant seeds to sprout. Seeds that would
otherwise lie dormant will spring to life with the aid of a new chemical.
Plants have the ability to perceive drought. When they do, they emit a
hormone that helps them hold on to water. This same hormone, ABA, sends a
message to seeds that it isn't a good time to germinate, leading to lower
crop yields and less food in places where it's hot -- an increasingly long
list as a result of climate change. If you block ABA, you mess with the
chemical pathway that plants use to prevent seed germination.
Despite being biochemically inactive, long dormant bacterial spores
can process environmental cues over time by gradually releasing stored
electrochemical potential to resume biological activity and growth at an
appropriate time,
without the need for metabolic activity.
Without water, seeds can't use their stored energy.
Seeds absorb water, activating the biochemical mechanisms required for
germination and growth. Water hydrates enzymes in the seed, activating
them. As a result the seed begins to release energy from its food store
for growth and causes pressure to build in the embryo’s cells, causing
them to enlarge. This often results in the seed coat breaking open. After
absorbing enough water, the embryo bursts the seed's outer shell and the
small, growing plant emerges. Different seeds store food reserved in
different ways—some rely on large reserves of endosperm (nutritive tissue
around the embryo), while others store food reserves in embryonic leaves.
The cotyledon/s—which may become the embryonic first leaves of a seedling.
In angiosperms (flowering plants), species with one
cotyledon are called
monocots, while plants with two cotyledon are known as
dicots.
Plant seeds can store their energy in a dry state for years, only to
suddenly release it and germinate. Seed germination is controlled by
several plant hormones. Researchers has discovered that
thiol redox switches play a key role in kick-starting the energy
metabolism. Researchers observed, in living seed cells, both energy
metabolism and the so-called redox metabolism, which relies in sulphur.
The researchers discovered that when the seeds came into contact with
water, energy metabolism was established in a matter of minutes, and the
plant cells' "power stations" -- known as
mitochondria -- activated
their respiration. The researchers also found out which
molecular switches are activated to enable
energy to be released efficiently -- with the so-called thiol-redox
switches playing a central role. Researchers visualized under the
microscope
adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the general currency for energy in the
cell, and
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), the
electron energy, in the mitochondria.
They compared seeds from thale cress: both dry seeds and seeds "imbibed"
with water. To find out whether the redox switches are important for
kick-starting germination, the researchers deactivated specific proteins
using genetic methods and then compared the reaction shown by the modified
seeds with that of the unmodified ones. The researchers allowed the seeds
to age artificially in the laboratory, and they saw that the seeds
germinated much less actively if they lacked the relevant proteins. The
researchers' next step involved so-called redox proteome analysis, i.e.
they examined the relevant
redox proteins
in their entirety with the use of biochemical methods. For this purpose,
they isolated active mitochondria and flash-froze them in order to be able
to study this state directly where the process was taking place. The
researchers then used mass spectrometry methods to identify several
so-called cysteine-peptides which are important for resource efficiency in
energy metabolism.
Redox metabolism is an important metabolic pathway in all
apicomplexans. This pathway shows the series of oxidation/reduction
activities involved in removal of oxidative radicals such as superoxide
anions, hydrogen peroxide and other toxic nucleophiles produced from
different metabolic reactions.
Imbibition
is a special type of diffusion when
water
is absorbed by solids-colloids causing an enormous increase in volume.
Examples include the absorption of water by seeds and dry wood. If it were
not for the pressure due to imbibition, seedlings would not have been able
to emerge out of soil into the open; they probably would not have been able to establish.
Tropism is a biological phenomenon, indicating growth or turning
movement of a biological organism, usually a plant,
in response to an environmental stimulus.
In tropisms, this response is dependent on the direction of the stimulus
(as opposed to nastic movements which are non-directional responses).
Viruses and other pathogens also affect what is called "host tropism",
"tissue tropism", or "cell tropism"; in which case tropism refers to the
way in which different viruses/pathogens have evolved to preferentially
target specific host species, specific tissue, or specific cell types
within those species. Tropisms are usually named for the stimulus involved
(for example, a phototropism is a reaction to sunlight) and may be either
positive (towards the stimulus) or negative (away from the stimulus).
Tropisms occur in three sequential steps. First, there is a sensation to a
stimulus, which is usually beneficial to the plant. Next, signal
transduction occurs. And finally, the directional growth response occurs.
Tropisms are typically associated with plants (although not necessarily
restricted to them).[a] Where an organism is capable of directed physical
movement (motility), movement or activity in response to a specific
stimulus is more likely to be regarded by behaviorists as a taxis
(directional response) or a kinesis (non-directional response).
Farming Knowledge
-
Vertical Farming -
LED Grow Lights
Herbs and Spices
Dandelion Seeds reveal newly discovered form of Natural Flight. When
dandelion seeds fly, a ring-shaped air bubble forms as air moves
through the bristles, enhancing the drag that slows their descent. This
shows that movement of air around and within its parachute-shaped bundle
of bristles enables seeds to travel great distances -- often a kilometre
or more, kept afloat entirely by wind power.
Flying.
Plant Propagation
-
Cloning -
Pollination
Root Crown, also
known as the root collar or root neck, is that part of a
root system from
which a stem arises. Since roots and stems have quite different vascular
anatomies, major vascular changes take place at this point. Root-crown
temperature has been found to affect plant growth and physiology in a
number of ways. Root crowns need to be exposed and 'breathe'; this is one
way that some plants take in oxygen. A number of pests and diseases affect
specifically this part of the plant, including root-crown rot (or
root-crown fungus) and a number of species of root-crown weevil. The root
crown area usually appears swollen, tapered, constricted or very thin - as
well as a combination of these. The area of the root crown is usually
located around or at the soil level and can be vaguely or clearly
apparent.
Bird Seeds
Some
bird food mixes include a variety of grains, including Black oil
sunflower seeds, striped sunflower, sunflower hearts chips, millet,
safflower, cracked corn, corn, peanuts, milo, mealworms, fruit, suet, ecorticated sunflower
(also called sunflower hearts or meats), wheat, barley, (hulled) oats,
millet, sorghum, Niger seed, (cracked) maize, safflower, groundnut or
groundnut pieces, pine nuts, canary seed and quinoa. Other common
seeds found in these mixes include hemp, thistle seed, green split peas,
yellow split peas, whole peas. These seeds are commonly found in
the United States, but not necessarily in the natural habitats of pet
bird species. Most of the seed and grains contained in seed mixes come
from growers in the United States and Canada. Growers typically plant
their
seed crops in spring and harvest in fall. (If there’s a bad
crop, bird seed manufacturers may go out of the country to procure
staples such as sunflower and safflower seed.) As soon as they harvest
the seed, they ship it to manufacturers. This big seed shipment in the
fall is what manufacturers use in their seed mixes for the next year. A
number of
Wild Birds bird foods contain added
calcium carbonate, it
is quickly and efficiently broken down in the digestive tract to be
easily absorbed and used by the
bird.
Crude Protein is
actually a chemical analysis of the food whereby the amount of
nitrogen present is used to estimate the amount of protein in the food.
While nitrogen does come from animal protein, it also comes from
non-animal proteins like grains, as well as other non-protein nitrogen
(NPN) sources.
Feedipedia.
Crude
fat is the term used to refer to the crude mixture of fat-soluble material present in a sample. Crude fat also known as the ether extract or the
free lipid content, is the traditional measure of fat in food products.
Crude fiber is a measure of the quantity of indigestible cellulose, pentosans, lignin, and other components of this type in present foods.
It is the residue of plant materials remaining after solvent
extraction followed by digestion with dilute acid and alkali.
Seed Moisture Content is the amount of water in the
seed and is usually expressed as a percentage. The seed moisture
content can either be accurately determined experimentally by
scientific techniques, or it can be predicted approximately from the
information available.
Bioversity International.
Norfolk Island Pine
An
Indoor Air Purifier and a Living Christmas Tree for years to come. “Let
the Love Grow”
"Taking care of a plant is kind of like taking care of a
person, it needs healthy food, clean water, good sunlight, good hygiene
and lots of love..and talking to it doesn’t hurt either."
Instructions for taking care of a Norfolk Island
Pine:
Take off the holiday foil wrapper and remove the clear cover for the pot.
Lighting: Plant thrives in Medium to Bright Light. The less light this tropical plant
gets, the slower it will grow. Turn the plant a ¼ turn weekly or bi-weekly
to keep it symmetrical. Mark the pot in 4 places to remember. Avoid any
sudden changes in room temperature, temperature extremes and chilly
drafts.
Water once a week, enough to keep the soil moist, but not wet.
The roots will rot if they stand in water.
Excess water should drain out
the bottom of the pot, so place a drainage dish saucer underneath.
Drainage holes in the pot allow excess water to seep out of pots after
watering, ensuring that water does not pool at the base of a pot, helping
to protect sensitive roots from rot, fungus and bacteria. For pots that
don't have holes for drainage, some people put gravel in the bottom of the
pot, to create a sort of internal “drainage tray” to collect water under
the dirt.
Let the soil dry
slightly before watering again. If the soil pulls away from the pot's edge
as it dries, gently press it back. If your house air is dry and has low
humidity then spray water mist over your plant ounce a week. Use a pebble
tray or a small humidifier if needed. Brown needles are sometimes normal
but may also indicate not enough water or too much water if yellow.
Needles should be dark green. During the inactive winter months you don’t
need to water or fertilize as much. It may need staking to help keep it
upright. Use a Ceramic Water Spike if you go away for a couple of weeks. A
water spike uses
capillary action, a simple scientific
principle, naturally drawing water when the soil dries out, watering just
when your plant needs it.
Drip Irrigation.
White Fuzzy Mold growing over the
surface of houseplant potting soil is usually a harmless
saprophytic fungus. Although the fungus doesn't damage the plant, it
is unsightly and indicates that there is a problem.
Overwatering the plant, poor drainage, and
old or contaminated potting soil encourage saprophytic fungus, which feeds
on the decaying organic matter in soggy soil. In most cases you can
simply scrape the mold from the surface of the soil and place the pot in a
well-ventilated area so that the soil can dry. If the mold returns or the
soil remains soggy, you should repot the plant using fresh, sterile
potting soil. Before you use the pot again, soak it in a solution of 1
part household bleach and 9 parts water for 10 minutes and then scrub it
with dish detergent and water. Soggy soil encourages problems such as
saprophytic fungi and may lead to more serious problems, including root
rot. A proper watering technique provides the plant with all of the water
it needs without leaving the soil overly wet. Water houseplants only when
they need it. A good general rule is to water plants in 6-inch pots when
the soil is dry at a depth of 2 inches. Plants in smaller pots should be
watered when the soil is dry at a depth of 1 inch. Add water slowly until
it runs out of the holes in the bottom of the pot. Excess water that
drains from the pot should be discarded promptly. Even the best watering
technique won't prevent soggy soil if the pot doesn't drain freely. Every
plant container should have holes in the bottom for drainage, and the
container should sit on a removable saucer that will catch the water as it
drains from the pot. Placing a layer of small pebbles or bits of broken
crockery in the bottom of the pot improves the drainage and prevents bits
of soil from clogging the holes. A 6-inch pot needs at least 1 inch of
pebbles and a 12-inch container needs a minimum of 2 inches. Check the
holes periodically to make sure they aren't blocked. Choose a good quality
potting soil that contains a mixture of peat moss, composted plant
material such as bark, and either sand or perlite. Potting soil may
contain other materials as well, but these three ingredients are the basis
of a potting soil that can support the plant and drain freely. Potting
soil should be clean and free of insects and pathogens such as fungi.
Contaminated potting soil often has a sour smell. Open bags of moist
potting soil are breeding grounds for microorganisms and insects, so seal
the bag tightly before storing the unused portion. Even the best
potting soil is only good for a year or two. Once it begins to break down
it can no longer manage water well, and the soil will retain too much
moisture. Repot your plants every two or three years to refresh the soil
and improve the drainage.
Fertilize once a month except in the winter months. (Diluted
water soluble fertilizer 6-4-6).
Repot your plant every 2 years or more
with same type of soil using a two inch bigger pot that’s deep
with good
drainage. A mix of equal parts good quality sterilized fast-draining potting soil, peat
and sand provides a suitable medium for root support and growth. NIP’s do
well in both
acidic and alkaline pH soils. This tree has a Fragile root
system so be careful. If the branches are drooping then it needs water.
The best time to repot a plant is in the spring when the sun is stronger
and days are longer, that is when the plant is actively growing roots and will
have enough time to grow into newly added potting mix, and the plant can
also take the stress better. To tell if your plant is becoming root-bound
just pop the plant out of its container by placing one hand around the
base of the plant, tipping it upside down, and tapping the side of the pot
with your other hand. If you see one big mass tangle of roots, your plant
is becoming
root-bound and needs a bigger home. If you notice black, weak
roots and/or an unpleasant odor, you most likely do not have adequate
drainage or you have poor soil conditions, and it is time to re-pot.
Prune your tree at any time of the year. Remove any branches/stems that
have died. But remember pruned branches will not grow back, so be careful.
Also remove any scale insects that you see.
Scale Insect are
parasites of plants, feeding on sap drawn directly from the plant's
vascular system. There are about 8,000 described species of scale insects.
Many scale species are serious crop pests.
Uses: Timber from this pine is good
for making things like tool handles, chair and table legs, spindles and
pegs for furniture, musical instruments, urns, sculptures, bowls,
platters, and chair seats. Grain is usually straight, with a fine to
medium uniform texture. Moderate natural luster. Heartwood is light brown,
sometimes with a yellow or red hue.
Resin has medicinal uses as a natural
antiseptic and disinfectant. It also may be antimicrobial and antifungal
properties and may be cytotoxic and antiulcerogenic. Pine resin makes a
great fire starter and a waterproofing agent too. Stem exudates yielded
three labdane diterpenes, labda-8(17),14-diene, 13-epicupressic acid, and
13-O- acetyl-13-epicupressic acid.
Warnings: Norfolk Island pine is not
intended for human or animal consumption. Pine needles are not to be eaten
or made into tea because this plant is not technically a true pine in the Pinus genus plant species.
Scientific name of this plant is
Araucaria Heterophylla. Other names include Star Pine, Triangle Tree and House Pine
to name a few. This Prehistoric Tropical Plant is Native to the South
Pacific. It cannot survive in frost or snow. 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit
is fine for the winter. This plant is low-maintenance and is relatively
slow-growing, but it can grow to 6 feet tall or more and live for around
150 years.
“Plant the seeds of love in your heart, and let your love grow
like a tree, with its branches and roots spreading out in all directions,
as a service to the cycle of life and a gift for future generations to
come.” ...A tree says I care about you and every little thing that makes
you possible.”
Plant a
Tree -
Memorial Trees.
****
There are 2 seasons: wet season
(summer) and dry season (winter). Usually the dry season is longer. During
the dry seasons plant life and animal life suffers, but as the rainy
season begins life flourishes in this area. This climate is caused by
changing wind and ocean currents.
A transplanted tree form one
climate zone to another will be fine once it
recovers from "transplant
shock". How long this takes depends on the size of the tree and how much
of the root system got damaged when it got dug up and transplanted, but
typically it's 1 to 5 years.
Plants use "circadian rhythm" to
regulate different cycles (flowering, fruiting, leaf drop) which is, in
effect, the up regulation and down regulation of different proteins from
the genome in response to different enzymes. This is due (mostly) to one
molecule: phytochrome which changes its isomeric conformation in response
to exposure to light and then slowly changes back over time in the dark.
Edit: I should make it clear that it is not the mere presence of the other
isomer that has physiological effects, but the different rate of periodic
cycle as the night gets shorter and longer. This actually brings up an
interesting fact, because the isomeric change happens in response to light
it is the length of the night which is most important and if you have a
bunch of plants that you're growing in a greenhouse or any kind of
enclosed system ag house, you have to be careful not to flash your plants
at night with light because you cause all the phytochrome to change
conformation and in effect have caused a whole day to happen. The
different "photoperiods" affect the enzymatic activity within the cells
and after a chain of intermediate proteins upregulates different genes. Of
course this is all bubkis because if you planted the tree outside it would
die simply from cold damage (as any leafed tree in the winter would). That
said, the plants would probably be fine if you kept them inside. They
would drop their leaves if the days were short (if the plant naturally
does so; many tropical plants do not undergo leaf abscission) or keep them
if the days were long. It probably wouldn't fruit the first year due to
lack of stored sugars. Of course, you'd want to make sure that you weren't
transporting any pathogens in/on the plant or in the potting mix.
Hardiness Zone -
Trees -
Tropics
North Atlantic Oscillation and synchronized tree reproduction across
Europe plays a greater role in large scale masting, the process
whereby forest trees produce large numbers of seeds in the same year.
North Atlantic Oscillation.