Chirality

From: Theodore Held <oppenhauser2001 at gmail.com> on 2011.10.24 at 17:46:18(22229) Dear List, Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the recent IAS show). What�s interesting to me is that the outer spathe tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called �handedness.� In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps on a molecular level. Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. Ted Held. +More --f46d044481bd0c00b104b00f00ed _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --f46d044481bd0c00b104b00f00ed--

From: Deni Bown <denibown at googlemail.com> on 2011.10.25 at 20:23:29(22230) Dear Ted, Thank you for this interesting observation. It's tempting to guess that it's just chance as what evolutionary advantage could right- or left-handedness be to a Crypt? Given that size, color etc. are the same, the spathe would not be held further above the water to offer visual or olfactory signals any more effectively by twisting one way or the other. But then who knows what happens at full moon! Let's have more of these intriguing observations! Deni Bown (still in Nigeria where no Crypts grow but from henceforth will be more observant with all & any aroid inflroescences) +More On 24 October 2011 18:46, Theodore Held wrote: > Dear List, > > Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from > a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the > recent IAS show). What�s interesting to me is that the outer spathe > tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for > one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. > > I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed > inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. > > Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any > other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images > are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle > molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called �handedness.� > In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic > phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps > on a molecular level. > > Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. > > Ted Held. > > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > > -- DENI BOWN Consultant Flora & Medicinal Plants International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Oyo Road PMB 5320 Ibadan Nigeria D.Bown@cgiar.org Work: +234 2 7517472 ext 2520 Mobile (Nigeria) +234 806 0486022 Mobile (UK) +44 787 0345924 _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "Tom Croat" <Thomas.Croat at mobot.org> on 2011.10.25 at 17:59:25(22231) Dear Ted: I was once convinced that the direction of opening was important but a big survey we did with the way leaves opened proved that this appears to be perhaps totally at random. Tom +More -----Original Message----- From: aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Theodore Held Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 12:46 PM To: Discussion of aroids Subject: [Aroid-l] Chirality Dear List, Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the recent IAS show). What's interesting to me is that the outer spathe tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called "handedness." In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps on a molecular level. Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. Ted Held. _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: Kathy <ku5 at yahoo.com> on 2011.10.26 at 00:58:10(22232) About "handedness" with aroids, Ted: when the spathe of Amorph titanum unwraps and opens it's easy to observe this, and all the ones that have flowered for me have been left handed, and all the ones at University of Wisconsin have been right handed. I don't know the reason for this, but it's interesting. Sent from my iPhone On Oct 24, 2011, at 12:46 PM, Theodore Held wrote: +More > Dear List, > > Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from > a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the > recent IAS show). What �fs interesting to me is that the outer spathe > tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for > one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. > > I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed > inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. > > Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any > other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images > are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle > molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called �ghandedness. �h > In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic > phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps > on a molecular level. > > Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. > > Ted Held. > > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: brian lee <lbmkjm at yahoo.com> on 2011.10.26 at 01:53:53(22233) Dear Ted, Aloha. I agree with Kathy. It is very interesting indeed. My favorite spiraling in Araceae are the coiled spadixes of Anthurium wendlingeri. However, I was not observant enough to notice the chirality, sinistral(left) or dextral (right). Can they have both on the same plant? List? I have no idea about molecular geometry and its influence on the chirality of Anthurium wendlingeri, nor evolutionary advantage to direction of coil. We should have Christopher comment on this... Aloha, Leland HTML +More From: Kathy To: Discussion of aroids Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 4:58 PM Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Chirality About "handedness" with aroids, Ted: when the spathe of Amorph titanum unwraps and opens it's easy to observe this, and all the ones that have flowered for me have been left handed, and all the ones at University of Wisconsin have been right handed. I don't know the reason for this, but it's interesting. Sent from my iPhone On Oct 24, 2011, at 12:46 PM, Theodore Held wrote: > Dear List, > > Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from > a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the > recent IAS show). What’s interesting to me is that the outer spathe > tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for > one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. > > I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed > inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. > > Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any > other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images > are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle > molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called “handedness.” > In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic > phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps > on a molecular level. > > Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. > > Ted Held. > > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --1993147269-540996384-1319594033=:5403-- --==============g23198674133844859==

From: fschwab at nrao.edu on 2011.10.26 at 04:39:47(22235) What do you find? Does the chirality differ between Northern and Southern Hemisphere? Tomorrow I'll forward a reference dealing with pole beans. :-) - Fred Schwab +More > Dear Ted, > > Thank you for this interesting observation. It's tempting to guess > that it's just chance as what evolutionary advantage could right- or > left-handedness be to a Crypt? Given that size, color etc. are the > same, the spathe would not be held further above the water to offer > visual or olfactory signals any more effectively by twisting one way > or the other. But then who knows what happens at full moon! > > Let's have more of these intriguing observations! > > Deni Bown (still in Nigeria where no Crypts grow but from henceforth > will be more observant with all & any aroid inflroescences) > > On 24 October 2011 18:46, Theodore Held wrote: >> Dear List, >> >> Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from >> a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the >> recent IAS show). What�s interesting to me is that the outer spathe >> tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for >> one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. >> >> I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed >> inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. >> >> Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any >> other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images >> are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle >> molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called �handedness. � >> In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic >> phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps >> on a molecular level. >> >> Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. >> >> Ted Held. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Aroid-L mailing list >> Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com >> http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l >> >> > > > > -- > DENI BOWN > Consultant > Flora & Medicinal Plants > International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) > Oyo Road > PMB 5320 > Ibadan > Nigeria > > D.Bown@cgiar.org > > Work: +234 2 7517472 ext 2520 > Mobile (Nigeria) +234 806 0486022 > Mobile (UK) +44 787 0345924 > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: Alistair Hay <ajmhay at hotmail.com> on 2011.10.26 at 07:00:13(22236) It is presumably related to the direction of the phyllotactic spiral of the whole shoot.  It is perhaps the same phenomenon as the scars on the trunks of Philodendron Sect. Meconostigma, which are shaped either like  fat '6's or fat 'd's. > Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:59:25 -0500 > From: Thomas.Croat@mobot.org HTML +More > To: aroid-l@www.gizmoworks.com > Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Chirality > > Dear Ted: > > I was once convinced that the direction of opening was important but a > big survey we did with the way leaves opened proved that this appears to > be perhaps totally at random. > > Tom > > -----Original Message----- > From: aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com > [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Theodore Held > Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 12:46 PM > To: Discussion of aroids > Subject: [Aroid-l] Chirality > > Dear List, > > Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from > a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the > recent IAS show). What's interesting to me is that the outer spathe > tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for > one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. > > I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed > inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. > > Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any > other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images > are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle > molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called "handedness." > In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic > phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps > on a molecular level. > > Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. > > Ted Held. > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --_5520cd7b-b375-4dbb-ae71-0e93653ad97c_-- --==============359475308228152073==

From: Theodore Held <oppenhauser2001 at gmail.com> on 2011.10.26 at 16:58:56(22237) List: Ah, good. That means I'm not the only one to observe this sort of growth pattern. To tell the truth, it seems to me that different handedness might be more common than I thought, but the phenomenon is not something one might notice, even with two specimens side-by-side. Not being a botanist, my first guess is that there is some sort of tiny 'kick', probably hormonal or environmental, that happens to a meristem early in the development of a leaf or inflorescence, which is then carried on without further chemical influence as the cells go about their assigned roles. In vining plants, there are some species that ALWAYS curl to the right and others that ALWAYS curl to the left. So sometimes it is not merely random. Offhand I cannot think of any special advantage one twist direction might give to an aroid. Of course, in vining species I can't think of any special advantage either; and yet they do it faithfully. Ted Held. +More 2011/10/25 Kathy : > About "handedness" with aroids, Ted: when the spathe of Amorph titanum un wraps and opens it's easy to observe this, and all the ones that have flowe red for me have been left handed, and all the ones at University of Wiscons in have been right handed. I don't know the reason for this, but it's inter esting. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 24, 2011, at 12:46 PM, Theodore Held w rote: > >> Dear List, >> >> Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from >> a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the >> recent IAS show). What�s interesting to me is that the outer spathe >> tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for >> one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. >> >> I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed >> inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. >> >> Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any >> other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images >> are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle >> molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called �handedness. � >> In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic >> phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps >> on a molecular level. >> >> Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. >> >> Ted Held. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Aroid-L mailing list >> Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com >> http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: Christopher Rogers <branchiopod at gmail.com> on 2011.10.31 at 15:17:04(22240) Greetings all, I agree with Leland: Anth. wendlingeri is also my favorite aroid that spirals. When I had that plant prior to my move, I had many blooms, but I do not recall if the inflorescences all spiraled in the same direction or not. However, there was one bloom that started spiraling one way, then changed and spiralled the opposite direction! Add to this my second favorite group of plants (after the aroids): Utricularia, the bladderworts. I used to grow U. prehensilis. This terrestrial species sends out long stems from the soil surface that tend to stick out at close to 45 degrees from the horizon. Over the course of the day they slowly swing in an arc. I the encounter a stem of another plant or a plant tag they coil around it. Some stems will then slowly uncoil and swing back in the opposite direction, again until the encounter an object, and again, they coil around it. So, here is an example of a plant that will coil both directions on the same stem. Happy days! Christopher HTML +More On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 11:58 AM, Theodore Held wrote: List: Ah, good. That means I'm not the only one to observe this sort of growth pattern. To tell the truth, it seems to me that different handedness might be more common than I thought, but the phenomenon is not something one might notice, even with two specimens side-by-side. Not being a botanist, my first guess is that there is some sort of tiny 'kick', probably hormonal or environmental, that happens to a meristem early in the development of a leaf or inflorescence, which is then carried on without further chemical influence as the cells go about their assigned roles. In vining plants, there are some species that ALWAYS curl to the right and others that ALWAYS curl to the left. So sometimes it is not merely random. Offhand I cannot think of any special advantage one twist direction might give to an aroid. Of course, in vining species I can't think of any special advantage either; and yet they do it faithfully. Ted Held. 2011/10/25 Kathy : > About "handedness" with aroids, Ted: when the spathe of Amorph titanum unwraps and opens it's easy to observe this, and all the ones that have flowered for me have been left handed, and all the ones at University of Wisconsin have been right handed. I don't know the reason for this, but it's interesting. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 24, 2011, at 12:46 PM, Theodore Held wrote: > >> Dear List, >> >> Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from >> a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the >> recent IAS show). What�s interesting to me is that the outer spathe >> tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for >> one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. >> >> I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed >> inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. >> >> Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any >> other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images >> are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle >> molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called �handedness.� >> In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic >> phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps >> on a molecular level. >> >> Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. >> >> Ted Held. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Aroid-L mailing list >> Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com >> http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l -- D. Christopher Rogers ((,///////////=======

From: "Ertelt, Jonathan B" <jonathan.ertelt at Vanderbilt.Edu> on 2011.10.31 at 19:17:22(22246) Although I also like Anthurium wendlingeri for the spiraling infloresences, I collected an Anthurium sp. in Costa Rica back in 1992 that I have not yet sent photos to Tom Croat for i.d.ing, but the whole plant spirals as it grows, at least growing on smaller (2-3� diameter) tree trunks. It�s a wonderful species, with more roots growing up and out onto the leaves then grow attaching to the tree trunk host � one of the best non-bird�s nest examples of the trash-basket root system I�ve ever seen. The inflorescence and spathe are both green initially, the spadix slowly going slightly more yellow. The fruits are light orange as they pop out, and somewhat quadrangular at the base. The leaves are wide sword-shaped, to almost two feet long on short petioles � that�s the best I can do without going and looking again at the plant for more detail. I�m doubtful that it�s a new species, though wouldn�t that be neat � but I do plan on taking some detailed pictures and sending them on before long. In any case, a wonderful spiral. Jonathan HTML +More On 10/31/11 10:17 AM, "Christopher Rogers" wrote: Greetings all, I agree with Leland: Anth. wendlingeri is also my favorite aroid that spirals. When I had that plant prior to my move, I had many blooms, but I do not recall if the inflorescences all spiraled in the same direction or not. However, there was one bloom that started spiraling one way, then changed and spiralled the opposite direction! Add to this my second favorite group of plants (after the aroids): Utricularia, the bladderworts. I used to grow U. prehensilis. This terrestrial species sends out long stems from the soil surface that tend to stick out at close to 45 degrees from the horizon. Over the course of the day they slowly swing in an arc. I the encounter a stem of another plant or a plant tag they coil around it. Some stems will then slowly uncoil and swing back in the opposite direction, again until the encounter an object, and again, they coil around it. So, here is an example of a plant that will coil both directions on the same stem. Happy days! Christopher On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 11:58 AM, Theodore Held wrote: List: Ah, good. That means I'm not the only one to observe this sort of growth pattern. To tell the truth, it seems to me that different handedness might be more common than I thought, but the phenomenon is not something one might notice, even with two specimens side-by-side. Not being a botanist, my first guess is that there is some sort of tiny 'kick', probably hormonal or environmental, that happens to a meristem early in the development of a leaf or inflorescence, which is then carried on without further chemical influence as the cells go about their assigned roles. In vining plants, there are some species that ALWAYS curl to the right and others that ALWAYS curl to the left. So sometimes it is not merely random. Offhand I cannot think of any special advantage one twist direction might give to an aroid. Of course, in vining species I can't think of any special advantage either; and yet they do it faithfully. Ted Held. 2011/10/25 Kathy : > About "handedness" with aroids, Ted: when the spathe of Amorph titanum unwraps and opens it's easy to observe this, and all the ones that have flowered for me have been left handed, and all the ones at University of Wisconsin have been right handed. I don't know the reason for this, but it's interesting. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 24, 2011, at 12:46 PM, Theodore Held wrote: > >> Dear List, >> >> Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from >> a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the >> recent IAS show). What�s interesting to me is that the outer spathe >> tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for >> one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. >> >> I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed >> inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. >> >> Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any >> other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images >> are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle >> molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called �handedness.� >> In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic >> phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps >> on a molecular level. >> >> Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. >> >> Ted Held. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Aroid-L mailing list >> Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com >> http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --_000_CAD45E721032Ejonathanerteltvanderbiltedu_-- --============== 73149550405697807==

From: Christopher Rogers <branchiopod at gmail.com> on 2011.10.31 at 19:36:54(22248) Jonathan, That Anthurium sound fascinating. I would enjoy seeing pictures sometime. Christopher HTML +More On Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 2:17 PM, Ertelt, Jonathan B wrote: Although I also like Anthurium wendlingeri for the spiraling infloresences, I collected an Anthurium sp. in Costa Rica back in 1992 that I have not yet sent photos to Tom Croat for i.d.ing, but the whole plant spirals as it grows, at least growing on smaller (2-3� diameter) tree trunks. It�s a wonderful species, with more roots growing up and out onto the leaves then grow attaching to the tree trunk host � one of the best non-bird�s nest examples of the trash-basket root system I�ve ever seen. The inflorescence and spathe are both green initially, the spadix slowly going slightly more yellow. The fruits are light orange as they pop out, and somewhat quadrangular at the base. The leaves are wide sword-shaped, to almost two feet long on short petioles � that�s the best I can do without going and looking again at the plant for more detail. I�m doubtful that it�s a new species, though wouldn�t that be neat � but I do plan on taking some detailed pictures and sending them on before long. In any case, a wonderful spiral. Jonathan On 10/31/11 10:17 AM, "Christopher Rogers" wrote: Greetings all, I agree with Leland: Anth. wendlingeri is also my favorite aroid that spirals. When I had that plant prior to my move, I had many blooms, but I do not recall if the inflorescences all spiraled in the same direction or not. However, there was one bloom that started spiraling one way, then changed and spiralled the opposite direction! Add to this my second favorite group of plants (after the aroids): Utricularia, the bladderworts. I used to grow U. prehensilis. This terrestrial species sends out long stems from the soil surface that tend to stick out at close to 45 degrees from the horizon. Over the course of the day they slowly swing in an arc. I the encounter a stem of another plant or a plant tag they coil around it. Some stems will then slowly uncoil and swing back in the opposite direction, again until the encounter an object, and again, they coil around it. So, here is an example of a plant that will coil both directions on the same stem. Happy days! Christopher On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 11:58 AM, Theodore Held wrote: List: Ah, good. That means I'm not the only one to observe this sort of growth pattern. To tell the truth, it seems to me that different handedness might be more common than I thought, but the phenomenon is not something one might notice, even with two specimens side-by-side. Not being a botanist, my first guess is that there is some sort of tiny 'kick', probably hormonal or environmental, that happens to a meristem early in the development of a leaf or inflorescence, which is then carried on without further chemical influence as the cells go about their assigned roles. In vining plants, there are some species that ALWAYS curl to the right and others that ALWAYS curl to the left. So sometimes it is not merely random. Offhand I cannot think of any special advantage one twist direction might give to an aroid. Of course, in vining species I can't think of any special advantage either; and yet they do it faithfully. Ted Held. 2011/10/25 Kathy : > About "handedness" with aroids, Ted: when the spathe of Amorph titanum unwraps and opens it's easy to observe this, and all the ones that have flowered for me have been left handed, and all the ones at University of Wisconsin have been right handed. I don't know the reason for this, but it's interesting. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 24, 2011, at 12:46 PM, Theodore Held wrote: > >> Dear List, >> >> Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from >> a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the >> recent IAS show). What�s interesting to me is that the outer spathe >> tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for >> one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. >> >> I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed >> inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. >> >> Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any >> other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images >> are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle >> molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called �handedness.� >> In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic >> phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps >> on a molecular level. >> >> Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. >> >> Ted Held. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Aroid-L mailing list >> Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com >> http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l -- D. Christopher Rogers ((,///////////=======

From: Bob Burns <bobburns61 at yahoo.com> on 2011.11.03 at 06:13:43(22259) Don't know if this is germane to a discussion of chirality in aroids, but palms are distantly related. When I was living in Bangladesh, where the coconut palm is common, I discovered that most (say 19 of 20 or so) were one handed...the easiest way being to look where the flowering stalk came in relation to the leaf stalk immediately below it...to the right or to the left. I was told that below the equator, in the Southern Hemisphere, the percentages reverse, and that this is due to the way the crown of the tree captures sunlight....one "handedness" being slightly more efficient in each hemisphere. It stands to reason then, that, at the equator (provided sufficient generations from seed had gone by to reduce origin influences....which would be quite a while in the case of a coconut palm), that the percentage would be about equal, varying more and more in either direction, the further one got north or south. I wonder if any exhaustive survey has been done on any plant about this issue, even with plants so extensively cultivated, and so obviously chiral, as the palms. Since many tropical aroids also span the equator, maybe something like this is going on with them as well... Bob Burns HTML +More From: Alistair Hay To: aroid-l@www.gizmoworks.com Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 12:00 AM Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Chirality It is presumably related to the direction of the phyllotactic spiral of the whole shoot. It is perhaps the same phenomenon as the scars on the trunks of Philodendron Sect. Meconostigma, which are shaped either like fat '6's or fat 'd's. > Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:59:25 -0500 > From: Thomas.Croat@mobot.org > To: aroid-l@www.gizmoworks.com > Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Chirality > > Dear Ted: > > I was once convinced that the direction of opening was important but a > big survey we did with the way leaves opened proved that this appears to > be perhaps totally at random. > > Tom > > -----Original Message----- > From: aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com > [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Theodore Held > Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 12:46 PM > To: Discussion of aroids > Subject: [Aroid-l] Chirality > > Dear List, > > Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from > a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the > recent IAS show). What's interesting to me is that the outer spathe > tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for > one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. > > I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed > inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. > > Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any > other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images > are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle > molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called "handedness." > In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic > phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps > on a molecular level. > > Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. > > Ted Held. > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --4756291-119146891-1320300823=:43320-- --==============i88704096854445267==

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