No description available.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Rwanda is constrained by an export structure that is heavily dependent on one or a few agricultural export products such as coffee, tea , pyrethrum and cinchona. The country did not manage to industrialize or to diversify its export structure significantly during the post-independence period. The situation was worsened by the civil war of 1994, which almost destroyed all sectors of the economy. Traditional export crops, such as coffee, cotton, tea, cocoa, palm oil, and tobacco are all subject to large price fluctuations and declining world market prices. This paper considered the case for diversification into non-traditional agricultural exports as a strategy for improving a developing country's terms of trade. The study put forward a case of Higland Flowers Project; a flowers project located in rural Kigali about 5 kilometers to the Kigali International airport. / South Africa

Trials were done on four Lachenalia cultivars (Romaud, Robyn, Rolina and Romelia) to improve flower quality and inflorescence stem length and to evaluate vase life, as these criteria are important for the cut flower grower. Flowering size bulbs were grown under five different shade nets (white 18%, green 40%, black 40%, black 55%, black 7O%) and in the open as a control. Under each shade net, bulbs were planted at a low planting density of two bulb diameters apart (56 bulbs/m2), as well as a high planting density of one bulb diameter apart (111 bulbs/m2). The effect (If the growth hormone gibberellic acid (GA3) on plant growth was investigated to determine if longer stems could be obtained. The plants were treated with gibberellic acid at 10 ppm and 0 ppm, which was applied as a foliar spray and as El bulb dip treatment. It is necessary to identify and describe specific flowering stages to be able to establish a standard rating system for Lachenalia vase life. The morphology of Lachenalia cultivar Romaud was described to determine the real succession of opening flowers on the inflorescence. The stages of 'first flower', 'full flower' and '50% wilt' were described. A high photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) measurement of 1250 µ.mol.m-2.s-1 in the control, resulted in the shortest inflorescence stem length of 13 cm for all four cultivars compared to the rest of the shade nets. The longest inflorescence stem length of 24 cm was produced for cultivars Rolina and Romelia by a low PAR of 400 µ.mol.m-2.s-1 under the black 70% shade net. The inflorescence stem length of all four Lachenalia cultivars tend to decrease to a minimum of 13 cm when average temperatures are 30oC and higher and to a maximum of 24 cm when temperatures are in the range from 24 to 27oC. A long vase life of 12 to 14 days for cultivar Rolina was observed under the green 40% and black 40% shade nets, compared to 10 to 11 days in the control. The green 40% shade produced a long vase life of 14 to 16 days for cultivar Romelia, compared to the 12 to 14 days in the control. Planting density significantly increased inflorescence stem length by about 2.5 cm and vase life by 2 days at the high planting density compared to the low planting density for all four cultivars. Inflorescence stem length for cultivars Romaud and Romelia increased significantly by 3 cm for both the GA3 foliar spray and bulb dip treatments. The number of flowers per inflorescence decreased significantly by about 3 to 5 flowers for cultivar Romaud and Romelia when GA3 was applied as a foliar spray or bulb dip treatment. A significant increase in vase life (2 days) of GA3 treated plants was observed. All four Lachenalia c:ultivars are suitable for cut flower production, as inflorescence stem lengths were either just below or above the 20 cm mark and vase life was longer than the five to six days required by the cut flower industry. / Dissertation (MSc (Agric): Horticulture)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Plant Production and Soil Science / unrestricted

The primary objective of this thesis is to identify patterns of appearance among the flora and fauna of selected eighteenth-century New Spanish casta paintings. The objectives of the thesis are to determine what types of flora and fauna are present within selected casta paintings, whether the flora and fauna's provenance is Spanish or Mexican and whether there are any potential associations of particular flora and fauna with the races being depicted in the same composition. I focus my flora and fauna research on three sets of casta paintings produced between 1750 and 1800: Miguel Cabrera's 1763 series, José Joaquín Magón's 1770 casta paintings, and Andrés de Islas' 1774 sequence. Although the paintings fall into the same genre and within a period of a little over a decade, they nevertheless offer different visions of New Spain's natural bounty and include objects designed to satisfy Europe's interest in the exotic.

A circunscrição de Apocynaceae gerou diversas discussões ao longo da história devido às semelhanças morfológicas de suas flores com as dos representantes de Asclepiadaceae e, atualmente, essas duas famílias foram unidas, sendo subdivididas em cinco subfamílias. Nesse novo conceito, Apocynaceae apresenta uma sinorganização não usual de estruturas florais e somente através de uma análise comparativa das diferentes subfamílias é possível compreender como esse grupo atingiu esse alto grau de elaboração floral. Neste contexto, o presente estudo teve o propósito de caracterizar anatomicamente as estruturas secretoras florais de três representantes de diferentes subfamílias: Tabernaemontana, Mandevilla e Ditassa. Essa análise comparativa demonstrou que os gêneros analisados apresentam diferentes estratégias para atração do polinizador e que houve uma alteração de estrutura e posição do nectário em Apocynoideae em relação à Asclepiadoideae. Enquanto o nectário de Mandevilla é uma projeção glandular ao redor do ovário, em Ditassa apenas a epiderme do tubo dos filetes é nectarífera. Essa alteração de posição está relacionada a diferentes estratégias de dispersão do pólen: mônades em Mandevilla e polínias em Ditassa. A dispersão do pólen em mônades ou em polínias depende diretamente da secreção produzida pela cabeça do estilete que apresenta forma e função distintas nas diferentes subfamílias. O estudo de Tabernaemontana e Mandevilla evidenciou que a cabeça do estilete produz uma secreção viscosa e fluida que auxilia na adesão do pólen ao polinizador durante a coleta do néctar no fundo do tubo floral, além de reter os grãos no nível do estigma, após a visitação de uma outra flor. Por outro lado em Ditassa, a cabeça do estilete produz uma secreção rígida que se adere às polínias e ao polinizador sendo transferida em conjunto durante a coleta do néctar que se encontra no androceu. Além dessas glândulas, coléteres e osmóforos foram encontrados em Ditassa, demonstrando uma maior diversidade de estruturas secretoras associada a uma maior elaboração da morfologia floral dentro do grupo. / Apocynaceae circumscription led to several discussions throughout its history because of the morphological similarities of their flowers with those of Asclepiadaceae and currently these two families are united, being subdivided into five subfamilies. In this new concept, Apocynaceae presents an unusual synorganization of floral structures and, only through a comparative analysis of different subfamilies, is possible to understand how this group reached this high degree of floral complexity. In this context, this study aimed to characterize anatomically the floral secretory structures of three representatives of different subfamilies: Tabernaemontana, Mandevilla and Ditassa. This comparative analysis showed that the analyzed genera have different strategies to attract the pollinator and that there was structural and position shifts in Apocynoideae in relation to Asclepiadoideae. While the Mandevilla nectary is a glandular projection around the ovary, in Ditassa only the epidermis on the filaments tube is nectariferous. This change of position is related to different pollen dispersal strategies: monads in Mandevilla and pollinia in Ditassa. The pollen dispersal in monads or pollinia depends directly on the secretion produced by the style head which has distinct shape and function in the different subfamilies. The study of Tabernaemontana and Mandevilla showed that the style head produces a viscous and fluid secretion that aids in the adhesion of pollen to the pollinator, while collecting nectar at the bottom of the floral tube, and retaining the grains in the stigma level after the visitation of another flower. On the other hand, the style head of Ditassa produces a rigid secretion that adheres to pollinia and to pollinator, being moved together while collecting nectar which is in androecium. In addition to these glands, colleters osmophores were found in Ditassa, demonstrating a greater diversity of secretory structures associated with a further elaboration of floral morphology within the group.

This thesis focuses on the preparation of selected alcohol extracts of elderberry and their use in cosmetology. In the theoretical part are described the botanical properties of the elderberry (Sambucus nigra). There are introduced and characterized bioactive compounds and toxic compounds contained in all vegetative parts of the plant. Attention is mostly focused on compounds with antioxidant properties. The theoretical part also contains a description of basic analytical methods, which are used in the practical part to characterize compounds contained in elder flowers. The practical part focuses on the optimization of the preparation of alcohol extracts with the aim to prepare the extract with the greatest possible content of polyphenols with respect to economy and production costs. Factors such as selection of the appropriate solvent, solvent to plant material ratio, solvent temperature, and extraction time are examined. Based on the total polyphenol concentration measured spectrophotometrically by the Folin-Ciocalteu method, the most suitable solvent is 60% ethanol, the ratio of plant material to solvent is 1:8, the laboratory temperature of solvent and the extraction time of 24 hours.Under these conditions, an ethanol extract is prepared, analyzed and determined selected properties, such as refractive index and density. Rutin, chlorogenic, caffeic and ferulic acids are identified by HPLC with a DAD detector. The pH value of alcohol extract is 5.743 ± 0.006, the refractive index is 1.365 ± 0.02 at 22.7 ° C and the density is 0.9288 gcm-3. By liquid chromatography the concentration of chlorogenic acids is quantified as 0.104 gl-1, caffeic acid as 0.086 gl-1 and ferulic acid as 0.060 gl-1. The extract is incorporated into cosmetic products, that are used in balneology. Prepared products are toilet soap and bath salt.

Les Ranunculales sont un ordre d’angiospermes d’environ 4500 espèces, incluant des plantes communes comme les boutons d’or et les coquelicots. Leurs fleurs sont très diversifiées et ont piqué l’intérêt des botanistes depuis des décennies. Les sept familles de l’ordre sont faciles à reconnaître sur le terrain, mais paradoxalement, certaines familles n’ont pas de synapomorphies et ont des états ancestraux peu clairs, comme les Ranunculaceae (~ 2500 espèces). Cette diversité florale peut être liée à la pollinisation et des innovations ont pu être guidées par cette interaction. De plus, les plantes de ce groupe produisent une grande variété de composés secondaires, certains dont les propriétés sont connues depuis fort longtemps (comme la morphine et le curare). Ces substances pourraient jouer un rôle dans la défense contre les herbivores. Les caractères floraux et chimiques sont donc de bons candidats pour produire des hypothèses adaptatives. Ici nous utilisons des méthodes analytiques modernes pour comprendre les patrons d’évolution expliquant la distribution actuelle de la diversité et l’évolution des fleurs et des toxines de Ranunculales. Un nouveau cadre phylogénétique synthétique a été produit avec des séquences publiées de 144 espèces. Seize caractères floraux et la présence de certains composés métaboliques ont été reconstruits sur cet arbre avec la méthode de parcimonie et la méthode de « Reversible Jump Monte Carlo Markov Chains ». Un nouveau scénario d’évolution florale a été produit, où les Ranunculales avaient une fleur ancestrale trimère avec trois cycles de tépales et où les ancêtres des familles ont évolué en perdant ou en différenciant des cycles du périanthe. Les patrons d’évolution des toxines montrent de la variabilité, certaines apparaissant et disparaissant aléatoirement (comme les saponines), d’autres étant des synapomorphies bien soutenues de certains clades (comme les diterpènes de type aconitine pour la tribu des Delphinieae). Ces résultats offrent une meilleure compréhension de l’histoire naturelle des Ranunculales. En outre, cet ordre est le groupe-frère de toutes les autres eudicotylédones, et a donc une position clef pour comprendre l’évolution précoce de ce clade. Ces résultats vont fournir une compréhension plus profonde des changements floraux et phytochimiques qui ont eu lieu à la base des eudicotylédones, qui contiennent 70% des angiospermes actuelles. / Ranunculales are an order of angiosperms comprising ca. 4,500 species including common plants like buttercups and poppies. Their flowers are highly diversified and have raised the interest of botanists for decades. Each of the seven families of the order is easily recognizable in the field, but paradoxically some families lack floral synapomorphies and have unclear ancestral states, like Ranunculaceae (ca. 2,500 species). This floral diversity may be linked to pollination and innovations may have been driven by this interaction. In addition, the plants of this group produce a variety of secondary compounds, some of which having been known for ages for their properties, like morphine or curare. Those substances could play a role in defense against herbivores. Both floral and chemical characters are thus good candidates to produce adaptive hypotheses. Here we used modern analytical methods to understand the the evolutionary patterns accounting for the extant distribution of diversity and evolution of Ranunculales flowers and toxins. A new synthetic phylogenetic framework of the Ranunculales based on already available sequences of 144 species was produced. Sixteen characters of the flower, and the presence of selected secondary metabolites were reconstructed on this tree using parsimony, and Reversible Jump Monte Carlo Markov Chains. A new scenario for floral evolution was produced, where Ranunculales had a trimerous perianth with three whorls of tepals ancestor, and the ancestors of the families evolved by losing and/or differentiating perianth whorls. The evolutionary patterns of toxins showed variability, some appearing and disappearing randomly (such as saponins), others being well-supported synapomorphies (such as aconitine-like diterpens for the tribe Delphinieae). These results offer a better understanding of the natural history of Ranunculales. Furthermore, this order is the sister-group of all other eudicots, and thus has a key position to understand the early evolution of this clade. These results will provide a deeper understanding of the floral and chemical changes that took place at the base of eudicots, which contains 70% of living angiosperms.

Im Zeitraum von 2008 bis 2011 wurden jährlich über 140 Stauden sowie weitere 120 Staudenarten aus Zwiebeln und Knollen als Schnittblume aus dem Freiland getestet. Ergebnis ist ein 77 Arten umfassendes Sortiment von Stauden mit guten Anbaueigenschaften und Stielqualitäten, die für den zeitigen Absatz bis Ende Juni empfohlen werden. Das Empfehlungssortiment an Schnittstauden aus Zwiebeln und Knollen umfasst 73 Kulturen. Die vorgestellten »Pillnitzer Wochensträuße« verdeutlichen die vielfältigen Möglichkeiten, ab Mitte April ohne Verfrühungsmaßnahmen Schnittblumen von Stauden im Freiland zu erzeugen. Beispielrechnungen zeigen, dass sich mit Schnittstauden im Freilandanbau gute Erlöse erzielen lassen. Investitionen und Energiekosten fallen nicht an bzw. sind gering.

A few researches have been concerned with the structure and pollination of alfalfa flowers. Others have considered the biological problems concerned in the pollination and fecundation of the flowers. In none of these studies, however, has an attempt been made to follow carefully the alfalfa flowers through various stages of development. Nor has any effort been made to determine what effect the condition and duration of these stages may have upon the resulting seed crop The work that follows is a study of the changes through which the alfalfa flowers pass during the season while functioning as organs of seed production. Special effort has been made to study the condition and duration of the stages as they are related to the subsequent seed crop.

Animal pollination represents one of the key innovations of the flowering plants, and constitutes an essential ecological service in most ecosystems. While pollinators are the main drivers of flower evolution, some floral traits are puzzling when viewed only in the context of this mutualistic interaction. In particular, the pollen of plants belonging to several families has spines or compounds with toxic effects on insects. Little is known about the causes and consequences of these enigmatic floral traits. Yet, pollen defences might play an important role in pollination given that pollen is the main source of food of the principal pollinators in most ecosystems: bees. My thesis investigates why plants sometimes have seemingly defended pollen and how these putative defences affect host-plant use by bees. Given the potential role of flower-colonizing microbes in pollination, I also investigate the potential for these microorganisms to influence flower evolution. I found that pollinators are unlikely to act as potential agents of selection on the concentration of defence compounds in the pollen of Lupinus argenteus. Rather, physiological spillover or pleiotropy from tissues highly defended against herbivores might be responsible for a baseline level of defence compounds in pollen, while such compounds could also mediate the interaction between plants and pollen-colonizing microbes. However, I did not find evidence that flower-colonizing microbes drive the evolution of floral traits in an experimental study. I also found that pollen chemical and mechanical defences likely restrict pollen-host use by Osmiini, a group of solitary bees exhibiting high interspecific variability in their pollen diet. Bees tolerated the defences of their pollen hosts, but were often harmed by the pollen defences of co-occuring plants exploited by other Osmiini species. This pattern provides a striking parallel with the evolution of host-use in herbivorous insects feeding on vegetative tissues, and suggests that pollen defences might play an important role in structuring plant–bee interactions. Overall, my thesis contributes to our understanding of the causes of the presence of chemical defences in pollen and their consequences for the pollination mutualism.