Close-up photo of an array of large, deeply palmately lobed leaves. Each leaf has ca. 20 segments, which are shiny and spathulate.
I’ll end my week-long look at Urticaceae tribe Cecropieae with this beautiful shot of the leaves of the aptly named Musanga cecropioides by Carel Jongkind CCBYNC4. Those deeply lobed leaves are very Cecropia-like. #Urticaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of two people standing in front of a large, sparsely branched tree with very large, lobed leaves.
Close-up photo of two isolated fruits next to a pen, for scale. The fruits are brownish and tessellated. They are multiple fruits, each is the product of many flowers that fuse together as the fruit develops.
Myrianthus is a genus of 8 spp. from tropical Africa. It’s another pioneer species, like Cecropia. These photos are by Scamperdale (CCBYNC2). The tree is M. holstii. The multiple fruits are from M. arboreus. #Urticaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of the branches of a tree: POV looking up at the branches with the sky in the background. The leaves are large and deeply palmately lobed.
Musanga cecropioides (📷: osoandino CCBYNC4) looks, as the epithet says, like Cecropia, but this genus is native to tropical Africa. It is also a pioneer species, favoring open areas, but unlike Cecropia, it does not have a mutualistic relationship with ants. #Urticaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of the upper side of a leafy shoot bearing spathulate leaves.
Photo of the lower side of a leafy shoot showing the pale color of the leaf undersides.
Pourouma minor (both 📷: Robin Heymans CCBYNC4) has simple, unlobed leaves, so unlike P. cecropiifolia that I posted earlier. Like many others in the tribe, the undersides of the leaves are concolorous (the surfaces are different in color). #Urticaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of a tree branch bearing large, palmately lobed leaves on long petioles. A cluster of green-turning-red globose fuits are borne close to the stem. Hands are visible holding the branch.
Pourouma cecropiifolia (📷: michel_cortest CCBYNC4) has leaves like those of its cousin Cecropia, but the fruits are very different. The fruits don’t coalesce to form multiple fruits. This species is from the Neotropics. #Urticaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of the trunk of a tree with branches and aerial roots. Some aerial roots go downward, but smaller, thinner aerial roots encircle the trunk.
Coussapoa microcarpa (📷: my friend Tony Rodd, CCBYNCSA2), here cultivated in Sydney, is a Neotropical strangler, much like a Ficus. Notice how some roots grow horizontally, perfect for wrapping around a host (phorophyte)… or around itself. #Urticaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo on the apex of a shoot bearing several large, palmately lobed leaves. The apical bud is enveloped in a dark red sheathing stipule. Axillary inflorescences bear clusters of finger-like, fleshy spikes. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
The flowers of Cecropia are small (typical of the family) & borne in dense spikes, which mature into fleshy & edible multiple fruits. They’re like caterpillars for vegetarians! The seeds are tiny & germinate in open areas. 📷: Cecropia glaziovii from Rio de Janeiro. #Urticaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Close-up photo of the petiole base where it joins the stem. A patch of hairs at the base of the petiole has small, white food bodies, like small grains of rice. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
Food bodies of Cecropia are produced from patches (trichillia) at the bases of the petioles, as seen here on a Cecropia species. Müllerian bodies, rich in glycogen & lipids, are payment for the ants to keep them on the job defending the plants against herbivores. #Urticaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
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Photo of a solitary tree with sparse branches and large leaves. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
Up this week: Urticaceae tribe Cecropieae. These plants are tropical trees. Cecropia is a Neotropical pioneer tree with a mutualistic association with ants. It produces food bodies as a reward for the ants that defend it from herbivores. Cecropia sp. in Peru. #Urticaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Coussapoa is a genus of #floweringPlants belonging to the family #Urticaceae. Its native range is Mexico, Central & Southern Tropical America. Species:
Let me correct my typos: Urtica dioica. #Urticaceae
Side view of a leafy branch. Larger leaves hang downward; smaller leaves are ascending. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 4.0.
POV looking toward the tip of a leafy shoot, showing small ascending leaves and large descending leaves. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 4.0.
I was recently in the Peruvian Andes, where I ran into this plant, a species of Phenax (not sure which one). Note the smaller leaves above the stem & the larger leaves that hang below the stem. #anisophylly #Urticaceae #Botany #TropicalBotany 🌾🧪🌱
erva de folha verde pequena que lembra orégano. Ela tem gosto de pepino.
🥰Folha-pepino (Parietaria debilis)
PANC
#Urticaceae
Árvores de embaúbas com folhas verdes grandes que lembra as de mamão.
Raiz de embaúba e lembra uma caverna.
🥰Minha paixão: Embaúba (Cecropia)😍
#Urticaceae
Pilea cadierei, or aluminum plant, is native to Asia but often grown in Guatemalan gardens. Its metallic-silver leaf markings make it a standout. Fast-growing and sting-free, it thrives in humid shade. #Guatemala #plants #Pilea #Urticaceae
Urtiga Urera nitida em uma floresta. Ela está com flores vermelhas e pequenos frutos brancos.
🥰😋Urtiga: Urera nitida
#urtigao
#Urticaceae
Fonte: Pl@ntNet
Urtica dioica L.
#botany #Urticaceae #taxonomy #plantsci #Lankester #PlantBlindnesss #PlantAwareness #angiosperms #plants #biodiversity #naturephotography #nature #science
@universidadoviedo.bsky.social
Dendrocnide moroides
Urticaceae
Atherton Tablelands
North Queensland
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03...
#DendrocnideMoroides #Urticaceae #StingingTree #GympieStingingTree #Gympie-gympie #DanderiousPlants #PainfulPlants #ozplants #ozflora #AustralianFlora #Australiannature #wildoz #nature
Photo of a hand holding a leafy shoot. The leaves are elliptical, green, with an acute apex.
Photo of a leafy shoot. The leaves are elliptical and a deep, metallic, purplish red.
Pilea has speciated like crazy in the Antilles. Over 200 taxa are recorded from the islands, most are single-island endemics. Even within a taxon, there can be variation. Here are 2 colors of P. krugii of Puerto Rico, both by Steve Maldonado Silvestrini CCBYNC4 #Urticaceae #Pilea #Botany 🌾🧪
Close-up photo of the round, peltate, succulent leaves of Pilea peperomioides.
Winter et al. (2020) found that Pilea peperomioides has CAM metabolism. Other succulent Pilea species need to be investigated. I would not be surprised if others have CAM too. #TropicalBotany #Urticaceae #Pilea #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪🌱 doi.org/10.1071/FP20...
Plate of four photomicrographs of leaf cross-sections. In the four species, the upper portion of the lamina is dense with green cells, but the lower portion is take up by large, clear, water-storing cells.
Jestrow et al. found that succulent Pilea spp. have a layer of water storage in their leaves. The abaxial position is unique to #Pilea. From their 2012 paper: E=P. fairchildiana; F=P. peperomioides; G=P. microphylla; H=P. herniarioides doi.org/10.1002/tax....
#Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪 #Urticaceae
Photo of a plant growing on the face of a rocky outcrop. The plant is low-growing and has tiny, reddish, spherical leaves.
Pilea has adapted to many seasonally dry habitats. Example: Pilea serpyllacea is native to the Andes & has spherical, water-storing leaves, which are very helpful for a plant growing on rocky outcrops. 📷: Patcy CCBYNC4 #Urticaceae #Pilea #TropicalBotany #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of a dense cluster of leafy rosettes growing outside in a gravel bed.
This is Pilea fairchildiana. It was Sarcopilea domingensis until molecular work confirmed what we all suspected: it's a succulent, rosulate Pilea. Pilea domingensis was already occupied, so the new name honors David Fairchild & Fairchild Tropical Bot. Gard. #Urticaceae #Pilea #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Close-up photo showing leafy shoots and tiny flowers. The leaves are round and just 1 or 2 mm in diameter.
Photo of a hand cradling a fleshy, leafy shoot with tiny leaves, but these leaves are much larger (up to 5 mm long) than those in the previous photo.
Pilea microphylla (1st 📷) is a familiar weed from my life in Florida (some came with me to NC as weeds in potted plants). A landscaping plant with much bigger leaves (2nd 📷) is marketed as this species. Is it a cultivar? Hybrid? Another species? #Urticaceae #TropicalBotany #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of a row of Pilea peperomioides growing in soil like a bedding plant. The plants are producing tiny flowers.
Pilea peperomioides is my plant nemesis. ☹️ Everyone can grow this popular houseplant except me! At Savill Garden in the UK, they even grow it in the ground (in a conservatory)! I won't post a photo of my pitiful plants.😩 #Urticaceae #Pilea #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of a leafy shoot bearing stalked round heads of tiny white flowers. The leaves are opposite and patterned with silver variegation.
Pilea is a genus of >600 spp. from the Americas, Africa & Asia. Some spp. are weeds. Others, such as this Pilea cadierei, are cultivated for their foliage. The clusters of tiny flowers are incidental to the attractively variegated leaves. #Urticaceae #TropicalBotany #Pilea #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪
#RandomHashtagOfTheDay for Wednesday, June 17 is: #Urticaceae
