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27-525: A Banbury cake is a spiced, oval-shaped, currant -filled pastry. Since the mid-19th century, Banbury cakes have grown increasingly similar to Eccles cakes ; but the earlier versions were quite different from the modern pastry. Besides currants, the filling typically includes mixed peel, brown sugar, rum, and nutmeg. Banbury cakes are traditionally enjoyed with afternoon tea . Once made and sold exclusively in Banbury , England, Banbury cakes have been made in

54-454: A flower are collectively called the androecium . The androecium can consist of as few as one-half stamen (i.e. a single locule ) as in Canna species or as many as 3,482 stamens which have been counted in the saguaro ( Carnegiea gigantea ). The androecium in various species of plants forms a great variety of patterns, some of them highly complex. It generally surrounds the gynoecium and

81-590: A key ingredient of British cuisine for centuries, having been imported from the Mediterranean as sweet luxury goods long before cane sugar became widely available in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Alongside raisins and sultanas they feature heavily in a wide variety of traditional baked goods recipes, including fruitcake , currant buns , teacakes , Eccles cakes , Saffron cake , bread and butter pudding , spotted dick , Welsh cakes , Bara brith , Christmas pudding and mince pies . They are also

108-719: A major ingredient of currant slice (or currant square) and currant cake. Zante currants are often sold in mixtures of "mixed dried fruit". Unlike blackcurrants, Zante currants are not a significant source of vitamin C. The fresh fruit Zante raisins are made from is very small and sweet, with quite an intense flavour for a grape. Black, White and Red Corinth are often marketed under the name "Champagne grapes" in U.S. specialty stores, but they are not used for making Champagne . Along with grapes and raisins, Zante currants are nephrotoxic to dogs. This toxicity manifests as kidney failure and can be seen in relatively small doses. Anthers The stamen ( pl. : stamina or stamens )

135-445: A reddish black color. The skin is very thin, and the flesh is juicy and soft. It is practically seedless, except in an occasional large berry. When dried, the raisins weigh 0.0032–0.0049 oz (0.091–0.139 g) and are dark brown or black. Leaves are medium-sized, heart-shaped, and oblong. They are five-lobed with deep sinuses. To yield sufficient fruit, Black Corinth grapes need to be carefully managed. In ancient times, girdling

162-420: Is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium . A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament and an anther which contains microsporangia . Most commonly anthers are two-lobed (each lobe is termed a locule ) and are attached to the filament either at the base or in the middle area of the anther. The sterile tissue between

189-458: Is called appendiculate , e.g. Nerium odorum and some other species of Apocynaceae . In Nerium , the appendages are united as a staminal corona. A column formed from the fusion of multiple filaments is known as an androphore . Stamens can be connate (fused or joined in the same whorl) as follows: Anther shapes are variously described by terms such as linear , rounded , sagittate , sinuous , or reniform . The anther can be attached to

216-464: Is called a staminate flower , or (inaccurately) a male flower. A flower with a functional pistil but no functional stamens is called a pistillate flower , or (inaccurately) a female flower. An abortive or rudimentary stamen is called a staminodium or staminode , such as in Scrophularia nodosa . The carpels and stamens of orchids are fused into a column . The top part of the column

243-410: Is formed by the anther, which is covered by an anther cap . Stamens can also be adnate (fused or joined from more than one whorl): They can have different lengths from each other: or respective to the rest of the flower ( perianth ): They may be arranged in one of two different patterns: They may be arranged, with respect to the petals : Where the connective is very small, or imperceptible,

270-507: Is one of the oldest known raisins . The first written record of the grape was made in 75 AD by Pliny the Elder , who described a tiny, juicy, thin-skinned grape with small bunches. The next mention is a millennium later, when the raisins became a subject of trade between Venetian merchants and Greek producers from Ionian coasts. In the 14th century, they were sold in the English market under

297-569: Is surrounded by the perianth . A few members of the family Triuridaceae , particularly Lacandonia schismatica and Lacandonia brasiliana , along with a few species of Trithuria (family Hydatellaceae ) are exceptional in that their gynoecia surround their androecia. Depending on the species of plant, some or all of the stamens in a flower may be attached to the petals or to the floral axis . They also may be free-standing or fused to one another in many different ways, including fusion of some but not all stamens. The filaments may be fused and

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324-441: Is susceptible to numerous other diseases such as downy mildew and black rot . Greece is still the primary producer of Zante currants, amounting to about 80% of total world production, with California, South Africa and Australia sharing most of the remainder. Zante currants are usually called simply "currants", except in the U.S., and in many anglophone countries are used in traditional baked goods and puddings. They have been

351-488: The heath family ( Ericaceae ), or by valves, as in the barberry family ( Berberidaceae ). In some plants, notably members of Orchidaceae and Asclepiadoideae , the pollen remains in masses called pollinia , which are adapted to attach to particular pollinating agents such as birds or insects. More commonly, mature pollen grains separate and are dispensed by wind or water, pollinating insects, birds or other pollination vectors. Pollen of angiosperms must be transported to

378-443: The stigma , the receptive surface of the carpel , of a compatible flower, for successful pollination to occur. After arriving, the pollen grain (an immature microgametophyte) typically completes its development. It may grow a pollen tube and undergo mitosis to produce two sperm nuclei. In the typical flower (that is, in the majority of flowering plant species) each flower has both carpels and stamens . In some species, however,

405-437: The tapetum and initially contains diploid pollen mother cells. These undergo meiosis to form haploid spores. The spores may remain attached to each other in a tetrad or separate after meiosis. Each microspore then divides mitotically to form an immature microgametophyte called a pollen grain . The pollen is eventually released when the anther forms openings ( dehisces ). These may consist of longitudinal slits, pores, as in

432-603: The 17th century. These recipes generally differ greatly from the modern idea of a Banbury cake; later recipes are more similar to tarts or turnovers than cakes. An Elizabethan recipe includes flavourings such as ambergris , musk and rose water that are historically used in perfumes and would not be commonly seen in a modern preparation. Queen Victoria was presented with Banbury cakes on her journey from Osborne to Balmoral each August. The notoriously poorly run 19th-century refreshment rooms at Swindon railway station sold "Banbury cakes and pork pies (obviously stale)". In

459-716: The United States date back to 1854. The first successful vineyards of White and Red Corinth (related varieties), were established in California in 1861 by Colonel Ágoston Haraszthy . Around 1901, David Fairchild of USDA imported high-quality black currant cuttings from the Greek village of Panariti , a renowned producer, and established the first commercial crops. However, because of the higher popularity of Thompson Seedless , American production remained modest up to 1920s and 1930s, after which its popularity increased due to

486-425: The anther lobes are close together, and the connective is referred to as discrete , e.g. Euphorbia pp., Adhatoda zeylanica . Where the connective separates the anther lobes, it is called divaricate , e.g. Tilia , Justicia gendarussa . The connective may also be a long and stalk-like, crosswise on the filament, this is a distractile connective, e.g. Salvia . The connective may also bear appendages, and

513-419: The anthers free, or the filaments free and the anthers fused. Rather than there being two locules, one locule of a stamen may fail to develop, or alternatively the two locules may merge late in development to give a single locule. Extreme cases of stamen fusion occur in some species of Cyclanthera in the family Cucurbitaceae and in section Cyclanthera of genus Phyllanthus (family Euphorbiaceae ) where

540-400: The flowers are unisexual with only carpels or stamens. ( monoecious = both types of flowers found on the same plant; dioecious = the two types of flower found only on different plants). A flower with only stamens is called androecious . A flower with only carpels is called gynoecious . A pistil consists of one or more carpels. A flower with functional stamens but no functional pistil

567-739: The higher prices it could bring and improved cultivation practices such as girdling . The plantings reached 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) by 1936, and have plateaued there since. In wild grapes, the species is dioecious ; the sexes grow on separate vines with male flowers on one plant, and female flowers on another. Black Corinth is an "almost male" variety in that the flowers have well-developed anthers (male), but only tiny underdeveloped ovaries (female). Clusters of Black Corinth are small, averaging 6.3 oz (180 g) and ranging from 3.2 to 9.5 oz (91 to 269 g). They are cylindrical, with prominent shoulder or winged. The berries are very small 0.012–0.021 oz (0.34–0.60 g), round, and of

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594-528: The label Reysyns de Corauntz , and the name raisins of Corinth was recorded in the 15th century, after the Greek harbor which was the primary source of export. Gradually, the name was altered to currant . By the 17th century trade shifted towards the Ionian islands, particularly Zakynthos (Zante), resulting in the name Zante currant . The first attempts to introduce the Black Corinth cultivar in

621-566: The lobes is called the connective , an extension of the filament containing conducting strands. It can be seen as an extension on the dorsal side of the anther. A pollen grain develops from a microspore in the microsporangium and contains the male gametophyte . The size of anthers differs greatly, from a tiny fraction of a millimeter in Wolfia spp up to five inches (13 centimeters) in Canna iridiflora and Strelitzia nicolai . The stamens in

648-528: The novel by Norman Collins , London Belongs to Me , set in 1939, Connie eats a Banbury cake at Victoria Station . The journal of the Banbury Historical Society, launched in 1959, is titled Cake and Cockhorse ("cockhorse" referring to the nursery rhyme, " Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross ", another association for which the town is well known in the wider world). Notes Bibliography Zante currant The Zante currant

675-681: The region to secret recipes since 1586 and are still made there today, although not in such quantity. The cakes were once sent as far afield as Australia, the East Indies and America, normally in locally-made wickerwork baskets. They were sold at rail station refreshment rooms in England. Banbury cakes were first made by Edward Welchman, whose shop was on Parsons Street. Documented recipes were published by Gervase Markham (in The English Huswife , 1615, pages 75–76) and others during

702-427: The stamens form a ring around the gynoecium, with a single locule. Plants having a single stamen are referred to as "monandrous." A typical anther contains four microsporangia. The microsporangia form sacs or pockets ( locules ) in the anther (anther sacs or pollen sacs). The two separate locules on each side of an anther may fuse into a single locule. Each microsporangium is lined with a nutritive tissue layer called

729-451: Was a standard practice to increase the set and size of seedless grapes, until the discovery of the plant hormone gibberellic acid , and its ability to do the same thing with less labor. Historically, Black Corinth stock was probably kept for its pollen-producing abilities, so other female flowered varieties (with naturally higher yields) would set full crops. The Black Corinth cultivar is also reputed to be very prone to powdery mildew , and

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