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Phyllary
View on WikipediaIn botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower.[1][2][3] The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one or more whorls immediately below a flower head.[1]
Function
[edit]Phyllaries provide protection to developing flowers and fruits.[4] In the dandelion hybrid Taraxacum japonicum × officinale, recurved phyllaries help defend the flowers from herbivory by slugs.[5]
They sometimes assist in the dispersal of fruits.[4] The hooked phyllaries of burdock species (Arctium) cling to the fur and feathers of animals, dispersing the seeds away from the parent plant (exozoochory).[6][7]
Structure and arrangement
[edit]Phyllary morphology is useful in plant identification as between species of the Asteraceae family, they may vary in number, shape, width, length, hairiness, presence of glands, or texture.[3]
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Balsamorhiza hookeri phyllaries are widely separated, hairy, stiff, and point away from the stem. -
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These Silphium pinnatifidum phyllaries are graduated, with those closer to the flower longer than the outer layers.
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References
[edit]- ^ a b "Jepson Herbarium: Jepson Flora Project: Jepson eFlora: Glossary". ucjeps.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ "NYGB Steele Herbarium Glossary". Retrieved May 23, 2019.
- ^ a b Reznicek, A.A.; Voss, E.G.; Walters, B.S. "Asteraceae". michiganflora.net. Michigan Flora. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ a b "Glossary of botanical terms for Compositae". www.kew.org. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ Wu, Fu-Yu; Yahara, Tetsukazu (1 May 2017). "Recurved Taraxacum phyllaries function as a floral defense: experimental evidence and its implication for Taraxacum evolutionary history". Ecological Research. 32 (3): 313–329. Bibcode:2017EcoR...32..313W. doi:10.1007/s11284-017-1444-5. ISSN 1440-1703. S2CID 46343283.
- ^ Hawthorn, Wayne R.; Hayne, P. D. (1 January 1978). "Seed production and predispersal seed predation in the biennial composite species, Arctium minus (Hill) Bernh. and A. lappa L.". Oecologia. 34 (3): 283–295. Bibcode:1978Oecol..34..283H. doi:10.1007/BF00344907. ISSN 1432-1939. PMID 28309875. S2CID 6102531.
- ^ Clark, Patterson. "Burdock: Sowing seeds with fur and bur". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 May 2019.