1. Flowering Plants and Civilization
Chapter 21
Lecture Outline
Flowering Plants and Civilization
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2. Outline Origin of Cultivated Plants
Selected Families of Flowering Plants
Dicots
The Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)
The Laurel Family (Lauraceae)
The Poppy Family (Papaveraceae)
The Mustard Family (Brassicaceae)
The Rose Family (Rosaceae)
The Legume Family (Fabaceae)
The Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
The Cactus Family (Cactaceae)
The Mint Family (Lamiaceae)
The Nightshade Family (Solanaceae)
The Carrot Family (Apiaceae)
The Pumpkin Family (Cucurbitaceae)
The Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)
Monocots
The Grass Family (Poaceae)
The Lily Family (Liliaceae)
The Orchid Family (Orchidaceae)

3. Origin of Cultivated Plants
1880’s - Alphonse de Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants
Cultivated plants originated in areas where wild relatives grow.
N. I. Vavilov
Plants were domesticated in geographic regions with high genetic diversity of wild relatives.
Majority of domesticated plants originated from mountain regions.
1950’s - Jack Harlan and students
Associated crop origins with regions

4. Origin of Cultivated Plants
Cultivated plants appear to have originated in six major regions:
Near-eastern region - Mediterranean, northern Europe
Barley, wheat, peas, lentils, asparagus, beets, carrots, turnips, olives, cherries, plums, apricots, apples, onions, garlic, broccoli, lettuce, flax, pistachios
Chinese region - Temperate and southern China
Bamboo, peach, walnut, ginger, gourds, camphor, tea, soybean, buckwheat, horseradish, cucumber
African continent - Mostly Ethiopia and West Africa
Yams, sorghum, okra, sweet melons, coffee, some cotton

5. Origin of Cultivated Plants
Cultivated plants appear to have originated in six major regions:
South Asia and Pacific Islands
Sugar cane, eggplant, mango, banana, citrus, safflower, nutmeg, clove, cardamon, turmeric, black pepper, coconut, taro, rice, sesame, onion
North America
Sunflower, cranberry, blueberry, tobacco
South and Central America
Garden beans, corn, peanut, white potato, lima beans, cashew, pineapple, avocado, red pepper, tomato, cotton, cocaine, cacao (chocolate), sweet potato, pumpkin, squash, rubber, vanilla, cassava

6. Selected Families of Flowering Plants
Dicots (now recognized in two groups)
The buttercup family (Ranunculaceae)
Nearly all 1,500 species are herbaceous.
Petals vary in number.
Numerous stamens
Several to many pistils with superior ovaries
Buttercup
Concentrated in north temperate and arctic regions
Most at least slightly poisonous.

7. Dicots – The Buttercup Family
Columbine
Five spurred petals
Hepatica
Monkshood or wolfsbane
Yields aconite - Drug once used to treat rheumatism and neuralgia.
Very poisonous
Wolf hunters used juice from roots to poison wolves.

8. Dicots – The Laurel Family (Lauraceae)
About 1,000 species of tropical evergreen shrubs and trees
No petals, but sepals sometimes petal-like.
Stamens in three or four whorls.
Anthers open by flaps that lift up.
Cinnamon - Pulverized bark of small tree
Cassia
Camphor - Cold remedies, insecticides
Sassafras trees - Native to eastern U.S.
Sweet bay - Flavoring in meat dishes
Avocado
California bay

9. Dicots – The Poppy Family (Papaveraceae)
Herbs of temperate and subtropical regions
Numerous stamens, but single pistil
Milky or colored sap
All species produce alkaloidal drugs.
Opium poppies
Opium - White fluid from capsules
Morphine and codeine
Heroin
Papaverine and noscapine
Poppy seeds
Prickly poppy flower

10. Dicots – The Mustard Family (Brassicaceae)
Nearly all 2,500 species in temperate and cooler regions of North America.
Four flower petals arranged in a cross.
Six stamen: 2 short, 4 long
Fruits = siliques or silicles
All produce pungent watery juice.
Many cultivated edible plants:
Cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccoli, radish, turnip, horseradish, watercress, rutabaga
Mustard - Ground seeds of two species of Brassica
Shepherd’s purse

11. Dicots – The Rose Family (Rosaceae)
More than 3,000 species of trees, shrubs and herbs
Flowers have basal parts fused into cup, with petals, sepals and numerous stamens attached to cup’s rim.
Family subdivided into subfamilies on basis of flower structure and fruits.

12. Dicots – The Rose Family (Rosaceae)
Enormous economic impact:
Stone fruits: cherries, apricots, peaches, plums
Pome fruits: apples, pears
Aggregate fruits: strawberries, blackberries, raspberries
Garden ornamentals - Roses
Fragrances
Fruits of roses = hips - Vitamin C
Rose hips
Raspberry

13. Dicots – The Legume Family (Fabaceae)
Third largest of flowering plant families with 13,000 species
Cosmopolitan
Flowers radial to bilateral.
Stamens fused into tube around ovary.
Inflorescence of radial flowers
Bilateral flower showing stamen tube

14. Dicots – The Legume Family (Fabaceae)
Fruit is a legume.
Many important crop plants:
Peas
Beans
Soybeans
Peanuts
Alfalfa
Sweet clover
Licorice
Carob
Winged bean

15. Dicots – The Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
In tropical and temperate regions
Several economically important plants
Cassava - Staple food in tropical regions
Para rubber tree - Crude rubber from latex of inner bark
Stamens and pistils produced in separate flowers.
Flowers often inconspicuous and lack corolla.
Poinsettia

16. Dicots – The Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
Inflorescence = cyathium
Female flower elevated on stalk called gynophore and surrounded by several male flowers that each consist of little more than an anther.
Male and female flowers inserted on a cup composed of fused bracts, usually with glands on rim.
Sometimes surrounded by colored bracts (poinsettia)

17. Dicots – The Cactus Family (Cactaceae)
More than 1,500 species native only to Americas in dry, subtropical regions.
Leaves reduced in size, often spines.
Fleshy stems

18. Dicots – The Cactus Family (Cactaceae)
Flowers showy.
Numerous stamens, petals and sepals
Inferior ovary develops into berry.
Most have edible fruit.
Prickly pear fruits

19. Dicots – The Mint Family (Lamiaceae)
3,000 species
Unique combination of angular stems that are square in cross section, opposite leaves, and bilaterally symmetrical flowers
Ovary superior and four-parted, developing into four nutlets.
Lamb’s ear mint

20. Dicots – The Mint Family (Lamiaceae)
Plants produce mint oils
Used medicinally and as antiseptic in different parts of the world.
Menthol used in toothpaste, candies, gum, liqueurs, and cigarettes.
Rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, marjoram, basil, lavender, catnip, peppermint, spearmint
Peppermint

21. Dicots – The Nightshade Family (Solanaceae)
3,000 species concentrated in tropics of Central and South America.
Flowers have fused petals with stamens fused to corolla.
Superior ovary develops into berry or capsule.

22. Dicots – The Nightshade Family (Solanaceae)
Tomato, white potato, eggplant, peppers, tobacco, petunia
Many nightshades poisonous and some have drug uses.
Belladonna drug complex:
Atropine - Shock treatment, pain relief
Scopolamine - Tranquilizer
Capsicum from red pepper - Gastric stimulant
Jimson weed - Asthma
Tobacco
Tomato harvester

23. Dicots – The Carrot Family (Apiaceae)
Approximately 2,000 members widely distributed in Northern Hemisphere.
Savory-aromatic herbs, with dissected leaves, and petiole bases that form sheaths around stem
Flowers small, numerous and arranged in umbels.
Inferior ovary and two-lobed stigma
Dill, celery, carrot, parsley, caraway, coriander, fennel, anise, parsnip
Some members poisonous.
Water hemlock - Socrates believed to have died from ingestion.
Water hemlock

24. Dicots – The Pumpkin Family (Cucurbitaceae)
700 species of prostrate or climbing herbaceous vines
Flowers unisexual with fused petals.
Female flowers with inferior ovary of three carpels
Male flower
Female flower with inferior ovary

25. Dicots – The Pumpkin Family (Cucurbitaceae)
Includes many important edible plants
Many have been cultivated for so long they are unknown in a wild state.
Pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, cantaloupes, gourds

26. Dicots – The Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)
Second largest flowering plant family with about 20,000 species
Dandelions, lettuce, endive, chicory, artichoke, dahlia, chrysanthemum, marigold, sunflower, thistle
Tarragon - Spice in meat and pickle

27. Dicots – The Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)
Individual flowers = florets
Florets arranged in compact inflorescence that resembles a single flower.

28. Selected Families of Flowering Plants
Monocots - The grass family (Poaceae)
Flowers wind- pollinated and highly specialized.
Calyx and corolla are tiny scales.
Flowers protected in boat-shaped bracts.
Stigmas exposed and feathery.
Leaf bases sheath stems.

29. Monocots – The Grass Family (Poaceae)
Contains nearly all cereals
Wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, corn
Sugar cane - Six meters tall
Juice squeezed from cane, then centrifuged.
Solids crystallized into table sugar.
Dark remnant = molasses
Baskets, fibers, thatching for huts
Citronella Oil
Sugar cane

30. Monocots – The Lily Family (Liliaceae)
Approximately 4,550 members that occur in almost any area supporting vegetation
Flowers often large and their parts are in multiples of three, with sepals and petals often resembling each other.

31. Monocots – The Lily Family (Liliaceae)
Lilies, daffodils, asparagus, sarsaparilla, Aloe, onions, garlic
Meadow saffron - Source of colchicine used to treat rheumatism
Bowstring hemps (sansevierias) - House plants; long fibers for string, rope, bowstrings
Sansevieria

32. Monocots – The Orchid Family (Orchidaceae)
Very large family with > 35,000 species, especially abundant in tropics
Widely distributed with diverse habitats
Flowers exceptionally varied in size and form.
Many epiphytic on bark of trees.
Others aquatic or terrestrial and saprophytic.
Specific adaptations between orchid flowers and pollinators are extraordinary and sometimes bizarre.
Vanilla from vanilla orchid.

33. Monocots – The Orchid Family (Orchidaceae)
Three sepals and petals, with one of petals (lip petal) differing from other two
Stamens and pistil united in single structure = column.
Anthers contain sacs of pollen called pollinia.
Minute seeds produced in prodigious numbers.
Each seed consists of only a few cells.
Seed must become associated with specific mycorrhizal fungus to germinate.

34. Review Origin of Cultivated Plants
Selected Families of Flowering Plants
Dicots
The Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)
The Laurel Family (Lauraceae)
The Poppy Family (Papaveraceae)
The Mustard Family (Brassicaceae)
The Rose Family (Rosaceae)
The Legume Family (Fabaceae)
The Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
The Cactus Family (Cactaceae)
The Mint Family (Lamiaceae)
The Nightshade Family (Solanaceae)
The Carrot Family (Apiaceae)
The Pumpkin Family (Cucurbitaceae)
The Sunflower Family (Asteraceae)
Monocots
The Grass Family (Poaceae)
The Lily Family (Liliaceae)
The Orchid Family (Orchidaceae)