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Alfirin · 12-21-2007, 08:49 AM

Not that anyone today would want to use autumn crocus on themselves, it's a powerful carcinogen. It is however beloved by plant breeders as it's where we get colchecine; the odd chemical that, when dabbed on flowers, can muck-up the division of the gametes and create ones which are polyploid (having more than 2 copies of each chomosome). If this number is odd (3n, 5n [n is the sybol for the number of copies of a chromosome an organism has. most complex lifeforms are 2n and thier gametes {sperm and eggs} are 1n] etc.) this tends to result in sterile plants which will produce seedless fruits (this is where seedless watermelons, as well as some kinds of seedless grape, come from). Even usually result in fetile but bigger fruited versions (commercial stawberries are usually hexaploid) Wheat is sorta an octoploid but sorta not. They was it works (as I was taught) was this.
The oldest wild wheat is called eikorn. Eikorn can naturally from time to time become a tetraploid (4n) called emmer. Emmer was the kind of wheat the Greeks and Romans were using. At some point a plant called goat grass managed to cross with an Emmer and produce the grain we call spelt. Spelt later crossed with other grasses to form modern wheat (8n). This last cross appprently happed many times and created many sorts of wheat. Bread wheat ([I] Triticum sativum var. sativum [/I) is high in gluten and is therefore good form making leavened things. Durum or hard wheat (var. durum) is used for semolina and pasta (it s is also the whate you sometimes see ears of in floral arraghments since it has the steroypical "ear of wheat" shape with the boxy long-bearded head and bread wheat usally doesn't) other more obsucre crosses yeild such things as Poulard wheat (var. polonicum ), which looks more like a bunch of of oats than a wheat ear, club wheat (var. compatum ) which has a tiny compressed beadless head (if you've ever seen Quaking grass basicaly one of its seed heads blown up 10x and mounted singly on a stalk upright) and shot wheat (var. sphaerococcum ) which as very rounded grains and is only still grown in a tiny region in northwest India.

By the way the plant below the crocus in the picture is common tansy (Tagetes Vulgare [the traslation left out the final "e"]) also used tradinally as a cure for joint problems, as well as a flavoring agent and dye.

Though of herbs actually brings up a interesting point. In "Of herbs and stewed rabbit" Sam orders Gollum to find him sage, thyme and bay leaves to stew the conies with. Now I would understand if there was wild thyme and sage growing around (though not why Sam assumes Gollum would know what they looked like) but bay would be lot more unsual to find. Bay laurel requires a subtropical or at least Medditerean climate to grow well. Ithillien would have to be a fairly warm country to expect to find bays there (unless something in mordors blight has raised the temperature a lot.) To the UK poster does bay laurel grow in England?

12-21-2007, 08:49 AM	#44
Alfirin Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 435	On autumn crocus Not that anyone today would want to use autumn crocus on themselves, it's a powerful carcinogen. It is however beloved by plant breeders as it's where we get colchecine; the odd chemical that, when dabbed on flowers, can muck-up the division of the gametes and create ones which are polyploid (having more than 2 copies of each chomosome). If this number is odd (3n, 5n [n is the sybol for the number of copies of a chromosome an organism has. most complex lifeforms are 2n and thier gametes {sperm and eggs} are 1n] etc.) this tends to result in sterile plants which will produce seedless fruits (this is where seedless watermelons, as well as some kinds of seedless grape, come from). Even usually result in fetile but bigger fruited versions (commercial stawberries are usually hexaploid) Wheat is sorta an octoploid but sorta not. They was it works (as I was taught) was this. The oldest wild wheat is called eikorn. Eikorn can naturally from time to time become a tetraploid (4n) called emmer. Emmer was the kind of wheat the Greeks and Romans were using. At some point a plant called goat grass managed to cross with an Emmer and produce the grain we call spelt. Spelt later crossed with other grasses to form modern wheat (8n). This last cross appprently happed many times and created many sorts of wheat. Bread wheat ([I] Triticum sativum var. sativum [/I) is high in gluten and is therefore good form making leavened things. Durum or hard wheat (var. durum) is used for semolina and pasta (it s is also the whate you sometimes see ears of in floral arraghments since it has the steroypical "ear of wheat" shape with the boxy long-bearded head and bread wheat usally doesn't) other more obsucre crosses yeild such things as Poulard wheat (var. polonicum ), which looks more like a bunch of of oats than a wheat ear, club wheat (var. compatum ) which has a tiny compressed beadless head (if you've ever seen Quaking grass basicaly one of its seed heads blown up 10x and mounted singly on a stalk upright) and shot wheat (var. sphaerococcum ) which as very rounded grains and is only still grown in a tiny region in northwest India. By the way the plant below the crocus in the picture is common tansy (Tagetes Vulgare [the traslation left out the final "e"]) also used tradinally as a cure for joint problems, as well as a flavoring agent and dye. Though of herbs actually brings up a interesting point. In "Of herbs and stewed rabbit" Sam orders Gollum to find him sage, thyme and bay leaves to stew the conies with. Now I would understand if there was wild thyme and sage growing around (though not why Sam assumes Gollum would know what they looked like) but bay would be lot more unsual to find. Bay laurel requires a subtropical or at least Medditerean climate to grow well. Ithillien would have to be a fairly warm country to expect to find bays there (unless something in mordors blight has raised the temperature a lot.) To the UK poster does bay laurel grow in England?