Welcome to an overview of what Economic Botany has to offer.
It will be a distance learning course this spring 2000, so below are highlights of what I plan
to be doing in the TopClass format
LECTURE 5 HIGHLIGHTS FOR BIOLOGY 03074, ECONOMIC BOTANY: OTHER MAJOR CROPS
Text: 2nd ed.: Ch. 14 (pp. 222-227), Ch. 15 (p. 240), Ch. 18 (pp. 289-294, 308-309), Ch. 22 (pp. 386-387); 1st ed.: Ch. 4 (pp. 56-57), Ch. 14 (pp. 204-208, 214), Ch. 15 (pp. 218, 220), Ch. 18 (pp. 266-270, 282-283)
possible website: http://fastplants.cals.wisc.edu/
(all about brassicas, including ones bred small and quick-breeding for classroom use)
CABBAGE, BROCCOLI, ETC.: BRASSICA OLERACEA
Brassicaceae (Cruciferae): the mustard family. Se-4; Pe-4; St-4 + 2; Ca 2, with petals in a"cross" pattern. A tangy oil(s) often present, e.g, Raphunus, radish; Armoracia, horseradish.
Brassica oleracea highlights the selection techniques available to emphasize different parts of a plant. The wild brassica was a coastal plant with a waxy layer on leaves to protect against salt. From that comes a bewildering collections of shapes and vegetables:
Kale: Large leaves with curled margins
Cabbage: Elaboration of a head with non-expanding terminal meristem.
Brussels sprouts: Axillary buds that form"minicabbages"
Kohlrabi: An expanded hypocotyl region for consumption
Broccoli: We consume the fertile, unopened floral buds
Cauliflower: Proliferation of floral stem tips into curds (kept white by breeding)
POTATO: SOLANUM TUBEROSUM
Solanaceae: the nightshade family. mostly from Central and South America. The white potato, Solanum tuberosum, comes from the Andes and reached Ireland by 1625. Soil and climate appropriate, and small plots could yield enough food for large families. Population explosion: 1.5 million to 8.5 million from 1760-1840, setting the stage for the Irish potato famine of 1845-9. Most of the Irish crop was genetically uniform and vegetatively propagated. Phytophora infestans causes late blight of potato, first by infecting leaves, then tubers, and then even stored tubers. Ireland: 1 million dead from starvation/disease, 1.5 m emigrated.
SUGAR CANE: SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM
Saccharum officinarum is a perennial grass (Poaceae) that probably originated from Oceania, and did not reach Europe until the 1400s. Sugar cane forms thick-stemmed canes with low fiber and high sucrose content. New World discovery allowed Europeans to grow tropical and subtropical crops such as sugar cane. Columbus started cultivation in West Indies. As a labor-intensive crop, sugar cane was a major reason for slavery in New World.
COTTON: GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM
Malvaceae: the mallow family. Showy flowers, with stamens fused by their filaments. Leaves alternate, often palmately lobed, with stipules. Hibiscus, mallow and okra; Gossypium, cotton; Althea, hollyhock.
The most valuable of plant fibers are pure cellulose and white in color. Cotton, being 90% pure cellulose and containing a natural twist, is the most popular natural fiber. G. hirsutum is the major species, with G. barbadense making the soft fabric of pima and Egyptian cotton. The cotton fruit is a capsule (boll), which when split, shows fibers or hairs covering the surface of the seed coats. The surface fibers of the bolls are ginned, with machines tearing fibers loose. Ginned fibers packed into bales and sent off.
Cotton is an ancient fiber, with introduction to the western world through Spain via Arab influence. Cotton introduced to American South 1550s-1600s, and soon a major cash crop. A major limitation was the seeds in the fibers, but the saw cotton gin allowed increased cotton production, just as Europe was wanting more. More acreage, more slaves throughout the early 1800s, so slavery, once dying out, boomed.
BAMBOO: VARIOUS GENERA, E.G., BAMBUSA
Bamboos are large, woody grasses (members of the grass family, Poaceae). Bamboos do not contain secondary xylem, but are used as a structural material to fulfill many of the functions of wood. All bamboo growth is vertical and so can be quite rapid. Mature bamboo stems are segmented hollow tubes, so that bamboo is flexible, light weight, and strong.
|main page| |background| |03028: Physiology| |03048: Anatomy|
|03050: Invertebrate Zoology| |03051: Vertebrate Zoology| |03074: Economic Botany|
Please send comments and questions to: cronewil@hvcc.edu
Copyright 1999 by Wilson Crone
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This page updated on October 4, 1999