Botany Photo of the Day

I would throw back into this post one possible good exception to this rule re: apomictic species also being facultative and using sexual reproduction on occasion. This exception is the mangosteen, Garcinia mangostana L. There is no proof of the existence of viable pollen, no documented proof of males existing anywhere in the world and all trees seem to be...female. Based on the genetic work by Ramage, Sando, Peace, Carroll and Drew (Euphytica 136: 1-10. 2004) the majority of trees globally have very similar genotypes but there is considerable variation in about 30% of the accessions they tested. It is possible that the genetic material of the mangosteen has been so jumbled in its creation by auto- and alloploidy that meiosis is no longer possible. But that is my theory! And under that scenario, it would be apomixis or no mangosteen.

I love the pics of course and the write ups enlighten me quite a bit, but let me say this, that the comment by Ian is extremely difficult to follow even using my websters to learn new word definitions. But thanks anyway for trying to explain it for us non-botanists.

What a pretty lily! For me I guess it's a reminder that not all invasives are unaesthetic & can be botanically interesting on their own (said after several weeks of epic struggle against Himalayan blackberry & bindweed).

My bad. And never my intent. But cheer up, my last genetics class was in the 70's.
A potential route for plants to speciate or create new species involves changes in the chromosome count from the "normal" diploid (2 sets of chromosomes) state. Autopolyploidy would be the doubling, trebling etc., of its own diploid genome. Many species are the result of this process and are sexually isolated from crossing back with their diploid originators because of chromosome count differences. But another avenue is where the genetic material of another closely related species becomes commingled and the two species now combine to produce a third species with a higher chromosome count than the two original ones. I am oversimplifying this but, in the case of the mangosteen, it appears to be a combination of both the doubling (or more) of its own genes and the introduction of possibly four other species to produce a final product with too many or too few genes to line up properly during sexual reproduction. So if it weren't for the ability to reproduce apomictically, it might have been a genetic cul de sac and disappeared long ago. Again, much of this is based on my interpretation of the science out there and I have been out of school for decades.

i apprecite the misunderstanding i have with

nature over my perennial border,i think its a flower garden;she thinks it is a medow lacking

grass and tries to correct the error

on this sunday morn the above pictures are just
the tonic for ones eyes i love me yellow lilies

can you not see the little folk danceing with joy

Ian, I don't at all mind the detailed botanical information. I'm not a scientist, just an ordinary orchid lover. One of the blessings of scientific nomenclature is that it is exquisitely precise - we can go from 'pretty yellow flower' to 'Zephyranthes citrina' in just a few steps by learning to use field guides (first), botanical (scientific) keys (which help sort out one yellow flower from another in the same habitat, one Zephyranthes from another, etc) and to appreciate the dedicated efforts of those who have taken the trouble to search out these rare species and teach us about them. : )

Zephyranthes citrina - Z10 - RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths.
Zephyranthes citrina - Z10-11 - A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Brickell, Cole, Zuk.
Zephyranthes ze-fi-ranth-eez. From Gk. zephyros[the west wind] and anthos[a flower]. citrina ki-tree-na. Lemon-yellow. Dictionary of Plant Names, Coombes.

Beautiful! Nothing like a field of wild flowers to make one feel happy and grateful.

A very interesting flower. Thanks to Daniel and Ian for the botanical details.
I love the derivation: lemon-yellow west-wind flower (or something like that).

I've said it before and I'll say it again....I love this site! Especially love that the comments go from extremely "scientific" and informative to downright emotional. Flowers are amazing. Isn't it wonderful that they bring back pleasant memories for so many of us?

One more thought.....I really appreciate that these photos remind us that places like Pakistan have beautiful flowers too.....so often we associate certain places with only negative ideas....we can thank the media for that.

What an amazing photo. When in bloom, and viewed from a short distance, does it appear to as a continuous yellow carpet the way camas appears in it's own colour?

Surfed the purple mangosteen a little. As detailed genetic work continues to cheaper and faster it will be interesting to see the results. Will hypothesis arise as to the origin of what seem to be individual strains.

Big words? Learning is one of the reasons I read this thing.

As always

Bill Smith

Special thanks to elizabeth a. for her whimsical ,yet poignant descrition of the garden ,,,love it !!!!

Special thanks to elizabeth a. for her whimsical yet poignant garden prose !

Chico. When my children were little I once entertained them with stories out of an Indian cookbook (Madhur Jaffrey). None of them will ever forget her description of a moonlight picnic in Kashmir- by the sea (!)- watching the breeze rippling waves of mauve crocuses...

Hmmmm.... I think I have that cookbook (I have ONE of MJ's, anyhow). I'll have to see if I can find that story!

Oh, that is beautiful!

And they remind me of crocus.

so it is a bulb?

Has anyone seen it established in temperate climates anywhere? I'd love to have this in my garden.

Wendy - thank you for sharing your memories. The book sounds wonderful! If this site does nothing but broaden our horizons, we are all better for it. Thanks for enlightening my days.

this is such an interesting entry. I like this plant, but hadn't seen it yellow. And then all the info about its reproduction, amazing!