BIOL111 - Myriam's Tuesday group's Boletim

The phylogeny placement of Butternut begins at all life then to Eukaryotes, Plants, Pentapetalae, Fagales, and then Walnuts. The most common ancestor to Butternut includes 3 species, Japanese Walnut, Butternut, and Manchurian Walnut.
One adaptation that all of the observations have in common is that all the species have broad leaves rather than needle leaves. All the species have adapted to have a greater surface area on the leaf in order to absorb more sunlight for the process of photosynthesis.
One unique adaptation of the Butternut tree is that it produces a fruit which is a lemon-shaped nut. The nuts produce in bunches of two to six and are surrounded by a green husk until they reach maturity.

The phylogeny of the common silverweed begins at eukaryotes, then plants, eudicots, pentapetalae, the rose family, potenilleae and finally the genus of argentina or potentilla.
One adaptation of the common silverweed is that it grows in cracks in the rocks and has thick roots to keep itself safe from predatory beaks. It can also spread rapidly due to its roots as they curve toward the ground and find a moist spot, forming an upright stem, resulting in a separate plant.
Both trees and plants have adapted to withstand the cold weather. Some trees lose their leaves to manage the lack water, while plants will keep their leaves to insulate themselves.

Cornus sericea, one of my observations, locates very deeply on the
phylogenetic tree. It is in the eulkaryota branch, and finally be assigned
to cornaceae. One adaptation that all observations of leaves have in common
is the color of them. All of the leaves samples in my group are green, or at
least part of them are green. None of the sample is totally yellow. In my
observations, larix has the most special leaf shape: needle.The needle
shaped leaves can help it to store more water.

Brambles (genus Rubus) are a group of flowering and/or ruit bearing plants, which often have thorns protruding from their thin woody stems. On the OneZoom phylogenetic tree, they fall on the Rose family” branch. Some common brambles include the Bakeapple, Black raspberries, Purpleflowering raspberries, Salmonberries, the Japanese wineberry, and the Western thimbleberry.

In terms of adaptations, while the all of the plants in the Rubus family each have their own speficic characteristics which evolved through natural selection, as the plants of this family are all inter-connected (through the rose family), they will inherently share aspects of their adaptations with one another. For example, most plants of the Rubus family produce what is commonly called the “bramble fruit” (blackberries, raspberries, and dewberries are all examples of bramble fruit). Plants of the Rubus family maintain their existence through the production of their fruit, as they maintain a symbiotic relationship with the animals around them with the aim of propagating seed dispersal.

With reference to all 10 of my observations, a shared adaptation amongst the plants of Mount Royal would relate to surface water erosion. Water erosion causes the detachment of soil (and soil material), which can uproot and disrupt plant life. With the effort of maintaining their survival, all of my observed plants would have needed to (/ would be in the process of) evolve to have stronger and longer roots, which would help combat the effects of displacement due to water erosion. This type of evolution would also work to further all of my observed plants’ genealogy through soil domination.

One of my observed species was the Arctium minus, or the Common Burdock. The phylogeny for the Common Burdock starts at Eukaryotes, then plants, then the order Asterales, then the family Asteraceae, and then the genus Arctium. The Arctium genus consists of differing species of Burdocks, which are native to Asia and Europe, but have spread across the world, including to North America.

All of the plants I observed have flat leaves, and the majority of the leaves have a broad surface area. Flat leaves help plants retain water, and broad leaves allow the most sunlight possible to be consumed by the plant, which is vital for life. Most of the plants I observed were shrubs and weeds that grow close to the ground, in an area with many taller plants and trees that block sunlight and create competition for water. The plants I observed adapted through the shape of their leaves to collect and retain as many nutrients as possible.

Burdock plants themselves have a unique adaptation. All plants in the genus Arctium have burrs, which have a hook and loop mechanism to attach to other organisms. This works well for spreading seeds, as burrs become attached to other organisms which then carry the burr with them.