Flowers Of Species Research Articles

Study of the Earliest Symptoms of Plum Pox in the Sofia Valley and Vratsa Region

Since ancient times, the fruits of the plum have occupied an important place on the table of the Bulgarians. To obtain high and stable yields an important condition is the proper organization and conduct of plant protection activities and the fast, the correct and accurate diagnosis of PPV - Stoneware. In our climate, Plum pattern manifests symptoms first on the first spring leaves. The described symptoms of flowers in different stone species are few and scarce, so we conducted the present study in two following years 2019 and 2020 to describe, differentiate and compare visual symptoms of flowering with the results of DAS-ELISA tests on the leaves of the studied stone species. From the surveyed PPV host species in two orchards 12 mather trees with color symptoms were selected and described in two regions of Bulgaria - the Sofia field (Vrajdebna (1,2 ha) and the Vratsa region (Roman Orchard Nursery (0,4 ha). In a total of 9 samples, PPV infection was confirmed. The established deviations were found only in fruit crops that bloom with white flowers. Based on the results and conclusions, the present study will contribute to the timely detection of the causative agent of pox virus in the earliest symptoms in nurseries and gardens and will provide the right and quick direction to overcome the damage through proper plant protection activities

Vegetative growth and flowering of dragon fruit species according to branch pruning management and application of superabsorbent polymer

The cultivation of dragon fruit has been standing out considerably in Brazil, however, although on the rise, information onthe cultivation of this fruit, such as pruning management in young orchards and the use of superabsorbent polymer in thecrop, is scarce. In this sense, in order to remedy producers’ obstacles regarding the management of orchard formation, theobjective of this study was to evaluate the influence of pruning management and the efficiency of hydrogel in the vegetativeand reproductive development in two different species of dragon fruit (Selenicereus undatus and Hylocereus polyrhizus),in addition to defining the best dose of the polymer to be used in the crop. The work was developed at IFSULDEMINAS –Machado Campus. The design used was the randomized block design, in a factorial scheme (2x2x3), the first factor beingcomposed of the two species of dragon fruit, the second, by two cladode pruning levels (with and without pruning), and thethird, by three doses of the superabsorbent polymer Hydroplan-EB® (0; 1.5; 4.5 g plant-1). The following characteristicswere evaluated: number and length of shoots; total number of flowers; total number of fruits; number of aborted flowers;picking percentage; mean fruit mass; longitudinal and transverse diameter of fruits; peel thickness; pulp yield; peel massand productivity. The practice of cladode pruning, as well as the application of the superabsorbent polymer, did not influencemost of the characteristics evaluated. Further studies should be conducted to delve deeper into the management techniquesused in this study.

Is there silicon in flowers and what does it tell us?

The emergence of flowers marked an important development in plant evolution. Flowers in many species evolved to attract animal pollinators to increase fertilisation chances. In leaves, silicon (Si) discourages herbivores, for example by wearing down mouthparts. Flowers are essentially modified leaves and hence may also have the capacity to accumulate Si. If Si in flowers discourages animal visitors as it does in leaves, Si accumulation may be disadvantageous for pollination. Whether flowers accumulate Si, and what the implications may be, was not known for many species. We analysed leaves and flowers of different taxa, separated into their different anatomical parts. Flowers mostly have low Si concentrations in all parts (mean ± SE of BSi in mg g-1 was 0.22 ± 0.04 in petals, 0.59 ± 0.24 in sepals, 0.14 ± 0.03 in stamens, 0.15 ± 0.04 in styles and stigmas and 0.37 ± 0.19 in ovaries for a subset of 56 species). In most cases, less Si was accumulated in flowers than in leaves (mean ± SE of BSi in mg g-1 was 1.51 ± 0.55 in whole flowers vs. 2.97 ± 0.57 in leaves in 104 species) though intriguing exceptions are found, with some species accumulating more Si in flowers than leaves. The large variation in concentration among flowers across the taxa examined, with a particularly high concentration in grass inflorescences, tantalisingly suggests differences in the use of Si for flowers across plant groups. We conclude that the study of the functions of Si for flowers warrants more attention, with pollination strategy a potential contributing factor.

Piecewise Linear Approximation-Driven Primal SVM Approach for Improved Iris Classification Efficiency

Classification, a crucial aspect of machine learning, revolves around the meticulous analysis of data. However, the complexity of diverse life forms on Earth poses a challenge in distinguishing species that share similar attributes. The iris flower, with its subspecies exemplifies this challenge. The aim of the paper is to develop a methodology that not only enhances classification accuracy but also effectively addresses computational efficiency, facilitating faster and more practical categorization of iris patterns. This novel approach named Piecewise Linear Approximation based SVM (PLA-SVM) is applied to flower species classification and is benchmarked against alternative machine learning techniques. Implementation is carried out utilizing MATLAB – GUROBI interface of and GUROBI Solver. The performance metrics such as accuracy, precision, F1 score and ROC – AUC Curve are used to compare proposed algorithm performance. This comprehensive analysis enables a comparative study of diverse algorithms, ultimately validating the proposed PLA-SVM technique using the Iris dataset. The numerical implementation results shows that the PLASVM outperforms the existing standard classifiers in terms of different performance matrices.

Comparison of the effects of extraction method and solvents on biological activities of phytochemicals from selected violet and blue pigmented flowers

The flowers of many plant species are characterized by intense color and richness of bioactive compounds. They can be their valuable and curious sources that are worth extracting with the highest possible efficiency. The study compares the effects of different extraction methods and ultrasound (US) treatment on the physicochemical properties of dried petals of Malva sylvestris (MS), Clitoria ternatea (CT), Centaurea cyanus (CC), and Trifolium pratense (TP). The petals were ground and then extracted by three methods: (1) with H2O, (2) with 70% methanol, (3) with 70% methanol + acetic acid solvents, additionally used US. Measured: color parameters in CIEL*a*b* system; total antioxidant activity (TAA) referred to the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radicals activity; total phenolic content (TPC) by the Folin-Ciocâlteu method; total anthocyanin content (TAC) by the pH differential method. No specific differences in color parameters founded. The highest TAA (in % of DPPH reductive- MS: 87.86; CT: 62.56; CC: 72.04; TP: 82.99), TPC (in mg gallic acid equivalent/100 g of sample- MS: 1072.86; CT: 849.85; CC: 912.07; TP: 873.77), and TAC (in mg of cyanidin-3-glucoside/100 g of sample- MS: 747.79; CT: 226.46; CC: 267.53; TP: 234.77) was reached by method (3). US treatment increased the effect.

Overview of Seed Production in Floriculture Crops

Floriculture, one of the potential components of horticulture industry, deals with cultivation, processing and marketing of ornamental plants and maintenance of garden and it includes annuals, biennials and perennial ornamentals. Worldwide demand for flowering annuals is high to beautify our landscape. The majority of annuals can only be propagated by seeds. The flowering annual seed business has developed into a significant industry as a result of the demand for these plants in the global floricultural trade. The majority of the flower seeds are imported into India. Eventually, flower seeds are very expensive and difficult to obtain for farmers. Every species of flower raised for seed has its own planting period, culture, difficulties and harvesting processes. A mild environment with little rain during growth and harvest seasons is a vital requirement for good seed production. Hybrid seeds of these plants have high vigour and superior quality. Hybrid seed production for the export market is very crucial. The production of seeds in flower crops is covered in this review.

Flowers of ruderal species are numerous but small, short and low‐rewarding

Weed species are ecological models that recently received considerable attention due to their particular strategies linked to their ruderal‐competitive traits. They are known to have the potential to provide additional floral resources for insects in flower‐poor agroecosystems. However, their floral traits are much more scarcely studied than those of plants found in other habitats, such as grasslands. The aim of this study was to describe the floral phenotype of weeds and to determine to what extent their floral traits match their ecological strategies as described based on leaf traits. We cultivated 19 forb weeds from perennial agroecosystems, previously identified in Mediterranean fields, in a greenhouse for seven months and collected data on 12 floral and five leaf traits. We tested whether these traits covaried and exhibited an ecological strategy at the phenotype scale. We found that in matters of flower production, weed species face a tradeoff: either numerous small, low‐stature flowers with small quantities of pollen and nectar, or few, large, higher‐held flowers with more pollen and nectar. The floral traits were found to reflect Grime's CSR strategies: the weed species producing fewer but costlier flowers belonged to C‐strategy species, whereas those producing more but less costly flowers belonged to species dominated by an R strategy. These findings indicate that the potential of weeds as floral resources for insects is related to their ecological strategies, which are known to be affected by agricultural practices that filter species composition. This implies that, as for the provision of other ecosystem services, weed communities can be managed to select species with floral traits matching the requirements of flower‐visiting insects like pollinators or parasitoid wasps.

A different factor in the use of plants in landscape architecture: Sound (type, intensity and duration) in the example of Hyacinthus orientalis L.

The effect of music on people has been known for years and is still being researched from different aspects. The effects of music and sound waves on ornamental plants, whose effects on some vegetables, fruits and grains are examined, are also inquired. Especially the positive change in the development and showiness of the flowers of ornamental plant species with commercial importance will increase the market value of the plant. Again, with the effect of this sound wave, in order for the plants and their flowers to show the expected development, they should benefit from the planting environment and growing conditions at the maximum level. In the measurements taken from hyacinths (Hyacinthus orientalis L.) at the end of the duration that the plants were exposed to different types of sounds in different intensities, it was observed that these factors positively affected these parameters successively; 1 hour of bird sound in 50 dB, the number of leaves; 1 hour of bird sound in 90 dB, leaf width and floret length; 3 hours of bird sound in 70 dB, floret number; 3 hours of bird sound in 90 dB, the plant and flower height; 1 hour of bee sound in 50 dB, the stem thickness; 3 hours of vehicle sound in 50 dB, flower and floret width; 3 hours of vehicle sound in 70 dB, leaf length. At the end of the study, whereas it was determined that the bee sound had the least effect on the growth and flowering of the hyacinth, it was observed that the bird and vehicle sounds, that the plants were expose to in different intensities and durations, had a positive effect.

Two floral forms in the same species-distyly.

This paper reviews the progress of research on the morphology, physiology and molecular biology of distyly in plants. It will help to elucidate the mysteries of distyly in plants. Distyly is a unique representative type of heterostyly in plants, primarily characterized by the presence of long style and short style within the flowers of the same species. This interesting trait has always fascinated researchers. With the rapid development of molecular biology, the molecular mechanism for the production of dimorphic styles in plants is also gaining ground. Researchers have been studying plant dimorphic styles from various perspectives. The researchers are gradually unravelling the mechanisms by which plants produce distyly traits. This paper reviews advances in the study of plant dimorphic style characteristics, mainly in terms of the morphology, physiology and molecular biology of plants with dimorphic styles. The aim is to provide a theoretical basis for the study of the mechanism of distyly formation in plants.

Prediction Model based on Iris Dataset Via Some Machine Learning Algorithms

Abstract— Supervised Machine Learning algorithm has an important approach to Classification. We are predicting the deal type of the Iris plant using various algorithms of machine learning. Iris plants are determined by numerous factors such as the size of the length and width of the property. A horticultural skill announces that some of the plants are different in some physical appearances like size, shape, and color. Hence it is difficult to recognize any species. Versicolor, Setosa, and Virginica have three identical subspecies of The Iris flower species. This paper uses machine learning algorithms to recognize all classes of the flower with an accuracy degree of %100 for KNN, %95 for RF, %97 for DT, and %98 for LR. The Iris dataset is frequently available, and it is implemented using Scikit tools. and build the prediction model for Plants. Here, algorithms of machine learning such as Logistic Regression (LR), Decision Tree (DT), K Nearest Neighbor (KNN), and Random Forest (RF) are employed to construct a predictive model.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE USUAL HOLDING SOLUTIONS ON Hyacinthus orientalis CUT FLOWER VASE LIFE

In this study, four holding solutions very often used by florists and the final consumer were tested to analyse their impact on the development of the inflorescence, as well as the elongation, weight and degree of bending of the hyacinth flowers. The use of these solutions has a general character, and the flower species react differently due to both their genetics and the conditions in which they were cultivated, handled and stored. To verify the effectiveness of the preservative solutions on Hyacinthus orientalis vase life, four solutions were prepared with 2% sucrose and none or one of the follow-ing antimicrobial substances: sodium hypochlorite, acetic acid and ascorbic acid. During the study, measurements were made on the weight, elongation of the floral stems, chlorophyll content of the leaves and vase life days. The vase life of the hyacinths in this experiment was 5 days, except for the flowers from the 2% sucrose holding solution, which started to wilt on day 5. On day 6, the flowers showed signs of senescence. The increase in the length of the inflorescence stem showed significant differences for the sucrose + ascorbic acid holding solution, with a maximum of 0.8 cm on day 4. However, the interest was not to maximise the elongation of the floral stem but to slow down this process since elongation leads to the bending of the stem, causing it to require additional support.

Existing flower preference metrics disagree on best plants for pollinators: which metric to choose?

Abstract When planting flowers for pollinator conservation, determining what flowers to plant is challenging because flower establishment can be time‐consuming and resource‐intensive. To alleviate this challenge, researchers have proposed methods to mathematically determine from plant–pollinator interaction data which flower species pollinators prefer, which can be defined as the likelihood that a flower species will be chosen by pollinators when offered on an equal basis with other flower species. We compared the flower lists produced by five sensible, peer‐reviewed preference metrics calculated from the same dataset and examined how each metric controls for flower abundance and relates to number of pollinator visits. We found little correlation between the ranked flower lists returned by each preference metric and that the metrics varied in the extent to which they controlled for abundance and provided different information than number of visits. The discordance among calculated flower preference lists is partially due to the different way each metric controls for abundance and suggests that these preference metrics need to be empirically tested and that more research is needed into the factors that impact pollinator floral preference. We discourage the use of three preference metrics (confidence interval, resource use and mass action hypothesis metrics), caution against the use of one (centrality metric) and recommend the use of the preference index metric due to its insensitivity to insufficient sampling, ease of use and the fact that it is not correlated with the number of pollinator visits.

Preventing self-fertilization: Insights from Ziziphus species.

The fitness of self-progeny individuals is inferior to that of their outcrossed counterparts, resulting in a reduction in a plant population's ability to survive and reproduce. To prevent self-fertilization, angiosperms with hermaphrodite flowers may exploit a variety of mechanisms, including synchronous dichogamy and self-incompatibility. Synchronous dichogamy involves two flowering morphs, with strict within-morph synchronization, thereby preventing not only autogamy and geitonogamy but also intra-morph mating. Self-fertilization is also prevented by self-incompatibility, a genetic mechanism that allows the identification and rejection of "self" pollen, thereby preventing both autogamy and geitonogamy. Here, I seek to provide a perspective of flowering in Ziziphus species exhibiting both synchronous (i.e., "Early" morph flowers open in the morning and "Late" morph flowers open in the afternoon) protandrous dichogamy (i.e., pollen dispersal before the stigma becomes receptive) and self-incompatibility.

Identification of Bioactive Compounds and Antimicrobial Activity Test of Methanol Extracts of Leaves and Flowers of Various Tabebuya Species (Tabebuia spp.)

Identification of Bioactive Compounds and Antimicrobial Activity Test of Methanol Extracts of Leaves and Flowers of Various Tabebuya Species (Tabebuia spp.)

Floral development and potential pollinators of Syzygium myhendrae (Bedd. ex Brandis) Gamble, a wild endemic tree of the Southern Western Ghats, India

Syzygium myhendrae, is a semi-evergreen, endemic and endangered tree species of the Southern Western Ghats, India which exhibits bi-annual mode of flowering and fruiting behaviour. This research is specifically aimed to observe the sequence of morphological processes occurring during floral development and to identify the potential pollinators from the different floral visitors. These aims are achieved by examining the individual trees of candidate species during their flowering season. Sticky traps, bee bowls, sweep nets and pan traps were used to capture floral visitors at the anthesis stage. Visitation frequency and visitor activity index were calculated to distinguish effective pollinators from visitor insects. The results showed nine stages in flower development starting from flower bud emergence to fruit ripening, which took 6-9 weeks. Nine species of insects were recorded as visitors. Honey bees (Apis cerana, ApisMdorsata and Tetragonula iridipennis), butterflies (Hypolimnas misippus,pachilopta pandiana), wasp species, beetle species, fly species were exclusively visiting the flowers of the candidate species. Among the honey bees, Apis dorsata showed high visitation frequency (0.40±0.01) followed by Apis cerana (0.31±0.02) and Tetragonula iridipennis (052±0.02). As per the visitation frequency, it can be concluded that Apis dorsata was the most frequent and effective pollinator.

Environmental and management factors drive biological communities and ecosystem services in agroecosystems along an urban-natural gradient

Biodiversity, ecosystem services and farming are inextricably linked. Peri-urban agricultural landscapes host wild species, provide essential services, and benefit citizens of nearby towns. We investigated the environmental and management factors that influence avian communities, pollinating insects and two key ecosystem services (pollination and nature-based recreation) along an urban-natural gradient dominated by agricultural areas (vineyards, apple orchards and grasslands) in northern Italy. Flower visiting-insects were mainly affected by management and environmental-climatic variables. The presence of flowers at the margins and within vineyard and apple orchard inter-rows best predicted the abundance of pollinators and flower-visiting insects in general. Different flower species exerted variable effects on different groups; a mix of flowering species should be recommended for supporting pollinators. Sward height and grassland cover promoted flower-visiting insect abundance, which was negatively affected by vineyards and apple orchards. Bird communities were mainly shaped by land-use/land-cover and management variables. Landscape heterogeneity and linear elements had a major positive effect on birds. Apple orchards negatively influenced species richness and the abundance of most avian species, while vineyards negatively impacted on overall bird abundance; hedgerows positively affected richness. Nature-based recreation was greater in areas with low or intermediate vineyard or urban cover. Apple orchards and intensively managed grasslands had negative, and waterways positive, effects on recreation. Peri-urban agricultural landscapes are important for biodiversity and ecosystem services, but apple orchards and large vineyards appear largely unsuitable. Maintaining heterogeneous landscapes and implementing biodiversity-friendly practices can further promote benefits for biodiversity and visitors and local populations. Synergic strategies that simultaneously promote the conservation of biodiversity and the supply of ecosystem services could be easily developed and implemented.

Specific alien plant species predominantly deliver nectar sugar and pollen but are not preferentially visited by wild pollinating insects in suburban riparian ecosystems.

The invasion of alien plants has been rapidly proceeding worldwide due to urbanisation. This might be beneficial to wild pollinating insects, since some alien plant species have large flowers and/or long flowering periods, which can increase nectar sugar and pollen availability. To determine the relative contribution of alien plants to floral resource supply and whether resource-rich alien plants, if any, serve as an important food source of pollinating insects, we performed year-round field observations in suburban riverbanks. We quantified the per-unit-area availability of nectar sugar and pollen delivered by alien and native flowering species and counted wild flower visitors (bees and wasps, hoverflies and butterflies) per plant species. The available nectar sugar and pollen per area were predominantly delivered by a few specific alien species, and the relative contribution of other species to floral resource provision was low throughout the period that wild flower visitors were observed. Nonetheless, the resource-rich alien plants were not visited by as many insects as expected based on their contribution to resource provision. Rather, on a yearly basis, these plants received equal or even fewer visits than other flowering species, including resource-poor natives. We show that despite their great contribution to the gross floral resource supply, resource-rich alien plants do not serve as a principal food source for wild pollinating insects, and other plants, especially natives, are still needed to satisfy insect demand. For the conservation of pollinating insects in suburban ecosystems, maintaining floral resource diversity would be more beneficial than having an increase in gross floral resources by allowing the dominance of specific alien plants.

Effects of season of fire on bee-flower interaction diversity in a fire-maintained pine savanna.

Whereas the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States historically experienced fire primarily during the mid-summer lightning season, managers today typically apply prescribed fire during the late winter or early spring months. The ecological implications of this discrepancy remain poorly understood, especially with regard to pollinators and their interactions with flowers. In a replicated field experiment, we compared the abundance and richness of bees and bee-flower interactions among pine savanna plots in Florida that were burned either during the winter, spring, summer, or fall. We netted 92 bee species from 77 species of flowers, representing 435 unique bee-flower interactions in total. When analyzing the results from each month separately, we detected significant short-term reductions in the number of bees and bee-flower interactions following fires regardless of season. Although bee abundance and richness did not differ over the entire season, bee-flower interaction richness was significantly higher overall in spring and summer plots than in fall plots and the composition of both bees and bee-flower interactions differed significantly among treatments. Several bee-flower interactions were significantly associated with one or more of the treatments. Some of these associations could be attributed to differences in flowering phenology among treatments. Taken together, our findings suggest that season of fire has modest but potentially important implications for interactions between bees and flowers in southeastern pine ecosystems. Because most flowering plants within our study region are pollinated by a variety of bees and other insects, and most bees endemic to the region are polylectic, season of fire may not be very important to either group overall. However, the timing of fire may be more important to particular species including certain flower specialists and fire-sensitive taxa such as butterflies. Future research targeting such species would be of interest.

Climatic drivers and ecological implications of variation in the time interval between leaf-out and flowering

Leaf-out and flowering in any given species have evolved to occur in a predetermined sequence, with the inter-stage time interval optimized to maximize plant fitness. Although warming-induced advances of both leaf-out and flowering are well documented, it remains unclear whether shifts in these phenological phases differ in magnitudes and whether changes have occurred in the length of the inter-stage intervals. Here, we present an extensive synthesis of warming effects on flower-leaf time intervals, using long-term (1963-2014) and in situ data consisting of 11,858 leaf-out and flowering records for 183 species across China. We found that the timing of both spring phenological events was generally advanced, indicating a dominant impact of forcing conditions compared with chilling. Stable time intervals between leaf-out and flowering prevailed for most of the time series despite increasing temperatures; however, some of the investigated cases featured significant changes in the time intervals. The latter could be explained by differences in the temperature sensitivity (ST) between leaf and flower phenology. Greater ST for flowering than for leaf-out caused flowering times to advance faster than leaf emergence. This shortened the inter-stage intervals in leaf-first species and lengthened them in flower-first species. Variation in the time intervals between leaf-out and flowering events may have far-reaching ecological and evolutionary consequences, with implications for species fitness, intra/inter-species interactions, and ecosystem structure, function, and stability.

Opuntia plants nutritive and medicinal value: a review

The scientific name Opuntia identifies a succulent plant native to Mexico. It is now widespread in the United States, South America and the Mediterranean basin, where it has found a suitable terrain for naturalization. It is a species of cactus popularly known as Nopal in Mexico and “Fico d’India” in Italy. Cladodes, the branched leaves of the plant, are paddle shaped and covered in short spines that enable it to absorb even the tiniest drop of water. A specific and well known type of Opuntia, called Opuntia ficus-indica, can be recognized by its typical yellow flowers and is appreciated for its fleshy fruit with a pleasant taste, rich in nutrients but low in calories. It is used as a foodstuff and in particular to produce juices, jellies and other edible products. The O. ficus-indica is also well known as a source of vitamins, especially vitamin C, calcium and phosphorus and in smaller quantities of other minerals and various essential nutrients, including antioxidants. The cladodes are the part of the plant from which the extract is used to aid weight control and as a cosmetic ingredient with an emollient and soothing action. The spongy tissues of the cladodes contain high concentrations of high molecular weight polysaccharides, which are relevant for the specific properties commonly attributed to this common succulent plant. This review presents several medicinal benefits, which can be obtained using cladodes, fruits and flowers of the different Opuntia species.