🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴

Nice one!

wonderful! 😊

Photo of a shrub with shiny, elliptical leaves. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Cistus ladanifer, from the western Mediterranean region, has shiny, sticky, resin-coated leaves. The resin contributes to the characteristic aroma of the garrigue and maquis shrublands. The resin, called labdanum, is used in perfumery. #perfume #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a leafy shoot and cymose inflorescences with buds and four large pink flowers with crumpled petals. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Cistaceae often have petals crumpled in bud, & Cistus has large, attractive flowers that show the characteristic brilliantly. This is Cistus × incanus, a natural hybrid of C. albidus × C. crispus, native to the western Mediterranean region. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a prostrate woody plant with very small, fine foliage. Capsules are present. White sand is visible in the background. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Cistaceae are shrubby plants, often in dry, sunny areas on sandy or chalky soils. I first met Cistaceae in the form of Lechea spp. on the white sand of the Florida Scrub. This is L. minor in fruit. The capsules have parietal placentation, a characteristic of the family. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Close-up photo showing the frontal view of an actinomorphic, yellow flower with five petals, many stamens and a gynoecium with a superior ovary.

Cose-up photo of the back of the flower, showing dimorphic sepals: two sepals are small, three are large.

I don’t see the family very often, but I always enjoy seeing Cistaceae. This week, let's look at the family. They often have dimorphic sepals: 2, small, outer sepals & 3 larger ones. This Fumana ericoides (📷: Sonja Bouwman-Gringhuis CCBYNC4) shows the sepals brilliantly. #Cistaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a page of the article showing a plate of four half-tone photos of transverse sections of palm seeds. The seeds are all of one species, but they vary from having homogeneous endosperm to deeply ruminate endosperm.

Want to read more about palms that are variable in endosperm condition, homogeneous vs. ruminate? There is an old publication on the topic: Zona, S. 2003. Endosperm condition and the paradox of Ptychococcus paradoxus. Telopea 10: 179–185. #Arecaceae #seed #endosperm #ruminate #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Good question. The research has not been done.

Photo of the dry, brown fruit of Nypa, along with one fruit that has been cut longitudinally to show the ruminate endosperm and the seedling (Nypa is viviparous). Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

When I used a band saw to cut Nypa fruticans seeds in half, I was surprised to find ruminate endosperm. The literature said this palm has homogeneous endosperm. It turns out, it has both. Endosperm condition can vary within a species. #Arecaceae #seed #endosperm #ruminate #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Now that's a comparison that never would have occurred to me!😂

Close-up photo of small black seeds. Some seeds are cut in longitudinal section and show the ruminate endosperm and the long, thin embryo that occupies the length of the seed. Other seeds are cut in transverse section to show the ruminations and embryo. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Endosperm condition (homogeneous vs. ruminate) can vary within a genus. The seeds of Yucca aloifolia are clearly ruminate, but many other species of Yucca lack rumination & are homogeneous. #Asparagaceae #seed #endosperm #ruminate #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

That's right. Gymnosperms don't have endosperm, ruminate or homogeneous.

Photo of 3 excavated seedlings of a palm. The attached seed has been sliced open to show the white endosperm and dark ruminations. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

What is the function of ruminate endosperm? How did it evolve? Nobody knows for sure. One hypothesis: The ruminations are distasteful to seed-boring beetles & prevent them from riddling the seed. Maybe.🤷‍♂️ 📷: Adonidia merrillii. #beetles #Arecaceae #seed #endosperm #ruminate #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a bowl of thinly sliced dried seeds of betelnut. The ruminations are clearly visible and thoroughly penetrate the endosperm. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Here's another ruminate endosperm in commerce: betelnut (Areca catechu). In S Asia & the western Pacific, betelnut is a popular masticant (with addictive alkaloids & links to oral & esophageal cancers ☠️). These are sliced seeds that a student brought to class. #ruminate #Arecaceae #Botany
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Close-up photo of the seed of nutmeg, with a bit cut off to reveal the ruminate endosperm.

You might have some ruminate endosperm in your kitchen. Nutmeg is from the seed of Myristica fragrans, & that seed has ruminate endosperm. 🧵 📷: Dan Brekke CCBYNC2. #Myristicaceae #seed #endosperm #ruminate #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
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Photo of two fruits and one seed cut in transverse section. The fruits are covered with shiny, chestnut brown scales. The seed shows that narrow, finger-like streaks of the seed coat penetrate the endosperm. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

As extraordinary & beautiful as the fruits of Raphia taedigera are, the endosperm ruminations are just as unusual: They are finger-like penetrations, quite unlike what I’ve seen in other palms. #Arecaceae #seed #endosperm #ruminate #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

These are pawpaw seeds.

Close-up photo of three large brown seeds, one cut in longitudinal section to reveal laminar ruminations throughout the endosperm. A ruler shows the seeds are nearly 2.5 cm long. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

An endosperm is described as ruminate when it is penetrated by the seed coat. The nature of the ruminations varies somewhat across the plant kingdom. Sometimes the ruminations are plate-like or laminar, as in Asimina triloba. #Annonaceae #seed #endosperm #ruminate #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Thanks for the kind feedback! 🙏 There's always something to learn!

Close-up photo of a longitudinal section through an ellipsoidal drupe. The seed takes up most of the space in the fruit. The endosperm is penetrated about halfway to the center by ingrowths of the seed coat. The embryo is at the base (stem end) of the seed. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Seeds of some species, like peanuts, are mostly embryo (exalbuminous); others are mostly endosperm (albuminous). Adonidia merrillii, an albuminous species, has a tiny bullet-shaped embryo & endosperm penetrated by ingrowths of the seed coat. #seed #ruminate. #Arecaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

No, walnut is not ruminate, because walnut has no endosperm. The edible parts of walnut are the cotyledons (seed leaves).

I'll address that hypothesis on Wednesday😉

Close-up photo of a transverse section of a globose seed of a palm. The endosperm is deeply and thoroughly shot through with ingrowths of the seed coat. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Ruminate describes the condition of the endosperm (seed storage tissue) when it is penetrated or invaginated by the seed coat. This photo of a Prestoea simplicifolia seed (about 1 cm in diameter) cut in half shows how the brown seed coat penetrates the endosperm. #Arecaceae #ruminate
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Close-up photo of a seed that has been cut in half longitudinally. One half has the cut surface exposed (right), showing the embryo and ruminate endosperm. The other half (left) is turned to show the surface, which is dark brown and covered with tiny pits. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

Two weeks ago, I posted this photo of Guiacum sanctum seed, which prompted a viewer to ask, What is the function of ruminate endosperm? This week, we’ll look at ruminate (not ruminant 🐄) endosperm. 🧵 #Zygophyllaceae #seed #endosperm #ruminate #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
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Too bad none of the journalists in the room challenged her hypocrisy. (I suppose they were afraid they'd have their WH credentials withdrawn.)

Five pictures of insect pollinators in flowers, arranged into two rows. In the top row, from left to right, bumble bee, hoverfly and small leaf-cutter bee. In the bottom row, two sweat bees

These are the champions. Four bees and one hoverfly. The five most abundant pollinators in Cazorla, which account together for ~14% of all individuals and flower visits, yet they represent a tiny 0.6% of all species (845).
[Yep, no honeybee, lucky me]
Their names in the response post.

Photo of leafy woody shoots. The leaves are long and strap-like with toothed margins. The pendulous raceme of white flowers, which have long, exserted styles. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

My most frequent interaction with Proteaceae is eating macadamia nuts! 😛
Here's Macadamia integrifolia. Note how the perianth curls back to reveal the exserted style. The tip of the style scrapes pollen from the anthers as it elongates & presents the pollen to visitors. #Proteaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

😍

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing the article link. I'm picturing him carrying a 16-ft specimen in his hand while leading his reluctant pony!

Sorry for the technical language, but it's the only way I can fit the description into 300 characters!