the separation of saffron stigmas from fresh flowers is the most important and the most difficult stage of saffron harvesting. saffron production costs are high because this harvesting stage is done by hand and is very time-consuming. one way of preserving the saffron flower is to dry it. the separating of the stigma from dried saffron flowers can then be done at an appropriate time. this study...

After a period of heavy rainfall, an outbreak of Rift Valley fever occurred in southern Mauritania during September-November 2012. A total of 41 human cases were confirmed, including 13 deaths, and 12 Rift Valley fever virus strains were isolated. Moudjeria and Temchecket Departments were the most affected areas.

Flowers, as repeated modules on a plant, may show population dynamics that correspond to ecological models for population growth. We hypothesized that rate of flower production (birth rate), number of open flowers per day (population size) and flower duration (longevity) should be related to plant resource status. With dioecious species, resource demands of male or female function would contrib...

this experiment was carried out in 2003-2004 to determine fruit set patterns in four pistachio cultivars (akbari, ahmad aghaie, kalle ghouchi and ohadi) to find out the correlation between final fruit set and embryonic sac development, and as well between primary fertility and final fruit set. in a field experiment, inflorescence schematic shape and position of flowers (on inflorescence on the ...

Zinnia elegans, an annual flowering plant of the genus Zinnia, is one of the best known zinnias. Present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different growing media on the growth and flowering of Zinnia elegans. Seven different growth media including coconut compost, silt, soil loam, leaf manure, (leaf manure + silt; 2:1), (coconut compost + soil loam; 1:1) and (leaf...

The sequential separation of male and female function in flowers of dichogamous species allows for the evolution of differing morphologies that maximize fitness through seed siring and seed set. We examined staminate- and pistillate-phase flowers of protandrous Saponaria officinalis for dimorphism in floral traits and their effects on pollinator attraction and seed set. Pistillate-phase flowers...

In hermaphroditic plants, female reproductive success often varies among different positions within an inflorescence. However, few studies have evaluated the relative importance of underlying causes such as pollen limitation, resource limitation or architectural effect, and few have compared male allocation. During a 2-year investigation, we found that female reproductive success of an acropeta...