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Succulents simplified : growing, designing, and crafting with 100 easy-care varieties
A complete primer on choosing, growing and designing with succulents. Along with gorgeous photos packed with design ideas, Debra offers her top 100 plant picks and explains how to grow and care for succulents no matter where you live. Step-by-step projects, including a cake-stand centerpiece, special-occasion bouquets, a vertical garden, and a succulent topiary sphere, will inspire you to express your individual style -- Publishers Description.
Book
Beyond aridification: multiple explanations for the elevated diversification of cacti in the New World Succulent Biome
Succulent plants are widely distributed, reaching their highest diversity in arid and semi-arid regions. Their origin and diversification is thought to be associated with a global expansion of aridity. We test this hypothesis by investigating the tempo and pattern of Cactaceae diversification. Our results contribute to the understanding of the evolution of New World Succulent Biomes.
We use the most taxonomically complete dataset currently available for Cactaceae. We estimate divergence times and utilize Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods that account for nonrandom taxonomic sampling, possible extinction scenarios and phylogenetic uncertainty to analyze diversification rates, and evolution of growth form and pollination syndrome.
Cactaceae originated shortly after the Eocene–Oligocene global drop in CO2, and radiation of its richest genera coincided with the expansion of aridity in North America during the late Miocene. A significant correlation between growth form and pollination syndrome was found, as well as a clear state dependence between diversification rate, and pollination and growth-form evolution.
This study suggests a complex picture underlying the diversification of Cactaceae. It not only responded to the availability of new niches resulting from aridification, but also to the correlated evolution of novel growth forms and reproductive strategies.
Journal Article
Contemporaneous and recent radiations of the world's major succulent plant lineages
The cacti are one of the most celebrated radiations of succulent plants. There has been much speculation about their age, but progress in dating cactus origins has been hindered by the lack of fossil data for cacti or their close relatives. Using a hybrid phylogenomic approach, we estimated that the cactus lineage diverged from its closest relatives [almost equal to]35 million years ago (Ma). However, major diversification events in cacti were more recent, with most species-rich clades originating in the late Miocene, [almost equal to]10-5 Ma. Diversification rates of several cactus lineages rival other estimates of extremely rapid speciation in plants. Major cactus radiations were contemporaneous with those of South African ice plants and North American agaves, revealing a simultaneous diversification of several of the world's major succulent plant lineages across multiple continents. This short geological time period also harbored the majority of origins of Câ photosynthesis and the global rise of Câ grasslands. A global expansion of arid environments during this time could have provided new ecological opportunity for both succulent and Câ plant syndromes. Alternatively, recent work has identified a substantial decline in atmospheric COâ [almost equal to]15-8 Ma, which would have strongly favored Câ evolution and expansion of Câ-dominated grasslands. Lowered atmospheric COâ would also substantially exacerbate plant water stress in marginally arid environments, providing preadapted succulent plants with a sharp advantage in a broader set of ecological conditions and promoting their rapid diversification across the landscape.
Journal Article
Insights on the Mesembryanthemum forsskalii phenotype and study of the effects of several exogenous plant growth regulators via plant tissue culture
Background
Samh (
Mesembryanthemum forsskalii
,
M. cryptanthum
) belongs to Aizoaceae family and is found in northern Saudi Arabia, primarily in desert or dry shrubland habitats.
M. forsskalii
is characterized by several nutritional and medicinal benefits. This study aimed to explore the phenotypic features of
M. forsskalii
and investigate the impact of exogenous plant growth regulators (PGRs) on this species using tissue culture techniques. Different auxin (naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and indole butyric acid (IBA) in addition cytokinin (benzyl amino purine (BA), and kinetin (Ki) treatments were used.
Results
The phenotypic features of
M. forsskalii
included being decumbent to erect, with many terete succulent branches covered by epidermal bladder cells. Plant size determines its branching type, phyllotaxis, and inflorescence. Large plants have trichotomous branching; the two lower nodes have opposite decussate leaves; and compound dichasia. The flowers are pedicellate, perigynous, and have single, tricorporate pollen grains. Additionally,
M. forsskalii
has taproots, which differs from what was reported for
M. forsskalii
in previous studies in that it has fibrous roots. A 98% response rate was seen when the receptacle was used as an initiated explant. Adding BA to the MS medium also showed a significant increase in the size of the shoot system area and the number of roots. as well as the combined Ki + 2,4-D treatment had a significant effect on the callus volume. The callus color ranged from yellowish green to brown, and compact and rooty calli (callus cells differentiated into root hairs) were observed.
Conclusions
This study investigated the phenotypic features of
M. forsskalii
(samh), and its micropropagation that had not been previously reported in the literature. Its branching type, phyllotaxis, and inflorescence were described. The flowers are pedicellate, and the pollen grains are single, tricorporate, and oblate.
M. forsskalii
has taproots, which differs from what was reported for
M. cryptanthum
(
M. forsskalii
) in previous studies in that it has fibrous roots. Therefore, the difference in the type of root may be an indication that the variety found in the Al-Jouf area is different than the previous varieties. This study was the first to examine the impact of exogenous PGR on
M. forsskalii
under tissue culture conditions. Based on the results of this study, the use of 2 mg/ml BA for
M. forsskalii
micropropagation and the combination of IBA and 2,4-D for callus induction experiments are recommended. Further molecular research on
M. forsskalii
is also recommended.
Journal Article
Life strategies of succulents in deserts : with special reference to the Namib Desert
A consideration of the ecological strategies which enable plants to survive and grow in hostile desert conditions, first published in 1992.
Book
Evolutionary history and leaf succulence as explanations for medicinal use in aloes and the global popularity of Aloe vera
Background
Aloe vera
supports a substantial global trade yet its wild origins, and explanations for its popularity over 500 related
Aloe
species in one of the world’s largest succulent groups, have remained uncertain. We developed an explicit phylogenetic framework to explore links between the rich traditions of medicinal use and leaf succulence in aloes.
Results
The phylogenetic hypothesis clarifies the origins of
Aloe vera
to the Arabian Peninsula at the northernmost limits of the range for aloes. The genus
Aloe
originated in southern Africa ~16 million years ago and underwent two major radiations driven by different speciation processes, giving rise to the extraordinary diversity known today. Large, succulent leaves typical of medicinal aloes arose during the most recent diversification ~10 million years ago and are strongly correlated to the phylogeny and to the likelihood of a species being used for medicine. A significant, albeit weak, phylogenetic signal is evident in the medicinal uses of aloes, suggesting that the properties for which they are valued do not occur randomly across the branches of the phylogenetic tree.
Conclusions
Phylogenetic investigation of plant use and leaf succulence among aloes has yielded new explanations for the extraordinary market dominance of
Aloe vera
. The industry preference for
Aloe vera
appears to be due to its proximity to important historic trade routes, and early introduction to trade and cultivation. Well-developed succulent leaf mesophyll tissue, an adaptive feature that likely contributed to the ecological success of the genus
Aloe
, is the main predictor for medicinal use among
Aloe
species, whereas evolutionary loss of succulence tends to be associated with losses of medicinal use. Phylogenetic analyses of plant use offer potential to understand patterns in the value of global plant diversity.
Journal Article
Practical cactus & succulent book
A guide to caring for--and living with--a wide range of cacti and succulents.
Book
Clumping and dispersal of chloroplasts in succulent plants
Plants have evolved various photoprotective mechanisms to mitigate photodamage. Here we report the diurnal movement of chloroplasts in the leaves of succulent crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants under combined light and water stress. In leaves of water-stressed plants, the chloroplasts became densely clumped in one or sometimes two areas in the cytoplasm under light and dispersed during darkness. The chloroplast clumping resulted in leaf optical changes, with a decrease in absorptance and an increase in transmittance. The plant stress hormone abscisic acid induced chloroplast clumping in the leaf cells under light. We suggest that the marked chloroplast movement in these CAM plants is a photoprotective strategy used by the plants subjected to severe water stress.
Journal Article