POLYCHROMATIC BOTANY // Flower colour variation of Cosmos spp.

in #steemstem4 years ago


Greetings dear friends, supporters and members of the Steem platform, in this issue I will share scientific and technical information on POLYCHROMATIC BOTANY, particularly on coloration as a method of taxonomic grouping, using the color variation exhibited by the flowers of specimens of the genus Cosmos (ASTERACEAE).

Introduction

The morphological diversity that plant species exhibit has been the scientific basis for classifying them at the taxon level, through grouping methods that are in principle artificial and based on the similarities or differences between plant groups. The botanical discipline in charge of establishing this classification system is called taxonomy.

In plant taxonomy, the color shown by reproductive structures (flowers) is an artificial character used to establish kinship relationships between plant species, which is why the attribute of floral coloration is considerably used as a botanical key to order at the taxon level, because the approximation or intensity of color between plant structures such as petals allows plant specimens to be related to their common ancestors.

Consequently, the objective of the post is to socialize the color variation exhibited by the petals of some specimens of the genus Cosmos, related to the approximation or intensity of color observed within the taxon.

Polychromatic botany

In botany the polychromatic topic, not only allows to contrast the variation of reproductive structures of macroscopic condition in the plants, but also serves as morphological character to differentiate the specimens of a taxon from the individuals of another taxon, identifying variants of monophyletic groups (they come from a common ancestor), or in its defect of paraphyletic condition, that is to say, although the group shares a common ancestor, it does not incorporate all the descendants to this ancestor.

At the genus taxon level, the polychromatic topic is used to group the specimens by type, or what is the same, to divide the taxonomic group in several species, assigning to each one a certain color or colors, aspect of taxonomic relevance at the time of establishing relations between the ancestor and the descendants.

Flower coloring polymorphism

Within a genus, floral colour polymorphism, whether derived from divergent evolutionary lineage, mutation or product of natural selection, may occur, but these elements are invariably used in plant classification systems to include or exclude specimens in a given group.

Fig. 2 Vegetative and reproductive material of specimens of the genus Cosmos (ASTERACEAE). Author: @lupafilotaxia.

Phylogenetic colouring polymorphism

Phylogenetic coloration polymorphism constitutes a basic tool of an artificial nature, which offers the possibility of being able to relate specimens and the color character, thus achieving a systematization and hierarchical location of taxonomic groups by means of dichotomous keys, an aspect that at the species level facilitates their characterization, since color represents a discriminatory attribute to identify or not the specimen.

Flower colour as a taxonomic key

The taxonomic keys used in the botanical identification, are the morphological attributes organized in a representative way, to distinguish the characteristics attributable to a certain plant group, hence the reason to use color as a taxonomic key, as a way to present information and not vary in the range of classification, for example: A. specimen with red petals, B. specimen with yellow petals.

Fig. 3 Flower with pink petals and obtuse apex of Cosmos spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia.

The color of the petals, is an alternative of vegetal codification of easy identification, associated to the genuine procedure of classification outlined by the outstanding botanist Carlos Linneo, in whose system of vegetal grouping the use of color, is of universal scientific acceptance in the vegetal taxonomy.

Polychromatic field study

Species and area of study

In order to socialize the polychromatic variation exhibited by specimens within the same taxon, I will socialize with all of you a study on the floral color exhibited by the genus Cosmos (ASTERACEAE) of monophyletic condition, commonly known in Venezuela as forty days (40 days). The study area corresponds to the spaces of the Botanical Garden of UNESUR, a university institution located in Santa Bárbara de Zulia - Venezuela.

Fig. 4 Flower with pink petals and emarginated apex of Cosmos spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia.

Methodological approach

In order to be able to describe the polychromatic diversity exhibited by the plant species of the genus Cosmos, in situ observations were made of the petals of Cosmos spp. Descriptive analyses consisted of determining the floral coloration, the shape of the petals and the biomass of the polychromatic laminae with respect to the photosynthetically active ones.

Fig. 5 Flower with light orange petals and obtuse apex of Cosmos spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia.

Polychromatic results

Predominance of floral colouring

The yellow floral colour was much more abundant in the individuals sampled, followed by red and pink, the notable predominance of yellow colouring of the genus Cosmos in the area sampled, can be attributed to its capacity and endemic dominance.

Fig. 6 Flower with deep orange petals and apex of Cosmos spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia.

Morphology of the petals

Although the polychromatic topic, is the main attribute of grouping used to identify Cosmos specimens by type, the characterization of the shape of the petals, positions another attribute to accompany its biological systematization, aspect that for the purposes of this post was determined in the field, finding the following variations: A. specimens with yellow petals and obtuse apex, B. specimens with yellow petals and apex of aristate, C. specimens with pink petals and obtuse apex, D. specimens with pink petals and emarginated apex, and E. specimens with red petals and obtuse apex.

Fig. 7 Flower with yellow petals and apex of Cosmos spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia.

Fig. 8 Flower with red petals and obtuse apex of Cosmos spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia.

Biomass of polychromatic sheets

In relation to the largest photosynthetically active leaf biomass observed in situ, it occurred in specimens of the genus Cosmos,which exhibited yellow flowers.

Fig. 9 On the left vegetative component of specimens of the genus Cosmos, on the right reproductive structure of yellow coloration. Author: @lupafilotaxia.

SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF THIS PUBLICATION


  • The main contribution of the post, is focused on the socialization of unpublished content for the Steem platform, mainly scientific-technical information related to the morphological diversity exhibited by plant species at the genus level, using as an attribute the floral color exhibited by specimens of the genus Cosmos (ASTERACEAE), and indicating the color polymorphism from the evolutionary lineage that prevails in the taxon under study. Therefore, the aspects evaluated in the post, offer descriptive information for future investigations where variables can be valued as for example; adaptability and endemic dominance of the specimens of the genus Cosmos.


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES CONSULTED AND CITED:


[1] Castro A., Vargas G., Harker M., Villaseñor J., Ortiz E., y Rodríguez A. Análisis macromorfológico y citogenético del género Cosmos (Asteraceae, coreopsideae), con una clave para su identificación. Botanical Sciences. 2014;92;3:363-388.

[2] Hind N. Cosmos peucedanifolius: Compositae. Curtis’s Botanical. Magazine. 2005;22:161-168.

[3] Karis P., and Ryding O. Tribe Heliantheae. In Asteraceae: cladistics and classification, K. Bremer (ed.). Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 1994;559-624.

[4] Melchert T. New names and combinations in Cosmos (Asteraceae, Coreopsideae). Phytologia. 1990;68:189-199.

[5] Muñoz R. Análisis filogenético preliminar del género Cosmos (Asteraceae) con base en secuencias del ADN ribosomal (ITS). Tesis, División de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara. Zapopan, Jalisco. 2008;38.

[6] Sherff E. Cosmos. En: Sherff E.E. y Alexander E.J. Eds. North America Flora, Compositae-Heliantheae-Coreopsidinae. The New York Botanical Garden, Nueva York. 1995;130-146.


ATTENTION / Readers and Followers


If you want to read more scientific articles of excellent academic quality, do not waste time, and visit the label #steemSTEM, is a large community that values and promotes scientific content, mainly in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.


INVITATION


Dear reader, if you wish to obtain more information about it, join our server in Discord


OBSERVATIONS


✔ The POST 📧📨 was uploaded using the official app of https://www.steemstem.io

The videos and photos are the property of the author @lupafilotaxia, and were taken with a digital camera Model Samsung HD 5X Touch Screen.

All the designs of images and graphic figures were made by the author @lupafilotaxia, through the Office Power Point 2017 program.

You can visit the official app of our community

https://www.steemstem.io



Sort:  

I love cosmos flowers!

Congratulations, your post has been upvoted by @dsc-r2cornell, which is the curating account for @R2cornell's Discord Community.

Curated by @blessed-girl

r2cornell_curation_banner.png



This post has been voted on by the SteemSTEM curation team and voting trail. It is elligible for support from @curie and @minnowbooster.

If you appreciate the work we are doing, then consider supporting our witness @stem.witness. Additional witness support to the curie witness would be appreciated as well.

For additional information please join us on the SteemSTEM discord and to get to know the rest of the community!

Thanks for having used the steemstem.io app and included @steemstem in the list of beneficiaries of this post. This granted you a stronger support from SteemSTEM.

@lupafilotaxia. We love flowers and admire their polychromy.
The information you provide enriches our observation of the beautiful colors that Nature gives us.
Thanks for sharing

Publicación curada manualmente por Club12

¡¡¡Vamos por más!!!

También puedes seguirnos en el discord de RadioSteemit

¡¡¡Canal de discord RadioSteemit!!!

Very good material @lupafilotaxia quite complete. The pictures are beautiful and describe very well their anatomical shape and why those fabulous colors.

Greetings

Greetings, @anaestrada12 thanks for visiting the blog.

Congratulations @lupafilotaxia! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You received more than 4000 as payout for your posts. Your next target is to reach a total payout of 5000

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

You can upvote this notification to help all Steem users. Learn how here!

Nice to see that you are still around, after all this time (I was myself away and am now back:) ), and that your posts are always so colorful. Great pictures!

Hello, @lemouth

In good time you are back, I hope that 2020 will be a positive year for all STEEM platforms.

I got used to uploading botanical content to take advantage of the opportunity that STEEM offers, and to be able to socialize information with my students.

Thank you for your support.

Thanks for the nice words!

To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.

Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.36
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70839.13
ETH 3563.41
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.77