MONOCOTS
The monocots include an estimated 65,000 species, roughly 20 percent of all flowering plants. They get their name from the single seed leaf found in monocot embryos, and they include some of the plants that are most important to human cultures. Monocots grown as crops account for a majority of the food produced by agriculture. These crops include wheat, rice, barley, corn, and sugar cane. Common grasses are monocots, as are onions, bananas, orchids, coconut palms, tulips, and irises.
Onions are just one of many examples of monocot crop species.
This African hillside is dotted with clumps of Wild Pampas Grass.
Many orchid species are grown by enthusiasts for their rare beauty. Notice the aerial roots on this specimen, which grows as an epiphyte in its natural environment.
This sugar cane in Vietnam has been bundled for sale.
Eco•Alert
Coevolution: Losing the Pollinators
The successes of flowering plants are clearly due to coevolution with their insect pollinators. Common honey bees are among the most important of these, gathering nectar from the flowers of hundreds of plant species and spreading pollen from plant to plant as they go.
Unfortunately, beekeepers around the world, including the United States, are facing a serious crisis. “Colony collapse disorder,” as beekeepers describe it, causes bees to fly away from the hive and either never return, or return only to weaken and die. The disease threatens to affect scores of important crops, which depend upon bees to produce fruit and seeds. Suspicion has centered on a fungus or a virus that might spread from colony to colony, but at this point there is no definitive cause or cure.
Table of Contents
- Formulas and Equations
- Applying Formulas and Equations
- Mean, Median, and Mode
- Estimation
- Using Measurements in Calculations
- Effects of Measurement Errors
- Accuracy
- Precision
- Comparing Accuracy and Precision
- Significant Figures
- Calculating With Significant Figures
- Scientific Notation
- Calculating With Scientific Notation
- Dimensional Analysis
- Applying Dimensional Analysis