This is a mounted specimen from a wild hydrangea plant. There is a thin central branch that has stemmed leaves shooting off on either side. The leaves are arranged symmetrically in pairs, with about 8 cm of central branch separating each leaf pair. The leaves are green, have prominent veins, have jagged edges, and are generally ovular with a sharp taper at the top of the leaf. At the top of the leaf there is a cluster of small white flowers, with each flower measuring approximately 2 cm long. Each leaf is generally about 14.5 cm in length. The overall mount is approximately 41 cm x 29 cm. This specimen description was written remotely based on images as part of Amber Kreiensieck's internship in Fall 2021.
- Catalog Number:
- 400885
- Object/Specimen Description:
- Specimen Count:
- 2
- Collector:
- N. Erwin
- Precise Locality:
United States Botanic Garden
- Locality:
- US Mid Atlantic (PA, NJ, MD, DE, DC, VA, WV)
- Collecting Date:
- 05 Jun 2013
- Collecting Locality:
- North America, United States, District of Columbia
- Upper Level Taxonomy:
- Plantae, Equisetopsida, Magnoliidae, Asteranae, Cornales, Hydrangeaceae
Dicots begin their lives as seeds nourished by two seed leaves (cotyledons). The leaves provide nutrients to the developing seed until it grows its first real leaves that can make food by photosynthesizing. Most flowering plants are dicots, which includes many of the foods humans enjoy: grapes, squash, soybeans, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, etc. You can tell a dicot by its characteristic branching leaf veins. Not only do dicots feed us, they also cloth us; cotton, linen, and hemp are dicots. Because dicots and conifers are the only plants able to form wood, they are central to our building industry. Wood is extra plant tissue for transporting water and nutrients (vascular tissue). It forms when cells specialized for growth (meristems) continue to divide. The result is that the tree grows, adding to its width and height. Maples, oaks, and hickories, all sources of wood, are dicots.