Visual perception of colourful petals reminds us of classical fragments

Abstract

Colour has attracted the interest and attention of many of the most gifted intellects of all time. Ideas of early thinkers were not-and could not have beengrasped on a scientific level without knowledge of a kind that lay far in the future. One character that is being considered is the colourful surfaces of living tissues, which could hardly have been visualized without a corresponding reference to the microscale parallel. Millions of years before man made manipulated synthetic structures, biological systems were using nanoscale architecture to produce striking optical effects 1. Here we show the microsculpture of the adaxial surface of flower petals from the asphodel, the Stork's-bill and the common poppy by using optical, scanning electron and atomic force microscopy. Microsculpture has been studied in leaves 2, 3, 4, 5 and pollen grains 6 of higher plants. To the best of our knowledge imaging and nanoscale morphometry of petals has not been reported hitherto. Our findings

Micromorphology of the petals of the invasive weed, Oxalis pes‐caprae

“…pes‐caprae , the flowers of the above‐mentioned native Mediterranean species remain open during their short lifespan and their petals are continuously exposed to the ambient conditions. It is noteworthy that the papillary epidermal cells of the petals of A. aestivus , S. arvensis , and E. sativa are covered by waxy, striated, and densely arranged nanoridges, which have a significant impact on the repellent properties of the short‐lived, delicate tissues (Rhizopoulou et al . 2008; Argiropoulos 2009; Koch & Barthlott 2009; Koch et al .…”

Aspects on the relief of living surfaces using atomic force microscopy allow “art” to imitate nature

“…Nowadays, several sophisticated techniques are available for investigation of the complex nature of living surfaces. AFM allows the surface of biological samples to be imaged at high resolution under physiological conditions (Ushiki et al 1996;Round et al 2000;Webster & Carpender 2002;Rhizopoulou et al 2008).…”

Το Χρώμα Των Ανθέων

“…Τα ανεστραμμένα θηλώδη, πολλαπλά ανεστραμμένα θηλώδη και επίπεδα επιδερμικά κύτταρα ανακλούν ισχυρά την προσπίπτουσα ακτινοβολία (Kay et al 1981, Weston and Pyke 1999, Lee 2007. Στην επιφάνεια των πετάλων παρατηρείται σχεδόν πάντα και ανάγλυφο από ένα στρώμα εφυμενιδιακής φύσης το οποίο συμβάλλει στις οπτικές ιδιότητες των πετάλων των ανθέων (Rhizopoulou et al 2008). Η αλληλεπίδραση των νανοδομών του ανάγλυφου με το φως είναι φαινόμενο που φαίνεται να έχει μεγάλο επιστημονικό ενδιαφέρον (Benitez et al 2004, Derdej and Koch 2007, σύμφωνα με πρόσφατο δημοσιευμένο έργο).…”