BACKGROUND Roses have been cultivated for centuries and a number of varieties have been selected based on flower traits such as petal form, color, and number. Wild-type roses have five petals (simple flowers), whereas high numbers of petals (double flowers) are typical attributes of most of the cultivated roses. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms that could have been selected to con...

Generally, plant reproductive success might be affected negatively by florivory, and the effects may vary depending on the timing and intensity of florivory. To clarify the impacts of florivory by the sawfly larvae (Tenthredinidae) on seed production of Halenia elliptica D. Don, we simulated florivory by removing different proportion of flowers at three reproductive stages in this alpine herb a...

important cut flowers in tropical and sub tropical areas of the world and has the seventh rate of production between all cut flowers of Iran. In order to investigate different effects of storage temperatures (8 weeks at 4 °C, 4 weeks at 4 °C + 4 weeks at 20 °C, 8 weeks at 12 °C, 4 weeks at 12 °C+ 4 weeks at 20 °C and 8 week at 20 °C) and different concentrations of gibberellic acid (0, 150 and ...

BACKGROUND In many plant species, pollination syndromes predict the most effective pollinator. However, other floral visitors may also offer effective pollination services and promote mixed pollination systems. Several species of the species-rich Penstemon (Plantaginaceae) exhibit a suite of floral traits that suggest adaptation for pollination by both hymenopterans and hummingbirds. Transition...

The effects of sodium chloride (NaCl) salinity (control; canal water with 0.4 dS m-1), 2.5 dSm-1, 5.0 dS m-1, 7.5 dS m-1 and 10.0 dS m-1, respectively) developed after 6 weeks of pruning (beginning of study) on plant growth, flowering and quality of three cut rose (Rosa hybrida L.) cultivars viz. ‘Kardinal’, ‘Angelique’ and ‘Gold Medal’ were studied to achieve better management, quality product...

The purpose of this study was to identify bee species active in pumpkin fields in New York and to estimate their potential as pollinators by examining their foraging activity. In addition, we examined whether foraging activity was affected by either the addition of hives of the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., or by field size. Thirty-five pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) fields ranging from 0.6 to 26.3 ...