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Chaparral [ Ecology  ]

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Also known with the local names of Chaparral (California); Maquis (Mediterranean), Mattoral (Chile), Mallee Scrub (Australia), Fynbos (South Africa)
     
  The chaparral  is a plant biome characteristic of the regions with Mediterranean type climates.  
     
The chaparral is a biome found in small sections of most continents located in bands between 30 and 40 degrees N and 30 and 40 degrees S of the equator. It is a shrubby coastal area that has hot dry summers at 40 °C and mild, cool, winters (usually about 10 °C.), This makes fires and droughts very common, most of the rain in this biome comes in the winter. The total annual rainfall in a chaparral ranges from 38-100 cm per year..
The word chaparral comes from "chaparro," which means scrub oak in Spanish. Chaparrals are also called Mediterranean scrub, shrublands, or scrublands. It is also called the Mediterranean Forest, Woodland, and Scrub biome. The chaparral biome has many different types of terrain. Some examples are flat plains, rocky hills and mountain slopes.
It is a community of  drought tolerant plants (xerophytes) dominated by dense shrubs  with leathery leaves or needles; the shrubs are interspersed with some woodland. Most of the plants have small, hard leaves which hold moisture. The plants are also very well adapted to fires. Plants in the chaparral often have root systems designed to get as much water as possible.

Mattoral espinoso tamaulipecoMattoral Espinoso TamaulipecoUsually the particular Mattoral from a specific area take the name of the area of origin.
For example  the Mattoral Espinoso Tamaulipense (on the photos ) is a type of vegetation existing in Tamaulipas and extending to the northern Nuevo León, Coahuila,  and southern Texas.
     

 


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Holdfast roots  [ Botany  ]

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

 
     
  Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.  
     
Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans),  develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994
   

 

 

 

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