Misplaced Pages

#831168

57-401: Cyperus papyrus , better known by the common names papyrus , papyrus sedge , paper reed , Indian matting plant , or Nile grass , is a species of aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae . It is a tender herbaceous perennial , native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water. Papyrus sedge (and its close relatives) has

114-484: A 7000-year-old seagoing boat found at the archaeological site of H3 , Kuwait. The ancient Egyptians built boats from papyrus reeds, which were widely cultivated along the Nile River and Delta. This reed was also used for many other purposes, especially for providing papyrus writing parchments. Other reeds of the genus Cyperus may have been used as well. Theophrastus in his History of Plants states that

171-701: A better appreciation of the construction and capabilities of reed boats. Heyerdahl wanted to demonstrate that ancient Mediterranean or African people could have crossed the Atlantic and reached the Americas by sailing with the Canary Current . In 1969, Heyerdahl constructed his first reed boat, the Ra , named after Ra , the Egyptian sun god. Its design was based on ancient Egyptian models and drawings. The boat

228-734: A comprehensive overview of alien aquatic plants in 46 European countries found 96 alien aquatic species. The aliens were primarily native to North America, Asia, and South America. The most spread alien plant in Europe was Elodea canadensis (Found in 41 European countries) followed by Azolla filiculoides in 25 countries and Vallisneria spiralis in 22 countries. The countries with the most recorded alien aquatic plant species were France and Italy with 30 species followed by Germany with 27 species, and Belgium and Hungary with 26 species. The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization has published recommendations to European nations advocating

285-417: A food source. Examples include wild rice ( Zizania ), water caltrop ( Trapa natans ), Chinese water chestnut ( Eleocharis dulcis ), Indian lotus ( Nelumbo nucifera ), water spinach ( Ipomoea aquatica ), prickly waterlily ( Euryale ferox ), and watercress ( Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum ). A decline in a macrophyte community may indicate water quality problems and changes in the ecological status of

342-503: A lack of pressure that terrestrial plants experience. Green algae are also known to have extremely thin cell walls due to their aquatic surroundings, and research has shown that green algae is the closest ancestor to living terrestrial and aquatic plants. Terrestrial plants have rigid cell walls meant for withstanding harsh weather, as well as keeping the plant upright as the plant resists gravity. Gravitropism, along with phototropism and hydrotropism, are traits believed to have evolved during

399-901: A reed boat are 7000 years old, found in Kuwait . Reed boats are depicted in early petroglyphs and were common in ancient Egypt. A well-known example from the Book of Exodus is the ark of bulrushes in which the baby Moses was set afloat. They were also constructed from early times in Peru and Bolivia , and boats with remarkably similar design have been found in Easter Island and also New Zealand where they were made by indigenous Māori . Reed boats are still used in Peru, Bolivia, Ethiopia , and until recently in Corfu . The explorations and investigations of

456-456: A side in width. It forms a grass-like clump of triangular green stems that rise up from thick, woody rhizomes . Each stem is topped by a dense cluster of thin, bright green, thread-like rays around 10 to 30 cm (4 to 10 in) in length, resembling a feather duster when the plant is young. Greenish-brown flower clusters eventually appear at the ends of the rays, giving way to brown, nut-like fruits . Although no leaves are apparent above

513-576: A town on the Bolivian side of lake Titicaca, helped Thor Heyerdahl construct Ra II and Tigris . Thor Heyerdahl attempted to prove that the reed boats of Lake Titicaca derived from the papyrus boats of Egypt. Near the south-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca lie the ruins of the ancient city state of Tiwanaku . Tiwanaku contains monumental architecture characterized by large stones of exceptional workmanship. Green andesite stones, that were used to create elaborate carvings and monoliths, originated from

570-472: A very long history of use by humans, notably by the Ancient Egyptians (as it is the source of papyrus paper, one of the first types of paper ever made). Parts of the plant can be eaten, and the highly buoyant stems can be made into boats. It is now often cultivated as an ornamental plant . In nature, it grows in full sun, in flooded swamps, and on lake margins throughout Africa, Madagascar, and

627-512: Is by wind, not insects, and the mature fruits after release are distributed by water. Papyrus is a C4 sedge that forms highly productive monotypic stands over large areas of wetland in Africa. The papyrus plant is relatively easy to grow from seed, though in Egypt, it is more common to split the rootstock , and grows quite fast once established. Extremely moist soil or roots sunken in the water

SECTION 10

#1732766115832

684-410: Is complete, the plant descends through the water column and the roots atrophy. In floating aquatic angiosperms, the leaves have evolved to only have stomata on the top surface to make use of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Gas exchange primarily occurs through the top surface of the leaf due to the position of the stomata, and the stomata are in a permanently open state. Due to their aquatic surroundings,

741-667: Is frequently saturated , and are therefore a common component of swamps and marshlands . One of the largest aquatic plants in the world is the Bolivian waterlily , which holds the Guinness World Record of having the largest undivided leaf at 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) diameter; the smallest is the rootless duckweed , which is only 1 mm (0.039 in) across. Many small animals use aquatic plants such as duckweeds and lily pads for spawning or as protective shelters against predators both from above and below

798-631: Is preferred and the plant can flower all year long. Vegetative propagation is the suggested process of creating new plants. It is done by splitting the rhizomes into small groups and planting normally. It can reach heights of up to 16 feet tall. C. papyrus is considered to be hardy in USDA hardiness zones 9 and 10. C. papyrus and the dwarf cultivar C. papyrus 'Nanus' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society 's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017). In Ancient Egypt, papyrus

855-482: Is supported by the evidence that several of the earliest known fossil angiosperms were aquatic. Aquatic plants are phylogenetically well dispersed across the angiosperms , with at least 50 independent origins, although they comprise less than 2% of the angiosperm species. Archaefructus represents one of the oldest, most complete angiosperm fossils which is around 125 million years old. These plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water or floating at

912-807: The Bible , when the Pharaoh issued a decree to kill all the Israelite males, the baby Moses was saved by his mother, who set him adrift on the Nile in an ark of bulrushes . The bulrushes this small boat or basket was built with may have been papyrus. The prophet Isaiah refers to Ethiopian vessels of reed in Isaiah 18:2 . In more recent years, the explorations and investigations of the Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl , 1914–2002, have resulted in

969-622: The Gobustan Petroglyph Reserve there are more than 6,000 petroglyphs carved by the hunter-gatherers that lived in these caves 12,000 years ago. At that time the Caspian Sea was much higher and washed against the lower rocks of the hill. Another site is Wadi Hammamat in Qift , Egypt, where there are drawings of Egyptian reed boats dated to 4000 BC The oldest known remnants of a boat made with reeds (and tar) are from

1026-1137: The Indus Valley civilization , now modern-day Pakistan. Tigris was constructed in Iraq and sailed along the Persian Gulf , then to Pakistan, finally entering the Red Sea . She remained at sea in a seaworthy manner for five months. Then in Djibouti , Tigris was burnt deliberately in protest at the wars that were then raging everywhere around the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa . Totora reeds grow in South America , particularly around Lake Titicaca , and also on Easter Island . These reeds have been used by various pre-Columbian South American civilizations to build reed boats. The boats, called balsa , vary in size from small fishing canoes to thirty metres long. They are still used on Lake Titicaca , located on

1083-823: The Okavango Delta use small sections of the stem as floats for their nets. Papyrus can be found in tropical rain forests, tolerating annual temperatures of 20 to 30 °C (68 to 86 °F) and a soil pH of 6.0 to 8.5. It flowers in late summer, and prefers full sun to partly shady conditions. Like most tropical plants, it is sensitive to frost. In the United States, it has become invasive in Florida and has escaped from cultivation in Louisiana , California , and Hawaii . Papyrus sedge forms vast stands in swamps, shallow lakes, and along stream banks throughout

1140-683: The Mediterranean countries. It has been introduced outside its range to tropical regions worldwide (such as the Indian subcontinent, South America, and the Caribbean). This tall, robust aquatic plant can grow 4 to 5 m (13 to 16 ft) high, but on the margins of high altitude lakes such as Lake Naivasha in Kenya and Lake Tana in Ethiopia, at altitudes around 6,000 feet (1,800 m)

1197-538: The Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl have resulted in a better understanding of the construction and capabilities of reed boats. The image on the right shows petroglyphs of a reed boat and men. The reed boat is similar to those depicted in cave paintings in Scandinavia, something that led Thor Heyerdahl to theorise that the Scandinavians came from the area that today is Azerbaijan . In

SECTION 20

#1732766115832

1254-525: The border of Peru and Bolivia , 3810 m above sea level. The Uros are an indigenous people pre-dating the Incas . They live, still today, on man-made floating islands scattered across Lake Titicaca . These islands are also constructed from totora reeds. Each floating island supports between three and ten houses, also built of reeds. The Uros still build totora reed boats, which they use for fishing and hunting seabirds. Reed boat craftsmen from Suriqui,

1311-692: The building of another similar boat, the Ra II . Boat builders from Lake Titicaca built this in Bolivia . Again, the vessel set sail from Morocco, succeeding this time and reaching Barbados . In 1978, Heyerdahl constructed a third reed boat, the Tigris , named for the Tigris River , which defines the eastern boundary of Mesopotamia. The purpose of building this vessel was to demonstrate that Mesopotamia could have been linked through trade and migration to

1368-507: The distribution of aquatic plants is the availability of water. However, other abiotic factors may also control their distribution including nutrient availability, availability of carbon dioxide and oxygen, water temperature, characteristics of the substrate, water transparency, water movement, and salinity. Some aquatic plants are able to thrive in brackish, saline, and salt water . Also biotic factors like grazing, competition for light, colonization by fungi, and allelopathy are influencing

1425-478: The gods in gratitude. The pith of young shoots was eaten both cooked and raw. Its woody root made bowls and other utensils and was burned for fuel. From the stems were made reed boats (seen in bas-reliefs of the Fourth Dynasty showing men cutting papyrus to build a boat; similar boats are still made in southern Sudan ), sails, mats, cloth, cordage, and sandals. Theophrastus states that King Antigonus made

1482-479: The important functions performed by macrophyte is uptake of dissolved nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus. Macrophytes are widely used in constructed wetlands around the world to remove excess N and P from polluted water. Beside direct nutrient uptake, macrophytes indirectly influence nutrient cycling , especially N cycling through influencing the denitrifying bacterial functional groups that are inhabiting on roots and shoots of macrophytes. Macrophytes promote

1539-647: The leaves can photosynthesize more efficiently in air and competition from submerged plants but often, the main aerial feature is the flower and the related reproductive process. The emergent habit permits pollination by wind or by flying insects . There are many species of emergent plants, among them, the reed ( Phragmites ), Cyperus papyrus , Typha species, flowering rush and wild rice species. Some species, such as purple loosestrife , may grow in water as emergent plants but they are capable of flourishing in fens or simply in damp ground. Submerged macrophytes completely grow under water with roots attached to

1596-429: The leaves on the plant that grew while above water, along with oxygen levels being higher in the portion of the plant grown underwater versus the sections that grew in their terrestrial environment. This is considered a form of phenotypic plasticity as the plant, once submerged, experiences changes in morphology better suited to their new aquatic environment. However, while some terrestrial plants may be able to adapt in

1653-430: The leaves' thickness, shape and density and are the main factor responsible for the greatly reduced rate of gaseous transport across the leaf/water boundary and therefore greatly inhibit transport of carbon dioxide. To overcome this limitation, many aquatic plants have evolved to metabolise bicarbonate ions as a source of carbon. Environmental variables affect the instantaneous photosynthetic rates of aquatic plants and

1710-474: The occurrence of macrophytes. Aquatic plants have adapted to live in either freshwater or saltwater. Aquatic vascular plants have originated on multiple occasions in different plant families; they can be ferns or angiosperms (including both monocots and dicots ). The only angiosperms capable of growing completely submerged in seawater are the seagrasses . Examples are found in genera such as Thalassia and Zostera . An aquatic origin of angiosperms

1767-474: The papyrus culms can measure up to 29.5 feet (9.0 m) in length, with an additional 18 inches (46 cm) for the inflorescence (a spicate umbel; i.e. each of the up to one thousand rays of the umbel terminates in a spike of small flowers) for a total height of 31 feet (9.4 m). Each culm is a single internode ‍ — ‍ the longest known of any plant. At Lake Naivasha, the culms, triangular in cross-section, were as much as 7 inches (18 cm) on

Cyperus papyrus - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-412: The photosynthetic enzymes pigments. In water, light intensity rapidly decreases with depth. Respiration is also higher in the dark per the unit volume of the medium they live in. Fully submerged aquatic plants have little need for stiff or woody tissue as they are able to maintain their position in the water using buoyancy typically from gas filled lacunaa or turgid Aerenchyma cells. When removed from

1881-563: The plants are not at risk of losing water through the stomata and therefore face no risk of dehydration. For carbon fixation, some aquatic angiosperms are able to uptake CO 2 from bicarbonate in the water, a trait that does not exist in terrestrial plants. Angiosperms that use HCO 3 - can keep CO 2 levels satisfactory, even in basic environments with low carbon levels. Due to their environment, aquatic plants experience buoyancy which counteracts their weight. Because of this, their cell covering are far more flexible and soft, due to

1938-612: The restriction or banning of the trade in invasive alien plants. Reed boat Reed boats and rafts , along with dugout canoes and other rafts , are among the oldest known types of boats . Often used as traditional fishing boats , they are still used in a few places around the world, though they have generally been replaced with planked boats . Reed boats can be distinguished from reed rafts, since reed boats are usually waterproofed with some form of tar. As well as boats and rafts , small floating islands have also been constructed from reeds. The earliest discovered remains from

1995-419: The rigging of his fleet of papyrus, an old practice illustrated by the ship's cable, wherewith the doors were fastened when Odysseus slew the suitors in his hall ( Odyssey xxi. 390). The adventurer Thor Heyerdahl had a boat built for him of papyrus, Ra , in an attempt to demonstrate that ancient African or Mediterranean people could have reached America. He was unsuccessful with this boat. Fishermen in

2052-399: The rigging on King Antigonus' fleet, used to fasten the doors when Ulysses slew the suitors in his hall, was made from papyrus reed. Light skiffs suitable for the navigation of the Nile were constructed with stems cut from papyrus reed, as shown by bas-reliefs from the fourth dynasty where men cut papyrus, and use it to make cordage and sails and to build a reed boat. According to

2109-514: The sedimentation of suspended solids by reducing the current velocities, impede erosion by stabilising soil surfaces. Macrophytes also provide spatial heterogeneity in otherwise unstructured water column. Habitat complexity provided by macrophytes tends to increase diversity and density of both fish and invertebrates. The additional site-specific macrophytes' value provides wildlife habitat and makes treatment systems of wastewater aesthetically satisfactory. Some aquatic plants are used by humans as

2166-426: The short-term to an aquatic habitat, it may not be possible to reproduce underwater, especially if the plant usually relies on terrestrial pollinators . Based on growth form, macrophytes can be characterised as: An emergent plant is one which grows in water but pierces the surface so that it is partially exposed to air. Collectively, such plants are emergent vegetation . This habit may have developed because

2223-515: The soil line, the younger parts of the rhizome are covered by red-brown, papery, triangular scales, which also cover the base of the culms. Technically, these are reduced leaves , so strictly it is not quite correct to call this plant fully "leafless". Egyptians used the plant (which they called aaru , or the subspecies C. p. papyrus , [2] which came very close to extinction, but was rediscovered in 1968.) for many purposes, including for making papyrus paper. Its name has an uncertain origin, but

2280-492: The specialized root / rhizoid system of plants. Instead, seaweeds have holdfasts that only serve as anchors and have no absorptive functions . Aquatic plants require special adaptations for prolonged inundation in water, and for floating at the water surface. The most common adaptation is the presence of lightweight internal packing cells, aerenchyma , but floating leaves and finely dissected leaves are also common. Aquatic plants only thrive in water or in soil that

2337-607: The stem and root of Ludwigia adscendens , as well as those of the fruit, leaf and stem of Monochoria hastata were found to have lipoxygenase inhibitory activity. Hot water extract prepared from the leaf of Ludwigia adscendens exhibits alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity more potent than that of acarbose . Macrophytes have an essential role in some forms of wastewater treatment, most commonly in small scale sewage treatment using constructed wetlands or in polishing lagoons for larger schemes. The introduction of non-native aquatic plants has resulted in numerous examples across

Cyperus papyrus - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-616: The substrate (e.g. Myriophyllum spicatum ) or without any root system (e.g. Ceratophyllum demersum ). Helophytes are plants that grow partly submerged in marshes and regrow from buds below the water surface. Fringing stands of tall vegetation by water basins and rivers may include helophytes. Examples include stands of Equisetum fluviatile , Glyceria maxima , Hippuris vulgaris , Sagittaria , Carex , Schoenoplectus , Sparganium , Acorus , yellow flag ( Iris pseudacorus ), Typha and Phragmites australis . Floating-leaved macrophytes have root systems attached to

2451-769: The substrate or bottom of the body of water and with leaves that float on the water surface. Common floating leaved macrophytes are water lilies (family Nymphaeaceae ), pondweeds (family Potamogetonaceae ). Free-floating macrophytes are found suspended on water surface with their root not attached to the substrate, sediment , or bottom of the water body. They are easily blown by air and provide breeding ground for mosquitoes. Examples include Pistia spp. commonly called water lettuce, water cabbage or Nile cabbage. The many possible classifications of aquatic plants are based upon morphology. One example has six groups as follows: Macrophytes perform many ecosystem functions in aquatic ecosystems and provide services to human society. One of

2508-459: The surface of the water. Some still-water plants can alter their position in the water column at different seasons. One notable example is Water soldier which rests as a rootless rosette on the bottom of the water body but slowly floats to the surface in late Spring so that its inflorescence can emerge into the air. While it is ascending through the water column it produces roots and vegetative daughter plants by means of rhizomes . When flowering

2565-500: The surface. Although most aquatic angiosperms can reproduce by flowering and setting seeds, many have also evolved to have extensive asexual reproduction by means of rhizomes , turions , and fragments in general. Submerged aquatic plants have more restricted access to carbon as carbon dioxide compared to terrestrial plants. They may also experience reduced light levels. In aquatic plants diffuse boundary layers (DBLs) around submerged leaves and photosynthetic stems vary based on

2622-443: The transition from an aquatic to terrestrial habitat. Terrestrial plants no longer had unlimited access to water and had to evolve to search for nutrients in their new surroundings as well as develop cells with new sensory functions, such as statocytes . Terrestrial plants may undergo physiological changes when submerged due to flooding. When submerged, new leaf growth has been found to have thinner leaves and thinner cell walls than

2679-689: The water body. Such problems may be the result of excessive turbidity , herbicides , or salination . Conversely, overly high nutrient levels may create an overabundance of macrophytes, which may in turn interfere with lake processing . Macrophyte levels are easy to sample, do not require laboratory analysis, and are easily used for calculating simple abundance metrics. Phytochemical and pharmacological researches suggest that freshwater macrophytes, such as Centella asiatica , Nelumbo nucifera , Nasturtium officinale , Ipomoea aquatica and Ludwigia adscendens , are promising sources of anticancer and antioxidative natural products. Hot water extracts of

2736-564: The water flow, capture sediments and trap pollutants . Excess sediment will settle into the stream bed due to the reduced flow rates, and some aquatic plants also have symbiotic microbes capable of nitrogen fixation and breaking down the pollutants trapped and/or absorbed by the roots. Historically, aquatic plants have been less studied than terrestrial plants , and management of aquatic vegetation has become an increasingly interested field as means to reduce agricultural pollution of water bodies . The principal factor controlling

2793-437: The water surface. Aquatic plants are important primary producers and are the basis of food web for many aquatic fauna , especially wetland species. They compete with phytoplanktons for excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus , thus reducing the prevalence of eutrophication and harmful algal blooms , and have a significant effect on riparian soil chemistry as their leaves , stems and roots slow down

2850-618: The water, such plants are typically limp and lose turgor rapidly. Those living in rivers do, however, need sufficient structural xylem to avoid being damaged by fast flowing water and they also need strong mechanisms of attachment to avoid being uprooted by river flow. Many fully submerged plants have finely dissected leaves, probably to reduce drag in rivers and to provide a much increased surface area for interchange of minerals and gasses. Some species of plants such as Ranunculus aquatilis have two different leaf forms with finely dissected leaves that are fully submerged and entire leaves on

2907-576: The wetter parts of Africa, but it has become rare in the Nile Delta . In deeper waters, it is the chief constituent of the floating, tangled masses of vegetation known as sudd . It also occurs in Madagascar , and some Mediterranean areas such as Sicily and the Levant . The "feather-duster" flowering heads make ideal nesting sites for many social species of birds. As in most sedges, pollination

SECTION 50

#1732766115832

2964-419: The whole body of many ponds to the almost total exclusion of other plants and wildlife Other notable invasive plant species include floating pennywort , Curly leaved pondweed , the fern ally Water fern and Parrot's feather . Many of these invasive plants have been sold as oxygenating plants for aquaria or decorative plants for garden ponds and have then been disposed of into the environment. In 2012,

3021-416: The world of such plants becoming invasive and frequently dominating the environments into which they have been introduced. Such species include Water hyacinth which is invasive in many tropical and sub-tropical locations including much of the southern US, many Asian countries and Australia. New Zealand stonecrop is a highly invasive plant in temperate climates spreading from a marginal plant to encompassing

3078-581: Was also a native plant of the Niger River and the Euphrates . Neither the explorer Peter Forsskål , an apostle of Carl Linnaeus , in the 18th century, nor the Napoleonic expedition saw it in the delta. Aside from papyrus, several other members of the genus Cyperus may also have been involved in the multiple uses Egyptians found for the plant. Its flowering heads were linked to make garlands for

3135-570: Was built by boatmen from Lake Chad in the Republic of Chad with papyrus reeds from Lake Tana in Ethiopia . It was launched off the coast of Morocco , and set sail in an attempt to cross the Atlantic. After several weeks, its crew modified the vessel in a manner that caused Ra to sag and take on water. Eventually Ra broke apart and was abandoned. The following year, Heyerdahl organized

3192-654: Was rendered in Hellenistic Greek as πάπυρος. In the Nile Delta , Cyperus papyrus was widely cultivated in ancient times. It is for example depicted on a restored stucco fragment from the palace of Amenhotep III near the present-day village of Malkata . Currently, only a small population remains in Egypt, in Wadi El Natrun . Theophrastus 's History of Plants (Book iv. 10) states that it grew in Syria , and according to Pliny's Natural History , it

3249-669: Was used for various purposes such as baskets, sandals, blankets, medicine, incense, and boats. The woody root was used to make bowls and utensils, and was burned for fuel. The Papyrus Ebers refers to the use of soft papyrus tampons by Egyptian women in the 15th century BCE. Egyptians made efficient use of all parts of the plant. Papyrus was an important "gift of the Nile" which is still preserved and perpetuated in Egyptian culture. Aquatic plant Although seaweeds , which are large multicellular marine algae , have similar ecological functions to aquatic plants such as seagrass , they are not typically referred to as macrophytes as they lack

#831168