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Originally Posted by Skutter
hello! i'm currently studying for an ND in Arboriculture, a part of which is that we have to cover pricples of plant science. I'm in the middle of an assignment which has brought up a few questions i was hoping some one could help me with or at least point me in the right direction.
i would be right in saying that Ephemarls complete several life cycles in one season?? but what sort of plants are ephemeral and what are the advantages and disadvantages? Simmilar what are the advantages of being biannual, annual or perenial?
during a lecture we were told a great many things however i have found a number of them are contradicted by information on the internet which is resulting in a fair bit of brain ache!
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Hi Skutter,
There are different definitions of ephemeral. In botany it generally means 'short lived'.
http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/search/dict-search.phtml
Dictionary.com says there are 5 definitions.
"passing, short-lived, transient, transitory, fugacious"
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ephemeral
I think of plants that are ephemeral as being fleeting, not necessarily short lived. I have plants that are considered 'spring ephemerals' and they appear in spring, bloom and disappear (go dormant). The same plants will often appear every year, but for a short time and then go dormant. Daffodils are an example. As far as advantages, I think the plants take advantage of the growing conditions where they are located and it's the genetics that determine their needs. The daffodil bulb stores food, using the leaves. It produces a flower and a seed that will eventually become a bulb. It blooms when the weather is cool and the sun isn't as hot as in summer before the trees have leafed out so it can have that sun for manufacturing the food so it can flower and set seed. It needs cool weather to survive, determined by the genetics of the plant, and goes dormant in the heat of summer. There are desert plants that are ephemeral, some are annuals, some perennial and some biennial. They appear when the weather conditions are appropriate for them to thrive, bloom, set seed and then either go dormant or die.
I don't know the answer to your question about advantages of being perennial, biennial or annual.
Garden Web has a forum for 'Botany' where you might get better answers.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/botany//
Newt