DOCSLIB.ORG

Drivers of Woody Plant Form and Function in Relation to Water Acquisition and Use in Seasonal Forests

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Drivers of Woody Plant Form and Function in Relation to Water Acquisition and Use in Seasonal Forests Drivers of woody plant form and function in relation to water acquisition and use in seasonal forests A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Christina Marie Smith IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Jennifer S. Powers, Advisor June 2019 © Christina Marie Smith, June 2019 All rights reserved. Acknowledgements First and foremost, I thank my advisor, Dr. Jennifer Powers, for her outstanding guidance, patience, and support throughout this whole process. Jennifer’s passion for understanding how tropical dry forests function is inspiring and motivated me to conduct the research in this dissertation. I will always be incredibly grateful for the countless steps Jennifer has taken to aid my development as a scientist and I could not have wished for a better advisor. I also thank, Dr. Tim Brodribb and Dr. Stefan Schnitzer, who at times served as my honorary advisors, for their advice and help. My present committee members Dr. Rebecca Montgomery, Dr. Jeannine Cavender-Bares, and Dr. Walid Sadok, and past members, Dr. David Moeller, and Dr. Peter Kennedy have provided support and helpful feedback over the years. I am thankful for many past and present members of the Powers’ lab. In particular, I think Dr. Leland Werden for all his support and advice throughout these years and for all the fun times we had while doing fieldwork. I am also very grateful to Laura Toro for all her help and friendship. It has also been a pleasure to get to know and collaborate with German Vargas, Dr. Naomi Schwartz, Dr. Bonnie Waring, Dr. Maga Gei, Dr. Kristen Becklund, Dan Du, Erick Calderon, Ariadna Mondragon, and Julián Tijerin. This work could not have been possible without the help of Daniel Perez and Damaris Pereira. I also appreciate the advice and interesting discussions provided by Dr. Géraldine Derroire, Dr. Catherine Hulshof, and Dr. Cristina Chinchilla. I have spent many months in the field in Costa Rica and in Panama and I have many wonderful people to thank. A large portion of this research was conducted at Área de Conservación Guanacaste and I am thankful for the help and support provided by the staff at Estación Experimental Forestal Horizontes, in particular, Milena Gutiérrez for supporting my research and Pedro Alvarado for logistical support. During my time in Panama, Jeremy La Che spent many hours helping me in the field also Dr. Omar Lopez, Dr. Joe Wright, and Dr. Helene Muller-Landau provided me with advice and support. I am also very thankful for the wonderful friends I made in Panama: Carolina Bastos, Lourdes Hernández, Anita Weißflog, and in particular María García. María, thank you for being such an amazing friend and housemate. I have received support from the University of Minnesota with a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, thesis research travel grant, Carolyn Crosby grant, Dayton natural history grants, and Plant and Microbial Biology travel grants. My research was also supported by a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant and I received a Smithsonian Institution Big Ten Academic Alliance Fellowship. In the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, I have been surrounded by many wonderful people including Dr. Mohamed Yakub, Derek Nedveck, and in particular, Dr. Beth Fallon, Dr. Allison Haaning, and Dr. Diana Trujillo have made this process so much more fun. I would also like to thank Elisabeth Anderson, and in particular, Thierry Degehet for the love and support. Finally, I thank my mother, Patricia Martin, and my father, Timothy Smith, for all the love and support throughout the years. i Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Patricia and Timothy, for their unconditional love and support. ii Abstract Understanding plant-water relations is of central interest to ecology, as patterns in water availability drive distribution, composition, structure, and function of plant communities worldwide. Plant-water relations are particularly important in forests that experience water limitation and periods of seasonal drought. However, little is known about the initial post-germination response of multiple species from seasonal forests to water availability, or how species with different growth forms respond over time to distinct water availability patterns. Moreover, few studies have examined woody plant drought resistance across entire communities or key traits that are difficult to measure, such as biomass allocation and rooting depth, but which may mediate responses to seasonal water shortage. In Chapter 1, I determined if legumes have a different regeneration niche than non-legumes. I found that legumes may indeed have a different regeneration niche, in that they germinate rapidly and grow taller than other species immediately after germination, maximizing their performance when light and belowground resources are readily available, and potentially permitting them to take advantage of high light, nutrient, and water availability at the beginning of the wet season. For Chapter 2, I measured drought resistance in all dominant woody species within a dry sclerophyll woodland community to determine community level drought resistance. I found that the leaf and stem xylem of all species was highly drought resistant, with two species being slightly more vulnerable to drought than the others. The overall high resistance to drought and similar levels of resistance between leaves and stems suggest that canopy and understory species in this evergreen forest have evolved similar strategies of drought resistance. However, because two species were more vulnerable to drought than the others, this could lead to shifts in iii community-level species composition caused by future increases in drought frequency and severity. For Chapter 3, to shed light on rooting depth and biomass allocation, I harvested above- and belowground biomass and measured maximum rooting depth for juvenile and adult lianas, deciduous trees, and evergreen trees. This was the first study to show that lianas had the shallowest roots, followed by deciduous trees, then evergreen trees, which had the deepest roots. In addition, my study was the first to find that contrary to predictions lianas and trees have similar allocation patterns to stems. To test the hypothesis that lianas perform better than trees during seasonal drought, for Chapter 4, I used a common garden experiment with lianas and trees. My results are the first experimentally support the hypothesis that lianas perform better and experience less physiological stress than trees during seasonal drought. Moreover, only trees responded to dry season irrigation with increased growth, whereas lianas did not, suggesting clear differences between growth forms in response to altered rainfall regimes. Ultimately, better dry-season performance may explain why liana abundance peaks in seasonal forests compared to trees. Collectively, these studies show that dry forest tree species differ in their strategies used to cope with seasonal drought, and how they respond to water availability. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................. v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures .................................................................................................................................. ix Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Effects of soil type and light on height growth, biomass partitioning, and nitrogen dynamics of 22 species of tropical dry forest tree seedlings: comparisons between legumes and non-legumes .................................................................................................................................... 6 Synopsis ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Premise of the study ................................................................................................................ 6 Methods ................................................................................................................................... 6 Key Results ............................................................................................................................... 7 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 7 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 7 Materials and Methods .............................................................................................................. 10 Site description ...................................................................................................................... 10 Soils .......................................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Antimicrobial Activity of Crescentia Cujete
    AsianVol. 6 ·Journal January of2016 Health · International Volume 6 Peer Reviewed Journal Asian Journal of Health Accredited Category B CHED Journal Accreditation Service Print ISSN 2094-9243 · Online: ISSN: 2244-047X Antimicrobial Activity of Crescentia cujete MARILOU O. HONCULADA ORCID No. 0000-0002-5754-0337 [email protected] Liceo de Cagayan University Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines MICHELLE T. MABASA ORCID No. 0000-0001-8502-9803 [email protected] Liceo de Cagayan University Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines ABSTRACT The Philippines is known for being an agricultural country with different varieties of plants that have medicinal potential. This study focused on the antimicrobial potential of the fruit of Crescentia cujete or Calabash tree against common infections Staphylococcus aureus, a gram-positive bacteria, and Escherichia coli which is a gram- negative bacterium. Fruit extracts were obtained by maceration with ethanol for 24 hours at room temperature. The experimental research design was used through disc diffusion method. Findings of this study, however, revealed no antibacterial effect of the fruit extract against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Keywords: Crescentia cujete, antimicrobial, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli INTRODUCTION The healing power of plants is a widely explored study. Plants have been traditionally used for the treatment of infection of different aetiology. More so now with the development of bacterial resistance of some microorganisms due mainly to the abuse of antibiotic use. The increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains of bacteria and the recent appearance of strains with reduced susceptibility to antibiotic raises the spectre of untreatable bacterial infections and adds urgency to the search for new infection-fighting strategies (Sieradzki, Roberts, Haber & Tomasz, 1999) as 80 International Peer Reviewed Journal cited by Mahbub et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Winter Edition 2020 - 3 in This Issue: Office Bearers for 2017
    1 Australian Plants Society Armidale & District Group PO Box 735 Armidale NSW 2350 web: www.austplants.com.au/Armidale e-mail: [email protected] Crowea exalata ssp magnifolia image by Maria Hitchcock Winter Edition 2020 - 3 In this issue: Office bearers for 2017 ......p1 Editorial …...p2Error! Bookmark not defined. New Website Arrangements .…..p3 Solstice Gathering ......p4 Passion, Boers & Hibiscus ......p5 Wollomombi Falls Lookout ......p7 Hard Yakka ......p8 Torrington & Gibraltar after fires ......p9 Small Eucalypts ......p12 Drought tolerance of plants ......p15 Armidale & District Group PO Box 735, Armidale NSW 2350 President: Vacant Vice President: Colin Wilson Secretary: Penelope Sinclair Ph. 6771 5639 [email protected] Treasurer: Phil Rose Ph. 6775 3767 [email protected] Membership: Phil Rose [email protected] 2 Markets in the Mall, Outings, OHS & Environmental Officer and Arboretum Coordinator: Patrick Laher Ph: 0427327719 [email protected] Newsletter Editor: John Nevin Ph: 6775218 [email protected],net.au Meet and Greet: Lee Horsley Ph: 0421381157 [email protected] Afternoon tea: Deidre Waters Ph: 67753754 [email protected] Web Master: Eric Sinclair Our website: http://www.austplants.com.au From the Editor: We have certainly had a memorable year - the worst drought in living memory followed by the most extensive bushfires seen in Australia, and to top it off, the biggest pandemic the world has seen in 100 years. The pandemic has made essential self distancing and quarantining to arrest the spread of the Corona virus. As a result, most APS activities have been shelved for the time being. Being in isolation at home has been a mixed blessing.
    [Show full text]
  • Seed Ecology Iii
    SEED ECOLOGY III The Third International Society for Seed Science Meeting on Seeds and the Environment “Seeds and Change” Conference Proceedings June 20 to June 24, 2010 Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Editors: R. Pendleton, S. Meyer, B. Schultz Proceedings of the Seed Ecology III Conference Preface Extended abstracts included in this proceedings will be made available online. Enquiries and requests for hardcopies of this volume should be sent to: Dr. Rosemary Pendleton USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station Albuquerque Forestry Sciences Laboratory 333 Broadway SE Suite 115 Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 87102-3497 The extended abstracts in this proceedings were edited for clarity. Seed Ecology III logo designed by Bitsy Schultz. i June 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah Proceedings of the Seed Ecology III Conference Table of Contents Germination Ecology of Dry Sandy Grassland Species along a pH-Gradient Simulated by Different Aluminium Concentrations.....................................................................................................................1 M Abedi, M Bartelheimer, Ralph Krall and Peter Poschlod Induction and Release of Secondary Dormancy under Field Conditions in Bromus tectorum.......................2 PS Allen, SE Meyer, and K Foote Seedling Production for Purposes of Biodiversity Restoration in the Brazilian Cerrado Region Can Be Greatly Enhanced by Seed Pretreatments Derived from Seed Technology......................................................4 S Anese, GCM Soares, ACB Matos, DAB Pinto, EAA da Silva, and HWM Hilhorst
    [Show full text]
  • INSIGHTS on the CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS and HYDROTHERMAL CARBONIZATION of Crescentia Cujete L
    Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 24 No 1 (2020): 134 - 145 S INSIGHTS ON THE CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS AND HYDROTHERMAL CARBONIZATION OF Crescentia cujete L. (Pencirian Jujukan Kimia dan Pengkarbonan Hidrotermal bagi Crescentia cujete L.) Judith Clarisse Jose1, Glenn Oyong2, Michael Dominic Ajero3, Irving Chiong3, Esperanza Cabrera1,2, Maria Carmen S. Tan3* 1Biology Department 2Molecular Science Unit Laboratory Center for Natural Sciences and Environmental Research 3Chemistry Department De La Salle University, 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 0922, Philippines *Corresponding author: [email protected] Received: 12 December 2019; Accepted: 21 January 2020 Abstract Crescentia cujete L. is an evergreen tree that presents several medicinal and industrial applications. This study primarily aimed to present preliminary characterization of the fruit extracts and fruit pulp of Crescentia cujete L. using several analytical techniques. Characterization of the crude MeOH extract and pure compound, trans-cinnamic acid, isolated from the fruit extract were performed using gas chromatography-electron ionization-mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS). Lyophilized pulp was characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Hydrochar samples resulting from hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of fruit pulp were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Eight constituents were eluted from the crude MeOH extract which were mainly composed of furan (5-Hydroxymethylfurfural, 53.99%), a pyranone derivative (2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4- one, 8.68%) and a carboxylic acid (3-phenyl-2-propenoic acid, 7.94% or compound 5). Other notable compounds of the extract include furaneol (0.78% and 1.56%), phenol, 2,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)- (3.73%), benzenepropanoic acid, 3,5-bis(1,1- dimethylethyl)-4-hydroxy-, methyl ester (1.15%) and n-hexadecanoic acid (0.59%).
    [Show full text]
  • XY Flatbed Contour Cutting Flatbed Printing
    November 2008 Flatbed Printing (UV-Cured) & XY Flatbed Contour Cutting Nicholas Hellmuth Flatbed Printing (UV-Cured) & XY Flatbed Contour Cutting Contents Why is FLAAR interested in flatbed cutters? 2 PLEASE NOTE This report has not been licensed to any printer manufacturer, distributor, dealer, sales rep, RIP Introduction 2 company, media or ink company to distribute. So if you obtained this from any company, you have a pirated copy. Kinds of cutting, creasing, etc. 5 Also, since this report is frequently updated, if you got your version from somewhere else, it may be an obsolete edition. FLAAR reports are Router & Flatbed Cutter Project Progress: 6 being updated all year long, and our comment on that product may have been revised positively or negatively as we learned more about the product form end users. Summary 19 To obtain a legitimate copy, which you know is the complete report with nothing erased or changed, and hence a report with all the original description of pros and cons, please obtain your original and full report straight from www.FLAAR.org. Your only assurance that you have a complete and authentic evaluation which describes all aspects of the product under consideration, benefits as well as deficiencies, is to obtain these reports directly from FLAAR, via www.wide-format-printers.NET. Copyright 2008 Flatbed Printing (UV-Cured) 2 & XY Flatbed Contour Cutting Introduction Once you have a flatbed printer you quickly understand the need to have a flatbed cutter to finish many of your printing jobs. You may need a cutter to trim your prints, or you may need to contour cut a figure, such as a beer bottle, or a human figure.
    [Show full text]
  • 117 La Familia Combretaceae En La Cuenca Del Río Balsas
    Núm.19, pp.117-153, ISSN 1405-2768; México, 2005 LA FAMILIA COMBRETACEAE EN LA CUENCA DEL RÍO BALSAS, MÉXICO Erika Margarita Pagaza Calderón Rafael Fernández Nava Laboratorio de Fanerógamas, Departamento de Botánica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, IPN Apartado Postal 17-564, México, DF, CP 11410, MÉXICO RESUMEN Dentro del área de estudio se reconoce la existencia de cinco géneros con ocho En el presente trabajo se realizó una revisión especies de la familia Combretaceae: Bucida taxonómica de la familia Combretaceae para wiginsiana, Combretum argenteum, C. el área de la cuenca del río Balsas; se decandrum, C. fruticosum, C. laxum, incluyen descripciones y claves Conocarpus erecta, Laguncularia racemosa, dicotómicas para la identificación de los y Terminalia catappa. El género Bucida es géneros y las especies que se distribuyen reportado por primera vez para el área de dentro de la zona de estudio. estudio. El proyecto se desarrolló mediante la ABSTRACT revisión de más de 200 ejemplares de los herbarios de las siguientes instituciones: In this paper we present a taxonomic Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas revision of the family Combretaceae for the (ENCB), Instituto de Biología de la UNAM Balsas River basin, Mexico. The study area (MEXU), Facultad de Ciencias de la UNAM covers part of 8 states of our country (State (FCME), Universidad Autónoma de of Mexico, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan, Chapingo, Sección de Posgrado (CHAP); Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla and Tlaxcala). Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales (INIF), Universidad Autónoma The present work includes descriptions and del Estado de Morelos (HUMO) y la dichotomous keys for identifying genera Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana and species distribuited on this area.
    [Show full text]
  • Crescentia Cujete Calabash-Tree1 Edward F
    Fact Sheet ST-216 November 1993 Crescentia cujete Calabash-Tree1 Edward F. Gilman and Dennis G. Watson2 INTRODUCTION Calabash is an evergreen tree reaching 20 to 30 feet in height with a broad, irregular crown composed of long, spreading branches clothed in two to six-inch- long bright green leaves, which create moderate shade beneath the tree (Fig. 1). Calabash is most outstanding in the landscape for its year-round production of flowers and fruit, both of which are unusual. The two- inch-wide flowers are yellow/green with red or purple veins, cup-shaped, and appear to emerge directly from the branches. These are followed by the emergence of the large, round fruit, 5 to 12 inches in diameter, with a smooth, hard shell, which hang directly beneath the branches. Fruits are poisonous. Figure 1. Middle-aged Calabash-Tree. GENERAL INFORMATION DESCRIPTION Scientific name: Crescentia cujete Height: 20 to 30 feet Pronunciation: kress-EN-tee-uh koo-JEE-tee Spread: 25 to 30 feet Common name(s): Calabash-Tree Crown uniformity: irregular outline or silhouette Family: Bignoniaceae Crown shape: round; spreading USDA hardiness zones: 10B through 11 (Fig. 2) Crown density: open Origin: not native to North America Growth rate: medium Uses: wide tree lawns (>6 feet wide); medium-sized Texture: medium tree lawns (4-6 feet wide); recommended for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings Foliage in the highway; near a deck or patio; narrow tree lawns (3-4 feet wide); specimen; residential street tree Leaf arrangement: alternate (Fig. 3) Availability: grown in small quantities by a small Leaf type: simple number of nurseries Leaf margin: entire Leaf shape: obovate Leaf venation: pinnate Leaf type and persistence: evergreen Leaf blade length: 4 to 8 inches; 2 to 4 inches 1.
    [Show full text]
  • ACT, Australian Capital Territory
    Biodiversity Summary for NRM Regions Species List What is the summary for and where does it come from? This list has been produced by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPC) for the Natural Resource Management Spatial Information System. The list was produced using the AustralianAustralian Natural Natural Heritage Heritage Assessment Assessment Tool Tool (ANHAT), which analyses data from a range of plant and animal surveys and collections from across Australia to automatically generate a report for each NRM region. Data sources (Appendix 2) include national and state herbaria, museums, state governments, CSIRO, Birds Australia and a range of surveys conducted by or for DEWHA. For each family of plant and animal covered by ANHAT (Appendix 1), this document gives the number of species in the country and how many of them are found in the region. It also identifies species listed as Vulnerable, Critically Endangered, Endangered or Conservation Dependent under the EPBC Act. A biodiversity summary for this region is also available. For more information please see: www.environment.gov.au/heritage/anhat/index.html Limitations • ANHAT currently contains information on the distribution of over 30,000 Australian taxa. This includes all mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs and fish, 137 families of vascular plants (over 15,000 species) and a range of invertebrate groups. Groups notnot yet yet covered covered in inANHAT ANHAT are notnot included included in in the the list. list. • The data used come from authoritative sources, but they are not perfect. All species names have been confirmed as valid species names, but it is not possible to confirm all species locations.
    [Show full text]
  • Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
    334 Florida Entomologist 80(3) September, 1997 FEEDING RECORDS OF COSTA RICAN LEAF BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE) R. WILLS FLOWERS1 AND DANIEL H. JANZEN2 1Agricultural Research Programs, Florida A&M University Tallahassee, FL 32307-4100, rfl[email protected] 2Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 [email protected] ABSTRACT Host plant associations are given for 137 species representing 7 subfamilies and 92 genera of Costa Rican Chrysomelidae. A numeric score is introduced to objectively describe confidence that a field observation of an interaction between a chrysomelid and a plant represents true herbivory. Literature host plant records, if they exist, are given for included chrysomelid taxa. Key Words: herbivory, Criocerinae, Chrysomelinae, Cryptocephalinae, Eumolpinae, Galerucinae, Hispinae, Lamprosominae, host plants RESUMEN Se presentan asociaciones de plantas hospederas para 137 especies de Chrysome- lidae de Costa Rica, representando 7 subfamilias y 92 géneros de escarabajos. Se in- troduce una calificación numérica para describir objetivamente la confianza en que una observación de campo de una interacción entre un escarabajo y una planta repre- senta un caso verdadero de herbivoría. Se presentan datos de plantas hospederas de la literatura, si existen, para los taxa de escarabajos incluidos. In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in relationships between tropi- cal plants and insects. The interest is driven by the related agendas of studying them for their intrinsic scientific interest, and protecting tropical biodiversity through find- ing practical and non-destructive ways to use it. The latter agenda is exemplified by the biochemical prospecting programs recently started in several areas of the world (Reid et al.
    [Show full text]
  • A Preliminary List of the Vascular Plants and Wildlife at the Village Of
    A Floristic Evaluation of the Natural Plant Communities and Grounds Occurring at The Key West Botanical Garden, Stock Island, Monroe County, Florida Steven W. Woodmansee [email protected] January 20, 2006 Submitted by The Institute for Regional Conservation 22601 S.W. 152 Avenue, Miami, Florida 33170 George D. Gann, Executive Director Submitted to CarolAnn Sharkey Key West Botanical Garden 5210 College Road Key West, Florida 33040 and Kate Marks Heritage Preservation 1012 14th Street, NW, Suite 1200 Washington DC 20005 Introduction The Key West Botanical Garden (KWBG) is located at 5210 College Road on Stock Island, Monroe County, Florida. It is a 7.5 acre conservation area, owned by the City of Key West. The KWBG requested that The Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC) conduct a floristic evaluation of its natural areas and grounds and to provide recommendations. Study Design On August 9-10, 2005 an inventory of all vascular plants was conducted at the KWBG. All areas of the KWBG were visited, including the newly acquired property to the south. Special attention was paid toward the remnant natural habitats. A preliminary plant list was established. Plant taxonomy generally follows Wunderlin (1998) and Bailey et al. (1976). Results Five distinct habitats were recorded for the KWBG. Two of which are human altered and are artificial being classified as developed upland and modified wetland. In addition, three natural habitats are found at the KWBG. They are coastal berm (here termed buttonwood hammock), rockland hammock, and tidal swamp habitats. Developed and Modified Habitats Garden and Developed Upland Areas The developed upland portions include the maintained garden areas as well as the cleared parking areas, building edges, and paths.
    [Show full text]
  • Calabash Tree
    REMARKABLE TREES ON NII CAMPUS 6. Calabash Tree S. Natesh1 Consultant Advisor, NII, New Delhi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Common name: Calabash Tree, Beggar’s Bowl Botanical Name: Crescentia cujete L. Family: Bignoniaceae (Jacaranda Family)) Where to Find: In the triangle between the old animal house, generator substation & the A/C cooling tower, and the road leading to the back gate Illustration of Crescentia cujete L. from the 1835 issue of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine [Vol. 62 (Ser. 2 Vol. 9) t. 3430], contributed by Missouri Botanical Garden, USA. (Source: http://www.plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=10415 ) he Calabash tree, with its flowers and fruits appearing directly on older parts of the trunk, would be arrestingly remarkable in any setting, but here on our campus it is more so as there are just two of them facing one another. How and from where Tthey got here is a mystery I have not been able to solve! This is indeed a very rare tree in Delhi: other than our specimens, there are said to be only four more [one near the 1 Unless otherwise acknowledged, the photographs/illustrations are mine. 1 Talkatora swimming pool, a second in the garden at the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Services, and a pair of trees opposite the emus in the 2 Delhi Zoo (Krishen 2006 )]. This is one of the two calabash trees next to the cooling tower on NII campus. Both of our trees lack a clear bole, but several trunks emerge from the ground. In that sense, they are more like shrubs than trees.
    [Show full text]
  • Biological Activity of Crescentia Alata (Lamiales: Bignoniaceae) Fractions on Larvae of Spodoptera Frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
    770 Florida Entomologist 97(2) June 2014 BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF CRESCENTIA ALATA (LAMIALES: BIGNONIACEAE) FRACTIONS ON LARVAE OF SPODOPTERA FRUGIPERDA (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE) 1 2 3, MARÍA GUADALUPE VALLADARES-CISNEROS , MARIA YOLANDA RIOS-GOMEZ , LUCILA ALDANA-LLANOS *, 3 3 MA. ELENA VALDES-ESTRADA AND MIRNA GUTIERREZ OCHOA 1Laboratorio de Principios Fitoquímicos Bioactivos de la Facultad de Ciencias Químicas e Ingeniería 2Laboratorio 10 del Centro de Investigaciones Químicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, México 3Centro de Desarrollo de Productos Bióticos del Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Carretera Yautepec-Jojutla Km. 6, AP 24, 62731 San Isidro, Yautepec, Morelos, México *Corresponding author; E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT The need for new bioinsecticidal compounds motivates the study of natural products. There- fore, we studied the activity of Crescentia alata Kuth (Lamiales: Bignoniaceae) against Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). We showed that C. alata has bioinsectidal activity. After 7 days of exposure to C. alata fractions in the diet at 200 ppm, fractions 3, 4 and 7 caused 90.7% weight loss in the larvae, and at 100 ppm, fractions 2, 4, 7 and 8 caused 90.1% weight loss with respect to the control. After 14 days of exposure to frac- tions 4 and 7 at 200, 100, and 50 ppm, the larvae had lost 94% of their weight compared to the control. There were large differences in larval mortalities between treatments, and frac- tions 5 and 6 at 200, 100, and 50 ppm induced the highest mortalities, which ranged from 65 to 80%. Possibly the iridoids identified from theC. alata fruit fractions are responsible for the antifeedant activity and mortality of S.
    [Show full text]