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A Garden of Marvels

Page 31

by Ruth Kassinger


  manure and, 123

  miscanthus and, 233

  nickel in, 122

  nitrogen in, 135

  nutrients in, 125

  and perennial versus annual wheat crops, 135, 137, 147

  petunias and, 310

  slow-release, 113–14, 343

  synthetic, 108n

  fire, 235

  flies: as pollinators, 295

  Florida

  arsenic contamination in, 132

  restrictions on shipment of citrus trees in, 8–10, 317

  flowering plants

  for Amy’s wedding, 244–45

  breeding of, 285–86

  color of, 273–81

  first, 224

  importance of insects to, 295

  Ingen-Housz experiments and, 187

  night-blooming, 295

  as polyploids, 286

  purpose of, 277, 282–89

  sex among, 247–56, 257, 266–70, 271–81, 293–97, 305–14

  and time of flowering, 334

  See also type of flowers or specific topic

  Forest Service, U.S., 131

  forests, 109, 214, 217

  fragrance

  biochemistry of, 306–14

  color and, 311

  evolution of, 289

  fruit and, 307

  of petunias, 273, 306–14

  and pollination of flowers, 295, 303, 307

  purpose of, 289, 307

  of roses, 307

  sex and, 305–14

  Frank, Albert Bernhard, 115–16, 117

  Franklin, Benjamin, 177, 186

  Friedman, William, 283

  frogs: Spallanzani’s study of aquatic green, 264–66

  frost: plants and, 15

  fruit

  of angiosperms, 287, 288, 295n

  color of, 307

  fragrance and, 307

  Ingen-Housz experiments and, 187

  plant sex and, 267

  and purpose of flowering plants, 296

  purpose of, 307

  timing for, 334

  fruit cocktail tree

  apical dominance in, 335–36

  Dorothy as name for, 324

  evolution of, 336

  fertilizers for, 325

  Good’s care of, 318, 321–26

  grafting of, 5–6, 7–8, 10–12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 31

  Kassinger picks up, 323–24

  Kassinger’s interest in acquiring an, 4, 5–8

  nutrients for, 337

  progress of, 317–18

  restrictions on shipping, 8–10, 317

  Spann’s recommendation for caring for, 336–38

  spider mites on, 325–26

  watering of, 321–23, 324–25, 337

  fungi, 110, 114–18, 209

  Galen, 51, 54, 55, 55n, 56, 57, 63

  Galileo, 40, 48

  Garden of Eden, 20

  Gärtner, Karl Friedrich von, 268

  Gates (Bill and Melinda) Foundation, 341

  Geiger, Peter, 154

  genes

  and breeding petunias, 279–80, 281

  of diploids, 285–86

  of flowering plants, 285–86

  of gymnosperms, 286–87

  lateral transfers of, 208

  for making leaves and branches, 212

  redundancy of, 286

  sequencing of, 207n

  See also genetic engineering; mutations

  genetic engineering, 308–11, 339–40, 342

  gingko trees, 284–85, 286–87

  glucose, 195, 198

  gnats: as pollinators, 295

  Good, Alice (mother)

  and care of cocktail tree, 318, 321–26

  as gifted, 318–20

  sailing interests of, 320–21

  Good, Joanie (sister), 320, 321

  Gould, John, 292

  grafting

  of citrus trees, 6, 7, 10–12, 13, 14

  of fruit cocktail tree, 5–6, 7–8, 10–12, 13, 14, 16, 17

  Pliny the Elder’s views about, 31

  Theophrastus’s views about, 24

  wild, 17

  grass

  energy storage in, 141

  evolution of wild, 148, 235–37

  fire and, 235

  as garden marvel, 344

  photosynthesis and, 236–37

  phototropism and, 333

  pollination of, 277

  super-, 236

  See also type of grass

  Great Chain of Being, 90, 92

  Great Plains: plants on, 135, 136

  “green matter,” 182, 187

  green petunias, 277, 278, 279, 281

  greenhouse effect, 213

  greenhouse gas, 223

  greenhouses

  commercial, 275–78

  technology for, 227–35

  “the greening” disease, 8–10

  Grew, Nehemiah, 61–66, 67, 68, 70–71, 92–93, 101, 106, 170, 171, 248–49, 270

  growth, plant, 28–29, 68, 70–71, 191

  Guericke, Otton von, 44

  gymnosperms

  Amborella trichopoda as link between angiosperms and, 283

  as diploids, 285–86

  evolution of angiosperms from, 283, 284–89

  gender in, 286–87

  as monoecious, 284–85

  pollination/reproduction of, 221, 288

  and purpose of flowers, 282

  seeds of, 221

  See also specific gymnosperm

  Haber, Fritz, 108n

  Hales, Stephen, 93–102, 106, 171, 180

  Hamlin orange trees, 7, 8, 10–12, 317n, 323–24

  Harrison, Joseph, 274

  Harvey, William, 57, 91, 258

  hawk moth, 273

  Helianthus. See sunflowers

  heliotropism. See phototropism

  Henslow, John Stevens, 291, 292, 293

  herbicides, 334–35

  hermaphrodite plants, 251, 266, 267, 285, 287, 293, 294, 295–96

  hickory trees, 104–11, 218

  Hippocrates, 55, 56

  Hooke, Robert

  as Boyle employee, 43–44, 46

  Busby and, 42–43

  inventions of, 49–50

  microscopes and, 41, 42–43, 46–48, 50, 260

  at Oxford University, 43

  Royal Society and, 45, 46, 47–49, 50, 59

  scotoscope of, 47

  at Westminster School, 42–43

  horsetail (Equisetum), 214–15, 251–52

  Hu, David, 86

  humans

  analogy of plants and, 90–91

  digestion in, 90–91

  photosynthesis and, 200–202

  Humboldt, Alexander von, 292

  “humors,” 56

  Huxley, Thomas, 299

  Huygens, Christiaan, 46

  hybrids, 267–68, 270, 273, 274, 297, 310

  hydrogen, 125, 178, 191, 197, 198, 204, 217

  hyperaccumulators, 124–32

  illness: cause of, 56

  inbreeding, 274, 332

  Indonesia: nickel farming in, 130

  Ingen-Housz, Jan, 183–88

  inoculations, smallpox, 184–86

  insects

  anatomy/dissection of, 58–60

  flowers and, 247, 289

  flytraps and, 330

  importance of, 295

  Malpighi’s studies of, 58–60

  as pollinators, 288, 289, 294–95, 298, 299–300, 301, 302

  and sundew plants, 328

  tongues of, 300

  See also type of insect

  Institute of Zoology, Vienna, 303

  International Nickel Company, 129

  International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), 340, 341

  Invention Convention (science fair), 166–67

  inventions, Kassinger’s interest in, 166–68

  iron, 125, 127, 203, 204, 206

  irrigation: perennial versus annual plants and, 135, 147

  Jardin du Roi (Paris), 252–56r />
  John (Kassinger’s friend), marriage of, 243–45

  Joule Unlimited, 342

  Jussieu, Antoine de, 252, 254, 255

  Kaesuk Yoon, Carol, 32n

  Kassinger, Alice (daughter), 75, 165, 167, 218

  Kassinger, Anna (daughter), 75, 165, 166–67, 218

  Kassinger, Austen (daughter), 75, 165

  Kassinger, Ruth

  career choices of, 163–66

  childhood and youth of, 318–19, 320–21

  citrus collection of, 4–5, 246

  conservatory plants of, 246–47, 343–44

  dracaena plants of, 342–43

  education of, 33–40

  ice-carving birthday party for, 319

  as interested in inventions, 166–68

  kumquat trees of, 335–36, 343

  as parent, 165

  trees near home of, 75–78

  writings of, 167

  Kassinger, Ted

  and anthurium plants, 247

  crape myrtle of, 336

  at Damariscotta pumpkin celebration, 149–50, 153–54

  and flashlight for reading in bed invention, 166

  and Ruth’s career choice, 165

  sunflowers of, 141–42

  King, Edmund, 46

  Kirin Brewing Company, 275

  KNOX genes, 213

  Kölreuter, Josef Gottlieb, 266–68, 294, 295

  Kourik, Robert, 109

  kumquat trees, 335–36, 343

  Laënnec, René, 167n

  Land Institute (Salina, Kansas), 135, 146, 147, 148. See also Van Tassel, David

  Langevin, Don, 83, 84–85, 157

  Lavoisier, Antoine, 188–89, 189n, 268

  leaves

  anthocyanin pigments in, 314

  apical dominance in, 335–36

  Aristotle’s views about, 169

  and circulation in plants, 92, 100–101

  climbing plants and, 328

  dwarfed, 111

  environmental benefits of, 238

  and evolution of earth, 203–17

  evolution of, 203–17, 286

  of flowering plants, 224, 286

  of fruit cocktail tree, 325, 326, 335–36, 337

  function/purpose of, 85, 169–71

  as garden marvel, 344

  genes for, 212, 213

  Grew’s views about, 171

  Hales’s views about, 171

  Ingen-Housz’s experiments with, 187–88

  Malpighi’s views about, 170–71

  mutations of, 213

  nectar and, 289

  nickel in, 124, 128, 130–31

  nutrients for, 111, 125

  phytohormones and, 334

  plant sex and, 250, 267

  RuBisCO gene and, 236

  Senebier’s experiments with, 188, 189

  senescence of, 187

  Theophrastus’s views about, 25, 28

  time of dropping, 334

  See also photosynthesis; specific plant or tree

  Leclerc, Georges-Louis, 262

  Leeuwenhoek, Antonie von, 259–60

  leguminous plants, 108

  Leyland, Christopher, 225, 226

  Leyland cypress trees, 218, 219–26, 239

  light

  energy and, 239

  and evolution of earth, 204

  flowering plants and, 224

  importance to air of, 182

  Ingen-Housz’s experiments with, 187–88

  intensity and duration of, 187, 188

  Lavoisier’s experiments with, 189

  and symbiosis of eukaryotes and cyanobacteria, 208

  tracheophytes and, 210

  See also photosynthesis; phototropism; sun

  “liners,” 6–7

  Linnaeus, Carl, 256, 267

  liverwort, 117, 170, 209

  Logee’s Greenhouses (Danielson, Connecticut), 4, 5

  Long, Stephen, 233, 237

  Lower, Richard, 46

  Ma, Lena Q., 132

  maggots, 262

  magnesium, 125, 129–30, 212–13

  Maine Maritime Museum, 151

  maize, 251, 341

  Malpighi, Bartolommeo, 58, 68

  Malpighi, Marcello, 51–60, 61, 65, 67, 70, 71, 91–92, 93, 97, 101, 106, 170–71, 249

  mammals: evolution of large, 235

  manganese, 125, 206

  manure, 87, 123, 287

  Maria Theresa (empress of Holy Roman Empire), 184–85

  “Mary Garden,” 248

  medicine

  influence of Catholicism on, 55, 55n

  treatments for, 63

  unlicensed practitioners of, 63–64

  See also anatomy/dissection; specific person

  meiosis, 207n

  Mendel, Gregor, 268, 270, 278–80

  meristem tissue, 88, 333–34, 335, 336, 342

  metals, 21-22, 123

  methane, 204, 223

  MIC gene, 280

  microburst storms, 75–77

  microorganisms, 212, 260, 262–64

  microscopes

  criticisms of, 49n, 57

  Hooke and, 41, 42–43, 46–48, 49n, 50, 260

  Kassinger’s education and, 38–40

  of Leeuwenhoek, 259–60

  limitations of, 71

  Malpighi’s work with, 53–54, 56–57, 71

  optics improvement in, 42

  of Priestley, 175

  Shadwell’s comments about, 49n

  and studies of reproduction, 268–69

  University of Notre Dame collection of, 39–40

  uses for, 41

  minerals, 87, 110, 191, 212, 343. See also specific mineral

  Mini, Paolo, 54, 57

  mint plan, 180–81

  Mirkov, Erik, 317n

  miscanthus, 232–35, 236, 237, 238–39

  “Mitchell Diploid” petunias, 306, 307, 308

  mitosis, 206, 207n

  mixotrophs, 23n

  monoecious plants, 251, 284–85

  Moray, Robert, 45

  Morgan, Elroy, 154

  Morland, Samuel, 261

  Morton, A. G., 251

  moss, 22, 209, 215, 251–52

  moths, 300, 301

  mucigel, 106, 107

  mulberry trees: Camerer experiments with, 251

  mutations, 213, 274, 278, 281, 285–86, 289, 293

  mycelia, 116

  mycorrhizae, 114–15, 116–17, 118, 133, 137, 158, 212, 289, 343

  NADPH, 197, 198

  natural selection theory, 293, 300, 304

  Nature Conservancy, 131

  Naylor, John, 225–26

  nectar, 288–89, 295, 296, 300, 302, 329–30

  Needham, John Turberville, 262–63

  New York Botanical Gardens: pumpkin at, 82–83

  Newton, Isaac, 94, 95, 173

  nickel, 122–25, 126–32

  Nicolaus of Damascus, 29

  night-blooming plants, 295

  nitrate, 137

  nitrogen, 107–8, 108n, 123, 125, 135, 137, 327–28, 330, 344

  nitrogen-fixing bacteria, 107, 108, 108n

  nonwoody plants

  anatomy of, 66–67

  circulation in, 92

  Nootka cypress trees, 225–26

  Norfolk Island pine, 221, 222

  nutrients

  as essential for all plants, 125

  eukaryotes and, 209

  evolution of earth and, 217

  for flowering plants, 125, 224

  for fruit cocktail tree, 337

  fungi and, 117

  for leaves, 111, 238

  macro-, 125

  micro-, 125

  miscanthus and, 233, 239

  and perennial versus annual wheat crops, 137

  for roots, 109, 110, 111, 125, 126–27, 343

  selection of, 126–27

  in soil, 114, 125–27

  tomatoes and, 228

  in water, 125–26

  water-soluble, 125–26

  See also specific
nutrient

  oak trees, 344

  oats, 332–33

  oil

  from algae, 341–42

  photosynthesis and, 344

  oilseeds, 141, 198, 341

  Oldenburg, Henry, 45, 58, 59, 61, 64

  On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 270, 290, 297–98, 330–31

  orchids, 295, 298–300, 301, 302–4, 305

  Oregon: nickel farming in, 130–31

  Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), 131

  osmosis, 110, 126

  ovaries

  Camerer’s studies and, 249

  Grew’s studies and, 66

  and how of reproduction, 257, 258, 273

  in plants, 287–88, 295n, 296

  See also “ovist” theory

  “ovist” theory, 259, 260, 261, 265, 269–70

  oxidation, 189, 189n, 198, 206

  oxygen

  cyanobacteria and, 205–6, 207, 208

  as essential for all plants, 125, 191–92, 215

  evolution of earth and, 204, 206, 215, 217

  as important to animals, 215

  Ingen-Housz’s studies and, 188

  Lavoisier’s experiments with, 188–89

  phlogiston principle and, 181, 182, 187, 188

  Priestley’s studies and, 181, 187

  roots and, 110

  RuBisCO gene and, 236, 237

  Saussure’s experiments and, 191

  Senebier’s experiments with, 189

  and symbiosis of eukaryotes and cyanobacteria, 207, 208

  in water, 191–92

  See also oxidation; photosynthesis

  ozone, 205, 206

  Paltroni, Giovanni Carlo Lanzi, 54, 57–58, 60

  Paracelsus, 170

  parenchyma tissue, 66–67, 70, 92, 93, 107, 126, 198

  Parkinson, John, 20

  parthenogenetical reproduction, 261, 266

  Pasteur, Louis, 263n

  Pavord, Anna, 32n

  pea plants, 249–50, 278–79, 295n, 302, 328

  peanuts, 198, 295n

  pecan trees, 128

  Pecquet, Jean, 91

  Pepys, Samuel, 41, 42, 49

  perennial plants

  annual plants compared with, 135–48

  See also type of plant

  Perrault, Claude, 92

  pesticides/insecticides, 127, 132

  petals

  in Amborella trichopoda, 285

  Darwin’s studies and, 293, 299

  evolution of, 286, 289

  of flowering plants, 285, 286, 289, 299

  on petunias, 271–72, 274, 278, 280

  plant sex and, 256, 277

  Petunia axillaris, 273–74, 279

  Petunia hybrida, 273

  Petunia integrifolia, 273–74, 279

  petunias

  at Ball Horticultural Company, 271–72, 275–78

  black, 272, 277, 280–81, 311, 344

  breeding of, 273–81, 305, 306–14

  Clark’s work with, 305, 306–14

  fragrance of, 273, 306–14

  garden, 273, 274, 306

  green, 277, 278, 279, 281

  hybrids of, 273, 274

  petals on, 271–72, 274, 278, 280

  photosynthesis and, 278

 

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