Questions tagged [botany]
The study of plants and plant life.
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Is this a Sunflower? Well over 10 ft tall
Huge stem but not the broad heart-shaped leaves like I have seen in pictures of sunflowers. Leaves look more like those of Helianthus. Stem is a good 6 inches around and smooth not hairy. The red ...
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Shrub in open gravel field
Location: Gravelly open field. East of Toronto.
Date: August 4, 2022
Description: Shrub; alternating leaves; 8 feet tall; trunk is 1.5 inches wide at the base.
Tip: It's possible to zoom in on the ...
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Is this poison ivy?
Location: Sunny, dry, well-drained yard. East of Toronto, Ontario.
Date: August 2, 2022
Description: Three leaves, new leaves are oily and reddish, woody stem, vine crawls along ground
Hint: It's ...
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Questions regarding the four pollination mechanisms of papilionaceous flowers
I want to understand the four mechanisms of pollination in papilionaceous flowers: pump/piston, explosive, valvular and brush.
The topic is lightly touched upon in this part of a Wikipedia article, ...
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Why are monocots more advanced than dicots?
I have heard that monocots are better at survival than dicots and are therefore considered more advanced than dicots. They are consdered to have evolved from dicots.
As this link here suggests: ...
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The pollination of lupins
Do lupins produce nectar? According to this study it seems like there are conflicting conclusions regarding this. And in this study the supposed inability for Lupinus argenteus to produce nectar is ...
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Orange liquid coming out when I boil Phyllostachys bamboo chips
I'm currently simmering chips of dried Phyllostachys bamboo (unidentified whether nigra or aurea) in order to make paper, in a saturated sodium bicarbonate solution.
Currently, the water is turning ...
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What are the most intelligent plants?
For intelligence lets adapt the definition from here:
Perception of the surrounding environment
Adaptation to environmental conditions
Communication (in the case of plants, through chemical ...
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Are these pineapple seeds starting to germinate?
What is this? Is it the structure from where pineapple seeds grow? The photo is a slice of fruit.
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What are the differences and relationships between online plant taxonomy databases (POWO, WFO, WCSP, WCVP), and is one considered the most reliable?
Each of these databases has their own summary of their aims and process - but they rarely seem to mention each other in comparison. It's hard to figure out what differences or relationships exist ...
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Please help me identify this plant. Is the fruit edible?
When free, could the experts here please help me identify this plant.
Location: Puget Sound, Washington State, US
Height: 3-4 feet
Date: July
Is the orange colored fruit edible?
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What percentage of the mass of green plants / algae is carbon?
Wikipedia says that the human body is about 18% carbon, but I can't find any percentage on how much of green plants / leaves or algae is carbon? I assume it varies, so if an example is needed, what ...
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What are the structures that make pixel-like patterns in wood?
Some wood seems to have structures that are squarish in cross-section. I've often noticed that these are distributed in arcs or sinusoid shapes on guitar fretboards, for instance.
Here's an example I ...
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What is the evolutionary purpose of citric acid?
According to Dr. Paul Saladin, fruits are brightly coloured and sweet because they want to be eaten to spread the seeds of the plant. Unlike roots stems seeds and leaves that don't. To deter ...
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blackberry: what morphological features suggested the species epithet "bifrons"?
What morphological features suggested the epithet "bifrons" in Rubus bifrons? The scientific name of the familiar invading species "Himalayan Blackberry" (or "European ...
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Volunteer/seedling in Toronto garden
What species of plant is this?
Location: Toronto area (Ontario, Canada)
Date: July 7, 2022
Conditions: Acid soil in shade
Height: Approx. 11 inches
Description: Younger leaves resemble tomato leaves. ...
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What species of poplar tree is this?
I am looking for information on how to identify a poplar (Populus) tree. It is located in Dresden, Germany, next to a small stream. The city tree database lists it as Populus nigra. However, it ...
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How to distinguish hornbeam from hophornbeam?
The town where I live plants both hornbeam trees (Carpinus betulus) and hophornbeans (Ostrya carpinifolia) as street trees. How can they be reliably distinguished, especially when there is no fruit on ...
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Are fairy rings documented as a growth pattern in ferns?
I planted an Onoclea sensibilis, a single plant, in my garden. After the first season, there was signs that a fairy ring was forming. A few years later it was mostly complete, but then was obscured in ...
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Is this Poison Hemlock?
There is a lot of this growing in standing water near a drainage route and spring. It looks similar to water or poison hemlock.
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Single flowers and double flowers on the same plant?
A friend of mine found a strange plant of begonia that at first had regular flowers. After a while it started producing double flowers and has now a mixed inflorescence:
The double flowers look like ...
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Please help identify this plant
This plant/branch was part of a table decoration brought home from La Puente, CA, a week ago. It's been kept in a jar of water. I hope to:
Learn the name(s) of this plant.
Learn the correct ...
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corse tree identification
My nosy belling-cat was asking itself what kind of mediterranean tree/fruit is seen on the pictures below. Location is Corsica, St. Florent - late June.
Extra points on nutrition factors in case of ...
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Identification: tall conifer with tamarisk-like leaves
I am looking to identify a conifer that I found in a public park. Please see below for pictures of the leaves, bark and habit (click for full-size view).
I normally use Pl@ntNet for identification, ...
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Is there always a leaf(s) attatched to an auxillary bud?
I'm trying to create a 3D functional-structural plant model and I need to establish some axioms.
Is it guaranteed or extremely likely that where auxiliary bud forms there's a leaf(s) attached? That's ...
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Photolysis of water
Photolysis of water releases $\text{O}_2$, $\text{H}^+$ ions and $\text{e}^-$.
$\text{Mn}$ in the $\text{O}_2$ evolving complex also produces $\text{e}^-$.
What provides $\text{e}^-$ to P680:$\text{Mn}...
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Could water soluble dyes be directly absorbed by a plant's / tree's xylem?
Amateur woodworker / hobbyist here, I enjoy using colorful or exotic wood species, the issue is that many of these species are rare, expensive, endangered, hard to grow, or otherwise difficult to ...
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Coniferous tree with alternating bunches of short needles (Toronto area)
What species of tree is this?
Location: East of Toronto, zone 6; urban
Date of photos: May 10, 2022
Diameter at breast height: ~18 inches
Height: ~30 ft
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Maximum solar irradiance per plant species
I'm looking for a table or database specifying by plant species, the maximum solar irradiance it can tolerate, but seems not a straightforward search on most engines or open access botany databases. ...
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Can all plants be reproduced through vegetative propagation?
I have learned that plants can be reproduced or propagated through vegetative parts but there is a question in my mind if we can each method for all types of plants. I don't know if all plants have ...
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This looks like it was somebody’s home - but who?
Found this near the edge of a forest in upstate New York. It looks like the remnant of a cocoon of some kind. I would appreciate any help in identifying its original maker / occupant.
I hope my ...
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Shape of the first leaves of a plant
I am quite unfamiliar with everything that is in the slightest related to biology,
so I am very sorry if this question does not meet your standards and is too basic.
Lately I am quite enjoying growing ...
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Where does the silica found on grass and other plants come from?
Grass has tiny silica "teeth" on it called phytoliths:
I have trouble understanding how can a plant possibly extract silica from soil and form anything out of it. Silicon oxide is used for ...
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What is evolutionary advantage of Spirogyra to be multicell?
Spirogyra is just a set of cells connected to each other; it has no leaves, roots, etc... It even doesn't have multiple layers of cells like Hydra. So what is evolutionary advantage for Spirogyra ...
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Is it scientifically sound to pool repeated measurements?
I am measuring specific phenolic compounds in leaves of A. thaliana. I have many different varieties, and different treatments. Initially I was measuring one leaf per plant for three plants for each ...
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scientific reasons behind a a sudden yet temporary growth sprout of the plant when the soil has No depth?
Sorry, I'm kind of naive when it comes to plant biology.
Mark 4:5-6( New American Standard Bible 1995 )
5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil;
and immediately it ...
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Species identification: plant with pitfall trap-like structures
I found this plant in Tuscany (Italy, mediterranean climate, about 60 m above mean sea level). Photos were taken at roughly the beginning of spring after a period of drought followed by a couple days ...
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Do plants digest substances they ingest?
I was thinking about plants having no digestion system (is that true at all?) and my conclusion was that they only ingest substances that they can use like that or that they can transform into usable ...
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What kind of tree has leaves like this?
Shot taken in Spring, on May 22, 2020 in a forest in Haliburton, Ontario.
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What kind of yellow flower is this?
Shot in a garden in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada on August 6th, 2020. Flowerhead size approx. 3" diameter across.
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Selective herbicides
There are several herbicides available that claim to kill lawn weeds but not the lawn grass. This seems amazing, to me. How does this work? How can a chemical be lethal to a broad range of plants, but ...
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What is this small white insect on my plants?
Environment
I have a large amount of plants in an old industrial loft apartment.
I live in Rochester, New York.
I ship plants in from across the US, often exotic ones.
Observations
A few months ago, I ...
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What characteristics identify modified 'plant parts' as the respective 'plant parts'?
I was learning about different modifications in plant parts such as modified leaves, stems and roots from my Biology textbook.
Modified parts differ as they are modified for different functions.
For ...
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Why are some plants naturally yellow?
Some plants are naturally yellow. Or rather, they have yellow leaves. This is shown in the following picture, taken from my neighborhood.
I found a Quora article that explains why, but since that is ...
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Do some plant proteins have no domains?
I've always been under the impression that all proteins consist of at least one domain (with the exception of intrinsically disordered proteins). However, I've come across some things which challenge ...
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Rapid generation advancement in Maize breeding
Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the important crops and its acreage is increasing considerably especially in Asia and Africa. The common production system in tropical and subtropical climates is rain-...
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What kind of purple flower is this?
Shot in a garden in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada on June 18th, 2020. Flowerhead size approx. 1 1/4" diameter across.
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What kind of deciduous tree is this?
This image was captured on October 10th, 2020 in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada. Any help identifying the tree species is greatly appreciated. Rob.
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How much sunlight is required for photosynthesis to peak?
I've read that photosynthesis peaks at some point over light intensities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PI_curve According to https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z9pjrwx/revision/5 suggests
At very ...
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Is ovule meristematic or parenchymatous?
Our teacher has told us that ovule is a mass of meristematic tissue but he also mantioned later that nucellus is a Mass of parenchymatous tissue that forms body of ovule so what is the true nature of ...
