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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Jeweled Armor Of Tillandsia—Multifaceted Or Elongated Trichomes Provide Photoprotection, Simon Pierce
The Jeweled Armor Of Tillandsia—Multifaceted Or Elongated Trichomes Provide Photoprotection, Simon Pierce
Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany
Foliar trichomes of gray-leaved Tillandsioideae (Bromeliaceae) are highly reflective, suggesting a role in protecting the leaf against direct sunlight in exposed niches. The performance of photosystem II, as denoted by the chlorophyll fluorescence characteristic Fv /Fm , was determined for seven Tillandsia species and Vriesea barclayana that were exposed to excessive light, with trichomes either present or removed. Additionally, trichome structure and interaction with light was recorded using extended depth-of-field photomicrography, and reflectance quantified using a novel photographic technique. Trichomes of mesomorphic Type IV life forms (T. cryptantha, T. cyanea) and of the intermediate life …
Photosynthesis Of Arid And Subtropical Succulent Plants, Irwin P. Ting
Photosynthesis Of Arid And Subtropical Succulent Plants, Irwin P. Ting
Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany
The hypothesis of Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is that it is a physiological adaptation to arid or otherwise dry habitats. Stomata are closed during the day and open at night when the evaporative demand is low. Thus exogenous CO2 is fixed at night with relatively little water loss. CAM is typically found in succulents occurring in desert and dry Mediterranean regions, but not in the cold deserts of Asia. Recently, it has become known that many arid tropical succulent plants are CAM as well, particularly those growing epiphytically. The vegetation of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, ranges from desertlike …