Sylene stenophylla plant regenerated from tissue of fossil fruit

This photo provided by the Institute of Cell Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences show a Sylene stenophylla plant regenerated from tissue of fossil fruit. 

The plant has been regenerated from tissues found in a squirrel burrow that had been stuck in Siberian permafrost for over 30,000 years.

 It is the oldest plant ever to be regenerated and it is fertile, producing white flowers and viable seeds.

Picture: The Institute of Cell Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences / AP

Amborella: The First Genus of Flowers 130 Million Years ago

Amborella is a genus of rare understory shrubs or small trees endemic to the island of New Caledonia.

The genus consists of only a single species, Amborella trichopoda, and is the only member of the family Amborellaceae.

Wood of Amborella lacks the vessels characteristic of most flowering plants.

It is of great interest to plant systematists because molecular phylogenetic analyses consistently place it at or near the base of the flowering plant lineage.

That is, it represents a line of flowering plants that diverged very early on (about 130 million years ago) from all the other extant species of flowering plants.

Comparing characteristics of this basal angiosperm, other flowering plants and fossils may provide clues about how flowers first appeared—what Darwin called the "abominable mystery".

Flax And Yellow Flowers Can Produce Bioethanol

Surplus biomass from the production of flax shives, and generated from Brassica carinata, a yellow-flowered plant related to those which engulf fields in spring, can be used to produce bioethanol. This has been suggested by two studies carried out by Spanish and Dutch researchers and published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

"These studies evaluate, from an environmental point of view, the production of bioethanol from two, as yet unexploited sources of biomass: agricultural residue from flax (for the production of paper fibres for animal bedding), and Brassica carinata crops (herbaceous plant with yellow flowers, similar to those which carpet the countryside in spring)", Sara González-García, researcher of the Bioprocesses and Environmental Engineering Group of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), explains to SINC.

González-García, along with other researchers from USC, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Leiden (Holland), has confirmed that if bioethanol is produced from these two types of biomass "both CO2 emissions and fossil fuel consumption will be reduced, meeting two of the objectives established by the European Union to promote biofuels".

These works have analysed the environmental load associated with the different stages of the process: the harvesting of flax or Brassica; the production of ethanol (through enzymatic hydrolysis followed by fermentation and distillation); mixing it with petrol (in varying proportions); and its use in passenger automobiles.

The results of both studies, published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, show that the use of ethanol-based fuels can help to mitigate climate change (by reducing greenhouse gases).

However, these fuels also "contribute to acidification, eutrophication, the formation of photochemical oxidants and toxicity (for people and the environment)". According to the experts, these negative effects could be lessened with the use of high-yield crops, as well as through optimisation of agricultural activity and better use of fertilisers.

Which is better: flax or Brassica?
The studies developed by the researchers reveal that flax (which is richer in cellulose) can produce up to 0.3 kg of ethanol for every kg of dry biomass, compared with 0.25kg/kg of Brassica. However, when the whole production cycle is analysed, the yellow-flowered plant offers a greater production of biomass per hectare and has a lesser environmental impact.

The biofuel produced from these two plants is "second generation bioethanol", which is obtained from forest or agricultural residues, or from herbaceous crops, and does not enter into direct competition with agricultural crops intended for animal or human consumption.

The European Union and the International Monetary Fund are promoting the development of these types of biofuels. Spain is the third largest producer of bioethanol in Europe, after France and Germany, although its use still only represents 0.4% of total energy consumption.

Flowers: some potent, some facing extinction and some just stink up the place

Angel trumpet flowers

Angel trumpet flowers come from Colombia in South America.
In ancient times, the slaves and wives of dead Mayan kings were put to sleep by drinking a potion containing this innocent looking flower - and then buried alive.






Mauritian blue bell flower

Existing on only one cliff in Mauritius, this flower is highly endangered in the wild.

The lovely blue bell-shaped flower contains a sweet red nectar. If you were to shake the flower, your hands would be left bright red.

Could flowers bloom on icy moon Europa?

The Arctic Poppy and other high-latitude flowers have parabolic shapes to focus sunlight on the reproductive parts at their centres. Physicist Freeman Dyson says such plants might evolve on other worlds as well (Image: Ansgar Walk)

Physicist and futurist Freeman Dyson says we should search for extraterrestrial life where it is easiest to find, even if the conditions there are not ideal for life as we know it. Specifically, he says spacecraft should look for flowers – similar to those found in Earth's Arctic regions – on icy moons and comets in the outer solar system.

"I would say the strategy in looking for life in the universe should be to look for what's detectable, not what's probable," he said on Saturday at a conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"We have a tendency among the theorists in this field to guess what's probable. In fact our guesses are likely to be wrong," Dyson said. "We never had as much imagination as nature."

He said spacecraft should hunt for signs of life on Jupiter's ice-covered moon Europa, since it would be detectable there.

It is eminently possible that flowers could bloom on the icy surface of Europa, given that they can be seen outdoors in chilly Scotland.