hello! i'm currently studying for an ND in Arboriculture, a part o
which is that we have to cover pricples of plant science. I'm in th middle of an assignment which has brought up a few questions i wa hoping some one could help me with or at least point me in the righ direction. i would be right in saying that Ephemarls complete several life cycle in one season?? but what sort of plants are ephemeral and what are th advantages and disadvantages? Simmilar what are the advantages of bein biannual, annual or perenial? during a lecture we were told a great many things however i have foun a number of them are contradicted by information on the internet whic is resulting in a fair bit of brain ache
ND stands for National Diploma. it will entitle me with my membership t
the arb association in the uk the have the title M.Arbor.A. Whe complete i will be climbing for the company i currently work for with view to doing a HND (higher national diploma) on-line and continueing t add to the qualifications on my Nptc card - for those uniformed i covers things such as chainsaw maintance, felling and dimantling o trees, dealing with windblown trees, climbing and arial rescue, use o a chain saw in a tree, and whole host of other things from pestercide to ATV'
There are different definitions of ephemeral. In botany it generall means 'short lived'.
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says there are 5 definitions. "passing, short-lived, transient, transitory, fugacious"
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think of plants that are ephemeral as being fleeting, not necessaril short lived. I have plants that are considered 'spring ephemerals' an they appear in spring, bloom and disappear (go dormant). The sam plants will often appear every year, but for a short time and then g dormant. Daffodils are an example. As far as advantages, I think th plants take advantage of the growing conditions where they are locate and it's the genetics that determine their needs. The daffodil bul stores food, using the leaves. It produces a flower and a seed tha will eventually become a bulb. It blooms when the weather is cool an the sun isn't as hot as in summer before the trees have leafed out s it can have that sun for manufacturing the food so it can flower an set seed. It needs cool weather to survive, determined by the genetic of the plant, and goes dormant in the heat of summer. There are deser plants that are ephemeral, some are annuals, some perennial and som biennial. They appear when the weather conditions are appropriate fo 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 bein perennial, biennial or annual.
Garden Web has a forum for 'Botany' where you might get bette answers.
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