Numerous species of the Asteraceae, the composites, are famous for their use in both traditional and conventional medicine. Reliable anatomical descriptions of these plants and of possible adulterations provide a basis for fast identification and cheap purity controls of respective medicinal drugs by means of light microscopy. Nevertheless, detailed comparative studies on root and rhizome anato...

Increasing evidence of fungicide-resistant toxinogenic and pathogenic fungal species is obvious. Looking for new possibilities of antifungal treatment or sources of antifungal substances is a major problem. Some medicinal plants exert strong antifungal properties and could be conveniently used as a promising alternative source for presently problematic antifungal treatment in many areas with re...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Although many methods exist for quantifying the number of pollen grains in a sample, there are few standard methods that are user-friendly, inexpensive and reliable. The present contribution describes a new method of counting pollen using readily available, free image processing and analysis software. METHODS Pollen was collected from anthers of two species, Carduus acanth...

The successful establishment of invasive species has been shown to depend on aspects of the invaded community, such as gap characteristics. Biotic resistance may be particularly critical for stopping invaders at early life history stages, but new species can often invade following disturbances, which may create microsites with very different characteristics than are usually present. We examine ...

19 The negative correlation between dispersal and establishment appears to be well documented 20 in the plant literature; smaller seeds tend to disperse better but germinate less well, and 21 produce smaller seedlings. However, because dispersal capacity is often quantified using 22 proxies, such as the settling velocity of wind-dispersed seeds, little is known about the exact 23 shape of this ...