All plants known to science are divided into three groups - monoecious, dioecious and polyecious. In the former, heterosexual inflorescences are on the same individual, in the latter, on different ones. At the same time, the flowers themselves can be either bisexual - with pistils and stamens, or dioecious, which have either a pistil or a stamen. Polyecious plants provide for the presence of two varieties of inflorescences on one individual. The so-called polygamy is observed in horse chestnut, ash, grapes, forget-me-nots. But it's not about them now. This article tells which plants are monoecious and provides a brief description of their brightest representatives.
Monoecious plants: characteristics
Many scientists believe that unisexual flowers were formed from bisexual ones, and this happened due to evolutionary processes. Speaking about monoecious plants, it is necessary to emphasize that they are characterized by the presence of pistillate or stamen inflorescences on one specimen. Representatives of both sexes are "in the same house" - hence the name of these greenplantations.
Plants of this type are most often wind-pollinated. There are cases when pollen is carried by insects - this process is called entomophily. Plants are not inherent in autogamy, when pollination occurs in the bowl of one flower. Most often, pollen enters the bosom here from other inflorescences located on the same plant. And this directly affects the properties of seeds.
There are monoecious plants at every turn. Examples of such green spaces are: watermelon, corn, pumpkin, walnut, hazel, alder, beech, birch and oak. There are also species that, under extreme conditions, can transform from dioecious to monoecious - these include, for example, hemp.
Walnut
One of the brightest representatives of monoecious plants. It is rich in vitamins, alkaloids, carotene, essential oils, iron s alts and other useful substances. Walnut improves memory, helps to get rid of constipation, is indispensable for heart disease and diabetes, prevents the appearance of breast and prostate cancer.
Blossom begins in May. Useful fruits of the tree can be enjoyed already in September. Walnut inflorescences are collected in small groups - from two to five pieces. Due to the fact that male and female flowers do not ripen at the same time, cross-pollination occurs between them. Nut fruits can be tied without pollination, but then their properties will be of very low quality.
Oak
Monoecious plants are also trees of the beech family. Oak- a typical representative of them. It has long been considered the personification of wisdom, durability, beauty and strength. The bark, leaves, acorns of the plant have similar qualities. They are very strong, enduring winter frosts and summer heat, poor climatic conditions and sudden changes in weather. The height of the oak is no more than 30 meters, although real giants are often found in nature. Few people know that oak begins to bear fruit only after thirty years from the date of planting.
Oak has both female and male flowers, so these trees are monoecious plants. Staminate individuals are usually collected in small inflorescences, have a greenish color. Their top is decorated with a crimson edging. There are fewer male flowers - they are located "in one bunch" of three pieces and have a pleasant pale pink color. Much is known about the medicinal properties of oak. For the production of healing drugs, everything is used - bark, acorns, leaves, which have wound healing, astringent, anti-inflammatory properties. Oaks grow well in any climatic conditions: both in wet swamps (virgin species) and in dry areas.
Birch
Monoecious plants include not only walnut and oak, but also birch. The components of the tree are often used in traditional medicine. For example, tincture from the kidneys is actively used by healers to eliminate various diseases. And the birch mushroom restores strength well. It effectively neutralizes headaches, increases appetite. And everyone's favorite birch sap perfectly cleanses the body,fights against the formation and growth of internal tumors.
Birch can reach a height of up to twenty-five meters. It is slightly inferior to the beech family in terms of the number of genera and species. And it's significant. There are only 150 varieties of the birch "clan", in beech this figure is much higher - 800 species. Almost all representatives of the birch family are resistant to frost, only Japanese, Chinese and Himalayan individuals do not belong to them.
Hazel
Walnut, oak, birch - these are not all green spaces that are included in the group called "monoecious plants". Examples are endless. This category also includes hazel - a long-lived shrub that, on average, can please humanity with tasty and he althy nuts for about eighty years.
Male flowers (stamens) are located in the catkins of the plant, but female (pistil) are in flower buds. Hazel shrubs are versatile monoecious plants. Fruits, bark, leaves and even roots - all this is actively used in medicine. Varicose veins, constipation, lack of milk in lactating women, rickets, anemia, hypertension - decoctions, tinctures, ointments and other remedies made from hazel components can easily cope with all these problems.
Sedge
Listing monoecious plants, I would like to dwell on this herbaceous specimen. Today, more than two thousand of its species are known. Sedge loves moisture very much, so most often it can bemeet in the swamps. It can also grow right in the water. A prerequisite for its normal existence is the presence of light. However, the plant can easily adapt to a semi-dark area.
Inflorescences are same-sex: male and female specimens have from 2 to 5 stamens and pistils. Sedge leaves reach one meter in height. They are tightly grouped, so they look more like bumps that can easily support the weight of a person. They are very dense with hard edges, so it is not recommended for a person to tear them with bare hands: you can cut yourself badly. Recently, the plant has been increasingly used for decorative purposes - especially in areas where there are artificial reservoirs. Small lakes and ponds are decorated with sedge. Also, the plant is often used as feed, less often used in pharmacology.
