Monocarpic

Monocarpic plants are those that flower, set seeds and then die. Other terms with the same meaning are hapaxanth and semelparous. The term was first used by Alphonse de Candolle.

The antonym is polycarpic, a plant that flowers and sets seeds many times during its lifetime; the antonym of semelparous is iteroparous. Plants which flower en masse (gregariously) before dying are known as plietesials.

The plant can live a number of years before it will flower. Flowering does not by itself result in the death of the plants but the production of fruits and seeds causes changes within the plants which lead to death. These changes are induced by chemicals that act as hormones, redirecting the resources of the plants from the roots and leaves to the production of fruits and or seeds.

The century plant in the genus Agave, some terrestrial bromeliads of the genus Puya, Tillandsia utriculata, some yuccas, and many bamboos can take 8 to 20 years or in the case of bamboos even over 100 years to bloom and then die. Hawaiian silverswords and their relatives in the genus Wilkesia may take 10–50 years before flowering.

Only five families of monocot plants - Agavaceae, Araceae, Arecaceae, Bromeliaceae, and Poaceae - and ten of dicot plants - including Acanthaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae - contain long lived, monocarpic species. Few dicot shrubs with multiple branching and secondary growth species have been described. Species that have been found to are Strobilanthes species, Cerberiopsis candelabrum, Tachigali versicolor and other Tachigali species.^[1]

Often monocarpic plants can be kept alive after flowering if the flowers are removed as soon as they are done blooming, before seed formation begins, or if the flower buds are removed before they begin blooming.

See also

• Polycarpic
• Masting
• Strobilanthes callosus
• Strobilanthes kunthiana

References

1. ^ Kitajima, Kaoru; Carol K. Augspurger (August 1989). "Seed and Seedling Ecology of a Monocarpic Tropical Tree, Tachigalia Versicolor". Ecology (jstor) 70 (4): 1102–1114. doi:10.2307/1941379. JSTOR 1941379. 

This botany article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Plant life-form Reproduction Fertility Botany stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат Mr. Bubble Lambda Aquarii Look at other dictionaries: Monocarpic — Mon o*car pic, Monocarpous Mon o*car pous, a. [Mono + Gr. ? fruit: cf. F. monocarpe.] (Bot.) Bearing fruit but once, and dying after fructification, as beans, maize, mustard, etc. [1913 Webster] Note: Annual and biennual herbs are monocarpic, so… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English monocarpic — [män΄ō kär′pəsmän΄ōkär′pik] adj. [ MONO + CARPIC] bearing fruit only once, and then dying: said of annuals, biennials, and some long lived plants, as the bamboos and century plants: also monocarpous [män΄ō kär′pəs] …   English World dictionary monocarpic plant — monokarpinis augalas statusas T sritis augalininkystė apibrėžtis Augalas, kuris žydi ir dera tik vieną kartą per gyvenimą, o po to dažniausiai sunyksta. atitikmenys: angl. monocarpic plant rus. монокарпическое растение …   Žemės ūkio augalų selekcijos ir sėklininkystės terminų žodynas monocarpic — adjective Etymology: probably from New Latin *monocarpicus, from mon + carpicus carpic Date: 1849 bearing fruit but once and then dying …   New Collegiate Dictionary monocarpic — /mon euh kahr pik/, adj. Bot. producing fruit only once and then dying. [1840 50; MONOCARP + IC] * * * …   Universalium monocarpic — adjective (of a plant) That flowers and bears fruit only once before dying …   Wiktionary monocàrpic — mo|no|càr|pic Mot Pla Adjectiu variable …   Diccionari Català-Català monocarpic — adj. bearing fruit and flowering one time and then dying (Botany) mÉ‘nəʊ kÉ‘rpɪk / mÉ’nəʊ kɑːpɪk …   English contemporary dictionary monocarpic — [ˌmɒnə(ʊ) kα:pɪk] adjective Botany (of a plant) flowering only once and then dying. Origin C19: from mono + Gk karpos fruit + ic …   English new terms dictionary monocarpic — mono·car·pic …   English syllables 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”