The common foxglove is grown for decorative and medicinal purposes. The flowers contain glycosides (chemicals that affect heartbeat and pulse), which can be extracted from the leaves and used to regulate and strengthen a person’s heartbeat. However, if plant materials containing glycosides are directly consumed by humans, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and heartbeat and pulse abnormalities can result. If consumed in large enough quantities, glycosides can cause convulsions and death.
Online Encyclopedia Blog For Kid's Research In Sciences, Health, Environment and Technology
Showing posts with label Medicinal Plants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medicinal Plants. Show all posts
Lichen
![]() |
The lichen seen here growing on a tree is one of the fruticose lichens. It is made up of a layer of algal cells, a middle layer of fungal hyphae, and an outer layer of fungal tissue. |
The relationship between the fungus and the alga in a lichen is an example of mutualism, in which both partners benefit from the partnership (see Symbiosis). This relationship enables each to tolerate harsh conditions where neither could survive alone. In this partnership, the fungus furnishes the alga with water, prevents overexposure to sunlight, and provides simple mineral nutrients, while the photosynthesizing alga supplies food to the fungus even if no other organic material is available. In dry, barren areas where plants have a hard time growing, such as polar tundra, deserts, rocky outcrops, or high mountains, lichens are the primary photosynthesizers. Some remarkable species even grow inside porous rocks, just below the surface where some light can still reach the algal cells.
Their ability to grow in severe conditions often makes lichens pioneers in plant succession, the process in which plants colonize bare rock or soil. Lichens release acids that break down inhospitable rock, permitting soil-trapping mosses and grasses to grab hold. In areas where soil gradually accumulates, such as a forest floor, the pioneering lichens are eventually replaced by plants and trees, although other lichens may grow on these plants and trees.
Related Articles:
Their ability to grow in severe conditions often makes lichens pioneers in plant succession, the process in which plants colonize bare rock or soil. Lichens release acids that break down inhospitable rock, permitting soil-trapping mosses and grasses to grab hold. In areas where soil gradually accumulates, such as a forest floor, the pioneering lichens are eventually replaced by plants and trees, although other lichens may grow on these plants and trees.
Although lichens have been used in folk medicine as purported cures for many ills, from headaches and toothaches to tuberculosis, diabetes, and asthma, their use in modern medicine is recent. The discovery in the 1940s that some fungi produce potent antibiotics stimulated an extensive screening of fungi and lichens. Since then, lichen extracts have found limited use in Europe, where lichen antibiotics have been used to treat tuberculosis and some skin diseases.
Related Articles:
Algae
Algae, diverse group of simple, plantlike organisms. Like plants, most algae use the energy of sunlight to make their own food, a process called photosynthesis. However, algae lack the roots, leaves, and other structures typical of true plants. Algae are the most important photosynthesizing organisms on Earth. They capture more of the sun’s energy and produce more oxygen (a byproduct of photosynthesis) than all plants combined. Algae form the foundation of most aquatic food webs, which support an abundance of animals.
Algae vary greatly in size and grow in many diverse habitats. Microscopic algae, called phytoplankton, float or swim in lakes and oceans. Phytoplankton are so small that 1000 individuals could fit on the head of a pin (see Plankton). The largest forms of algae are seaweeds that stretch 100 m (300 ft) from the ocean bottom to the water’s surface. Although most algae grow in fresh water or seawater, they also grow on soil, trees, and animals, and even under or inside porous rocks, such as sandstone and limestone. Algae tolerate a wide range of temperatures and can be found growing in hot springs, on snow banks, or deep within polar ice.
Algae also form mutually beneficial partnerships with other organisms (see Symbiosis). For example, algae live with fungi to form lichens—plantlike or branching growths that form on boulders, cliffs, and tree trunks. Algae called zooxanthellae live inside the cells of reef-building coral. In both cases, the algae provide oxygen and complex nutrients to their partner, and in return they receive protection and simple nutrients. This arrangement enables both partners to survive in conditions that they could not endure alone.
Algae have been used for centuries, especially in Asian countries, for their purported powers to cure or prevent illnesses as varied as cough, gout, gallstones, goiter, hypertension, and diarrhea. Recently, algae have been surveyed for anticancer compounds, with several cyanobacteria appearing to contain promising candidates. Diatoms also have been used in forensic medicine, as their presence in the lungs can indicate a person died due to drowning.
Algae vary greatly in size and grow in many diverse habitats. Microscopic algae, called phytoplankton, float or swim in lakes and oceans. Phytoplankton are so small that 1000 individuals could fit on the head of a pin (see Plankton). The largest forms of algae are seaweeds that stretch 100 m (300 ft) from the ocean bottom to the water’s surface. Although most algae grow in fresh water or seawater, they also grow on soil, trees, and animals, and even under or inside porous rocks, such as sandstone and limestone. Algae tolerate a wide range of temperatures and can be found growing in hot springs, on snow banks, or deep within polar ice.
Algae also form mutually beneficial partnerships with other organisms (see Symbiosis). For example, algae live with fungi to form lichens—plantlike or branching growths that form on boulders, cliffs, and tree trunks. Algae called zooxanthellae live inside the cells of reef-building coral. In both cases, the algae provide oxygen and complex nutrients to their partner, and in return they receive protection and simple nutrients. This arrangement enables both partners to survive in conditions that they could not endure alone.
Algae have been used for centuries, especially in Asian countries, for their purported powers to cure or prevent illnesses as varied as cough, gout, gallstones, goiter, hypertension, and diarrhea. Recently, algae have been surveyed for anticancer compounds, with several cyanobacteria appearing to contain promising candidates. Diatoms also have been used in forensic medicine, as their presence in the lungs can indicate a person died due to drowning.
Types of Algae:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Plant Cell Plant cells contain a variety of membrane-bound structures called organelles. These include a nucleus that carries genetic...
-
All flowers share several basic features. Sepals, protective coverings that are closed over the bud before it blooms, are the outermost flow...
-
Archaea or Archaebacteria, common name for a group of one-celled organisms, many of which do not require oxygen or sunlight to live. Before ...
-
Insectivorous Plants, also carnivorous plants, plants that gain some of their nutrition from animals, especially insects, captured by the pl...
-
Algae, diverse group of simple, plantlike organisms. Like plants, most algae use the energy of sunlight to make their own food, a proces...