Search Results

The warty hammer orchid is only one of many plants with moving parts that play an adaptive role in the life of these organisms. This chapter examines Darwin’s methods of studying plant behavior, with his fascination for the adaptations of both those orchids and carnivorous plants that “behave” in order to achieve adaptive goals.

Many evolutionary biologists have followed Darwin in employing an adaptationist approach to a broad range of puzzles, including those cases in which animals and plants appear to possess nonadaptive or even maladaptive traits. An interest in orchid biology is, for example, highly unlikely to advance a person’s reproductive success. Yet this seemingly non-adaptive response can in fact be analyzed in terms of adaptive mechanisms that have evolved for their utility in other tasks and situations.

This chapter examines the way in which evolutionary biologists accomplish the goal of uncovering evolutionary history through the comparative method. This method is contrasted with that of the creationists, who claim that supernatural intervention was required to produce the complexly adaptive attributes of orchids and other organisms. Darwin’s views on this matter are discussed.

This chapter presents a guide to becoming an orchid enthusiast, especially one eager to visit and explore Australia in search of these marvelous plants. Suggestions are made to assist a visitor to Australia who wishes to see orchids first hand, including advice on the field guides available for species identification.

This chapter focuses on the relationship between Odette and Swann. The relationship is inflected by Englishness in a deep and significant way, one which begins to suggest the architectonic power of this theme in the novel, and which is as much to do with the exquisitely polished, artistically minded Swann, with his membership of le Jockey and his friendship with the Prince of Wales, as with the vulgar, ignorant Odette. Through Odette’s love for orchids, particularly the cattleya, and through Swann’s sexual identification of her with this flower, we can begin to grasp the complex network in which English words mediate both desire and loss in the novel; the significance of this theme becomes clear when we realize that both Swann and Odette, in different ways, trace their nature to an origine anglaise.

Drawing on Weber's concept of charisma, and reading it against Derrida and Levinas's notion of hospitality, this chapter delineates the (im)possibility of such a grand vision of unity and peace in a newly formed nation as portrayed in the two novels by Lloyd Fernando, Scorpion Orchid and Green is the Colour. While the first proves more redemptive and hopeful in its tone, the second is decidedly bleaker due perhaps to its oblique reference to the country's only racial riot that occurred in 1969. The chapter ends with a criticism of the novels' deployment of women as embodiments of hospitality—a view which actually corresponds with Derrida and Levinas's theorization—because this objectifies them, and deemphasizes the nature of violence visited upon their bodies.

This chapter presents an analysis of the recorded vascular plant taxa of Maquipucuna. It provides a list of the 16 most species-rich vascular plants, vascular plants with the largest number of native species and of epiphytic species, diversity of woody taxa, and exotic taxa in the Maquipucuna flora. The vascular flora of the Maquipucuna area includes 621 genera and 1,640 species of vascular plants, of which only 44 are exotic. The largest family in number of species, with about 12.8 percent of the flora, is Orchidaceae, for which 204 species are reported currently. The pteridophytes, with 227 native species (14.2 per cent of the vascular flora), are a more prominent floristic component at Maquipucuna than at most other cloud forest sites. About 441 species, or approximately 27.7 percent of those recorded from Maquipucuna, are epiphytic. Polypodiaceae have the highest percentage of epiphytism (87 percent), while orchids and Araceae have over 50 epiphytic species.

Mycorrhizal fungi (mycobionts) form a ubiquitous mutualistic symbiotic association with the roots of higher plants (phytobionts) in coastal sand dunes worldwide. These obligate biotrophs perform vital functions in the survival, establishment and growth of plants by playing an active role in nutrient cycling. As such they serve as a crucial link between plants, fungi and soil at the soil–root interface (Rillig and Allen 1999). Mycorrhizas occur in a wide variety of habitats and ecosystems including aquatic habitats, cold or hot deserts, temperate and tropical coastal dunes, tropical rainforests, saline soils, volcanic tephra soils, prairies and coral substrates (Klironomos and Kendrick 1993). Simon et al. (1993) sequenced ribosomal DNA genes from 12 species of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and confirmed that mycorrhizas (fungal roots) fall into three families. He estimated that they originated about 353–462 million years ago and were instrumental in facilitating the colonization of ancient plants on land. Further evidence was provided by Remy et al. (1994) who discovered arbuscules in an early Devonian land plant, Aglaophyton major, and concluded that mycorrhizal fungi were already established on land > 400 million years ago. Thus the nutrient transfer mechanism of AM fungi was already in existence before the origin of roots. Plant roots probably evolved from rhizomes and AM fungi served as an important evolutionary step in the acquisition of water and mineral nutrients (Brundrett 2002). Over evolutionary time the divergence among these fungi has accompanied the radiation of land plants, and about 200 species of AM fungi have been recognized (Klironomos and Kendrick 1993) that exist in association with about 300 000 plant species in 90% of families (Smith and Read 1997), indicating that AM fungi are capable of colonizing many host species. Approximately 150 of the described mycorrhizal species may occur in sand dunes (Koske et al. 2004). Most host–fungus associations are beneficial to both the plant and the fungus and are thus regarded as mutualistic (++); however, the widespread use of the term mutualism (mutual benefit) for mycorrhizal interactions has been questioned because all associations are not beneficial to both the plant and fungus (Brundrett 2004).

This chapter discusses the vegetative anatomy of orchidaceae, which is categorized into different classifications. These classifications include subfamily ApostasioideaeGaray, subfamily CypripedioideaeGaray, subfamily OrchidoideaeLindl., subfamily VanilloideaeSzlach., and subfamily EpidendroideaeLindl. The chapter also provides illustrations for further reference.

This chapter lays the foundation for the ultimate trajectory of Barbara’s career as a film actress, concurrently providing plot, production, and critical reception information for each film addressed. Following her appearance inDesperate Trails (1921), a relatively small-scale film,The Three Musketeers (1921) is released, smashing box office records worldwide and providing her with far-reaching exposure. Barbara and Ben Deely, meanwhile, permanently separate. Barbara’s typecasting as a vampire (vamp) is more firmly established after her role in Cinderella of the Hills (1921). Intensive treatment is given to the dynamics behind the emergence of the vamp stereotype into mainstream American culture and its effect upon film industry trends at the time. Barbara is cast by leading director Rex Ingram alongside Ramon Novarro in two films, The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) and Black Orchids (1922), the latter of which will have an indelible bearing upon her career, vamp typecasting, and public image.

This chapter, building upon the foundation of Barbara’s vamp typecasting established in Chapter 16, involves a comprehensive exploration of a pivotal point in Barbara’s film acting career. She filmsBlack Orchids (1922) and Quincy Adams Sawyer (1922);The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) reaches theaters; producer Arthur Sawyer begins managing her career; andBlack Orchids, renamed Trifling Women, is released. Barbara’s success in the aforementioned films, principallyThe Prisoner of Zenda and Trifling Women, and their influence upon her career are delineated. Details pertaining to production, critical reception, and plot synopses accompany each film. Particular attention is given to Barbara’s work on Trifling Women, as it is the film that most strongly affects her career; furthermore, it is while making this film that Barbara is obliged to conceal her pregnancy. Her son is born in secret after her work on Trifling Women concludes.

Müller reacted to Darwin in three phases. First, between 1861 and 1863 he restructured his own research after reading Darwin’s Origin. Next, in 1865, he initiated correspondence with Darwin in direct engagement of Darwin’s projects. Third, after returning to Blumenau in 1867, he developed research on new groups of organisms. Three topics pursued by Müller between 1865 and 1867 were stimulated directly by Darwin: climbing plants (over 50 genera near Desterro with disparate ways of twining, some new to Darwin); heterostyly; and complex orchid adaptations affecting fertilization involving coadaptations with insect pollinators. Much of Müller’s research on orchids is now lost; it was set aside for an abandoned book project. His independent research often engaged Darwinian topics, including species formation, adaptations of plants to prevent self-fertilization, and the role of natural selection in shaping plant–insect coadaptations. The chapter also covers the changing fortunes of the Blumenau colony and August and Fritz Müller’s efforts to devise and teach improved agricultural methods.

This chapter surveys popular renderings of the Massie case that have appeared in print, film, educational curricula, or live performances from the 1930s to the twenty-first century. In the first three decades after 1931 a number of people held first-hand knowledge of the case, since it had happened during their lifetimes. Some Honolulu residents were even more personally familiar with the case because of its impact on friends, relatives, neighbors, and coworkers. In the post-World War II period, some memories are still based on personal connections to the Massie case, but many also drew upon the retelling of the case in newspapers and popular accounts ranging from high school and college history textbooks, television productions like the CBS miniseries Blood and Orchids (1985).

The majority of rewardless plant species are not specific mimics of the flowers of other species; instead, they deploy a generalized set of floral signals to attract pollinators. These generalized food-deceptive (GFD) species have a number of unique evolutionary and ecological properties that are discussed in this chapter. The success of GFD plants needs to be understood in light of the fact that flower-visiting animals regularly encounter reward-depleted flowers during their foraging bouts. The evolutionary strategy of GFD species succeeds because the process whereby flower visitors learn to avoid deceptive species is sometimes slow and uncertain and depends on a number of factors. Most of the known GFD species are orchids, but the principles outlined in this chapter apply broadly to other deceptive plant–pollinator interactions and underline the relative ease by which plants can manipulate food-seeking insects.

Sexual mimicry involves extensive floral modifications, particularly the evolution of highly specialized volatile signals to attract male insects. The study of sexual mimicry in plants has given new insights into insect reproductive biology and provides some of the best examples of pollinator-mediated plant speciation. This chapter reviews the occurrence of sexual mimics among plants and the most commonly recruited groups of pollinators. It shows which signals are the most important and how they evolve. Next, the evidence is reviewed for pollinator shifts and how they may drive speciation in this highly specific pollination system. It also discusses how the typically low genetic differentiation between species of sexual mimics can be interpreted. Finally, the factors that drive the evolution of sexual mimicry in different plant lineages are considered.

This introductory chapter discusses various aspects of this research on orchid anatomy. These include size and distribution, habitats, diversity, vegetative morphology, reproductive morphology, mycorrhiza, cytogenetics, phytochemistry, economic uses, taxonomic history and phylogenetics, origins and affinities, and floral anatomy. The chapter also includes a synopsis of vegetative anatomical literature.