Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.
Do you need
volunteer, community service, work, military or court hours?
|
|
Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.
|
|
Click here and add this page to your favorites!
|
Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: HOR-I25 |
|
|
HYDROCHARIDEAE , in botany, a natural order of Mono- cotyledons, belonging to the series Helobieae. They are water-plants, represented in Britain by frog-bit (Hydrocharis Morsus- ranae) and water-soldier (Stratiotes alaides). The order contains about fifty species in fifteen genera, twelve of which occur in fresh water while three are marine: and includes both floating and submerged forms. Hydrocharis floats on the surface of still water, andhas rosettes of kidney-shaped leaves, from among which spring theflower-stalks; stolons bearing new leaf- rosettes are sent out on all sides, the plant thus propagating itself in the same way as the strawberry
Straliotes abides has a rosette of stiff sword- like leaves, which when the plant is in flower project above the surface; it is , also stoloniferous, the young
to. the bottom at the beginning of winter and rising again to the surface in the spring .Vallisneria (eel-grass) contains two species, one native of tropical ,Asia, the other . in- habiting the warmer parts of both hemi- spheres and reaching as far north as south Frog-bitmale plant. the mud at the bottom I, Female flower. of fresh water, and the 2, Stamens, enlarged. short stem bears a 3, Barren pistil of male flower, enlarged. cluster of long, 4, Pistil of female flower. g, narrow 5, Fruit. grass-like. leaves; new 6, Fruit cut transversely. plants are formed at 7, mod' the end of horizontal
8, 9, Floral diagrams of male and female flowers
s, Rudimentary stamens. is represented by Elodea canadensis or water- thyme
flowers
hair , thepersistent hard-bast strands of the leaves; Thalassic has a creeping rooting stem with upright branches bearing crowded strap-shaped leaves in two rows. The flowers spring from, or are enclosed in, a spathe, and are unisexual and regular, with generally a calyx and corolla, each of three members; the stamens are in whorls of three, the inner whorls are often barren; the two to fifteen carpels form an inferior ovary containing generally numerous ovules on often large, produced, parietal placentas. The fruit is leathery or fleshy, opening irregularly. The seeds contain a large embryo and no endosperm. In Hydrocharis (fig. I), which is dioecious, the flowers are borne above the surface of the water, have conspicuous white petals, contain honey and are pollinated by in-sects. Stralioles has similar flowers which come above the surface only for pollination, becoming sub-merged again during ripening of the fruit. In Vallisneria (fig. 2), which is also dioecious, the small male flowers are borne in large numbers in short-stalked spathes; the petals are minute and scale-like, and only two of the three stamens are !fer- FIG. z.Vallisneria spiralisEel grass--tile; the flowers about i natural size. A, Female plant; B, become detached Male plant. before opening and rise to the surface, where the sepals expand and form a float bearing the two projecting semi-erect stamens. The female flowers are solitary and are raised to the surface on. a long, spiral stall:; the ovary bears three broad styles, on, which some of thelarge, sticl.y pollen-grains from the Iloatmg male floc: ers get de-posited (fig. 3). After pollination the female flower becomes drawn
Elodea has poly- FIG. 3. gamo.us flowers (that is, male, female and hermaphrodite), solitary, in slender, tubular spathes; the male flowers become detached and rise to the surface; the females are raised to the surface when mature, and receive the floating pollen from the male. The flowers of Halophila are submerged and apetalous. The order is a widely distributed one; the marine forms are tropical or subtropical, but the fresh-water genera occur also in the temperate zones. End of Article: HYDROCHARIDEAE If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/HOR_I25/HYDROCHARIDEAE.html"> HYDROCHARIDEAE </a> |
|
|
(Previous) HYDROCARBONS |
(Next) HYDROCHLORIC ACID |
|
Sponsored Advertisements