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Summary

The storied structure in wood anatomy is considered derived and highly specialized, and is present in some related families. The first records of this character are from the Cretaceous, but it is scarce in the Cretaceous and Paleocene, and apparently absent until the Eocene in the temperate Southern Hemisphere. Using standard methodology, we describe the anatomy of a fossil wood from the early Paleocene of Patagonia (Salamanca Formation). The fossil wood, assigned to a new genus and species Elizabethiaxylon patagonicum related to the Malvaceae, is characterized by its diffuse-porous wood, solitary vessels, simple perforation plates, apotracheal banded axial parenchyma, and mostly biseriate storied rays. The storied structure in this wood is one of the oldest records from Gondwana.

In: IAWA Journal
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In: IAWA Journal

Abstract

Genetic improvement of okra for yield is significant because of the nutritional, economic and health benefits inherent in it and to overcome the low genetic potential of the existing varieties and environmental factors which are the major constraints to okra yield. Therefore, this study was carried out to understand the genetic nature of yield, its association with yield components on which selection can be made and to determine the effect of different years on genetic gain. The experiment involved the evaluation of twenty okra accessions in the rainy seasons of year 2019 and 2020 in a randomised complete block design. Data were collected on fourteen characters and analysed. Genotype × Year was highly significant for all the analysed characters. High heritability and high genetic advance as percent of mean were recorded for most of the characters in both years indicating that these traits were less influenced by the environment and presence of additive gene action. Genotypic coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance were observed to be higher for some traits in 2019 but lower for those traits in 2020. Pod yield had positive correlation with only plant height at 50% flowering, pod length, number of seeds per pods and peduncle length in both years 2019 and 2020 while the remaining were negatively correlated with pod yield in both years except petiole length and number of pods per plant. Therefore, selection based on these traits could be highly rewarding and may not be considered based on different years.

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In: Israel Journal of Plant Sciences

Summary

There is no doubt that Carlquist is one of the greatest contemporary wood anatomists. Every student or researcher in the field is likely to have read at least one of his numerous works, and it is difficult to find a topic in wood anatomy that does not lead to one to his publications. Among the many topics addressed by Carlquist are of course growth rings, one of the oldest and most exciting topics in wood anatomy. Carlquist established a functional classification for growth rings based on anatomical variation, in addition to an interpretation of the different anatomical markers “as ecologically adaptive devices.” In this article, I return to Carlquist’s first classification of growth rings and summarize the main changes in his later reviews. I highlight the advances provided by his unprecedented functional approach to growth rings, while also criticizing Carlquist’s proposed growth ring classification, which reinforces a partial view, although dominant until the present day, focused on temperate species: that growth rings are mostly well marked, porous or semi-porous, and with annual periodicity.

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In: IAWA Journal
Universal Scholar and Natural Scientist of the Renaissance
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The Zurich polymath Conrad Gessner (1516–1565) is known as the founder of zoology and plant geography, the father of bibliography, editor of ancient texts, and author of one of the most important paleontological works of the sixteenth century. While preparing his extensive work on plants, he died unexpectedly and early from the plague. Gessner's interest in the natural sciences was rooted, on the one hand, in the new conception of nature that emerged with the Renaissance, and, on the other hand, in the creation theology of the Reformation, which considered nature as a second book of God's revelation next to the Bible. This richly illustrated and erudite biography is the first biography of Gessner to appear in English.

This biography is a translation of Conrad Gessner (1516-1565): Universalgelehrter und Naturforscher der Renaissance (Basel: NZZ Libro, 2016).
In: Conrad Gessner (1516–1565)
In: Conrad Gessner (1516–1565)
In: Conrad Gessner (1516–1565)
In: Conrad Gessner (1516–1565)