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Mycorrhizae is a fungus that grows on the roots of plants. The mycorrhizae helps plants absorb water and nutrients more effectively in exchange for some carbohydrates from the photosynthesizing plant. There are two main types of mycorrhizae: ectomycorrhizae and endomycorrhizae. Ectomycorrhizae is characterized by its inability to penetrate the plants roots. The ectomycorrhizae sits on the oustide of the roots of woody plants to help with water and nutrient absorption. Endomycorrhizae however do penetrate the plants root systems. They form arbuscules that are able to pierce the roots of the plants to allow for a more direct exchange of materials. Because of this, endomycorrhizae are able to form on more green vegetative plants.

The main question that came up to my mind is, how does temperature impact water potential? I did some research and found that at high temperature, water potential decreases as evaporation occurs. However at low temperature, water potential becomes negative instead of increasing. As the humidity of the air surrounding the plant rises, it will make the transpiration rate to fall. This means that epidermis that has to do with plants can prevent loss of water and increase the water potential. Stomata can close at high temperature so that the plants can prevent excess water loss or to conserve water. It will open back up to naturally allow some water to evaporate out without losing it all. Plants are very interesting, I actually went to the conservatory for the first time in three years of being here today and I loved everything about it. The scent was aromatic and it was very warm in there probably to keep the plants at the temperature that it needs to be in.

I went to Morrill III building and entered the greenhouse. I was walking through the greenhouse observing the variety of plant species that surrounded me. However, my attention was drawn to a particular plant species.  It stood out form all other types of plant species. It was a red plant. I usually see my mom always buy this type of plant around Christmas time. It reminded me of family and unity. It had such a vibrant color and stood out to me from all the other plants.  I immediately decided to choose this as my figure to illustrate to others. 

Today in class, I learned about pressure and water potential and how humidity can impact water movement in plants. Learned lots of new formulas including the transpiration rate and the different potentials that occur in the plants. It was very interesting to learn that as tension of water increases, the volume of the stomata decreases. I would think that as one increases, the other will also increase but it was not true. There are so many cool facts about plants and its function and ability to go through the process of photosynthesis. I am glad I learned how water transport works in plants using its stomata and different leaf cross-sections.

The initial question presented at the beginning of the article pertains to the evolution of flight in regards to evolutionary advantage during the intermediate stages. There are two rival theories; the”tree down” hypothesis as well as the “ground up” hypothesis that support conflicting ancestral behavior that eventually transitioned to modern flight. Dial’s interpretation of his data, specifically the correlation between the WAIR facilitating movement on coarse surfaces, such as tree bark, as well as the change in the birds’ center of gravity while performing WAIR, both support the ground-up hypothesis as these qualities seem to be an escape mechanism for terrestrial birds. In addition, Dial goes on to suggest that proto-birds, such as archaeopteryx, had bone structure to support antero-posterioral movement, which is ideal for the movements necessary for WAIR utilization. Furthermore, he proposes that wing-angle adjustment used for varying levels of incline could have also been used as a tool for controlled descent and body manipulation while in mid air, which could have also contributed to the eventual evolution of flight.  

The plant that was photographed was the Blc Momilani Rainbow, otherwise known as “The Gypsy”. The plant was photographed in the Vine House of the Durfee Conservatory. The conservatory was entered from the rear entrance (opposite the street). The plant was located near the middle of the left wall of the second room. The plant was photographed from a distance a few feet away so the entire plant could be captured, as well as an up close shot that captured only the flower itself.

In the 19^th century new ideas had emerged of how the brain functions. There were two different theories at the forefront during this period. Camilo Golgi, best known for creating the Golgi stain, had theorized that the brain was circulatory network such as the heart and that neurites of different neurons were all connected. Another scientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal believed that the brain worked via contact rather than connection. He theorized that neurites of different neurons are not continuous with each other and communicate by contact. The theory that was proposed by Ramon y Cajal would be known as the Neuron Doctrine. However, his theory was not accepted until proven much later by the electron microscope, and is now universally accepted

I went to the Morrill Greenhouses from 12pm-1pm. I entered into the second collection house. I gazed through the flowers until one flower caught my eye. The flower was the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Malvaceae. I decided to photograph the flower in front. The first photograph I took was of the flower with some of the leaves. This photo was obtained by have the camera at a diagonal angle to get enough detail of the leaves and flower. The next photograph I took was of the flower up close. I took this photo at an slightly less than parallel to the flower in order to get the best detail. I took two more photos with a coin in order to show the relative size, one photo was of the whole plant with a quarter, and the second one was of the flower with a coin in view. By using a collage maker from the internet I created one figure. In the figure I also put a map with filled in countries of where the flower originated. 

My goal of obtaining a flower was to find the flower that stood out to me most.  I planned to obtain the photo during mid-day because the sun would be able to shine on the flowers. I wanted to go the Morrill Greenhouses since I pass by them almost every day. The flower that accomplished the goal is the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Malvaceae, commonly known as the “Snow Queen.” The vibrant color of a dark pink almost red stood out to me, so I decided to use this flower for my figure. These photos were taken at different angles in order to get the full plant and then a very detail picture of the flower itself.  In order to create a follow view of the flower, I used several photos including two with an object to show perspective of how big the flower actually is. After taking the photos, I will label each and include another figure of a map of where the flower originates. 

I first went to the Durfee Conservatory to find a plant to take a picture of. I chose to take pictures of the plant Camellia Japonica which was located in the first room upon entering the conservatory. The Camellia Japonica is a small tree, which was found on the right as i entered the conservatory. I identified the tree by finding a small label that read “Camellia Japonica” at the top of the box the tree was planted in. There were similar trees which had white flowers; the tree photographed was the first in the line and had pink flowers. Two pictures were taken; the first from about three feet away to get a full image of the tree. The second picture was taken from about three inches to get a close up of one of the tree’s flowers.

I then made a multi panel figure using inkscape. To make the figure, I used the two pictures taken at the conservatory and found a world map online. The three pictures were imported into inkscape. The first picture of the full tree was placed in the upper left corner. The close up of the flower was then placed in the right corner and the world map was placed below both of the taken pictures. On the world map, the fill option was selected to fill in Japan, Camellia Japonica’s country of origin. Next, f8 was pressed to use text boxes. To the left at the top corner of each picture, a text box was made. The full plant picture was labelled “A”, the close up labelled “B”, and the world map labelled “C”.