Peggy's Pointers
Helping you become more floral Savvy each Sunday!
World Floral
and the discovery of plants
An partnership agreement by the Garden and
three other leading botanical gardens to create the first online catalog (
called World Floral) of plants by 2020
is well underway The project, World
Flora, will make comprehensive information about as many as 400,000 plant
species -- including the 81 newly discovered species -- available to the
international community.
Researchers have found a variety of species
which range in size from the diminutive alpine daises on a few inclines tall to
a massive eucalyptus trees in Austria over 300 feet tall. Currently, the
undisputed world's smallest flowering plants belong to the genus Wolffia.
A recent article by J. Travis in Science
News Vol. 155 discusses a remarkable new species of sulfur bacteria from
the greenish ooze of ocean sediment off the coast of Namibia in southwestern
Africa.
Wolffia species are
free-floating thalli, green or yellow-green,
and without roots. The flower is produced in a depression on the top surface of
the plant body. It has one stamen and one pistil. Individuals often
float together in pairs or form floating mats with related plants, such as Lemna and Spirodela species. Most species
have a very wide distribution across several continents.
Wolffia species are composed of
about 40 percent protein, about the same as the soybean, making them a
potential high-protein human food source. They have historically been collected
from the water and eaten as a vegetable in much of Asia.
The Flower Nook offers a variety of 20-30 different Tropical Plants to fit your needs. We are happy to help you select the perfect plant for your home or office!
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