Re: What's a Cataphyll?

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----- Original Message -----

From: t*@yahoo.com

To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com

Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 3:45 PM

Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] What's a Cataphyll?

A cataphyll are often membranous scale leaves, sometimes have no chlorophyll, and often protect surrounding vegetative or floral meristems.  In monocotyledons such as our Aroids, the first leaf on a shoot (the prophyll) is often represented by a cataphyll and differs greatly in size and morphology to more distal leaves on the that axis.
My reference is Plant Form An illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology by Adrian D. Bell  Oxford University Press 1991

I will look for more references if I can.

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Today's Topics:

1. Re: Dracontium prancei questions and answers . (Daniel Devor)
2. What's a Cataphyll? (ted.held@us.henkel.com)
3. Re: What's a Cataphyll? (Michael Pascall)
4. Re: What's a Cataphyll? (Jonathan Ertelt)


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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:01:15 -0500
From: "Daniel Devor"
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Dracontium prancei questions and answers .
To: "Discussion of aroids"
Message-ID: <003c01c83034$cf31f710$6b01a8c0@DGV7XFC1>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Thanks George and Michael,

This is definately the easiest species I have tried (even easier and a much nicer plant than polyphyllum for me) of the Dracontium. For anyone in a non-hospitable climate I can recommend this species as one to try if you have not had success with Dracontium. I grow it for the winter in front of a south facing window is all here in zone 6a.

It is just starting a new growth now (maybe 1 m tall so far, but the leaf has not yet begun to really inflate) so maybe next spring I will repot (I rarely repot so have only seen the tuber once since I got it from you Michael). I get a new petiole about once every 4-6 months now that it is a bit more mature. I've also noticed that the new growth does not come out looking like a sheppards hook like the other species I have, but instead comes out pointing straight up, but perhaps this is a curiosity of only my plant and not the species? Next time I repot if the babies have some roots I will cut a couple off and see if they grow well for me!!

Thanks for all of the suggestions,

Dan

Dan Devor
Gibsonia, PA


----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Pascall
To: Discussion of aroids
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 1:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Dracontium prancei questions and answers .


I am very confident of the ID of this species , you have seen pictures of it many years ago Julius . We discussed it privately for a while with David Scherberich.
Dan , you will get ofsets from this plant , and they will grow roots when still attached to the mother tuber . They need to be cut off , unlike the easily seperated tubercles that form on most other species.
I think you may get a flower if you let it stress a little in mid winter . If you repot frequently , pay attention to the tuber shape , when it gets nearly round it should flower . And afterwards , you would see it will be more disc shaped [like a flying saucer] this explains how they work down to the bottom of the pot . I have noticed it grows easily and only slows down towards spring . I have several planted out under the edge of a large mango tree , they are looking good . Maybe a high P fert. like a bloom booster would help flowering , but I agree who needs a flower ? , its just a cool looking easy to grow species .
Michael Pascall,


>


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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:02:10 -0500
From: ted.held@us.henkel.com
Subject: [Aroid-l] What's a Cataphyll?
To: Discussion of aroids
Message-ID:

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Readers may remember a note from Bernhard in a recent posting as follows:

@ English native speakers/botanists: Is cataphyll the right term in
English for "Huellblatt"? Or does the term only describe covering leafs
over an "underground" bud?

I have had a couple of exchanges with him and have noticed that no one on
the list has bellyed-up ("belly-up" is an Americanism that means to step
up and take responsibility for a thing) to answer his inquiry. Perhaps
it's because finding out what the heck a cataphyll is in English is not
exactly trivial.

The only firm reference I found was from our own Deni Bown's famous book
(page 41 in my edition), where she is at pains to differentiate between
extensions of the basic leaf ("sheaths" in her example) and complete
modified leaves (cataphylls) that shield or protect internodes. Or some
such.

I have reviewed a number of botany books in my possession and none of them
have "cataphyll" 'in the index, even those that helpfully provide
glossaries of technical botanical terms.

I even checked the definitive dictionary of the English language, the
Oxford English Dictionary (OED). "Cataphyll" is not an entry in the Second
Edition (copyright 2000). But it has an entry for "Cataphyllary", being an
adjective for a noun not listed. The definition is: "the colorless or
brownish scales found on various parts of plants, esp. underground,
regarded as modifications of foliage leaves". The first reference listed
is from 1875. The definition there is "Scale or 'Cataphyllary -Leaves' are
usually produced on underground shoots . . although they also frequently
occur above ground, especially as an envelope to the winter-buds of woody
plants (as in the horse-chestnut, oak, etc.)".

The OED says the term comes from two Greek words meaning "degraded" and
"leaf".

Bernhard's suggestion of the German term "Huellblatt", meaning literally a
"hull-leaf" seems to accord with the definition matching the winter-bud
idea. Attempts to find "cataphyll" (or "Huellblatt" for that matter) in my
German-English dictionary and a couple of on-line translation resources
were unsuccessful.

It seems to me that the idea of a tough, protective "hull-leaf" is not
what we generally mean on Aroid-l by a cataphyll. The soft cataphylls
shown by Deni Bown on the Anthurium do not seem to me to be of this "hull"
sort. In Cryptocoryne (my own specialty, such as it is) what I refer to as
cataphylls are even more prominent and leaf-like. Think of the Anthurium
cataphylls being 10% to 25% or so the size of a normal leaf and fully
green (compared with the idea of them being "colorless or brownish" from
the OED). They are also persistent and do not dry and wither away like you
might see on an Anthurium. Cryptocoryne leaves have distinctive, and often
very elongated petioles (stalks). Cryptocoryne cataphylls do not have
petioles. Some Cryptocoryne do not seem to grow cataphylls, while others,
such as C. pontederifolia, have conspicuous ones.

Anyway, the point of this is to have one of our list botanists explain
what is meant by "cataphyll" as it relates to aroids. If you also have a
translation into German that would be a bonus.

Ted.
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:02:16 +1000
From: Michael Pascall
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] What's a Cataphyll?
To: Discussion of aroids
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


Drancontiums produce cataphylls , it is an identifying characteristic for some species .
It was pointed out to me that Dracontium prancei has a large cataphyll protecting the flower . It is usually higher than the base of the flower . It is very short lived and withers away , thus not appearing in Dans photo . You will see a good example in David Scherberichs fantastic photos of Dracontium nivosum , especially the first 2 in the sequence .
Michael Pascall,

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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:34:55 -0600
From: Jonathan Ertelt
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] What's a Cataphyll?
To: Discussion of aroids
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

D. Swartz. Collegiate Dictionary of Botany. 1971. cataphyll - a
scale-like leaf as found in buds, cotyledons, rhyzomes, etc.; any
rudimentary scale-like leaf which precedes the foliage leaf; the
German Niederblatter, an underleaf; a leaf present at the beginning
of growth.

Hope this helps.

Jonathan

>Readers may remember a note from Bernhard in a recent posting as follows:
>
>@ English native speakers/botanists: Is cataphyll the right term in
>English for "Huellblatt"? Or does the term only describe covering
>leafs over an "underground" bud?
>
>I have had a couple of exchanges with him and have noticed that no
>one on the list has bellyed-up ("belly-up" is an Americanism that
>means to step up and take responsibility for a thing) to answer his
>inquiry. Perhaps it's because finding out what the heck a cataphyll
>is in English is not exactly trivial.
>
>The only firm reference I found was from our own Deni Bown's famous
>book (page 41 in my edition), where she is at pains to differentiate
>between extensions of the basic leaf ("sheaths" in her example) and
>complete modified leaves (cataphylls) that shield or protect
>internodes. Or some such.
>
>I have reviewed a number of botany books in my possession and none
>of them have "cataphyll" 'in the index, even those that helpfully
>provide glossaries of technical botanical terms.
>
>I even checked the definitive dictionary of the English language,
>the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). "Cataphyll" is not an entry in
>the Second Edition (copyright 2000). But it has an entry for
>"Cataphyllary", being an adjective for a noun not listed. The
>definition is: "the colorless or brownish scales found on various
>parts of plants, esp. underground, regarded as modifications of
>foliage leaves". The first reference listed is from 1875. The
>definition there is "Scale or 'Cataphyllary -Leaves' are usually
>produced on underground shoots . . although they also frequently
>occur above ground, especially as an envelope to the winter-buds of
>woody plants (as in the horse-chestnut, oak, etc.)".
>
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