Sliding down a slippery slope…

I recently submitted a tree photo to my [also retired] plant biology professor friend. He was stumped (no pun intended) ID’ing it and asked if I had more photos. Alas, no, and it was from Hawaii, so it wasn't a case of going back right away to get additional images. I asked what I could do to facilitate the identification process: “I haven't progressed to the point of plucking a fruit and cutting it open, but that's a possibility for the future when I have a Swiss Army knife in my pocket! …”

My friend responded that “… And yes, it does help to see the fruit in cross section and longitudinal section. This tells how many carpels there are, number and size of seeds, placentation, etc. The other thing is to get good photos of the leaf attachment. …”

So here I have brought some fruit home from a tree near home and yes, I cut open one or two … “in cross section and longitudinal section”! The things I’m going to learn in my retirement!

Remind anyone of “HiHo! Cherry-O”?

Identification — Apple or crabapple tree (the Malus genus in the Rosaceae family):
» the tree from which these came, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/paraman1/r/Rosaceae_Malus_sp_93239.html
» close-up of fruit on the tree, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/paraman1/r/Rosaceae_Malus_sp_93253.html
» cross-sectioned fruit, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/paraman1/r/Rosaceae_Malus_sp_93260.html
» longitudinal sectioned fruit, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/paraman1/r/Rosaceae_Malus_sp_93262.html

1 year ago (“Polka-dot Cactus”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-11-01
2 years ago (“Not much DOF here…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-11-01
3 years ago (“Fallen star”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-11-01

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1st November 2014 1st Nov 14