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Nectar [ Botany ]
Adjective: Nectariferous

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

     
  A sugary liquid substance, secreted by plants in flowers and in various other organs to attract and reward pollinators.  
     


Glandulicactus wrightii

A drop of nectar secreted by an areolar gland (nectary.)

The nectar is a sugary exudate of various glands known as the nectaries. Nectaries are organs usually located within the base of the flower (floral nectaries) or on other portions of the plant (extrafloral nectaries)
Nectar attracts pollinators such as hummingbirds and insects, (particularly gathered by bees  who go from flower to flower sipping nectar for making honey) causing the pollination of the flowers. Plants which produce nectar secrete only small amounts at one time. This encourages many visits by many pollinators which in turn increases the possibility that the plant will be successfully fertilized.
Related arguments:
Nectar guide: Colour marks on flowers believed to direct insects to nectar sources
Nectaries: The organs of plants which secrete nectar.
Nectar plant: Plants which produce abundant nectar secrete.
Nectariferous: secreting nectar; plants or plant part containing nectar.
     

 


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Holdfast roots  [ Botany  ]

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

 
     
  Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.  
     
Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans),  develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994
     

 

 

 

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