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Fasciation in plants is a bizarre mutation in the meristem (growing point) leading to flattened
flower stems and distorted flowers, fruits and roots. It can also lead to a ring of small flowers
surrounding the main flower, this is known as hen and chicks and can be seen in some of the
Veronicastrum pictures below. The meristem is where cells actively divide in order to grow or
create new flowers and leaves, a disturbance to this process can lead to the cell division
intensifying and occurring in a haphazard manner, leading to distortion. Essentially the
growing point ceases to be a point and instead forms a cockscomb. For many plants this is
most commonly noticed with flowers, which then go on to form distorted fruits, but with cacti
and ferns it is often seen in the leaves.
Causes
Genetic
In some plants, such as the soybean (Glycine max), fasciation is caused by a single recessive
gene. This means that fasciation will only occur if both parents of a plant have that gene and
pass it on.
Physiological
In plants without the gene, fasciation is caused by disturbance to the meristem at the time of
growth. This disturbance can be caused by
A cutting or scion taken from a fasciated plant will create a new fasciated plant
Veroncastrum Fascination
Euphorbia
Fasciation in Ferns
Several ferns are especially cultivated to be cristate, such as Dryopteris affinis Cristata or
Asplenium cristata
Asplenium cristata
Cactus art
Crested cacti
Plants in the Magnoliophyta Division may also be called Angiosperms or flowering plants,
they include grasses, palms, oak trees, orchids and daisies. Magnoliophyta is the only division
that contains plants with true flowers and fruits, and all plants in this division use those
flowers and fruits to reproduce. It is not known exactly when flowers first appeared, but
definitely by 125mya and probably as far back as 160mya.
Flowers have proved to be an extremely successful adaptation, and despite its recent
appearance, Magnoliophyta is by far the largest and most diverse plant division with over
250,000 different species and 500 families. (For comparisons to other divisions and their
sizes see here)
Flowers
In Magnoliophyta, flowers replaced the cones of more primitive plants, as a means of
reproduction. Some flowers are brightly coloured, have a scent or produce nectar in order to
entice animals to pollinate them, but others use wind or water and, having no need to draw
attention, are barely noticeable.
Classification
Being such a large and interesting division means that the classification of Magnoliophyta has
received more attention and undergone more changes than any other division.
Cronquist system
Note: I was unable to take photos of a tulip tree or Rhododendron in flower, so used photos I
got online from here: Rhododendron and tulip tree
It was also fairly tricky to find all the necessary information about where plants appear in the
Cronquist system, if anyone spots any faults, please contact me at the email to the right. Most
of my information came from Wikipedia, and from here
This
entry
was
posted
in Botany, Classification, Divisions and
tagged Botany, Classification, Flowers,Magnoliophyta, Nature, Photography, Plants, Science,
Taxonomy on September 11, 2013.