Re: [Aroid-l] Chirality

From: "Tom Croat" <Thomas.Croat at mobot.org> on 2011.10.25 at 17:59:25(22231) Dear Ted: I was once convinced that the direction of opening was important but a big survey we did with the way leaves opened proved that this appears to be perhaps totally at random. Tom +More -----Original Message----- From: aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Theodore Held Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 12:46 PM To: Discussion of aroids Subject: [Aroid-l] Chirality Dear List, Attached here (with luck) is a picture I made of a pair of blooms from a Cryptocoryne griffithi (identity confirmed by Peter Boyce at the recent IAS show). What's interesting to me is that the outer spathe tip (called the flag for Crypts) of the plants twists to the left for one and to the right for the other. These plants are vegetative kin. I have also seen the pairing of left-handed and right-handed inflorescences on Cryptocoryne pontederifolia. Has anyone ever noticed mirror-image flower forms like this with any other aroids? In chemistry differences involving only mirror images are referred to as chiral isomers and originate with subtle molecular-level geometry. In normal life this is called "handedness." In a plant bloom, the differences may display as macroscopic phenomena, but likely originate with early development, also perhaps on a molecular level. Please enlighten me if anyone knows about this oddity. Ted Held. _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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