title: Embryophyte

text: Seed plants include two groups with living members, the gymnosperms and the angiosperms or flowering plants. In gymnosperms, the ovules or seeds are not further enclosed. In angiosperms, they are enclosed in ovaries. A split ovary with a visible seed can be seen in the adjacent image. Angiosperms typically also have other, secondary structures, such as petals, which together form a flower.


title: Robert Taylor Homes

text: Robert Taylor Homes was a public housing project in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois from 1962 to 2007. The largest housing project in the United States, it consisted of 28 virtually identical high-rises, set out in a linear plan for two miles (3 km), with the high-rises regularly configured in a horseshoe shape of three in each block. It was located along State Street between Pershing Road (39th Street) and 54th Street, east of the Dan Ryan Expressway. The project was named for Robert Rochon Taylor (1899–1957), an African-American activist and the first African American chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). It was a part of the State Street Corridor which included other CHA housing projects: Stateway Gardens, Dearborn Homes, Harold Ickes Homes, and Hilliard Homes.


title: Robert Taylor Homes

text: Robert Taylor Homes were completed in 1962 and named for Robert Rochon Taylor (1899–1957), an African American activist and Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) board member who in 1950 resigned when the city council refused to endorse potential building locations throughout the city of Chicago that would induce racially integrated housing.


title: Robert Taylor Homes

text: At one time, it was the largest public housing development in the country, and it was intended to offer decent affordable housing. It was composed of 28 high-rise buildings with 16 stories each, with a total of 4,415 units, mostly arranged in U-shaped clusters of three, stretching for two miles (three kilometers).


title: Robert Taylor Homes

text: The Robert Taylor Homes faced many of the same problems that doomed other high-rise housing projects in Chicago such as Cabrini–Green. These problems included drug dealing, drug abuse, gang violence, and the perpetuation of poverty. Planned for 11,000 inhabitants, the Robert Taylor Homes housed up to a peak of 27,000 people. Six of the poorest US census areas with populations above 2,500 were found there. Including children who are not of working age, at one point 95 percent of the housing development's 27,000 residents were unemployed and listed public assistance as their only income source, and 40 percent of the households were single-parent, female-headed households earning less than $5,000 per year. About 96 percent were African-American. The concrete high-rises, many with the scars of arson fire, sat in a narrow stretch of slum. Neglect was evident in littered streets, poorly enforced building codes and scant commercial or civic amenities. Aside from neglect and ignoring crime, police officers also felt unsafe in darkened hallways and were frequently shot at from the high rises. In the Robert Taylor Homes a survey was conducted and showed that the majority of residents either had a family member in prison or expected one to return from prison within two years. This caused issues when residents tried to relocate; many of these returning prisoners had partners, children and/or mental illnesses that prevented them from relocating to another residence.


title: Robert Taylor Homes

text: The Mickey Cobras (MC's), Gangster Disciples (GDs), and Black Disciples (BDs) gangs dominated the housing project. Police intelligence sources say that the elevated number of homicides was the result of gang "turf wars", as gang members and drug dealers fought over control of given Chicago neighborhoods. The CHA estimated that $45,000 in drug deals took place daily. Former residents of the Robert Taylor Homes have said that the drug dealers fought for control of the buildings. In one weekend, more than 300 separate shooting incidents were reported in the vicinity of the Robert Taylor Homes. Twenty-eight people were killed during the same weekend, with 26 of the 28 incidents believed to be gang-related.


title: Robert Taylor Homes

text: Numerous crimes occurred in the Robert Taylor Homes, reaching an all–time high in the mid–1970s. Most crimes committed at the housing project were drug and street gang violence related. In October 1976, 22–year-old Denise Dozier was thrown from a 15th floor apartment window; she survived the incident. On June 25, 1983, 18 month-old Vinyette Teague was abducted from the project after her grandmother left her alone in the hallway for a few minutes to answer a phone call. An estimated 50 people were in the hallway at the time of the abduction, but police were unable to gather enough evidence to make any arrests. She has never been seen or heard from since. On August 15, 1991, shortly before midnight, CHA police officer Jimmie Haynes was fatally wounded by a sniper rifle at the project. He died two days later at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center. Three suspects were charged with his murder. A maintenance worker at the project was beaten to death by gang members after he allowed police officers access to a building where a gang meeting was taking place in February 1993.


title: Robert Taylor Homes

text: In 1993, it was decided to replace all Robert Taylor Homes with a mixed-income community in low-rise buildings as part of a federal block grant received for the purpose from the HOPE VI federal program. In 1996, HOPE VI federal funds were granted specifically for off-site Taylor replacement housing. The Chicago Housing Authority moved out all residents by the end of 2005. On March 8, 2007, the last remaining building was demolished. As of 2007, a total of 2,300 low-rise residential homes and apartments, seven new and renovated community facilities, and a number of retail and commercial spaces are to be built in place of the old high-rise buildings. The development costs are expected to total an estimated $583 million. Part of the redevelopment is the renaming of the area to "Legends South".


title: Robert Taylor Homes

text: Because of the standardized housing and near homogeneous demographics, the RTH cluster was an ideal location for studying the effects of urban living and lack of "green space" on the human condition. This type of research in environmental psychology was most clearly demonstrated by a group of studies done by Frances Kuo and William Sullivan of the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory (formerly the Human-Environment Research Laboratory) at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The history and economy of this housing development was studied by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh in his book "American Project" (). In his 2008 book "Gang Leader For A Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes To The Streets" (), Venkatesh also profiled the area, its residents and the "Black Kings", a Chicago gang known for selling drugs. The "Black Kings" were renamed for the book to preserve anonymity, although it is likely referential to the Gangster Disciples. Although not about the Robert Taylor Homes, author Alex Kotlowitz wrote about the Chicago Housing Authority, the demographics and the history of the Chicago Housing projects in his book "There Are No Children Here" (). The book discusses the Henry Horner Homes, but also looks at and discusses the issues within the entire area. The housing development was the subject of a PBS documentary called "Crisis On Federal Street" which aired nationally in August 1987.


title: Floral emblem

text: In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols – some are conferred by government bodies, whereas others are the result of informal public polls. The term floral emblem, which refers to flowers specifically, is primarily used in Australia and Canada. In the United States, the term state flower is more often used.


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of the Seychelles is the tropicbird orchid (known locally as "orkid payanke"), "Angraecum eburneum".


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of Tunisia is jasmine. It was chosen as a symbol for the 2010 Tunisian Revolution.


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of Bangladesh is the water lily "Nymphaea nouchali". It is called "Shapla" (শাপলা) in the Bengali language.


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of Bhutan is the blue poppy. Previously misidentified as the non-native "Meconopsis grandis", national flower of Bhutan was identified in 2017 as "Meconopsis gakyidiana", a new distinct species.


title: Floral emblem

text: Cambodia formally adopted the "romduol" () as its national flower in the year 2005 by a royal decree. The royal decree designates the taxon as "Mitrella mesnyi", however, this is a taxonomically illegitimate synonym for "Sphaerocoryne affinis".


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of India is the lotus flower "(Nelumbo nucifera)". It is a sacred flower and occupies a unique position in the art and mythology of ancient India and has been an auspicious symbol of Indian culture since time immemorial.


title: Floral emblem

text: All three were chosen on World Environment Day in 1990, and enforced by law through Presidential Decree ("Keputusan Presiden") No. 4 1993, On the other occasion, "Bunga Bangkai" ("Titan arum") was also added as "puspa langka" together with "Rafflesia".


title: Floral emblem

text: "Melati" ("Jasminum sambac"), a small white flower with sweet fragrance, has long been considered a sacred flower in Indonesian tradition, as it symbolizes purity, sacredness, graceful simplicity and sincerity. For example, on her wedding day, a traditional Indonesian bride's hair is often adorned with arrangements of jasmine, while the groom's kris is often adorned with a lock of jasmine. However, jasmine is also often used as a floral offering for spirits and deities, and also often present during funerals, which has caused it to be seen as having mystical and sacred properties. Moon orchid was chosen for its beauty, while the other two rare flowers, "Rafflesia arnoldii" and "Titan arum", were chosen to demonstrate uniqueness and Indonesia's rich biodiversity.


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of Iran is the water lily which is also called nymphaea ("Niloofare Abi", in Persian). The flower is the national flower of Iran since the Achaemenid Empire era (552 BC).


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of Israel is the poppy anemone ("Anemone coronaria"; "calanit metzuya" in Hebrew), chosen in 2013 to replace "Cyclamen persicum".


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of the Maldives is the pink polyantha rose ("Rosa polyantha"), called "fiyaathoshi finifenmaa".


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of North Korea is the Korean mountain magnolia ("Magnolia sieboldii", Korean: 목란/ "mongnan").


title: Floral emblem

text: The Philippines adopted the "sampaguita" (Arabian jasmine, "Jasminum sambac") in 1934 as its national flower because it symbolises purity and cleanliness due to its colour and sweet smell. It is popularly strung into garlands that are presented to visitors and dignitaries, and is a common offering to religious images.


title: Floral emblem

text: Sampaguita in Filipino language is a direct loan word from the Indian sanskrit word "campaka". Plants of some species of flowers like sampaguita, fruits like mango and nangka, vegetables like ampalaya, patola, malunggay, name of Philippine's pre-Christian chief god Bathala (from sanskrit "Bhattara Guru"), came from India during pre-Spanish Indianised trade and influences. Among strong traces of continuity of Hindu influence in Philippines are placing of sampaguita garland around the neck of visitors to show hospitality and friendship, throwing the rice over bride and groom for prosperity, performing paninilbihan, paying dowry, visiting a shrine to pray for fertility, etc.


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of Singapore is a hybrid orchid cultivar known as the Singapore orchid or Vanda Miss Joaquim ("Papilionanthe teres" × "Papilionanthe hookeriana").


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of South Korea is "Hibiscus syriacus". Known in South Korea as "mugunghwa" (Korean: 무궁화), the flower's symbolism relates to the Korean word "mugung", which means "eternity" or "inexhaustible abundance". Despite being made the national flower officially after Korea regained its independence from Japan, "mugunghwa" has been associated with Korean culture for many centuries, with the Silla kingdom having called itself the "Country of the Mugunghwa" (Korean: 근화향, Romanized: "Geunhwahyang").


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of Sri Lanka is "Nil mānel" (නිල් මානෙල්), the blue-star water-lily ("Nymphaea stellata"). Although "nil" means "blue" in Sinhala, the Sinhalese name of this plant is often rendered as "water-lily" in English. This beautiful aquatic flower appears in the Sigiriya frescoes and has been mentioned in ancient Sanskrit, Pali and Sinhala literary works. Buddhist lore in Sri Lanka claims that this flower was one of the 108 auspicious signs found on Prince Siddhartha's footprint.


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of the Republic of China was officially designated as the plum blossom by the Executive Yuan on 21 July 1964. The plum blossom, known as the "meihua" (), is a symbol of resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity, because plum trees often bloom most vibrantly even during the harshest winters. The triple grouping of stamens represents Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People, while the five petals symbolize the five branches of the government.


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of Thailand is the Golden Shower Tree ("Cassia fistula"), locally known as "dok khuen" or "rachapruek".


title: Floral emblem

text: Portugal does not officially have a national flower, though the lavender is commonly cited. The carnation ("Dianthus caryophyllus") is also a symbol of the nation's triumph against the authoritarian far-right Estado Novo dictatorship, known as the Carnation Revolution.


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flowers of Serbia are Natalie's ramonda ("Ramonda nathaliae") and Serbian ramonda ("Ramonda serbica"). The flowers are considered symbolс of the Serbian Army's struggle during World War I, as well as the resurrection of the Serbian state after the devastating war. To commemorate their victims, people in Serbia wear Natalie's ramonda as a symbol of remembrance, especially during Armistice Day, which is a statutory holiday in Serbia since 2012. Natalie's ramonda was named after Queen Natalija Obrenović, while Serbian ramonda is also known as the Serbian phoenix flower, due to its ability to be revived when watered, even when fully dehydrated.


title: Floral emblem

text: The national flower of Sweden is Campanula rotundifolia, known as "small bluebell". It won a public vote in 2021.


title: Floral emblem

text: The maple leaf is widely used as a symbol for Canada. The maple tree was officially recognized as Canada's arboreal emblem in 1996.


title: Floral emblem

text: Many Canadian flags and coats-of-arms have floral emblems on them. The flag of Montreal has four floral emblems. On the right side of the flag of Saskatchewan overlapping both green and gold halves is the western red lily, the provincial floral emblem. The coat of arms of Port Coquitlam has the city's floral emblem, the azalea, displayed on a collar. The coat of arms of Prince Edward Island displays lady's slippers, the floral emblem of the island. When coat of arms of Nova Scotia were reassumed in 1929, the trailing arbutus or mayflower, the floral emblem of Nova Scotia, was added.


title: Floral emblem

text: In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation to make the rose the national floral emblem of the United States. In each of the U.S. states, state flowers and trees have also been adopted as symbols by state legislatures.