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<div class="text-justify">Greetings dear friends, supporters and members of the Steem platform, in this issue I will share scientific and technical information on <strong>POLYCHROMATIC BOTANY,</strong> particularly on coloration as a method of taxonomic grouping, using the color variation exhibited by the flowers of specimens of the genus <em>Cosmos</em> (ASTERACEAE).</div>
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<center><h2>Introduction</h2></center>
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<div class="text-justify">The morphological diversity that plant species exhibit has been the scientific basis for classifying them at the taxon level, through grouping methods that are in principle artificial and based on the similarities or differences between plant groups. The botanical discipline in charge of establishing this classification system is called taxonomy.</div>
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<div class="text-justify">In plant taxonomy, the color shown by reproductive structures (flowers) is an artificial character used to establish kinship relationships between plant species, which is why the attribute of floral coloration is considerably used as a botanical key to order at the taxon level, because the approximation or intensity of color between plant structures such as petals allows plant specimens to be related to their common ancestors.</div>
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<div class="text-justify">Consequently, the objective of the post is to socialize the color variation exhibited by the petals of some specimens of the genus <em>Cosmos,</em> related to the approximation or intensity of color observed within the taxon.</div>
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<center><h2>Polychromatic botany</h2></center>
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<div class="text-justify">In botany the polychromatic topic, not only allows to contrast the variation of reproductive structures of macroscopic condition in the plants, but also serves as morphological character to differentiate the specimens of a taxon from the individuals of another taxon, identifying variants of monophyletic groups (they come from a common ancestor), or in its defect of paraphyletic condition, that is to say, although the group shares a common ancestor, it does not incorporate all the descendants to this ancestor.</div>
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<div class="text-justify">At the genus taxon level, the polychromatic topic is used to group the specimens by type, or what is the same, to divide the taxonomic group in several species, assigning to each one a certain color or colors, aspect of taxonomic relevance at the time of establishing relations between the ancestor and the descendants.</div>
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<center><h2>Flower coloring polymorphism</h2></center>
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<div class="text-justify">Within a genus, floral colour polymorphism, whether derived from divergent evolutionary lineage, mutation or product of natural selection, may occur, but these elements are invariably used in plant classification systems to include or exclude specimens in a given group.</div>
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<center><img src="https://i.imgur.com/UBFPFjf.png"></center>
<blockquote><div class="text-justify">Fig. 2 Vegetative and reproductive material of specimens of the genus <em>Cosmos</em> (ASTERACEAE). Author: @lupafilotaxia. </div></blockquote>
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<h3>Phylogenetic colouring polymorphism</h3> 
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<div class="text-justify">Phylogenetic coloration polymorphism constitutes a basic tool of an artificial nature, which offers the possibility of being able to relate specimens and the color character, thus achieving a systematization and hierarchical location of taxonomic groups by means of dichotomous keys, an aspect that at the species level facilitates their characterization, since color represents a discriminatory attribute to identify or not the specimen.</div>
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<center><h2>Flower colour as a taxonomic key</h2></center>
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<div class="text-justify">The taxonomic keys used in the botanical identification, are the morphological attributes organized in a representative way, to distinguish the characteristics attributable to a certain plant group, hence the reason to use color as a taxonomic key, as a way to present information and not vary in the range of classification, for example: <strong>A.</strong> specimen with red petals, <strong>B.</strong> specimen with yellow petals.</div>
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<center><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Zn5cney.png"></center>
<blockquote><div class="text-justify">Fig. 3 Flower with pink petals and obtuse apex of <em>Cosmos</em> spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia. </div></blockquote>
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<div class="text-justify">The color of the petals, is an alternative of vegetal codification of easy identification, associated to the genuine procedure of classification outlined by the outstanding botanist Carlos Linneo, in whose system of vegetal grouping the use of color, is of universal scientific acceptance in the vegetal taxonomy.</div>
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<center><h2>Polychromatic field study</h2></center>
<h3>Species and area of study</h3>
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<div class="text-justify">In order to socialize the polychromatic variation exhibited by specimens within the same taxon, I will socialize with all of you a study on the floral color exhibited by the genus <em>Cosmos</em> (ASTERACEAE) of monophyletic condition, commonly known in Venezuela as forty days (40 days). The study area corresponds to the spaces of the Botanical Garden of UNESUR, a university institution located in Santa Bárbara de Zulia - Venezuela.</div>
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<center><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Hn4ghF7.png"></center>
<blockquote><div class="text-justify">Fig. 4 Flower with pink petals and emarginated apex of <em>Cosmos</em> spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia. </div></blockquote>
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<h3>Methodological approach</h3>
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<div class="text-justify">In order to be able to describe the polychromatic diversity exhibited by the plant species of the genus Cosmos, in situ observations were made of the petals of <em>Cosmos</em> spp. Descriptive analyses consisted of determining the floral coloration, the shape of the petals and the biomass of the polychromatic laminae with respect to the photosynthetically active ones.</div>
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<center><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Hbt723n.png"></center>
<blockquote><div class="text-justify">Fig. 5 Flower with light orange petals and obtuse apex of <em>Cosmos</em> spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia. </div></blockquote>
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<center><h2>Polychromatic results</h2></center>
<h3>Predominance of floral colouring</h3>
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<div class="text-justify">The yellow floral colour was much more abundant in the individuals sampled, followed by red and pink, the notable predominance of yellow colouring of the genus Cosmos in the area sampled, can be attributed to its capacity and endemic dominance.</div>
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<center><img src="https://i.imgur.com/pNbGIiu.png"></center>
<blockquote><div class="text-justify">Fig. 6 Flower with deep orange petals and apex of <em>Cosmos</em> spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia. </div></blockquote>
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<h3>Morphology of the petals</h3>
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<div class="text-justify">Although the polychromatic topic, is the main attribute of grouping used to identify Cosmos specimens by type, the characterization of the shape of the petals, positions another attribute to accompany its biological systematization, aspect that for the purposes of this post was determined in the field, finding the following variations: <strong>A.</strong> specimens with yellow petals and obtuse apex, <strong>B.</strong> specimens with yellow petals and apex of aristate, <strong>C.</strong> specimens with pink petals and obtuse apex, <strong>D.</strong> specimens with pink petals and emarginated apex, and <strong>E.</strong> specimens with red petals and obtuse apex.</div>
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<center><img src="https://i.imgur.com/fFR93uq.png"></center>
<blockquote><div class="text-justify">Fig. 7 Flower with yellow petals and apex of  <em>Cosmos</em> spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia. </div></blockquote>
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<center><img src="https://i.imgur.com/IIJ11F6.png"></center>
<blockquote><div class="text-justify">Fig. 8 Flower with red petals and obtuse apex of <em>Cosmos</em> spp. Author: @lupafilotaxia. </div></blockquote>
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<h3>Biomass of polychromatic sheets</h3> 
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<div class="text-justify">In relation to the largest photosynthetically active leaf biomass observed in situ, it occurred in specimens of the genus <em>Cosmos,</em>which exhibited yellow flowers.</div>
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<center><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Wi1ZNCU.png"></center>
<blockquote><div class="text-justify">Fig. 9 On the left vegetative component of specimens of the genus <em>Cosmos,</em> on the right reproductive structure of yellow coloration. Author: @lupafilotaxia. </div></blockquote>
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<h3><center>SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF THIS PUBLICATION</center></h3>
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<li><div class="text-justify">The main contribution of the post, is focused on the socialization of unpublished content for the Steem platform, mainly scientific-technical information related to the morphological diversity exhibited by plant species at the genus level, using as an attribute the floral color exhibited by specimens of the genus <em>Cosmos</em> (ASTERACEAE), and indicating the color polymorphism from the evolutionary lineage that prevails in the taxon under study. Therefore, the aspects evaluated in the post, offer descriptive information for future investigations where variables can be valued as for example; adaptability and endemic dominance of the specimens of the genus <em>Cosmos.</em></div></li>
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<h3><center>BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES CONSULTED AND CITED:</center></h3>
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<div class="text-justify"><strong>[1] Castro A., Vargas G., Harker M., Villaseñor J., Ortiz E., y Rodríguez A.</strong> Análisis macromorfológico y citogenético del género <em>Cosmos</em> (Asteraceae, coreopsideae), con una clave para su identificación. Botanical Sciences. 2014;92;3:363-388.</div>
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<div class="text-justify"><strong>[2] Hind N.</strong> <em>Cosmos peucedanifolius:</em> Compositae. Curtis’s Botanical. Magazine. 2005;22:161-168.</div>
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<div class="text-justify"><strong>[3] Karis P., and Ryding O.</strong> Tribe Heliantheae. In Asteraceae: cladistics and classification, K. Bremer (ed.). Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 1994;559-624.</div>
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<div class="text-justify"><strong>[4] Melchert T.</strong> New names and combinations in <em>Cosmos</em> (Asteraceae, Coreopsideae). Phytologia. 1990;68:189-199.</div>
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<div class="text-justify"><strong>[5] Muñoz R.</strong> Análisis filogenético preliminar del género <em>Cosmos</em> (Asteraceae) con base en secuencias del ADN ribosomal (ITS). Tesis, División de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara. Zapopan, Jalisco. 2008;38.</div>
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<div class="text-justify"><strong>[6] Sherff E.</strong> <em>Cosmos.</em> En: Sherff E.E. y Alexander E.J. Eds. North America Flora, Compositae-Heliantheae-Coreopsidinae. The New York Botanical Garden, Nueva York. 1995;130-146.</div>
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