Cloves #3

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the third edition of my blog about cloves. Today I will be talking about plant physiology and growth. Firstly I will explain whether cloves are a C3 or  C4 plant. Secondly I will explain if cloves are annual, biennial or perennial crops.

Are cloves a C3 or C4 plant?

Firstly I will explain what the difference between a C3 and C4 plant is. Most plant types are C3. During the photosynthesis, C3 plants first form a molecule of 3 Carbon and that is why they are called C3. C3 plants work best in climates were water loss is not a problem, this is due to a problem with the enzyme that traps the CO2. This enzyme also reacts with O2, and due to that 50% of the CO2 is lost in the process of photosynthesis. Due to this loss, the stomata needs to stay open for a longer period, and lose water in the process.

C4 plants firstly form a molecule of 4 Carbon and that is why they are called C4. In comparison with the C3 plants, C4 plants do not react with Oxygen, and the stomata do not need to stay open that long, this makes CO2 trapping way more efficient in C4 plants and water loss is prevented. This prevention of water loss makes C4 plants more able to survive in dry regions of the world. (Seddon, 2013)

I could not find direct information about whether cloves are C3 or C4. But following these facts I would classify cloves under the C3 category.

- C4 are drought resistant, and cloves are tropical so definitely not drought resistant.
- Most C4 are grasses, bushes or herbs. Cloves grow on a tree so none of those.
- Lastly I found a source which claims that the only tree with C4 photosynthesis is: Euphorbia. All the other trees (Including cloves) fall under the C3 category.
(Abogadallah, 2014)

Are cloves annual, biennial or perennial?

A plants life cycle can be categorised within 3 groups. These groups are the annuals, biennials and perennials. The difference between these groups are:

- Annuals complete their life cycle in one year or growing season.
- Biennials complete their life cycle in two years or growing seasons.
- Perennials complete their life cycle in three of more years/growing seasons.

Cloves would be classified under perennials. Clove trees can be harvested for the first time after 5 to 7 years and can after that become hundreds years old if taken good care off. This definitely is a perennial. (Watts, 2017)


Bibliography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg_pdXzWXVA
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_trees_with_C4_photosynthesis_exist
https://hao.blackboard.nl/bbcswebdav/pid-772679-dt-content-rid-3463613_2/courses/hdb_v_IF2424_1718/Lecture%203%20Plant%20physiology%20and%20growthRevised.pdf

Cloves #2

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the second edition of my blog about cloves. Today I will be talking about if cloves are a monocot or a dicot, and I will tell something about the root system of the clovetree.

Monocot or dicot?

Firstly I shall explain the difference between monocots and dicots. The most basic difference between the two are that a monocot has only one seed leaf or cotyledon while a dicot has 2. Next to this there are some other differences between the two, like:

- A monocot has floral parts in threes, while a dicot has floras parts in fours or fives.
- Monocots have parallel leaf veins, while a dicot has netlike leaf veins.
- The pollen grain with monocots have one pore or furrow, and the dicot has three.
- A monocot has vascular bundles throughout the stem's ground tissue, and a dicot has stem's vascular bundles arranged in rings.

(Watts,2017)

The clove tree belongs to the Myrtle family, and due to that cloves are a dicot.

(Clove seedlings) (Tradewinds,2017)

Clove root system
A clove tree, in its first year has a short taproot which is quickly replaced by two or three primary sinkers. Further in the first year fibrous roots spread out, which become much thicker in the following years. Over the years which the tree stands, the roots can extend to a size comparable to the tree's height. (E.A Weis, 2002)

Even though its a combination of the two, I would classify the clovetree with a taproot root system. This is due to trees generally having a taproot system.

(Fibrous roots (b) and taproot (a)) (Ekshiksha,2017)




https://hao.blackboard.nl/bbcswebdav/pid-772059-dt-content-rid-3443653_2/courses/hdb_v_IF2424_1718/Lecture%202%20Plant%20Anatomy%20and%20Morphology2015_16.pdf

http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/content/clove.htm

https://books.google.nl/books?id=RqqTdAwXev4C&dq=cloves+fibrous+or+taproot%3F&hl=nl&source=gbs_navlinks_s

http://www.ekshiksha.org.in/eContent-Show.do?documentId=210

Cloves #1

Hello everyone!

For the blog assignment I have chosen the crop cloves, which is a spice native to The Mollucas, Indonesia. Due to cloves originating from there, and it being the largest producing country, I have chosen the country Indonesia.

Classifying Cloves 
The scientific name of cloves is: Syzygium aromaticum. They belong to the plantea kingdom but also to the sub-kingdoms: Angiosperms, Eudicots and Rosids. Furthermore they belong to the Myrtaceae family and Myrtales order. The Genus they belong to is the Syzygium. The tree is an evergreen which means that the leaves are green troughout the whole year. The cloves itself are also available trough the whole year. ( "Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & L. M. Perry", 2011)

Cloves, as a spice can be categorised within the medicinal and psychoactive crops. This is due to it being used as a bioactive ingredient (for cooking) but it also has a medical use as a painkiller due to the eugenol within the clove.

History

The first signs of clove trade was found by archeologists in Syria were a trade vessel was found containing cloves. They expect this was all around 1721 BC. Furthermore there are records of a chinese leader of the Han dynasty who demanded those who spoke to him chewing cloves to freshen their breath.

As mentioned earlier clove trees originate from the spice islands of Indonesia. (Mollucas) The production stayed there untill more modern times allowed people to spread the seeds around the world, and so started growing it on other tropical places. The oldest clove tree is about 350 - 400 years old and is located on Ternate. Due to the high value of cloves and spices in the colonial era the Dutch ofcourse didn't like the seeds to be spread, and so tried to keep a monopoly in the clove trade. (Wikepedia.org/clove, 2017)



https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?50069
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove