gnetophyte
- Related Topics:
- Welwitschiaceae
- Gnetaceae
- Welwitschiales
- Gnetales
- Ephedrales
gnetophyte, (division Gnetophyta), any member of the division Gnetophyta, a small group of gymnospermous vascular plants that are represented by three living genera: Ephedra, Gnetum, and Welwitschia. There are 65 species in the genus Ephedra, 30 or more in Gnetum, and only 1 in Welwitschia. The three genera exhibit great diversity in the immense variety of form and size among the various species.
General features
Most species of Ephedra are branched shrubs (or rarely small trees) while others are vinelike, often clambering over other vegetation. Species are distributed in dry and cool regions in both the Eastern and Western Hemisphere. In the Western Hemisphere Ephedra occurs in desert areas in the southwestern United States, in part of Mexico, and in a wide area in South America. In the Eastern Hemisphere a species occurs in Kashmir at an elevation of 5,300 metres (nearly 17,400 feet), the highest altitude known for any vascular plant. An Ephedra species known as ma huang has been a common medicine in China for thousands of years. The effective product, ephedrine, is prescribed as a decongestant; the drug ephedrine is now manufactured synthetically.Stem fragments of Ephedra species in the southwestern United States and in Mexico are used in a preparation known as Mormon tea, Mexican tea, or desert tea.
Most of the 30 species of Gnetum are lianas that climb high into trees of tropical rainforests in central Africa, Asia, northern South America, and islands between Australia and Asia. Some species, such as G. gnemon, are trees about 9 metres (30 feet) tall. The leaves are large, much like those of many flowering plants. The seeds are eaten cooked or roasted, and young leaves also are eaten.
The most unusual and geographically restricted gnetophyte is Welwitschia mirabilis, which is unlike any other known plant in the world. It occurs in the Namib, a desert of southwestern Africa near the coast of Angola and Namibia, as well as inland to about 150 km (more than 90 miles). The plant has only two large, permanent, arching leaves; they split, and the tips die when they touch the hot sand. Given the aridity of the Namib, where rainfall ranges from zero to 51 mm (2 inches) per year, it is not clear how the plant obtains sufficient water to meet its needs. There is a taproot that may extend downward for 1.5 metres (about 5 feet) or more before it divides into numerous thin roots, which must tap a supply of water not available to other plants of the desert.
Form and function
Stem
In Ephedra the stems have finely ridged joints, the basis for the common name joint fir. Superficially, the stems resemble those of the genus Equisetum. The leaves are arranged in pairs on the stem or in whorls of three with their bases forming a sheath around the stem at a node. The bulk of photosynthesis occurs in the green stems. Reduction in leaf surface may be related to the necessity of reducing water loss through the process of transpiration, a requirement for existence in a desert environment.
The stems of Gnetum are less remarkable, although one species produces its main leaves on short side branches (short shoots).
The stem of Welwitschia at maturity is a short broad crown, often branched into three growing points and mostly hidden by the leaves.
One of the physical features that distinguish the gnetophytes from other gymnospermous divisions is the presence of vessels in the xylem. A vessel is a longitudinal row of cells, called vessel members, which have several to many circular perforations in their end walls at maturity, providing an efficient pathway for the movement of water in the plant body. The possession of vessels is characteristic of the flowering plants (angiosperms) as well, and has led to speculation that gnetophytes, especially Gnetum, may have been close to the ancestral stock of some angiosperms.
Leaves
The leaves of Ephedra, Gnetum, and Welwitschia are strikingly different in form and venation and provide morphological characters that are definitive for each of the genera.
The leaves of most Ephedra species are reduced or scalelike, although in some species they may grow to 3 cm (1.2 inches) in length. The leaves of most species have two primary veins, which are connected to two axial stem vascular bundles.
The leaves of Gnetum resemble those of the angiosperms (the flowering plants) in form, structure, and venation. Two leaves at a node are broad and have a pinnate venation system (one midvein with lateral secondary veins that run to the leaf margin) and a meshwork of smaller veins. Older stems become hard by the production of wood (secondary xylem).
A conspicuous vegetative feature of Welwitschia is the presence of two large permanent leaves. When a seed germinates, two seed leaves (cotyledons) emerge, followed by the production of the two permanent leaves. There are also two inconspicuous scalelike leaves that overtop the stem tip. Soon after the development of the main two leaves, growth activity shifts away from the tip of the stem (the apical meristem) to the bases of the two permanent leaves. Growth in this region takes place in a meristematic zone, which adds tissue at the base of each leaf. This development results in a bilobed crown and later to a circular concave disk surmounted by a band of meristematic tissue, which continues to contribute new tissue to the two large leaves. Thus, growth in Welwitschia has shifted from developing height to developing the two leaves outward. The leaves are perpetuated by the basal meristem at the rate of 8 to 15 cm (3 to 6 inches) per year. The leaves become split and frayed in old plants. A leaf of one giant was reported to have an unbroken width of 1.8 metres (6 feet) and a length of 6.2 metres (20 feet), of which 3.7 metres (12 feet) were of living tissue. Some plants are estimated to be 1,500 to 2,000 years old.
It is not known for certain how a plant with gigantic leaves such as Welwitschia can exist in a desert and carry on photosynthesis if the pores (stomata) of a leaf remain open during the heat of the day. There are also about 100 days of brief morning fog. Water accumulates on the leaves and is thought to enter them, although the process has never been proved. More recently, CO2 has been shown to be taken up during the daylight hours through open stomata, leading to a tremendous loss of water by transpiration for the purpose of cooling the leaf surface.