Thai Beauty Flowers

Bee Orchid

2010-07-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

The Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) is a perennial, temperate climate species of orchid generally found growing on semi-dry turf, on limestone, calcareous dunes or in open areas in woodland. The Bee Orchid is a common plant in the Mediterranean region eastwards to the Black Sea but is less common in its northern range being uncommon or local in Germany and Ireland. In the UK it has a distinct south-eastern preference, being more common in England, whereas it is only to be found in coastal regions of Wales and some parts of Northern Ireland. In Scotland it was thought to be extinct, but was rediscovered in Ayrshire in 2003. In some countries the plants have protected status. They are unusual in that in some years they appear in great numbers, then sometimes only reappear after an absence of many years.

This hardy orchid grows to a height of 30 cm. They live in a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhiza ( a soil-dwelling fungus).

The Bee Orchid develops small rosettes of leaves in autumn. They slowly continue to grow during winter. Flowers appear the following year. Each year, it produces from one to ten flowers on a spike, blooming from June to July. The flowers are almost exclusively self-pollinating in the northern ranges of the plants distribution, pollination by the solitary bee Eucera occurs sometimes in the Mediterranean area. The petals are marginal and spread out, colored mauve to pink. The flower is furry to the touch and is quite variable in the pattern of coloration, but usually brownish-red with yellow markings.

The alternate leaves are elliptical and pointed.

Bees in the past have promoted the evolution of bee orchids. Male bees, over many generations of cumulative orchid evolution, have built up the bee-like shape through trying to copulate with flowers, and hence carrying pollen.

The Bee Orchid is the county flower of Bedfordshire.

Crateva religiosa

2010-07-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

The flowering tree Crateva religiosa (syn Crataeva religiosa, Crateva adansonii) is called the sacred garlic pear and temple plant, and many other names in a variety of dialects, including abiyuch, barna, varuna, and bidasi. The tree is sometimes called the spider tree because the showy flowers bear long, spidery stamens. It is native to Japan, Australia, much of Southeast Asia and several south Pacific islands. It is grown elsewhere for fruit, especially in parts of the African continent.

The fruit of the tree is edible. The nectar-filled flowers are attractive to a multitude of insects and birds. The pierid butterfly (Hebomoia glaucippe) is a frequent visitor to this plant

tulip

2010-06-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

A tulip is a bulbous plant in the genus Tulipa, comprising 109 species with showy flowers, in the family Liliaceae.The species native range includes southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia from Anatolia and Iran in the west to northeast of China. The centre of diversity of the genus is in the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains and the steppes of Kazakhstan. A number of species and many hybrid cultivars are grown in gardens, used as pot plants or as fresh cut flowers. Most cultivars of tulip are derived from Tulipa gesneriana.

The species are perennials from bulbs, the tunicate bulbs often produced on the ends of stolons and covered with hairless to variously hairy papery coverings. The species include short low-growing plants to tall upright plants, growing from 10 to 70 centimeters (4–27 in) tall. They can even grow in the cold and snowy winter. Plants typically have 2 to 6 leaves, with some species having up to 12 leaves. The cauline foliage is strap-shaped, waxy-coated, usually light to medium green and alternately arranged. The blades are somewhat fleshy and linear to oblong in shape. The large flowers are produced on scapes or subscapose stems normally lacking bracts. The stems have no leaves to a few leaves, with large species having some leaves and smaller species have none. Typically species have one flower per stem but a few species have up to four flowers. The colourful and attractive cup shaped flowers typically have three petals and three sepals, which are most often termed tepals because they are nearly identical. The six petaloid tepals are often marked near the bases with darker markings. The flowers have six basifixed, distinct stamens with filaments shorter than the tepals and the stigmas are districtly 3-lobed. The ovaries are superior with three chambers. The 3 angled fruits are leathery textured capsules, ellipsoid to subglobose in shape, containing numerous flat disc-shaped seeds in two rows per locule.The flat, light to dark brown seeds are arranged in two rows per chamber and have very thin seed coats and endosperm that does not normally fill the entire seed coat

Camellia japonica

2010-05-31T04:24:00.000-07:00

The Japanese Camellia (Camellia japonica) is one of the best known species of Camellia. It is a member of the Theaceae family or tea family. It is a flowering shrub or a small tree native to Japan, Korea and China.It is also the official state flower of Alabama. It is also called the “rose of winter

Morphology
In its natural habitats the wild plant of Camellia japonica grows to 6-9 meters (20-30 feet) tall. It has usually red, five-petaled flowers of 5-8 cm (2-3 in) diameter.These are the most common Camellias seen in Chinese Gardens.

There are more than 2000 hybrids developed from Camellia japonica. The shade of the flowers can vary from red to pink to white and sometimes have multi-coloured stripes or specks.

The cultivars of Camellia japonica include 'Elegans' with large pink flowers which often have white streaks, 'Guilio Nuccio' with red to pinkish petals and yellow stamens, 'Mathotiana Alba' with pure white flowers, and the light crimson semi-double-flowered 'The Czar'.

The leaves of the Camellia japonica are alternate, simple, broadly elliptic, thick and smooth. The length of the leaves ranges from 7.5 – 12 cm and the width ranges from 3 – 7 cm. The upper side of the leaf is dark green in color, and the lower side of the leaf is a paler green. The leaves are serrate. Flowers of wild Camellia japonica usually have less petals, usually either 5 or 6, than cultivated plants.

Camellia japonica Alba Plena is one of the most beautiful and most prized of all the Camellias. It is nicknamed the “Bourbon Camellia”. Captain Connor of the East Indiaman, brought the flower to England in 1792. The flowers are pure white and about 3 to 4 inches across. It blooms earlier than most cultivated Camellias, in the early winter or spring, and can flower for 4 to 5 months

The zig-zag camellia or Camellia japonica 'Unryu' has different zig zag branching patterns. The plant is called “Unryu” which means “dragon in the clouds”. The Japanese believe it looks like a dragon climbing up to the sky. Another type of rare Camellia is called the fishtail Camellia or Camellia japonica 'Kingyo-tsubaki'. The tips of the leaves of this plant resemble a fish's tail.

C. japonica leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, such as The Engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia). The Japanese white eye bird, or Zosterops japonica, pollinates Camellia japonica.

Normally, Camellias cannot be grown in colder climates. However, breeding of Camellias has produced many hybrids which are tolerant of zone 5 and zone 6 winters. Camellias can now grow in parts of New England, Pacific Northwest, even Ontario, Canada. Camellias should be planted in the shade in organic, somewhat acidic, semi-moist but well drained soil. If the soil is not well drained, it can cause root rottage

Diseases
Some fungal and algal diseases include Spot Disease, which gives the upper side of leaves a silver color and round spots, and can cause loss of leaves; Black Mold; Leaf Spot; Leaf Gall; Flower Blight which causes flowers to become brown and fall; Root Rot; and Canker caused by the fungus Glomerella cingulata which penetrates plants through wounds. Some insects and pests of Camellia japonica are the Fuller Rose Beetles Pantomorus cervinus, Mealybugs Planococcus citri and Pseudococcus longispinus, Weevils Otiorhyncus salcatus and Otiorhyncus ovatus, and Tea scales Fiorinia theae. Some physiological diseases include Salt Injury which results from high levels of salt in soil; Chlorosis which is thought to be caused lack of certain elements in soil; Bud Drop which causes loss or decay of buds and can be caused by over watering, high temperatures, or pot bound roots. Other diseases are Oedema and sunburn. Not much is known about viral diseases in Camellia japonica

History
The genus of the Camellia japonica was named after a Jesuit priest and botanist named George Kamel.Carl Linnaeus gave Camellia japonica the specific epithet japonica because Engelbert Kaempfer was the first to give a description of the plant while in Japan.

Camellia japonica is valued for its beautiful flowers, which can be single, semi-double flowered or double flowered. Camellias were introduced into Europe during the 18th century and had already been cultivated in the Orient for thousands of years. Robert James of Essex, England, is thought to have brought back the first live Camellia to England in 1739. Camellias were first sold in 1807 in an American nursery as greenhouse plants, but were soon sold to be grown outdoors in the south.

Camellia japonica has appeared in paintings and porcelain since the 11th century. Early paintings of the plant are usually of the single red flowering type. However, a single white flowering plant is shown in the scroll of the Four Magpies of the Song Dynasty. Camellias are seen as lucky symbols for the Chinese New Year and spring and were even used as offerings to the gods during the Chinese New Year. It is also thought that Chinese women would never wear a Camellia in their hair because it opened much later after the bud formed. This was thought to signify that she would not have a son for a long time.

One of the most important plants related to Camellia japonica is the Camellia sinensis, which is the plant tea comes from. This plant is not usually grown in gardens because it has small white flowers, unlike the Camellia japonica, which has larger, more beautiful flowers. It is not seen in art as often as the Camellia japonica, but it is shown in a painting called the Song Hundred Flowers which hangs in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Camellia sinensis may have been used as medicine during the Shang Dynasty. It was first used for drinking during the Zhou Dynasty.

The following is a poem written by English evangelical Protestant writer Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna:

THE WHITE CAMELLIA JAPONICA

Thou beauteous child of purity and grace, What element could yield so fair a birth? Defilement bore me - my abiding place Was mid the foul clods of polluted earth. But light looked on me from a holier sphere, To draw me heavenward - then I rose and shone; And can I vainly to thine eye appear, Thou dust-born gazer? make the type thine own. From thy dark dwelling look thou forth, and see The purer beams that brings a lovelier change for thee.

—Charlotte Elizabeth, Posthumous and other poems

Jasmine

2010-01-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

Jasmine (Jasminum, pronounced /ˈdʒæzmɨnəm/, from Old French Jasmine which is from the Persian yasmin, i.e. "gift from God", via Arabic is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae), with about 200 species, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World. Most species grow as climbers on other plants or are trained in gardens on chicken wire, trellis gates or fences, or made to scramble through shrubs of open texture. The leaves can be either evergreen (green all year round) or deciduous (falling in autumn).

Cultivation and uses

Widely cultivated for its flowers, jasmine is enjoyed in the garden, as a house plant, and as cut flowers. The flowers are worn by women in their hair in southern and southeast Asia. The delicate jasmine flower opens only at night and may be plucked in the morning when the tiny petals are tightly closed, then stored in a cool place until night. The petals begin to open between six and eight in the evening, as the temperature lowers.

Jasmine Tea

Jasmine tea is consumed in China, where it is called jasmine-flower tea (茉莉花茶; pinyin: mò lì huā chá). Jasminum sambac flowers are also used to make so-called jasmine tea, which often has a base of green tea, but sometimes an Oolong base is used. Flowers and tea are "mated" in machines that control temperature and humidity. It takes four hours or so for the tea to absorb the fragrance and flavour of the jasmine blossoms, and for the highest grades, this process may be repeated as many as seven times. Because the tea has absorbed moisture from the flowers, it must be refired to prevent spoilage. The spent flowers may or may not be removed from the final product, as the flowers are completely dry and contain no aroma. Giant fans are used to blow away and remove the petals from the denser tea leaves. If present, they simply add visual appeal and are no indication of the quality of the tea.

Jasmine Syrup

The French are known for their jasmine syrup, most commonly made from an extract of jasmine flowers. In the United States, this French jasmine syrup is used to make jasmine scones and marshmallows.

Jasmine Essential Oil

Jasmine essential oil is in common use. Its flowers are either extracted by the labour-intensive method of enfleurage or through chemical extraction. It is expensive due to the large number of flowers needed to produce a small amount of oil. The flowers have to be gathered at night because the odour of jasmine is more powerful after dark. The flowers are laid out on cotton cloths soaked in olive oil for several days and then extracted leaving the true jasmine essence. Some of the countries producing jasmine essential oil are India, Egypt, China and Morocco.

Jasmine Absolute used in Perfume and Incense

Its chemical constituents include methyl anthranilate, indole, benzyl alcohol, linalool, and skatole. Many species also yield an absolute, which is used in perfumes and incense.

Cultural importance and other information
The White Jasmine Branch, painting of ink and color on silk by Chinese artist Zhao Chang, early 12th century

Jasmine is the national flower of the following countries:

* It is the Philippines’ national flower, where it is known as "Sampaguita", and is usually strung on garlands which are then used to adorn religious images.
* Indonesia, where the variety Jasminum sambac is the "puspa bangsa" (national flower), and goes by the name "Melati". It is the most important flower in wedding ceremonies for ethnic Indonesians, especially in the island of Java.
* Pakistan, where Jasminum officinale is known as the "Chambeli" or "Yasmine" is the national flower.

In Syria, it is the symbolic flower of Damascus, which is called the City of Jasmines.

J. fluminense is an invasive species in Hawaii, where it is sometimes known by the inaccurate name "Brazilian Jasmine". J. dichotomum is also invasive in Florida.

In Thailand, jasmine flowers are used as a symbol of the mother.

In Okinawa, Japan, Jasmine Tea is known as Sanpin Cha (さんぴん茶).
[edit] Cultural importance of Jasmine in India
A Jasmine flower vendor in Chennai, India

* Jasmine Flower, depending on variety, has different names in many languages in India, and is under one named in others; some of the names are

"Maalatie" or "Mallika" in Sanskrit

"Chameli", "Juhie", or "Motiyaa" in Hindi, the last being the thicker variety on smaller shrubs that might also grown as climber. The name "Motiyaa" refers to the flower being compared to pearls in looks and beauty, since it is white, round and beautiful, and "Moti" being pearl (from "Muktaa" or "Muktamani" or "Mauktika" in Sanskrt, Mukta also meaning free in the sense unbounded) in Hindi.

"Jaaie", "Juie", "Saayalie", "Chamelie" or "Mogaraa" in Marathi; the last is "Motiyaa" in Hindi. The first has smaller leaves and larger petals while the second reverses that, the third is creamy in texture (Saay meaning cream in Marathi), and the fourth is yet another variety.

"Malligai" in various southern languages including Tamil

* In Tamil Nadu, Jasmine is mainly produced at Madurai District and the same is transported to Mumbai / Bombay for local use as well as it is exported to other countries from there.
* The Madurai city is called as "Malligai Maanagar" (City of Jasmine)

* Throughout most of India, especially in western and southern states, including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, etc, Jasmine (along with other popular flowers such as roses and many others) is cultivated in the home gardens or potted plants around homes, for regular worship at home as well as for wearing in hair (for girls and women of the house), and also in the Agricultural fields for sales, for the purposes above as well as other (such as perfume industry) purposes.

* Jasmine Flower sellers (vendors) selling ready garlands, or bunches in case of the thicker variety (Motiyaa or Mogaraa, of Jasmine (and also flowers by weight) is a common site seen in most city streets, around entrances to Temples, and major business areas including bus stands, in many parts of India, majorly so beginning with Mumbai and generally from Maharashtra onwards in all of south India. In Kolkata too it is not a totally unfamiliar sight, though in north women and girls generally by tradition do not wear flowers in hair so the sales on roads are fewer.

* Jasmine flower is mainly worn in the hair of ladies for its beauty and fragrance. Further it is used for flower decorations, in marriages and important functions.
* Jasmine is cultivated at Pangala, in Karnataka, India, and exported to Middle Eastern countries.[citation needed]

Orchid Bees - Euglossa

2009-11-27T23:58:00.000-08:00

Lilium

2009-10-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

"lily" and "lilium" redirect here. For other uses, see lily (disambiguation) and lilium (disambiguation).
The genus Lilium are herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Lilies comprise a genus of about 110 species in the lily family (Liliaceae) and are important as large showy flowering garden plants. Additionally, they are important culturally and in literature in much of the world.

Some species are sometimes grown or harvested for the edible bulbs.

The species in this genus are the true lilies. Many other plants exist with "lily" in the common English name, some of which are quite unrelated to the true lilies.

Range

The range of lilies in the Old World extends across much of Europe, the north Mediterranean region, across most of Asia to Japan, south to the Nilgiri mountains in India, and south to the Philippines. In the New World they extend from southern Canada through much of the United States.

They are commonly adapted to either woodland habitats, often montane, or sometimes to grassland habitats. A few can survive in marshland and epiphytes are known in southeast Asia (including L. arboricola). In general they prefer moderately acidic or lime-free soils.

Botany
Christmas Lillium (Lilium longiflorum). 1. Stigma, 2. Style, 3. Stamens, 4. Filament, 5. Petal

Lilies are leafy stemmed herbs. They form naked or tunic-less scaly underground bulbs from which they overwinter. In some North American species the base of the bulb develops into rhizomes, on which numerous small bulbs are found. Some species develop stolons. Most bulbs are deeply buried, but a few species form bulbs near the soil surface. Many species form stem-roots. With these, the bulb grows naturally at some depth in the soil, and each year the new stem puts out adventitious roots above the bulb as it emerges from the soil. These roots are in addition to the basal roots that develop at the base of the bulb.

Most species are deciduous, but a few species (Lilium candidum, Lilium catesbaei) bear a basal rosette of leaves during dormancy.

Seeds ripen in late summer. They exhibit varying and sometimes complex germination patterns, many adapted to cool temperate climates.

The large flowers have six tepals, are often fragrant, and come in a range of colours ranging through whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds and purples. Markings include spots, brush strokes and picotees. The plants are summer flowering.

Some species formerly included within this genus have now been placed in other genera. These include Cardiocrinum, Notholirion, Nomocharis and some Fritillaria.

Taxonomy

Taxonomical division in sections follows the classical division of Comber, species acceptance follows World Checklist of Liliaceae, the taxonomy of section Pseudolirium is from the Flora of North America, the taxonomy of Section Liriotypus is given in consideration of Resetnik et al. 2007 , the taxonomy of Chinese species (various sections) follows the Flora of China and the taxonomy of Section Archelirion follows Nishikawa et al.as does the taxonomy of Section Archelirion

Lomatium parryi

2009-10-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

Lomatium parryi, commonly known as Parry's biscuitroot and Utah desertparsley, is a perennial herb in the carrot family. It is a common herb in high altitude areas of deserts and common in National parks in the western part of the United States.

The species epithet parryi honors Charles Christopher Parry (1823-1890), the first official botanist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a collector with the Pacific Railway Survey.

This plant grows from a taproot. The flowering stems are usually stout or and with hollow internodes. The plant grows 20 to 40 centimeters tall. The hairy, basal leaves are divided into many small segments. The yellow flowers are borne in an umbel only 1 or 2 centimeters wide. Like most other plants, the flowers are pollinated by insects.

The fruits are schizocarp, which are flat and wide with lateral wings. They split into 2 halves, each 1 seeded.

Supertunia® Petunia Vista Bubblegum

2009-09-29T06:08:00.001-07:00

Supertunia Royal Velvet Petunia

2009-09-29T05:54:00.001-07:00

Phalenopsis Orchids

2009-09-29T05:53:00.001-07:00

FRASES PARA REFLEXIONAR

2009-09-15T04:40:00.001-07:00

Roses

2009-09-15T04:39:00.001-07:00

flower blooming rose

2009-09-15T04:38:00.001-07:00

Stefan Hrusca - Florile dalbe -White flowers Christmas Carol

2009-09-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

Flower Arrangements

2009-09-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

2009-08-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Linn. (family Malvaceae), known colloquially as the Chinese hibiscus, China rose and shoe flower, is an evergreen flowering shrub native to East Asia.

It is widely grown as an ornamental plant throughout the tropics and subtropics. The flowers are large, generally red in the original varieties, and firm, but generally lack any scent. Numerous varieties, cultivars, and hybrids are available, with flower colors ranging from white through yellow and orange to scarlet and shades of pink, with both single and double sets of petals. Despite their size and red hues attractive to nectar-feeding birds, they are not visited regularly by hummingbirds when grown in the Neotropics. Generalists, like the Sapphire-spangled Emerald, Amazilia lactea, or long-billed species, like the Stripe-breasted Starthroat, Heliomaster squamosus, are occasionally seen to visit it, however.[1] In the subtropical and temperate Americas, hummingbirds are attracted to them on a regular basis.

The Hibisucus rosa-sinensis was named by Carolus Linnaeus. It has many names in Chinese: chijin 赤槿、riji 日及、fusang 扶桑、fosang 佛桑、hongfusang 红扶桑、hongmujin 红木槿、sangjin 桑槿、huohonghua 火红花、zhaodianhong 照殿红、songjin 宋槿、erhonghua 二红花、huashanghua 花上花、tuhonghua 土红花、jiamudan 假牡丹 and zhongguoqiangwei 中国蔷薇. Each of these many names is from a different state in China, each state having its own name for the plant. It also has prominent presence in the various part of Indian subcontinent. In Bengali it is called Jaba জবা, Sembaruthi-செம்பருத்தி in Tamil, गुड़हल in Hindi, Chemparathy in Malayalam, Wada Mal in Sinhala, and Mamdaram (మందారం) in Telugu.

National symbol

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is the national flower of Malaysia, called Bunga Raya in Malay. Introduced into the Malay Peninsula in the 12th Century, it was nominated as the national flower in the year 1958 by the Ministry of Agriculture amongst a few other flowers, namely ylang ylang, jasmine, lotus, rose, magnolia, and bunga tanjung. On 28 July 1960, it was declared by the government of Malaysia that the hibiscus would be the national flower.

The word bunga in Malay means "flower", whilst raya in Malay means "big". The hibiscus is literally known as the "big flower" in Malay. The red of the petals symbolizes the courage, life, and rapid growth of the Malaysian, and the five petals represent the five Rukun Negara of Malaysia. The flower can be found imprinted on the notes and coins of the Malaysian ringgit.

Uses

Pink-Red Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Malkapur, India.Hibiscus flower preparations are used for hair care. The flowers themselves are edible and are used in salads in the Pacific Islands. The flowers are used to shine shoes in parts of India. It is also used for the worship of Devi and especially the red variety takes an important part in tantra. In Indonesia, these flowers are called "kembang sepatu", which literally means "flower of shoes".

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is considered to have a number of medical uses in Chinese herbology.

Genetics

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is one of many plant genera with a genetic characteristic known as polyploidy, in which the number of chromosomes is far greater than the two ("x" and "y"), unlike most other species including human. Polyploidy is a condition where the genetic characteristics of the offspring may be quite different from the parent, or indeed any ancestor, essentially allowing possibly random expression of all (or any) of the characteristics of all the generations that have gone before. Because of this characteristic, H. rosa-sinensis has become popular with hobbyists who cross and recross varieties, creating new named varieties and holding competitions to exhibit and judge the many resulting new seedlings and often strikingly unique flowers.

Often the progeny of these crosses are sterile, but some are fertile, further increasing the complexity of variability and the possibility of a virtually unlimited number of eventual Hibiscus rosa-sinensis varieties. This further attracts the hobbyists, who have created local and international associations, societies, publications, and manuals to further this hobby, which is practiced with these tropical plants worldwide, including indoors in cold climates.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Orchid Garden

2009-08-13T00:22:00.000-07:00

2009 Norman's Orchids Spring Open House

2009-08-13T00:21:00.001-07:00

Taiwan International Orchid Show

2009-08-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

International Orchid Show

2009-08-13T00:17:00.000-07:00

Orchids

2009-08-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

Larisa Speaks about Orchid Farming

2009-08-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

Relaxation video, nature paradise, spring flowers soft music

2009-08-06T05:10:00.000-07:00

Beautiful flowers of the world

2009-08-06T05:08:00.000-07:00

Musical Flowers

2009-07-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Flowers Inside the Longwood Gardens

2009-07-17T07:02:00.001-07:00

Wow - the biggest flower in the world - Titan Arum - David Attenborough - BBC wildlife

2009-06-10T04:07:00.001-07:00

Flowers are wonderfull

2009-06-10T03:58:00.001-07:00

Gerber Daisy (Spring is In The Air) HD

2009-05-13T05:46:00.001-07:00

Rainbow Lorikeets on Gymea Lily Flower

2009-05-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

Michelia alba DC

2009-05-04T04:08:00.001-07:00

Name : Champaca, Champee

Botanical name : Michelia alba DC

Family name : Magnoliaceae

Champaca tree is small to medium-sized (10-15 feet high). It can be cultivated as a garden plant. The flowers are long and narrow, white in color, and strongly fragrant. They are used as religious offerings or in garlands. The sweet, pungent, alluring fragrance makes them an ideal ingredient for perfumes. A single blossom or a packet can be bought from street sellers or at a flower market.

Part use : flowers, leaves
Scent : strong sweet odour

Composition : alpha-myrcene, (S)-limonene, (R)-fenchone, linalool, camphor,

caryophyllene, germacrene D

Possible use :

Medicine : drink to protect heart attack

Body and mind : Inhale to help with headache, nervous exhaustion

Circulation : stimulant blood circulation

Syringa

2009-04-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

Syringa (Lilac) is a genus of about 20–25 species of flowering plants in the olive family (Oleaceae), native to Europe and Asia.

Syringa josikaeaThey are deciduous shrubs or small trees, ranging in size from 2–10 m tall, with stems up to 20–30 cm diameter. The leaves are opposite (occasionally in whorls of three) in arrangement, and their shape is simple and heart-shaped to broad lanceolate in most species, but pinnate in a few species (e.g. S. protolaciniata, S. pinnatifolia). The flowers are produced in spring, each flower being 5–10 mm in diameter with a four-lobed corolla, the corolla tube narrow, 5–20 mm long; they are asexual, with fertile stamens and stigma in each flower. The usual flower colour is a shade of purple (often a light purple or lilac), but white and pale pink are also found. The flowers grow in large panicles, and in several species have a strong fragrance. Flowering varies between mid spring to early summer, depending on the species. The fruit is a dry, brown capsule, splitting in two at maturity to release the two winged seeds.

Cultivation and uses

Syringa vulgaris shrub in flowerLilacs are popular shrubs in parks and gardens throughout the temperate zone. In addition to the species listed above, several hybrids and numerous cultivars have been developed. The term French lilac is often used to refer to modern double-flowered cultivars, thanks to the work of prolific breeder Victor Lemoine.

A white, double-flowered cultivarLilacs flower on old wood, and produce more flowers if unpruned. If pruned, the plant responds by producing fast-growing young vegetative growth with no flowers, in an attempt to restore the removed branches; a pruned lilac often produces few or no flowers for one to five or more years, before the new growth matures sufficiently to start flowering. Unpruned lilacs flower reliably every year. Despite this, a common fallacy holds that lilacs should be pruned regularly. If pruning is required, it should be done right after flowering is finished, before next year's flower buds are formed. Lilacs generally grow better in slightly alkaline soil.

Lilac bushes can be prone to powdery mildew disease, which is caused by poor air circulation.

The wood of lilac is close-grained, diffuse-porous, extremely hard and one of the densest in Europe. The sapwood is typically cream-coloured and the heartwood has various shades of brown and purple. Lilac wood has traditionally been used for engraving, musical instruments, knife handles etc. When drying, the wood has a tendency to be encurved as a twisted material, and to split into narrow sticks. The wood of Common Lilac is even harder than for example that of Syringa josikaea.

The genus is most closely related to Ligustrum (privet), classified with it in Oleaceae tribus Oleeae subtribus Ligustrinae.

Lilacs are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Copper Underwing, Scalloped Oak and Svensson's Copper Underwing.

Etymology

The genus name Syringa is derived from syrinx meaning a hollow tube or pipe, and refers to the broad pith in the shoots in some species, easily hollowed out to make reed pipes and flutes in early history.
A pale purple colour is generally known as lilac after the flower.

Symbolism

Purple lilacs symbolize death and white lilacs first love (see Language of flowers). In Greece, Lebanon, and Cyprus, the lilac is strongly associated with Eastertime because it flowers around that time; it is consequently called paschalia.

Syringa vulgaris is the state flower of New Hampshire, because it "is symbolic of that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State" (New Hampshire Revised Statute Annotated (RSA) 3:5).

"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" is a poem written by Walt Whitman as an elegy to Abraham Lincoln.

Festivals

Numerous locations around North America hold yearly Lilac Festivals, the longest-running of which is the one in Rochester, New York. Rochester's Lilac Festival held at Highland Park has the most varieties of lilacs at any single place, and many of the lilacs were developed in Rochester.

Mackinac Island, in Michigan, celebrates a weeklong lilac festival and Lilac Parade each June.

Spokane, Washington, is known as the "Lilac City", and also holds an annual lilac festival and lilac parade.

Lombard, Illinois is called the "Lilac Village" and has an annual lilac festival and parade in May. The village also contains Lilacia Park, a garden with over 200 varieties of lilacs and over 50 kinds of tulips.

Gardenia

2009-04-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

Gardenia is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, Australasia and Oceania. Several species occur on Hawaiʻi, where gardenias are known as naʻu or nānū.

The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus after Dr. Alexander Garden (1730-1791), a Scottish-born American naturalist.

They are evergreen shrubs and small trees growing to 1–15 metres (3.3–49 ft) tall. The leaves are opposite or in whorls of three or four, 5–50 centimetres (2.0–20 in) long and 3–25 centimetres (1.2–9.8 in) broad, dark green and glossy with a leathery texture. The flowers are solitary or in small clusters, white, or pale yellow, with a tubular-based corolla with 5-12 lobes (petals) from 5–12 centimetres (2.0–4.7 in) diameter. Flowering is from about mid-spring to mid-summer and many species are strongly scented.

Selected species
Gardenia brighamii H.Mann - Nānū (Hawaiʻi)
Gardenia buffalina (Lour.) Poir. in J.B.A.M.de Lamarck (= Genipa buffalina)
Gardenia carinata India, Malaya.
Gardenia cornuta (Natal Gardenia). South Africa.
Gardenia flava (Lour.) Poir. in J.B.A.M.de Lamarck (= Genipa flava)
Gardenia fortunei Eastern Asia.
Gardenia gummifera India. Small tree, to 3 m high.
Gardenia imperialis Tropical Africa. Small tree to 12 m.
Gardenia jasminoides (Common Gardenia, Cape Jasmine or Cape Jessamine). Southern China and Japan.
Gardenia latifolia India. Shrub or tree, 5-10 m high.
Gardenia mannii H.St.John & Kuykend. (Hawaiʻi)
Gardenia remyi H.Mann (Hawaiʻi)
Gardenia resinifera Roth (Brilliant Gardenia, Cambi Resin Tree, or dikamali) India. Shrub or small tree, to 3 m high. (= G. lucida, Genipa resinifera)
Gardenia resiniflua (Gummy Gardenia). South Africa.
Gardenia rutenbergiana (Baill. ex Vatke) J.-F.Leroy (= Genipa rutenbergiana)
Gardenia spatulifolia South Africa.
Gardenia taitensis (Tahitian Gardenia, Tiare māori). Polynesia.
Gardenia ternifolia (Large-leaved Transvaal Gardenia). South Africa.
Gardenia ternifolia ssp. jovis-tonantis (Welw.) Verdc. (= G. jovis-tonantis, Genipa jovis-tonantis)
Gardenia thunbergia (White Gardenia, Forest Gardenia, or witkatjiepiering) South Africa. Shrub or small tree, 2-5 m high.
Gardenia tubifera (Golden Gardenia). Southeastern Asia. Small tree to 15 m high.
Gardenia turgida India. Shrub or small tree to 4 m high, with spines.
Gardenia volkensii (Transvaal Gardenia or Savanna Gardenia). Tropical Africa.

Cultivation and uses

Gardenia plants are prized for the strong sweet scent of their flowers, which can be very large in some species.

Gardenia jasminoides (syn. G. grandiflora, G. florida) is cultivated as a house plant. This species can be difficult to grow because it originated in warm humid tropical areas. It demands high humidity to thrive and bright (not direct) light. It flourishes in acidic soils with good drainage and thrives on [68-74 F temperatures (20-23 C)] during the day and 60 F (15-16 C) in the evening. Potting soils developed especially for gardenias are available. G. jasminoides grows no larger than than 18 inches in height and width when grown indoors. In climates where it can be grown outdoors, it can attain a height of 6 feet. If water hits the flowers, they will turn brown.

In Japan and China, Gardenia jasminoides is called Kuchinashi (Japanese) and Zhi zi (Chinese 梔子); the bloom is used as a yellow dye, which is used for clothes and food (including the Korean mung bean jelly called hwangpomuk).

Taraxacum

2009-04-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Europe, North America and Asia and two species, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide.The common name Dandelion (IPA: /ˈdændɪlaɪən/) is given to members of the genus and like other members of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum species produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without pollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.

Description

The species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted biennial or perennial herbaceous plants, native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere of the Old World.

The leaves are 5–25 cm long or longer, simple and basal, entire or lobed, forming a rosette above the central taproot. The flower heads are yellow to orange colored, and are open in the daytime but closed at night. The heads are borne singly on a hollow stem (scape) which rises 4–75 cm[3] above the leaves and exudes a milky sap (latex) when broken. A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. The flower heads are 2–5 cm in diameter and consists entirely of ray florets. The flower heads mature into a spherical "clocks" (also known as a "wishie") containing many single-seeded fruits called achenes. Each achene is attached to a pappus of fine hairs, which enable wind-aided dispersal over long distances. The flower head is surrounded by bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series. The inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature, then flex downward to allow the seeds to disperse; the outer bracts are always reflexed downward. Some species drop the "parachute" from the achenes; the hair-like parachutes are called pappus, and they are modified sepals. Between the pappus and the achene, there is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the fruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily, separating the seed from the parachute.

Dandelion leaves are believed to have a diuretic effect as they increase salt and water excretion from the kidneys

Seed dispersal

A number of species of Taraxacum are regarded as seed dispersed weeds or ruderals, especially the Common dandelion (T. officinale), which has been introduced over much of the temperate world as a lawn weed. After pollination and flowering is finished, the dandelion flower dries out for a day or two and then the seed-bearing parachutes expand and lift out of the dried flower head. The dried part of the flower drops off and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. The parachute drops off when the seed strikes an obstacle. Often dandelions are observed growing in crevices near a wall; when the blowing fruits hit the wall, the feathery pappi comes off, dropping the dandelion seeds to the base of the wall or into a crevice. After the seed is released, the parachutes lose their feathered structure and take on a fuzzy, cotton-like appearance, often called "dandelion snow." Dandelions seeds are often dispersed by young children, who often blow on or kick the clock.

Dandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). See List of Lepidoptera that feed on dandelions.

Away from their native regions, some dandelion species have become established in the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand, and are now common throughout all temperate regions, Taraxacum officinale has become a nearly world wide weed.

Seed development and genetics

As previously mentioned, the taxonomical situation of the genus is quite complex, mainly because many dandelions are genetically triploid. An odd number of chromosomes usually is associated with sterility, but dandelions with this karyotype can reproduce without fertilization, by a process called apomixis.[8] In these individuals flowers are inefficient vestigial structures, although they may still produce a small percentage of fertile pollen, keeping some genetic contact with sexual individuals. Diploid dandelions develop seeds after cross-pollination and are outcrossing, or self-incompatible. In most zones of southern Europe and Asia, dandelion populations are sexual or mixed sexual-apomictic, while in northern countries only triploid and tetraploid apomicts are present, as is in the zones where it is not native. This seems to be linked to higher temperatures, survival of pre-glacial populations and human impact, but the subject is still being studied.

False dandelions

Dandelions are so similar to catsears (Hypochaeris) that catsears are also known as "false dandelions." Both plants carry similar flowers which form into windborne seeds. However, dandelion flowers are borne singly on unbranched, hairless and leafless, hollow stems, while catsear flowering stems are branched, solid and carry bracts. Both plants have a basal rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are smooth or glabrous, whereas those of catsears are coarsely hairy.

Other plants with superficially similar flowers include hawkweeds (Hieracium) and hawksbeards (Crepis). These are both readily distinguished by their branched flowering stems which are usually hairy and bear leaves.

Rare & Exotic Adenium Double Flowers (Neo-Doxon)

2009-04-12T05:51:00.000-07:00

Sun Flowers and Bees - in Love

2009-03-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Lagerstroemia floribunda Jack

2009-03-18T04:45:00.000-07:00

Family Lythraceae

Characteristic Tree: 15-35 m high crown spreading, globose form, evergreen, stem base usually buttress. Bark: grey or greynish-brown, crackle to be scab. Leaves: simple opposite or subopposite, blade lanceolate-elliptic, apex acute to acuminate, base obtuse, glabrous or subglabrous above, densely brownish hairy beneath. Flower: inflorescences large panicle, terminal. Flowers small, white and purple white. Fruit: capsule elliptic. Seeds many, oblong, winged and small. Commonly found in deciduous, dry evergreen forest. ripening Fruit in November.

Flowering March-April

Streets mostly found Ratchadaphisek (760 trees), Ladkrabang (483 trees) and Rarm Intra (281 trees).

1.ราชพฤกษ์

2009-03-14T20:05:00.001-07:00

ชื่อวิทยาศาสตร์ Cassia fistula L.

วงศ์ LEGUMINOSAE-CAESALPINOIDEAE

ชื่อสามัญ Pudding Pine , Indian Laburnum , Golden Shower

ชื่ออื่นๆ คู ลมแล้ง ชัยพฤกษ์

ไม้ต้น ผลัดใบ สูงประมาณ 8-15 เมตร ใบประกอบด้วยแบบขนนกปลายคู่เรียงสลับใบ มีใบย่อย 3-8 คู่ แผ่นใบรูปป้อม รูปไข่หรือรูปขอบขนาน ขนาดกว้าง 4-8 ซม. ยาว 7-15 ซม. ปลายใบแหลม โคนมน ดอกสีเหลือง ออกเป้นช่อตามชอกใบหรือตามกิ่ง ยาว 20-45 ซม. ผล เป็นฝักทรงกระบอกยาว 20-60 ซม. เส้นผ่านศูนย์กลาง 1.5-2.5 ซม.

นิเวศวิทยา ถิ่นกำเนิดเอเชียแถบร้อน ขึ้นตามป่าเบญจพรรณแล้งทั่วไป

ออกดอก กุมภาพันธ์-พฤษภาคม ทิ้งใบก่อนดอก

ขยายพันธุ์ โดยเมล็ด

วิธีการเตรียมเมล็ดก่อนเพาะ นำเมล็ดมาตัดหรือทำให้เกิดบาดแผลที่ปลายเมล็ดแล้ว แช่น้ำไว้ 12 ชั่วโมงหรือแช่กรดซัลฟูริค 1.84 ประมาณ 15 นาที แล้วล้างน้ำออกให้สะอาด แช่น้ำทิ้ง 12 ชั่วโมง วิธีนี้สะดวกแต่อันตรายและอีกวิธีหนึ่งคือ ต้มน้ำให้เดือดแล้วเทลงในเมล็ด ทิ้งไว้ข้ามคืน ทั้ง 3 วิธีนี้จะทำ ให้เมล็ดดูดน้ำเข้าไปและพร้อมที่จะงอก

วิธีเพาะ อาจหยอดลงในถุงดินที่เตรียมไว้หรือจะเพาะในแปลงเพาะแล้วย้ายชำภายหลัง ควรให้เมล็ดอยุ่ใต้ผิวดิน 3-5 มม. รดน้ำให้ชุ่ม เมล็ดจะงอกภายใน 1-2 สัปดาห์

ประโยชน์ รากฝนทาแก้กลาก เป็นยาระบาย รากและแก่นเป็นยาขับพยาธิ เปลือกและไม้ใช้ฟอกหนังและใช้บดทาผื่นตามร่างกาย เนื้อไม้แดงแกมเหลือง ทนทาน ใช้ทำเสา ล้อเกวียน ใบต้มกินเป็นยาระบาย ดอกแก้ไข้ ฝักเนื้อในรสหวาน เป็นยาระบาย ช่วยบรรเทาอาการแน่นหน้าอก แก้ขัดข้อ

Miracle of good lucky tree

2009-03-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

In building house if you have 9 tree for make its,you will lucky
1. ไม้ราชพฤกษ์ หมายถึง ความเป็นใหญ่และมีอำนาจวาสนา
2. ไม้ขนุน หมายถึง หนุนให้ดีขึ้น ร่ำรวยขึ้น ทำอะไรจะดีมีผู้ให้การเกื้อหนุน
3. ไม้ชัยพฤกษ์ หมายถึง การมีโชคชัย ชัยชนะ
4. ไม้ทองหลาง หมายถึง การมีเงินทอง
5. ไ้ม้่ไผ่สีสุก หมายถึง มีความสุข
6. ไม้ทรงบาดาล หมายถึง ความมั่นคงหรือทำบ้านให้มั่นคง
7. ไม้สัก หมายถึง ความมีศรีศักดิ์ ความมีเกีียรติ
8. ไม้พะยูน หมายถึง การพยุงฐานะให้ดีขึ้น
9. ไม้กันเกรา หมายถึง ป้องกันอันตรายต่างๆหรืออีกชื่อว่าตำเสา ซึ่งอาจหมายถึง ทำให้เสาเรือนมั่นคง

ไม้มงคลเหล่านี้จะลงอักขระที่เรียกว่า หัวใจพระอิติปิโส ได้แก่ อะ สัง วิ โล ปุ สะ พุ ภะ ลงบนไม้ชนิดละอักขระ พร้องทั้งปิดทองทั้ง 9 ท่อน โดยปักวนจากซ้ายไปขวา

Marigold

2009-02-28T02:48:00.000-08:00

Calendula (Scientific name: Tagetes erecta L., common name: Marigold) popular cut flower growing. African , American marigold .African marigold as a group or large dog breeds is the American marigold. A marigold garland hundred different kinds of worship to his divinity and the right mindset. (soverign) such as Varieties are used in commercial confidence for such a small gene (soverign) also led to new strains to include. jamaica Varieties Jamaica (jamaica) and several other breeds. Because leaves are marigold yellow substance called high Xanthophyll has grown to take for your dog to the mix of food to chicken egg yolk is pretty red substitute synthetic substances.

Breed with marigold seeds primarily. May use a dry stick. But that has to start with smaller flowers.

Paper flower.

2009-02-19T04:55:00.000-08:00

Scientific name. Bougainvillea spp. Bougainvillea spp.

Family. NYCTAGINACEAE NYCTAGINACEAE.

Type. Wooden nest trail.

Origin. Brazil.

General characteristics.

perennial plant species are medium-sized wind trunk type set about 1-10 meters in length. Aircraft set a strong wind to far. Surface gray or brown bole bole thorn sharp peaked approximately 0.51 cm long stuck periodic nature of the bush He can dress and. Direction of growth has forced a one leaves the nest different style headland bishop leaves ย spawn a new leaf edge leaves the floor smooth green leaves form a broad leaf size 2 - 4 cm long, about 4-5 centimeters. Panicle flower into the top section decorated with leaves or leaf lobe 3.The flowers are small white flowers.Leaves have different colors and sizes according to seed type

Paper flower the seed is planted tree garland.

1. red flower varieties. ได้แก่ Included. แดงจินดา แดงรัตนา แดงบานเย็น ตรุษจีนด่างสาวิตรี กฤษณา Red gem red flecked Rattana red Chinese New Year Baneien Sawitri eaglewood.
2. white flower varieties. ได้แก่ Included. ทัศมาลีดอกขาว ขาวน้ำผึ้ง สุมาลีสุวรรณี Tas white flower white flower honey Sumali Wrrni bow.
3. pink flower varieties. ได้แก่ Included. ชมพูจินดา ชมพูทิพย์ ชมพูนุช Gem pink pink pink Nuch.
4. purple flower varieties. ได้แก่ Included. ม่วงประเสริฐศรี พรสุมาลี ม่วงกฤษณา ทัศมาลี Sumali violet purple with golden Sri eaglewood Tas Mali.
5. orange flower varieties. ได้แก่ Included. สุมาลีสีทอง Sumali gold.
6. seed yellow flower. ได้แก่ Included. เหลืองอรทัย Yellow woman.

A garland.

Ancient people believed. Any home grown bougainvillaea in household can create a higher value of life. Backpacks because the wood species.Received designation as Queen of ornamental plants can be due to utilize the arts to decorate garden buildings. Homes and places are also important ancient people also believed that a tree garland เฟื่องฟ้า a major festival of Chinese New Year because bougainvillaea flower can blossom during Chinese New Year Festival, making some calls that early fertility, so that some early Chinese New Year. เฟื่องฟ้า not believe the range represents vivaciousness bright fluorescent prosperity. The progress of life

How to breed the plant dry. A top plug.

Appropriate conditions.

Water. Moderate amount of water need to be water 3 - 5 days / times.
Soil. Moisture pervious mold evenly.
Fertilizer. Should put manure or compost rate 0.5-1 kg / early. Enter 4-6 times per year or manure Science. สูตร 15-15-15 อัตรา 200-300 กรัม/ต้น 15-15-15 formula rate 200-300 g / early.
Enter 4-6 times per year.

Disease and insects. Rarely a problem in the disease, the insects will be done is some interference in some, but cautioned not to impound water will cause root rot because of muddy.

Eliminate protection.
ใช้ยาฉีดพ่นโดยใช้ไดอาชินอน Drug use spray before using the Sun Shin. As described in product labeling.

Usage

2009-02-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

In modern times, people have sought ways to cultivate, buy, wear, or otherwise be around flowers and blooming plants, partly because of their agreeable appearance and smell. Around the world, people use flowers for a wide range of events and functions that, cumulatively, encompass one's lifetime:

For new births or Christenings
As a corsage or boutonniere to be worn at social functions or for holidays
As tokens of love or esteem
For wedding flowers for the bridal party, and decorations for the hall
As brightening decorations within the home
As a gift of remembrance for bon voyage parties, welcome home parties, and "thinking of you" gifts
For funeral flowers and expressions of sympathy for the grieving
People therefore grow flowers around their homes, dedicate entire parts of their living space to flower gardens, pick wildflowers, or buy flowers from florists who depend on an entire network of commercial growers and shippers to support their trade.

Flowers provide less food than other major plants parts (seeds, fruits, roots, stems and leaves) but they provide several important foods and spices. Flower vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower and artichoke. The most expensive spice, saffron, consists of dried stigmas of a crocus. Other flower spices are cloves and capers. Hops flowers are used to flavor beer. Marigold flowers are fed to chickens to give their egg yolks a golden yellow color, which consumers find more desirable. Dandelion flowers are often made into wine. Bee Pollen, pollen collected from bees, is considered a health food by some people. Honey consists of bee-processed flower nectar and is often named for the type of flower, e.g. orange blossom honey, clover honey and tupelo honey.

Hundreds of fresh flowers are edible but few are widely marketed as food. They are often used to add color and flavor to salads. Squash flowers are dipped in breadcrumbs and fried. Edible flowers include nasturtium, chrysanthemum, carnation, cattail, honeysuckle, chicory, cornflower, Canna, and sunflower. Some edible flowers are sometimes candied such as daisy and rose (you may also come across a candied pansy).

Flowers can also be made into herbal teas. Dried flowers such as chrysanthemum, rose, jasmine, camomile are infused into tea both for their fragrance and medical properties. Sometimes, they are also mixed with tea leaves for the added fragrance.

Symbolism

2009-02-18T19:50:00.000-08:00

Many flowers have important symbolic meanings in Western culture. The practice of assigning meanings to flowers is known as floriography. Some of the more common examples include:

Red roses are given as a symbol of love, beauty, and passion.
Poppies are a symbol of consolation in time of death. In the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, red poppies are worn to commemorate soldiers who have died in times of war.
Irises/Lily are used in burials as a symbol referring to "resurrection/life". It is also associated with stars (sun) and its petals blooming/shining.
Daisies are a symbol of innocence.
Flowers within art are also representative of the female genitalia, as seen in the works of artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Imogen Cunningham, Veronica Ruiz de Velasco, and Judy Chicago, and in fact in Asian and western classical art. Many cultures around the world have a marked tendency to associate flowers with femininity.

The great variety of delicate and beautiful flowers has inspired the works of numerous poets, especially from the 18th-19th century Romantic era. Famous examples include William Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and William Blake's Ah! Sun-Flower.

Because of their varied and colorful appearance, flowers have long been a favorite subject of visual artists as well. Some of the most celebrated paintings from well-known painters are of flowers, such as Van Gogh's sunflowers series or Monet's water lilies. Flowers are also dried, freeze dried and pressed in order to create permanent, three-dimensional pieces of flower art.

The Roman goddess of flowers, gardens, and the season of Spring is Flora. The Greek goddess of spring, flowers and nature is Chloris.

In Hindu mythology, flowers have a significant status. Vishnu, one of the three major gods in the Hindu system, is often depicted standing straight on a lotus flower.Apart from the association with Vishnu, the Hindu tradition also considers the lotus to have spiritual significance.For example, it figures in the Hindu stories of creation

Evolution

2009-02-18T19:48:00.002-08:00

While land plants have existed for about 425 million years, the first ones reproduced by a simple adaptation of their aquatic counterparts: spores. In the sea, plants -- and some animals -- can simply scatter out genetic clones of themselves to float away and grow elsewhere. This is how early plants reproduced. But plants soon evolved methods of protecting these copies to deal with drying out and other abuse which is even more likely on land than in the sea. The protection became the seed, though it had not yet evolved the flower. Early seed-bearing plants include the ginkgo and conifers. The earliest fossil of a flowering plant, Archaefructus liaoningensis, is dated about 125 million years old.[4] Several groups of extinct gymnosperms, particularly seed ferns, have been proposed as the ancestors of flowering plants but there is no continuous fossil evidence showing exactly how flowers evolved. The apparently sudden appearance of relatively modern flowers in the fossil record posed such a problem for the theory of evolution that it was called an "abominable mystery" by Charles Darwin. Recently discovered angiosperm fossils such as Archaefructus, along with further discoveries of fossil gymnosperms, suggest how angiosperm characteristics may have been acquired in a series of steps.

Recent DNA analysis (molecular systematics) show that Amborella trichopoda, found on the Pacific island of New Caledonia, is the sister group to the rest of the flowering plants, and morphological studies suggest that it has features which may have been characteristic of the earliest flowering plants.

A Syrphid fly on a Grape hyacinthThe general assumption is that the function of flowers, from the start, was to involve other animals in the reproduction process. Pollen can be scattered without bright colors and obvious shapes, which would therefore be a liability, using the plant's resources, unless they provide some other benefit. One proposed reason for the sudden, fully developed appearance of flowers is that they evolved in an isolated setting like an island, or chain of islands, where the plants bearing them were able to develop a highly specialized relationship with some specific animal (a wasp, for example), the way many island species develop today. This symbiotic relationship, with a hypothetical wasp bearing pollen from one plant to another much the way fig wasps do today, could have eventually resulted in both the plant(s) and their partners developing a high degree of specialization. Island genetics is believed to be a common source of speciation, especially when it comes to radical adaptations which seem to have required inferior transitional forms. Note that the wasp example is not incidental; bees, apparently evolved specifically for symbiotic plant relationships, are descended from wasps.

Likewise, most fruit used in plant reproduction comes from the enlargement of parts of the flower. This fruit is frequently a tool which depends upon animals wishing to eat it, and thus scattering the seeds it contains.

While many such symbiotic relationships remain too fragile to survive competition with mainland animals and spread, flowers proved to be an unusually effective means of production, spreading (whatever their actual origin) to become the dominant form of land plant life.

While there is only hard proof of such flowers existing about 130 million years ago, there is some circumstantial evidence that they did exist up to 250 million years ago. A chemical used by plants to defend their flowers, oleanane, has been detected in fossil plants that old, including gigantopterids[8], which evolved at that time and bear many of the traits of modern, flowering plants, though they are not known to be flowering plants themselves, because only their stems and prickles have been found preserved in detail; one of the earliest examples of petrification.

The similarity in leaf and stem structure can be very important, because flowers are genetically just an adaptation of normal leaf and stem components on plants, a combination of genes normally responsible for forming new shoots.[9] The most primitive flowers are thought to have had a variable number of flower parts, often separate from (but in contact with) each other. The flowers would have tended to grow in a spiral pattern, to be bisexual (in plants, this means both male and female parts on the same flower), and to be dominated by the ovary (female part). As flowers grew more advanced, some variations developed parts fused together, with a much more specific number and design, and with either specific sexes per flower or plant, or at least "ovary inferior".

Flower evolution continues to the present day; modern flowers have been so profoundly influenced by humans that many of them cannot be pollinated in nature. Many modern, domesticated flowers used to be simple weeds, which only sprouted when the ground was disturbed. Some of them tended to grow with human crops, and the prettiest did not get plucked because of their beauty, developing a dependence upon and special adaptation to human affection.

Fertilization and dispersal

2009-02-18T19:48:00.001-08:00

Some flowers with both stamens and a pistil are capable of self-fertilization, which does increase the chance of producing seeds but limits genetic variation. The extreme case of self-fertilization occurs in flowers that always self-fertilize, such as many dandelions. Conversely, many species of plants have ways of preventing self-fertilization. Unisexual male and female flowers on the same plant may not appear or mature at the same time, or pollen from the same plant may be incapable of fertilizing its ovules. The latter flower types, which have chemical barriers to their own pollen, are referred to as self-sterile or self-incompatible (see also: Plant sexuality).

Flower-pollinator relationships

2009-02-18T19:47:00.001-08:00

Many flowers have close relationships with one or a few specific pollinating organisms. Many flowers, for example, attract only one specific species of insect, and therefore rely on that insect for successful reproduction. This close relationship is often given as an example of coevolution, as the flower and pollinator are thought to have developed together over a long period of time to match each other's needs.

This close relationship compounds the negative effects of extinction. The extinction of either member in such a relationship would mean almost certain extinction of the other member as well. Some endangered plant species are so because of shrinking pollinator populations.

Pollination mechanism

2009-02-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

The pollination mechanism employed by a plant depends on what method of pollination is utilized.

Most flowers can be divided between two broad groups of pollination methods:

Entomophilous: flowers attract and use insects, bats, birds or other animals to transfer pollen from one flower to the next. Often they are specialized in shape and have an arrangement of the stamens that ensures that pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of the pollinator when it lands in search of its attractant (such as nectar, pollen, or a mate). In pursuing this attractant from many flowers of the same species, the pollinator transfers pollen to the stigmas—arranged with equally pointed precision—of all of the flowers it visits. Many flower rely on simple proximity between flower parts to ensure pollination. Others, such as the Sarracenia or lady-slipper orchids, have elaborate designs to ensure pollination while preventing self-pollination.

Anthers detached from a Meadow Foxtail flower.
A grass flower head (Meadow Foxtail) showing the plain coloured flowers with large anthers.Anemophilous: flowers use the wind to move pollen from one flower to the next, examples include the grasses, Birch trees, Ragweed and Maples. They have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to be "showy" flowers. Whereas the pollen of entomophilous flowers tends to be large-grained, sticky, and rich in protein (another "reward" for pollinators), anemophilous flower pollen is usually small-grained, very light, and of little nutritional value to insects, though it may still be gathered in times of dearth. Honeybees and bumblebees actively gather anemophilous corn (maize) pollen, though it is of little value to them.

Some flowers are self pollinated and use flowers that never open or are self pollinated before the flowers open, these flowers are called cleistogamous. Many Viola species and some Salvia have these types of flowers.

Attraction methods

2009-02-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

Plants can not move from one location to another, thus many flowers have evolved to attract animals to transfer pollen between individuals in dispersed populations. Flowers that are insect-pollinated are called entomophilous; literally "insect-loving" in Latin. They can be highly modified along with the pollinating insects by co-evolution. Flowers commonly have glands called nectaries on various parts that attract animals looking for nutritious nectar. Birds and bees have color vision, enabling them to seek out "colorful" flowers. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that show pollinators where to look for nectar; they may be visible only under ultraviolet light, which is visible to bees and some other insects. Flowers also attract pollinators by scent and some of those scents are pleasant to our sense of smell. Not all flower scents are appealing to humans, a number of flowers are pollinated by insects that are attracted to rotten flesh and have flowers that smell like dead animals, often called Carrion flowers including Rafflesia, the titan arum, and the North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba). Flowers pollinated by night visitors, including bats and moths, are likely to concentrate on scent to attract pollinators and most such flowers are white.

Still other flowers use mimicry to attract pollinators. Some species of orchids, for example, produce flowers resembling female bees in color, shape, and scent. Male bees move from one such flower to another in search of a mate.

Pollination

2009-02-18T19:44:00.002-08:00

The primary purpose of a flower is reproduction. Since the flowers are the reproductive organs of plant, they mediate the joining of the sperm, contained within pollen, to the ovules - contained in the ovary. Pollination is the movement of pollen from the anthers to the stigma. The joining of the sperm to the ovules is called fertilization. Normally pollen is moved from one plant to another, but many plants are able to self pollinate. The fertilized ovules produce seeds that are the next generation. Sexual reproduction produces genetically unique offspring, allowing for adaptation. Flowers have specific designs which encourages the transfer of pollen from one plant to another of the same species. Many plants are dependent upon external factors for pollination, including: wind and animals, and especially insects. Even large animals such as birds, bats, and pygmy possums can be employed. The period of time during which this process can take place (the flower is fully expanded and functional) is called anthesis

Organ Development

2009-02-18T19:44:00.001-08:00

The molecular control of floral organ identity determination is fairly well understood. In a simple model, three gene activities interact in a combinatorial manner to determine the developmental identities of the organ primordia within the floral meristem. These gene functions are called A, B and C-gene functions. In the first floral whorl only A-genes are expressed, leading to the formation of sepals. In the second whorl both A- and B-genes are expressed, leading to the formation of petals. In the third whorl, B and C genes interact to form stamens and in the center of the flower C-genes alone give rise to carpels. The model is based upon studies of homeotic mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana and snapdragon, Antirrhinum majus. For example, when there is a loss of B-gene function, mutant flowers are produced with sepals in the first whorl as usual, but also in the second whorl instead of the normal petal formation. In the third whorl the lack of B function but presence of C-function mimics the fourth whorl, leading to the formation of carpels also in the third whorl. See also The ABC Model of Flower Development.

Most genes central in this model belong to the MADS-box genes and are transcription factors that regulate the expression of the genes specific for each floral organ.

Flowering transition

2009-02-18T19:43:00.001-08:00

The transition to flowering is one of the major phase changes that a plant makes during its life cycle. The transition must take place at a time that will ensure maximal reproductive success. To meet these needs a plant is able to interpret important endogenous and environmental cues such as changes in levels of plant hormones and seasonable temperature and photoperiod changes. Many perennial and most biennial plants require vernalization to flower. The molecular interpretation of these signals through genes such as CONSTANS and FLC ensures that flowering occurs at a time that is favorable for fertilization and the formation of seeds.[2] Flower formation is initiated at the ends of stems, and involves a number of different physiological and morphological changes. The first step is the transformation of the vegetative stem primordia into floral primordia. This occurs as biochemical changes take place to change cellular differentiation of leaf, bud and stem tissues into tissue that will grow into the reproductive organs. Growth of the central part of the stem tip stops or flattens out and the sides develop protuberances in a whorled or spiral fashion around the outside of the stem end. These protuberances develop into the sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Once this process begins, in most plants, it cannot be reversed and the stems develop flowers, even if the initial start of the flower formation event was dependent of some environmental cue.[3] Once the process begins, even if that cue is removed the stem will continue to develop a flower.

Morphology

2009-02-18T19:42:00.001-08:00

Flowering plants are heterosporangiate, producing two types of reproductive spores. The pollen (male spores) and ovules (female spores) are produced in different organs, but the typical flower is a bisporangiate strobilus in that it contains both organs.

A flower is regarded as a modified stem with shortened internodes and bearing, at its nodes, structures that may be highly modified leaves.[1] In essence, a flower structure forms on a modified shoot or axis with an apical meristem that does not grow continuously (growth is determinate). Flowers may be attached to the plant in a few ways. If the flower has no stem but forms in the axil of a leaf, it is called sessile. When one flower is produced, the stem holding the flower is called a peduncle. If the peduncle ends with groups of flowers, each stem that holds a flower is called a pedicel. The flowering stem forms a terminal end which is called the torus or receptacle. The parts of a flower are arranged in whorls on the torus. The four main parts or whorls (starting from the base of the flower or lowest node and working upwards) are as follows:

Diagram showing the main parts of a mature flower
An example of a "perfect flower", this Crateva religiosa flower has both stamens (outer ring) and a pistil (center).Calyx: the outer whorl of sepals; typically these are green, but are petal-like in some species.
Corolla: the whorl of petals, which are usually thin, soft and colored to attract insects that help the process of pollination.
Androecium (from Greek andros oikia: man's house): one or two whorls of stamens, each a filament topped by an anther where pollen is produced. Pollen contains the male gametes.
Gynoecium (from Greek gynaikos oikia: woman's house): one or more pistils. The female reproductive organ is the carpel: this contains an ovary with ovules (which contain female gametes). A pistil may consist of a number of carpels merged together, in which case there is only one pistil to each flower, or of a single individual carpel (the flower is then called apocarpous). The sticky tip of the pistil, the stigma, is the receptor of pollen. The supportive stalk, the style becomes the pathway for pollen tubes to grow from pollen grains adhering to the stigma, to the ovules, carrying the reproductive material.
Although the floral structure described above is considered the "typical" structural plan, plant species show a wide variety of modifications from this plan. These modifications have significance in the evolution of flowering plants and are used extensively by botanists to establish relationships among plant species. For example, the two subclasses of flowering plants may be distinguished by the number of floral organs in each whorl: dicotyledons typically having 4 or 5 organs (or a multiple of 4 or 5) in each whorl and monocotyledons having three or some multiple of three. The number of carpels in a compound pistil may be only two, or otherwise not related to the above generalization for monocots and dicots.

In the majority of species individual flowers have both pistils and stamens as described above. These flowers are described by botanists as being perfect, bisexual, or hermaphrodite. However, in some species of plants the flowers are imperfect or unisexual: having only either male (stamens) or female (pistil) parts. In the latter case, if an individual plant is either female or male the species is regarded as dioecious. However, where unisexual male and female flowers appear on the same plant, the species is considered monoecious.

Additional discussions on floral modifications from the basic plan are presented in the articles on each of the basic parts of the flower. In those species that have more than one flower on an axis—so-called composite flowers—the collection of flowers is termed an inflorescence; this term can also refer to the specific arrangements of flowers on a stem. In this regard, care must be exercised in considering what a ‘‘flower’’ is. In botanical terminology, a single daisy or sunflower for example, is not a flower but a flower head—an inflorescence composed of numerous tiny flowers (sometimes called florets). Each of these flowers may be anatomically as described above. Many flowers have a symmetry, if the perianth is bisected through the central axis from any point, symmetrical halves are produced—the flower is called regular or actinomorphic, e.g. rose or trillium. When flowers are bisected and produce only one line that produces symmetrical halves the flower is said to be irregular or zygomorphic. e.g. snapdragon or most orchids.

Flower specialization and pollination

2009-02-18T19:41:00.001-08:00

Each flower has a specific design which best encourages the transfer of its pollen. Cleistogamous flowers are self pollinated, after which, they may or may not open. Many Viola and some Salvia species are known to have these types of flowers.

Entomophilous flowers attract and use insects, bats, birds or other animals to transfer pollen from one flower to the next. Flowers commonly have glands called nectaries on their various parts that attract these animals. Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that show pollinators where to look for nectar. Flowers also attract pollinators by scent and color. Still other flowers use mimicry to attract pollinators. Some species of orchids, for example, produce flowers resembling female bees in color, shape, and scent. Flowers are also specialized in shape and have an arrangement of the stamens that ensures that pollen grains are transferred to the bodies of the pollinator when it lands in search of its attractant (such as nectar, pollen, or a mate). In pursuing this attractant from many flowers of the same species, the pollinator transfers pollen to the stigmas—arranged with equally pointed precision—of all of the flowers it visits.

Callistemon citrinus flower.Anemophilous flowers use the wind to move pollen from one flower to the next, examples include the grasses, Birch trees, Ragweed and Maples. They have no need to attract pollinators and therefore tend not to be "showy" flowers. Male and female reproductive organs are generally found in separate flowers, the male flowers having a number of long filaments terminating in exposed stamens, and the female flowers having long, feather-like stigmas. Whereas the pollen of entomophilous flowers tends to be large-grained, sticky, and rich in protein (another "reward" for pollinators), anemophilous flower pollen is usually small-grained, very light, and of little nutritional value to insects.

Flower

2009-02-18T19:39:00.000-08:00

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds. The process begins with pollination, is followed by fertilization, leading to the formation and dispersal of the seeds. For the higher plants, seeds are the next generation, and serve as the primary means by which individuals of a species are dispersed across the landscape. The grouping of flowers on a plant are called the inflorescence.

In addition to serving as the reproductive organs of flowering plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans, mainly to beautify their environment but also as a source of food.

Perfume

2009-02-17T16:35:00.001-08:00

Rose perfumes are made from attar of roses or rose oil, which is a mixture of volatile essential oils obtained by steam distilling the crushed petals of roses. The technique originated in Persia (the word Rose itself is from Persian) then spread through Arabia and India, but nowadays about 70% to 80% of production is in the Rose Valley near Kazanluk in Bulgaria, with some production in Qamsar in Iran and Germany.[citation needed] The Kaaba in Mecca is annually washed by the Iranian rose water from Qamsar. In Bulgaria, Iran and Germany, damask roses (Rosa damascena 'Trigintipetala') are used. In the French rose oil industry Rosa centifolia is used. The oil, pale yellow or yellow-grey in color, is sometimes called 'Rose Absolute' oil to distinguish it from diluted versions. The weight of oil extracted is about one three-thousandth to one six-thousandth of the weight of the flowers; for example, about two thousand flowers are required to produce one gram of oil.

The main constituents of attar of roses are the fragrant alcohols geraniol and l-citronellol; and rose camphor, an odourless paraffin. β-Damascenone is also a significant contributor to the scent.

Popular culture

2009-02-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

Roses are ancient symbols of love and beauty. The rose was sacred to a number of goddesses (including Isis and Aphrodite), and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. 'Rose' means pink or red in a variety of languages (such as Romance languages, Greek, and Polish).

The rose is the national flower of England and the United States, as well as being the symbol of England Rugby, and of the Rugby Football Union. It is also the provincial flower of Yorkshire and Lancashire in England (the white rose and red rose respectively), of Alberta (the wild rose) in Canada, and of Islamabad Capital Territory in Pakistan. It is the state flower of four US states: Iowa and North Dakota (R. arkansana), Georgia (R. laevigata), and New York(Rosa generally). Portland, Oregon counts "City of Roses" among its nicknames, and holds an annual Rose Festival.

Roses are occasionally the basis of design for rose windows, such windows comprising five or ten segments (the five petals and five sepals of a rose) or multiples thereof; however most Gothic rose windows are much more elaborate and were probably based originally on the wheel and other symbolism.

A red rose (often held in a hand) is a symbol of socialism or social democracy: it is used as a symbol by British, Irish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Brazilian, Dutch and other European labor, socialist or social democratic parties. This originated when the red rose was used as a badge by the marchers in the May 1968 street protests in Paris. The White Rose was a World War II non violent resistance group in Germany.

On St George's Day in Catalonia people offer dark red roses as gifts, especially between lovers. The Virolai, a hymn to the Virgin of Montserrat, one of the black Madonnas of Europe, begins with the words: "Rosa d’abril, Morena de la serra..." (April rose, dusky lady of the mountain chain...). Therefore this virgin is sometimes known as “Rosa d’abril”. The red rose is thus widely accepted as an unofficial symbol of Catalonia.

Pruning

2009-02-17T16:32:00.001-08:00

Rose pruning, sometimes regarded as a horticultural art form, is largely dependent on the type of rose to be pruned, the reason for pruning, and the time of year it is at the time of the desired pruning.

Most Old Garden Roses of strict European heritage (albas, damasks, gallicas, etc.) are shrubs that bloom once yearly, in late spring or early summer, on two-year-old (or older) canes. As such, their pruning requirements are quite minimal, and are overall similar to any other analogous shrub, such as lilac or forsythia. Generally, only old, spindly canes should be pruned away, to make room for new canes. One-year-old canes should never be pruned because doing so will remove next year's flower buds. The shrubs can also be pruned back lightly, immediately after the blooms fade, to reduce the overall height or width of the plant. In general, pruning requirements for OGRs are much less laborious and regimented than for Modern hybrids.

Modern hybrids, including the hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, modern miniatures, and English roses, have a complex genetic background that almost always includes China roses (R. chinensis). China roses were evergrowing, everblooming roses from humid subtropical regions that bloomed constantly on any new vegetative growth produced during the growing season. Their modern hybrid descendants exhibit similar habits: Unlike Old Garden Roses, modern hybrids bloom continuously (until stopped by frost) on any new canes produced during the growing season. They therefore require pruning away of any spent flowering stem, in order to divert the plant's energy into producing new growth and thence new flowers.

Additionally, Modern Hybrids planted in cold-winter climates will almost universally require a "hard" annual pruning (reducing all canes to 8"–12" in height) in early spring. Again, because of their complex China rose background, Modern Hybrids are typically not as cold-hardy as European OGRs, and low winter temperatures often desiccate or kill exposed canes. In spring, if left unpruned, these damanged canes will often die back all the way to the shrub's root zone, resulting in a weakened, disfigured plant. The annual "hard" pruning of hybrid teas, floribundas, etc. should generally be done in early spring; most gardeners coincide this pruning with the blooming of forsythia shrubs. Canes should be cut about 1/2" above a vegetative bud (identifiable as a point on a cane where a leaf once grew).

For both Old Garden Roses and Modern Hybrids, any weak, damaged or diseased growth should be pruned away completely, regardless of the time of year. Any pruning of any rose should also be done so that the cut is made at a forty five degree angle above a vegetative bud. This helps the pruned stem callus over more quickly, and also mitigates moisture buildup over the cut, which can lead to disease problems.

For all general rose pruning (including cutting flowers for arrangements), sharp secateurs (hand-held, sickle-bladed pruners) should be used to cut any growth 1/2" or less in diameter. For canes of a thickness greater than 1/2", pole loppers or a small handsaw are generally more effective; secateurs may be damaged or broken in such instances.

Tea

2009-02-17T16:30:00.000-08:00

The result of crossing two of the original China roses ('Hume's Blush China' and 'Parks' Yellow Tea Scented China') with various Bourbons and Noisette roses, tea roses are considerably more tender than other Old Garden Roses (due to cold-tender Rosa gigantea in the ancestry of the 'Parks' Yellow' rose). The teas are repeat-flowering roses, named for their fragrance being reminiscent of Chinese black tea (although this is not always the case). The color range includes pastel shades of white, pink and yellow, and the petals tend to roll back at the edges, producing a petal with a pointed tip. The individual flowers of many cultivars are semi-pendent and nodding, due to weak flower stalks. Examples: 'Lady Hillingdon', 'Maman Cochet'.

Noisette

2009-02-17T16:29:00.002-08:00

The first Noisette rose was raised as a hybrid seedling by a South Carolina rice planter named John Champneys. Its parents were the China Rose 'Parson's Pink' and the autumn-flowering musk rose (Rosa moschata), resulting in a vigorous climbing rose producing huge clusters of small pink flowers from spring to fall. Champneys sent seedlings of his rose (called 'Champneys' Pink Cluster') to his gardening friend, Philippe Noisette, who in turn sent plants to his brother Louis in Paris, who then introduced 'Blush Noisette' in 1817. The first Noisettes were small-blossomed, fairly winter-hardy climbers, but later infusions of Tea rose genes created a Tea-Noisette subclass with larger flowers, smaller clusters, and considerably reduced winter hardiness. Examples: 'Blush Noisette', 'Mme. Alfred Carriere' (Noisette), 'Marechal Niel' (Tea-Noisette). (See French and German articles on Noisette roses)

Bourbon

2009-02-17T16:29:00.001-08:00

Bourbons originated on l'Île de Bourbon (now called Réunion) off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. They are most likely the result of a cross between the Autumn Damask and the 'Old Blush' China rose, both of which were frequently used as hedging materials on the island. They flower repeatedly over vigorous, frequently semi-climbing shrubs with glossy foliage and purple-tinted canes. They were first Introduced in France in 1823. Examples: 'Louise Odier', 'Mme. Pierre Oger', 'Zéphirine Drouhin'.

Portland

2009-02-17T16:28:00.001-08:00

The Portland roses represent the first group of crosses between China roses and European roses, specifically gallicas and damasks. They were named after the Duchess of Portland who received (from Italy in 1800) a rose then known as R. paestana or 'Scarlet Four Seasons' Rose' (now known simply as 'The Portland Rose'). The whole class of Portland roses was thence developed from that one rose. The first repeat-flowering class of rose with fancy European-style blossoms, they are mostly descended from hybrids between damask and China roses. The plants tend to be fairly short and shrubby, with proportionately short flower stalks. Example: 'James Veitch', 'Rose de Rescht', 'Comte de Chambourd'.

China

2009-02-17T16:27:00.002-08:00

The China roses were grown in East Asia for thousands of years and finally reached Western Europe in the late 1700s. Compared to the aforementioned European rose classes, the Chinese roses had smaller, less fragrant, more poorly formed blooms carried over twiggier, more cold-sensitive shrubs. Yet they possessed the amazing ability to bloom repeatedly throughout the summer and into late autumn, unlike their European counterparts. This made them highly desirable for hybridization purposes in the early 1800s. The flowers of China roses were also notable for their tendency to "suntan," or darken over time — unlike the blooms of European roses, which tended to fade after opening. Four China roses ('Slater's Crimson China', 1792; 'Parsons' Pink China', 1793; 'Hume's Blush China', 1809; and 'Parks' Yellow Tea Scented China', 1824) were brought to Europe in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This brought about the creation of the first classes of repeat-flowering Old Garden Roses, and later the Modern Garden Roses. Examples: 'Old Blush China', 'Mutabilis' (butterfly rose).

Moss

2009-02-17T16:27:00.001-08:00

Mutations of primarily centifolia roses (or sometimes damasks), moss roses have a mossy excrescence on the stems and sepals that often emits a pleasant woodsy or balsam scent when rubbed. Moss roses are cherised for this unique trait, but as a group they have contributed nothing to the development of new rose classifications. Moss roses with centifolia background are once-flowering; some moss roses exhibit repeat-blooming, indicative of Autumn Damask parentage. Example: 'Common Moss' (centifolia-moss), 'Alfred de Dalmas' (Autumn Damask moss).

Centifolia or Provence

2009-02-17T16:26:00.001-08:00

Centifolia roses, raised in the seventeenth century in the Netherlands, are named for their "one hundred" petals; they are often called "cabbage" roses due to the globular shape of the flowers. The result of damask roses crossed with albas, the centifolias are all once-flowering. As a class, they are notable for their inclination to produce mutations of various sizes and forms, including moss roses and some of the first miniature roses (see below) . Examples: 'Centifolia', 'Paul Ricault'.

Damask

2009-02-17T16:24:00.000-08:00

Robert de Brie is given credit for bringing damask roses from Persia to Europe sometime between 1254 and 1276, although there is evidence from ancient Roman frescoes that at least one damask rose, the Autumn Damask, existed in Europe for hundreds of years prior. Summer damasks (crosses between gallica roses and R. phoenicea) bloom once in summer. Autumn damasks (Gallicas crossed with R. moschata) bloom again later, in the autumn. Shrubs tend to have rangy to sprawly growth habits and vicious thorns. The flowers typically have a more loose petal formation than gallicas, as well as a stronger, tangy fragrance. Examples: 'Ispahan', 'Madame Hardy'.

Gallica

2009-02-17T16:23:00.002-08:00

The gallica roses have been developed from R. gallica, which is a native of central and southern Europe. They flower once in the summer over low shrubs rarely over 4' tall. Unlike most other once-blooming Old Garden Roses, the gallica class includes shades of red, maroon and deep purplish crimson. Examples: 'Cardinal de Richelieu', 'Charles de Mills', 'Rosa Mundi' (R. gallica versicolor).

Gallica

2009-02-17T16:23:00.001-08:00

Alba

2009-02-17T16:22:00.001-08:00

Literally "white roses", derived from R. arvensis and the closely allied R. alba. These are some of the oldest garden roses, probably brought to Great Britain by the Romans. The shrubs flower once yearly in the spring with blossoms of white or pale pink. The shrubs frequently feature gray-green foliage and a climbing habit of growth . Examples: 'Alba Semiplena', 'White Rose of York'.

Old Garden Roses

2009-02-17T16:21:00.000-08:00

Most Old Garden Roses are classified into one of the following groups. In general, Old Garden Roses of European or Mediterranean origin are once-blooming shrubs, with notably fragrant, double-flowered blooms primarily in shades of white, pink and red. The shrubs' foliage tends to be highly disease-resistant, and they generally bloom only on two-year-old canes

Cultivation

2009-02-17T10:57:00.000-08:00

Roses are popular garden shrubs, as well as the most popular and commonly sold florists' flowers. In addition to their great economic importance as a florists crop, roses are also of great value to the perfume industry.

Many thousands of rose hybrids and cultivars have been bred and selected for garden use; most are double-flowered with many or all of the stamens having mutated into additional petals. As long ago as 1840 a collection numbering over one thousand different cultivars, varieties and species was possible when a rosarium was planted by Loddiges nursery for Abney Park Cemetery, an early Victorian garden cemetery and arboretum in England.

Twentieth-century rose breeders generally emphasized size and colour, producing large, attractive blooms with little or no scent. Many wild and "old-fashioned" roses, by contrast, have a strong sweet scent.

Roses thrive in temperate climates, though certain species and cultivars can flourish in sub-tropical and even tropical climates, especially when grafted onto appropriate rootstock.

There is no single system of classification for garden roses. In general, however, roses are placed in one of three main groups:

Pests and diseases

2009-02-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

Roses are subject to several diseases, such as rose rust (Phragmidium mucronatum), rose black spot, and powdery mildew. Fungal diseases in the Rose are best solved by a preventative fungicidal spray program rather than by trying to cure an infection after it emerges on the plant. After the disease is visible, its spread can be minimized through pruning and the use of fungicides, although the actual infection cannot be reversed. Certain rose varieties are considerably less susceptible than others to fungal diseases.

The main insect pest affecting roses is the aphid (greenfly), which sucks the sap and weakens the plant. (Ladybirds are a predator of aphids and should be encouraged in the rose garden.) The spraying with insecticide of roses is often recommended but should be done with care to minimize the loss of beneficial insects. Roses are also used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species

botany

2009-02-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

The leaves of most species are 5–15 centimetres long, pinnate, with (3–) 5–9 (–13) leaflets and basal stipules; the leaflets usually have a serrated margin, and often a few small prickles on the underside of the stem. The vast majority of roses are deciduous but a few (particularly in Southeast Asia) are evergreen or nearly so.

The flowers of most species roses have five petals, with the exception of Rosa sericea, which usually has only four. Each petal is divided into two distinct lobes and is usually white or pink, though in a few species yellow or red. Beneath the petals are five sepals (or in the case of some Rosa sericea, four). These may be long enough to be visible when viewed from above and appear as green points alternating with the rounded petals. The ovary is inferior, developing below the petals and sepals.

The aggregate fruit of the rose is a berry-like structure called a rose hip. Rose species that produce open-faced flowers are attractive to pollinating bees and other insects, thus more apt to produce hips. Many of the domestic cultivars are so tightly petalled that they do not provide access for pollination. The hips of most species are red, but a few (e.g. Rosa pimpinellifolia) have dark purple to black hips. Each hip comprises an outer fleshy layer, the hypanthium, which contains 5–160 "seeds" (technically dry single-seeded fruits called achenes) embedded in a matrix of fine, but stiff, hairs. Rose hips of some species, especially the Dog Rose (Rosa canina) and Rugosa Rose (Rosa rugosa), are very rich in vitamin C, among the richest sources of any plant. The hips are eaten by fruit-eating birds such as thrushes and waxwings, which then disperse the seeds in their droppings. Some birds, particularly finches, also eat the seeds.

While the sharp objects along a rose stem are commonly called "thorns", they are actually prickles — outgrowths of the epidermis (the outer layer of tissue of the stem). True thorns, as produced by e.g. Citrus or Pyracantha, are modified stems, which always originate at a node and which have nodes and internodes along the length of the thorn itself. Rose prickles are typically sickle-shaped hooks, which aid the rose in hanging onto other vegetation when growing over it. Some species such as Rosa rugosa and R. pimpinellifolia have densely packed straight spines, probably an adaptation to reduce browsing by animals, but also possibly an adaptation to trap wind-blown sand and so reduce erosion and protect their roots (both of these species grow naturally on coastal sand dunes). Despite the presence of prickles, roses are frequently browsed by deer. A few species of roses only have vestigial prickles that have no points.

Rose

2009-02-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

A rose is a perennial flower shrub or vine of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species. The species form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp thorns. Most are native to Asia, with smaller numbers of species native to Europe, North America, and northwest Africa. Natives, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and fragrance.

The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound, with sharply toothed oval-shaped leaflets. The plants fleshy edible fruit is called a rose hip. Rose plants range in size from tiny, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach 20 metres in height. Species from different parts of the world easily hybridize, which has given rise to the many types of garden roses.

The name originates from Latin rosa, borrowed from Oscan from colonial Greek in southern Italy: rhodon (Aeolic form: wrodon), from Aramaic wurrdā, from Assyrian wurtinnu, from Old Iranian *warda (cf. Armenian vard, Avestan warda, Sogdian ward, Parthian wâr).

Attar of rose is the steam-extracted essential oil from rose flowers that has been used in perfumes for centuries. Rose water, made from the rose oil, is widely used in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Rose hips are occasionally made into jam, jelly, and marmalade, or are brewed for tea, primarily for their high Vitamin C content. They are also pressed and filtered to make rose hip syrup. Rose hips are also used to produce Rose hip seed oil, which is used in skin products and some makeup products.

Jasmine

2009-02-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

Jasmine (Jasminum) (from Old French Jasmine which is from the Persian yasmin, i.e. "gift from God", via Arabic is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae),with about 200 species, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World. The majority of species grow as climbers on other plants or on structures such as chicken wire, gates or fences. The leaves can be either evergreen (green all year round) or deciduous (falling leaves in autumn).

Species:
Jasminum dichotomum Vahl - Gold Coast Jasmine
Jasminum grandiflorum L. - Spanish Jasmine, Royal Jasmine, Catalonian Jasmine
Jasminum humile L.- Italian Yellow Jasmine
Jasminum mesnyi Hance - Japanese Jasmine, Primrose Jasmine, Yellow Jasmine
Jasminum odoratissimum L. - Yellow Jasmine
Jasminum officinale L. Common Jasmine,Poet's Jasmine, jasmine, jessamine
Jasminum parkeri Dunn - Dwarf Jasmine
Jasminum sambac (L.) Aiton - Arabian Jasmine

Cultivation and uses
Jasmine is widely cultivated for its flowers, enjoyed in the garden, as house plants, and as cut flowers. The flowers are worn by women in their hair in southern and southeast Asia. Many species also yield an absolute, which is used in the production of perfumes and incense.

Jasmine tisane is consumed in China, where it is called Jasmine flower tea (茉莉花茶; pinyin: mò lì huā chá).Jasminum sambac flowers are also used to make tea, which often has a base of green tea, but sometimes an Oolong base is used. The delicate Jasmine flower opens only at night during the full moon and is plucked in the morning when the tiny petals are tightly closed. They are then stored in a cool place until night. Between six and eight in the evening, as the temperature cools, the petals begin to open. Flowers and tea are "mated" in machines that control temperature and humidity. It takes four hours or so for the tea to absorb the fragrance and flavour of the Jasmine blossoms, and for the highest grades, this process may be repeated as many as seven times. Because the tea has absorbed moisture from the flowers, it must be refired to prevent spoilage. The spent flowers may or may not be removed from the final product, as the flowers are completely dry and contain no aroma. Giant fans are used to blow away and remove the petals from the denser tea leaves. If present, they simply add visual appeal and are no indication of the quality of the tea.

Jasmine essential oil is now commonly in use. Its flowers are either extracted by the labour-intensive method of enfleurage or through chemical extraction. The reason it is so expensive is because of the enormous amount of flowers needed to produce a small amount of oil. The flowers have to be gathered at night because the odour of jasmine is more powerful after dark. The flowers are laid out on cotton cloths soaked in olive oil for several days and then extracted leaving the true Jasmine essence. Some of the countries producing Jasmine essential oil are India, Egypt, China and Morocco. Its chemical constituents include methyl anthranilate, indol, benzyl alcohol and linalol

The Jasmine is the National Flower of the following countries:

The Philippines, where it is known as "Sampaguita", and is usually strung on garlands which are then used to adorn religious images.
Indonesia, where the variety Jasminum sambac is the "puspa bangsa" (National Flower), and goes by the name "Melati", In the country, especially the island of Java, it is the most important flower in wedding ceremonies for ethnic Indonesians.
Pakistan, where Jasminum officinale is known as the "Chambeli" or "Yasmine" is the national flower.

In Syria, it is the symbolic flower of Damascus, which is called the City of Jasmines. In Sanskrit it is called "Mallika". It is called "Chameli" in Hindi.

Jasmine is cultivated at Pangala, in Karnataka, India, and exported to Middle Eastern countries[citation needed]. '

J. fluminense is an invasive species in Hawaii, where it is sometimes known by the inaccurate name "Brazilian Jasmine". J. dichotomum is also invasive in Florida.

In Thailand, jasmine flowers are used as a symbol of the mother.

In Okinawa Japan Jasmine Tea is known as Sanpin Cha.