![]() (perigynous fowers and aggregates of single-seeded fruits) (Medicinal information derived from the botany textbook Introduction to Plant Biology, 8th. ![]() The hips also contain, in addition to vitamin C, significant amounts of iron, calcium, and phosphorus. During World War II, when food supplies became scarce in some European countries, children were kept healthy on diets that included wild rose hips. Native Americans included rose hips in their diet, which may be why that scurvy was unknown among them. The fruits of wild roses, called hips, are exceptionally rich in vitamin C, with up to 60 times the vitamin C of citrus fruit. It has been reported that perfume workers rarely develop respiratory disorders, thus suggesting that medicinal properties could be attributed to the plant extracts. In Bulgaria, a major perfume industry has grown up around the production of a perfume oil known as attar derived from Damask roses. The economic impact of the Rose Family is enormous, with large quantities of stone fruits (e.g., cherries, apricots, peaches, plums), pome fruits (apples and pears), and aggregate fruits such as blackberries, loganberries, raspberries and a peculiar “accessory” variety of aggregate fruit –the strawberry). Roses themselves, of course, are favorite garden ornamentals, thanks in part to their elegant fragrance. The gynoecium type and fruit type is variable, and form the basis for dividing the rose family into the four subfamilies: (1) “rose” subfamily Rosoideae (perigynous flowers and aggregate single-seeded fruits) (2) “cherry” subfamily Prunoideae (perigynous flowers and fruit a drupe) (3) “pome” subfamily Maloideae/Pomoideae (epigynous flowers and fruit a pome, and (4) “spiraea” subfamily Spiraeaoideae (perigynous flowers and fruits an aggregate of follicles). The androecium consists most often of numerous stamens arranged spirally, but there may be as few as 5-10 stamens. The corolla is of 5 separate petals, arising from the rim of the hypanthium. ![]() The calyx is composed of 5 fused (connate) sepals. The flower type/ovary position (relative insertion of flower parts) is most often perigynous with a superior ovary, but in the pome-forming shrubs and trees is epigynous with an inferior ovary. The flowers are bisexual and actinomorphic (radially symmetric), and have a hypanthium (floral cup) that may be difficult to discern, or be extremely well developed and conspicuous. The leaves are nearly always alternately arranged, simple or compound, and often bear stipules at the base of the petiole (leafstalk). The rose family includes trees, shrubs, or herbs.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |