Nutsedge: Weedy Pest or Crop of the Future?
Yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus L.) is an invasive weed in the United States. It is often regarded as a useless pest to home gardeners as well as commercial growers. Along with being a useless weed it is difficult to control. Several commercial herbicides have been labeled for use exclusively on yellow nutsedge and are available at local retailers. This, of course, indicates much research has gone into the development of chemicals to eradicate it. In a country that spends much of it's time and money on programs focusing on the advancement of crop production has the yellow nutsedge been labeled unfairly? Could the U.S. find use for Cyperus esculentus L.? A look into it's past and present might reveal a profitable future.
Cyperus esculentus is in the order Commelinales and the family Cyperaceae. Cyperus esculentus can be distinguished from other species of New World nutsedge by its persistent linear brown spiklets that have closely appressed overlapping scales. This perennial plant is self-incompatible. The stem of yellow nutsedge is triangularand has a light green-yellow color. Rhizomes that terminate in tubers are the main means of reproduction, although it does produce viable seed.
It is interesting to note that the name Linnaeus chose for this sedge, esculentus, means edible in latin (6). The two varieties of interest to us are Cyperus esculentus var. esculentus (weedy) and Cyperus esculentus var. sativus (cultivated). Most literature uses the name Cyperus esculentus for both the weedy and the useful sedge.
The weedy variety esculentus produces many seeds although the cultivated variety sativus produces few. Yellow nutsedge (weedy) has been reported to produce 605 million seeds per hectare in Massachusetts (4). Both reproduce vegetatively in great numbers. Research indicates that a single nutsedge tuber can produce about 1900 plants and 7000 tubers in one yearly (8). The weedy nutsedge was introduced to the Dutch Netherlands in the late 1970's concealed in Gladiolus and it was so invasive that in 1984 a restriction was implemented by the government. This regulation prohibits the harvest of any root crop in a field that is infested with the yellow nutsedge (3).
Cyperus esculentus var. esculentus and Cyperus esculentus var. sativus are closely related according to Moshe Negbi (6). The color of the tubers appears to be one unusual character. Variety sativus has a grey-orange color and variety esculentus has a grayed brown color according to the Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart (3).
Great inequalities in the educational system between the sexes have occurred for many years and still occur today. Efforts have been made to rectify this disparity, but the one that has made the most difference is Title IX. Passed in 1972, Title IX attempted to correct the gender discrimination in educational systems receiving public funding. The greatest correction it made was in the area of athletics, but social justice of Title IX applies to many other areas as well. Title IX has an effect on women who are not athletes in many ways, including quality of education, receptivity to education, empowerment and creation of ideals.
Sheshadri, T. (2001, December 26). Student recognized for agricultural acumen. The San Diego Union Tribune, N1-4. Retrieved on March 20, 2002 from Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe (Newspapers) on the World Wide Web: http://www.lexisnexis.com/universe.htm.
Does the introduction of a system of registration of title remove the need for the law to recognise possessory or equitable interests in land? Why? Why not?
... Chillingworth is the representation of the punishment that falls on all sinners. Hester, whose daughter and Scarlet Letter are always reminding everyone of her adultery, is always in the open, and has no chance to hide her shame. Dimmesdale, who calls himself a pollution and is so tormented on the inside that he feels the need to physically harm himself by scourging, is eaten from the inside out, and Roger Chillingworth, whom one just saw is a vengeful monster, who swears revenge on the father, and who lives for that single purpose, truly is retribution. These people are tormented by the type of sin they portray, and their punishments last so long, and are so painful (especially in Hester and Dimmesdale’s cases) that anyone could easily make the argument that the literal flames, and the stake that accompanies them, would be preferable punishments for these sinners.
In 1970 only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports, today that ratio is 1 in 3. Sports are a very important part of the American society. Within sports heroes are made, goals are set and dreams are lived. The media makes all these things possible by creating publicity for the rising stars of today. Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports. When the American people think of women in sports, they think of ice skating, field hockey and diving. People don’t recognize that women have the potential to play any sport that a Man can play, with equal skill, if not better.
Some examples of places that were segregated were schools, buses, jobs, etc. Black children did not receive a quality education like white children did. The schools were segregated so that black children were sent to a lower class school while the white children went to a nicer, upper class school. Since their education was better than the black children 's education, they had an easier time in society after school because they were taught in a good learning environment while black students had a harder time in society since their instruction was poor. Many of those students were seen as inferior to society(Walters). They lacked the knowledge that white people believed made them their superiors. Teachers in black schools were usually black and had gone to the school they were teaching at when they were little. They would sometimes have no teaching experience and have very little education because they did not get a quality education when they were young. Even if they did have the education, they were still expected to act like they knew nothing. As time grew closer to the 1960s, people realized that black people had had enough and were starting to
Today we can look back and oversee the changes and development in Education. Segregation throughout the education system has shaped the system to what it is today. Discrimination is the practice of preferential treatment, or denying equal treatment to someone due to his or her demographic characteristics. Racial discrimination and segregation has impacted the education system since 1865 up until present day. Not only did schools face racial segregation, but also sex segregation and social class status segregation. Education was a privilege to have and something that had to be earned by the people. By looking back, history has shown how far we have overcame regarding segregation in the education system. Due to people showing a consistent fight
Janick. J. (2011). Center for New Crops & Plant Products - Department of Horticulture and
As Hester wears the scarlet letter, the reader can feel how much of an outcast Hester becomes. When walking through town, “…she never raised her head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on” (Hawthorne, 127).She believes that she is not worthy of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason of her change in personality.
The author of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, expressed ideas of love, passion, shame, and punishment throughout his 1800s based novel. Due to the fact that this novel was based in a Puritan time period, it brought many mental and sometimes physical difficulties for the main character, Hester Prynne. The Puritans solely believed in God and all of his rules. With that said, the author decided to illustrate the drama of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale’s adultery in order to describe the change in Hester’s attitude. Because of the many events, adversities and struggles, Hester had a complete change in attitude from shame and embarrassment to love, proudness and satisfaction.
Claussen, Cathryn L. "Female sport participation in America: the effectiveness of Title IX after 35 years." The International Sports Law Journal 3-4 (July-Oct 2007)
Sports is a powerful force in society today. People of all ages and both sexes watch and participate in different sports in increasing numbers. Equal opportunity to participate in sports seems like a right that is natural and would be a common sense issue, but unfortunately this has not always been the case. In 1972 Congress enacted the Education Amendments of 1972, this contains Title IX which was intended to ensure that discrimination based on sex was eliminated. The area that this has had the most contentious impact is sports. Has Title IX increased women's opportunities to participate in sports during college equitably and fairly? Title IX has increased opportunities for women to participate in college sports programs with minimal impact on men's sports programs.
Cotton is an annual, biennial or perennial plant, but in cultivation it is generally treated as an annual; herbaceous to short shrub or small tree - two to six feet tall. It consist of a primary axis, erect and branched with a vegetative lower zone having monopodial branches, and a fruiting upper zone with sympodial branches. The leaves of the cotton plant alternate, cordate petiolate, three to nine lobed and palmately veined, with varying size, texture, shape and hairiness. The large, showy, cream yellow, red or purple flowers are extra axillary, terminal, solitary, and borne on sympodial branches. The calyx (= collectively the sepals) consists of a very short cup-shaped structure at the base of the corolla. The five petals of the corolla are either free or slightly united at the base of the convoluted bud (Sundararaj, 1974).
Since the plant’s domestication the sunflower has been one of the most important crops in production that is native to North America, comparable to maize and wheat. The sunflower, what was once a plant utilized only in the Americas is now one of the most widely and diversely recognized used plant species in the world.
Insect pollination as we all know, is the process that enables reproduction and fertilization by the transfer of pollen performed by insects. Insects are some of the oldest pollinators of plants. Pollinating insects date back to 140 million years ago. Since then, due to how effective insect pollinators are, these flowering plants have become the major group of terrestrial vascular plants. Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms, have imperative roles within our ecosystems, both natural and agricultural. For instance, insects provide food, fiber and shelter for wildlife and humankind alike (2007). It is commonly know that in humans, high levels of fruit and vegetable consumption are associated with decreased risk of chronic disease (Calderone 2012). Aside from these important roles, plants have also been considered as a viable option for fuel sources (Calderone 2012). There are around 300,00 species of flowering plants in the world and without pollination, the reproductive process would be very difficult since pollination causes the production of seeds (Calderone 2012). Of the 300,000 plant species worldwide, a little over 3,000 of these plants have been used as a source of food. Close to 300 of these species are grown around the world today and only 12 of these plants make up about 90 percent of the food sources in our world. These 12 include the grains...