White blister rust (WBR) of sunflower caused by Pustula helianthicola is an important and often underestimated disease in many countries of the world. The epidemiology of the pathogen is not yet fully understood; particularly the role of oospores in primary infection and long distance dispersal. We analysed WBR severity in sunflower under natural conditions and found disease incidence of 97-99 ...

Nothovernoniagen. nov., is described as a new genus for the tropical African Vernonia purpurea Sch.Bip. ex Walp. and Vernonia amblyolepis Bak, having cymiform inflorescences, pedunculate heads with differentiated foliiform bracts at the base, apiculate involucral bracts with scarious lateral margins, spiculiferous corolla lobes, and strongly spinose, sublopohate tricolporate pollen with the col...

Objective: To describe Heliconia uxpanapensis x latispatha var. Karely, interspecific variety generated for cut flower based on commercial standards. Design/Methodology/Approach: Interspecific hand pollination was carried out between H. Gutiérrez Báez Benth. The female parent is endemic to Mexico; it presents compact growth due its pachymorphic rhizome, red and erect inflorescence, bracts in di...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Investigations of inflorescence architecture offer insight into the evolution of an astounding array of reproductive shoot systems in the angiosperms, as well as the potential to genetically manipulate these branching patterns to improve crop yield and enhance the aesthetics of horticultural species. The diversity of inflorescences in the economically important family Oleac...

Crude and purified aqueous extracts of cotton bracts shown to cause airway constriction in naive subjects were assayed for endotoxin content. Pulmonary function measured by flow changes on partial expiratory flow volume curves was used to assess airway responses to the bract extracts after their inhalation by a panel of volunteers. These responses are similar to the acute responses experienced ...

Phenotypic matches between plants and their pollinators often are interpreted as examples of reciprocal selection and adaptation. For the two co-occurring plant species, Heliconia bihai and H. caribaea in the Eastern Caribbean, we evaluated for five populations over 2 years the strength and direction of natural selection on corolla length and number of bracts per inflorescence. These plant trai...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Helichrysum bracteatum is called an 'eternal flower' and has large, coloured, scarious bracts. These maintain their aesthetic value without wilting or discoloration for many years. There have been no research studies of cell death or cell morphology of the scarious bract, and hence the aim of this work was to elucidate these characteristics for the bract of H. bracteatum. ...

Ecological restoration of rangelands using wild-collected seeds can be challenging due to low seed quality, inconvenient anatomy, and poor plant establishment. In North America, the half-shrub winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata) is a valuable protein-rich forage for wildlife livestock. Seeds this species are contained in one-seeded fruits enclosed four fluffy, silky bracts. While removed from ...

Dalechampia is a mainly South American genus of generally climbing shrubs with usually sharp stiff trichomes in some the inflorescence parts. The bisexual inflorescences are very condensed and subtended by two, often showy, large bracts. three pistillate flowers separate from staminate subinflorescence (both groups their own bracts). contains staminodial-like bractlets that provide resin for fe...