Posts tagged botany
#flower #flowers #leaves #closeup #petals #red #purple #berries #fruit #green #garden #tree #nature #beach #field #beautiful #igers #botany #botanist #botanical #lincolnpark #chicago #picoftheday #photooftheday #instaflower #instagram (Taken with Instagram at Lincoln Park Zoo)
These are Black Pearl Peppers!
Crocus by Crispin van de Passe ll from Hortus Floridus 1614.
Source - theantiquarium.com
We’ll be seeing these dudes before too long!
When is a pepper not a pepper?
Have you ever wondered what the relation between the ground black peppercorns in a pepper shaker is to the chili peppers and bell peppers on the plate? Turns out, they’re pretty much unrelated, aside from both being plants and from planet Earth.
Black (and white or green, for that matter) peppercorns (Piper nigrum) are a member of the Piper genus, and are native to South and South-East Asia. Peppercorns were one of the many luxury spices that came across the Eurasian continent on caravans, at least as far back as the Greek empire.
Like the other spices, they were relegated solely to the rich, and were used for medicinal purposes as well as in cooking. Black and long pepper (Piper longum) were used in treatments for diarrhea, cholera, constipation, hoarseness, gangrene, hernia, heart disease, insomnia, joint pain, sunburn, and tooth abscesses.
The active piquant compound in black pepper is called piperine, and while it is structurally and evolutionarily unique from the piquant compound in chili peppers (capsaicin), it interacts with the tastebuds in a way that triggers the same chemical pathways to the brain.
This similarity, in fact, is why chilies (Capsicum) are known as “chili peppers” - when Christopher Columbus brought the first chilies back to Europe in 1493, the warming, spicy taste that chilies imparted led to them being classified in the same group as black pepper. We now know that the “peppers” found in the New World belong to the family Solanaceae, and are related to deadly nightshade, potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco, among many other economically and pharmacologically important plants. Black pepper, meanwhile, is distantly related to magnolias, but otherwise in a group of relative-unknowns.
The sweet peppers or bell peppers are a close relative to the chili peppers, but are unique in the Capsicum genus in that they do not produce capsaicin, and as such are not “hot” like the others. By the way, what’s the difference between red and green bell peppers? Nothing but age! They’re the same species - a cultivar of Capsicum annum, which happens to be naturally somewhat hot. You won’t find a bell pepper in the wild, as they were developed by humans!
Images:
Top: Spices, Their Nature and Growth. McCormick and Co., 1915. Depicting Capsicum, chilies, and peppercorn varieties.
Bottom Left: Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit kurz erläuterndem. 1885. Capsicum annum.
Bottom Right: Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen in naturgetreuen Abbildungen mit kurz erläuterndem. 1885. Piper nigrum.
Scilla (1765), Herbarium Blackwellianum, by Elizabeth Blackwell.
Christmas Chemistry - The Science of Holly
All about holly, that most poisonous of holiday decor.
(via Scientopia Guests’ Blog)
Seeing as this is a much better illustration than the ones I dug up, AND it has a very interesting article with it, here’s your holly for the season. :D
nybg:
There’s a new genus of ferns out there, and they’re named for Lady Gaga. No … Seriously.
Scientists at Duke University were initially inspired by Lady Gaga’s costume at the 2010 Grammy’s which resembled a bisexual fern gametophyte. Biologist Kathleen Pryer was also inspired by Gaga’s second album, Born This Way. And finally, the genus’ new moniker was sealed by an unusual sequence in its genome that is completely unique, and—yep, you guessed it—GAGA. No word yet on whether or not her ladyship is aware of this amazing botanical honor, but it wouldn’t be the first time science and Gaga met.
(via Biologist Names New Genus Of Ferns After Lady Gaga: Gothamist)
Must…resist….rolling….eyes….
nybg:
From the Gold medalists of the natural world – in pictures:
Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera)
Event: shooting
The ripe fruits of the Himalayan balsam open explosively with a popping sound, shooting the seeds to some distance. A prolific seed producer, each plant produces about 2,500 seeds and its dispersal technique helps the plant colonise new areas. Native to the Himalayas, but naturalised in Europe and elsewhere, it tends to become an invasive species and outcompete other plants
You can actually see this happening (with a tiny bit of help) over on YouTube. I’m glad we know that this is a legitimate seed dispersal technique, rather than a means of putting out the eyes of curious onlookers. —MN
Creeping Lilyturf, Liriope spicata flowers
ASPARAGACEAE
17 Aug 2012, HK Island east.
Also known as that stuff you see everywhere.
The Poison Diaries: Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a tree originally known as yew, the English Yew or European yew.
Toxicity
Most parts of the tree are toxic, except the bright red aril surrounding the seed, enabling ingestion and dispersal by birds. The major toxin is the alkaloid taxane. The foliage remains…
The inflorescence of Cavendishia micayensis, another member of the Ericaceae, or blueberry family. It’s found at higher elevations in Colombia and Ecuador.
Photo by me.
Five Important Plants in Pharmaceuticals (in no particular order):
1. Papaver somniferum, the Opium Poppy: Gives us opiates such as morphine, thebaine, codeine, and heroin. All opiates are powerful analgesics and most derivatives of the poppy also have a strong sedative effect. The smooth muscle in the body is also relaxed by these substances.
2. Digitalis purpurea, Purple Foxglove: Gives us digoxin, one of the most important cardiac glycocides that exist. Causes the heart to beat more slowly and effectively at the correct dosages.
3. Filipendula ulmaria, Meadowsweet: Gives us salicin, and salicylic acid. While salicylic acid in the form of white willow bark powder had been used for centuries as an analgesic, the salacin of meadowsweet caused much less gastric upset, and was mixed with acetyl chloride to create aspirin - the antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory that is still the most common pain relief medication in the majority of the world.
4. Atropa belladonna, Deadly Nightshade: Gives us atropine, a powerful smooth-muscle antispasmodic and pupil dilator. In fact, the name itself (belladonna) comes from the fact that women used to use the plant to increase their pupil size at several points in history, as was considered attractive. Atropine was also used as an anesthetic during surgery in the Middle Ages.
5. Physostigma venenosum, the Calabar Bean: A very toxic plant with a rich history of poisonings and trial-by-fire incidents, the calabar bean also provides us with physostigmine. Physostigmine is a powerful cholinergic agent, and can be used to counteract poisonings by anticholinergics (such as deadly nightshade, mandrake, henbane, and datura plants). Conversely, those plants provide the anticholinergic agent used to treat calabar bean poisoning.
Every single one of these plants is easily fatal in the incorrect dosages, but by discovering the ethnobotanic history of plants (traditional cures), and isolating the active ingredients in plants identified, effective and relatively safe medications can be produced. Over 85% of our modern medications have been derived from plant compounds to some degree, and ethnobotanists have played a huge role in that.
Image: Atropa belladonna, Deadly Nightshade - Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. Dr. Otto Willhelm Thome, 1885.
nybg:
Anna Laurent’s quest to obtain the most prized seed pod in her collection—that of the lotus flower—leads her through curio shops in Chelsea, daydreams of Far Eastern market stalls, and the garden of a botanically-inclined opera singer known as Madame Walska. It’s a pleasant story to tie into the case of this strange, well-adapted (and edible) plant. —MN
An iced-over Japenese maple, Acer palmatum. It is a small tree, globally used in landscaping. It produces samaras as seeds, which you would likely recognize as helicopter seeds that flutter in the wind.
This the Indian Pipe plant, an eerie-looking plant, in my opinion. Monotropa uniflora is a heterotroph. That means that it doesn’t photosynthesize. Instead, it’s a parasitic plant that relies on mycorrhizal fungi for its nutrients.
Why is it white? No chlorophyll, no green.
It’s also known as the Ghost Plant, and the Corpse Plant.
(via Dan Blackman)
Yeahhhhh.
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