Stamens of a Hippeastrum with white filaments and prominent anthers carrying pollen

The stamen (plural stamina or stamens, from Latin stamen meaning "thread of the warp") is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Stamens typically consist of a stalk called the filament (from Latin filum, meaning "thread"), and an anther (from Ancient Greek anthera, feminine of antheros "flowery," from anthos "flower"), which contains microsporangia. Anthers are most commonly two-lobed and are attached to the filament either at the base or in the middle portion. The sterile tissue between the lobes is called the connective.

A typical anther contains four microsporangia. The microsporangia form sacs or pockets (locules) in the anther. The two separate locules on each side of an anther may fuse into a single locule. Each microsporangium is lined with a nutritive tissue layer called the tapetum and initially contains diploid pollen mother cells. These undergo meiosis to form haploid spores. The spores may remain attached to each other in a tetrad or separate after meiosis. Each microspore then divides mitotically to form an immature microgametophyte called a pollen grain.

The pollen is eventually released by the opening (dehiscence) of the anther, generally by means of longitudinal slits, but sometimes by pores, as in the heath family (Ericaceae), or by valves, as in the barberry family (Berberidaceae). In some plants, notably members of the Orchidaceae and the Asclepiadoideae, the pollen remains in masses called pollinia, usually specialised in ways adapted to being carried by particular pollinating agents such as birds or large insects. More commonly, mature pollen grains separate and are dispensed in ways suitable for wind or water transport, or for dusting onto pollinating insects, whether large or small.

When ready, the pollen is carried by some external agent (wind, water or some member of the animal kingdom) to the receptive surface of the carpel of the same or another flower. This process is known as pollination. After successful pollination, the pollen grain (immature microgametophyte) completes its development by growing a pollen tube and undergoing mitosis to produce two male gametes (sperm).^{[dubious – discuss]}

Stamens in context

The stamens in a flower are collectively called the androecium (from Greek andros oikia: man's house). The androecium forms a whorl surrounding the gynoecium (carpels) and inside the perianth (the petals and sepals together) if there is one. (The one exception is a few members of the family Triuridaceae, particularly Lacandonia schismatica, in which the gynoecium surrounds the androecium.)

Stamens can be free or fused in various ways. A column formed from the fusion of multiple filaments is known as an androphore.

Descriptive terms[link]

Scanning electron microscope image of Penta lanceolata anthers, with pollen grains on surface

The anther can be attached to the filament in two ways:

• basifixed: attached at its base to the filament; this gives rise to a longitudinal dehiscence (opening along its length to release pollen)
• versatile: attached at its center to the filament; pollen is then released through pores (poricidal dehiscence).

Stamens can be connate (fused or joined in the same whorl):

• monadelphous: fused into a single, compound structure
• diadelphous: joined partially into two androecial structures
• synandrous: only the anthers are connate (such as in the Asteraceae)

Stamens can also be adnate (fused or joined from more than one whorl):

• epipetalous: adnate to the corolla
• didynamous: occurring in two pairs of different length
• tetradynamous: occurring as a set of six filaments with two shorter ones
• exserted: extending beyond the corolla
• included: not extending from the corolla.

Sexual reproduction in plants[link]

Stamen with pollinia and its anther cap. Phalaenopsis orchid.

In the typical flower (that is, in the majority of flowering plant species) each flower has both carpels and stamens. In some species, however, the flowers are unisexual with only carpels or stamens. (monoecious = both types of flowers found on the same plant; dioecious = the two types of flower found only on different plants). A flower with only stamens is called androecious. A flower with only carpels is called gynoecious.

A flower having only functional stamens and lacking functional carpels is called a staminate flower, or (inaccurately) male.^[1] A plant with only functional carpels is called pistillate, or (inaccurately) female.^[2]

An abortive or rudimentary stamen is called a staminodium or staminode, such as in Scrophularia nodosa.

The carpels and stamens of orchids are fused into a column. The top part of the column is formed by the anther. This is covered by an anther cap.

Gallery[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Stamens

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  Insects collecting nectar unintentionally transfer pollen to other flowers, causing pollination

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  Flower of the spider tree (Crateva religiosa) with its numerous conspicuous stamens

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  Flowers of wheat at anthesis showing stamens.

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  Stamens of a daylily (Hemerocallis), thickly covered in pollen

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  Flowers of the "silk tree" (Albizia julibrissin) have many long thread-like stamens

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  Stamens of a passion flower (Passiflora caerulea) showing interesting symmetry

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  Hylocereus undatus showing the style and stigma, and stamens

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  These Solanum anthers release pollen through a pore at their tip

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  Blue and red waterlily stamens deploying in the morning sun (Nymphaea caerulea)

References[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009)

The Shamen were a Scottish electronic music and psychedelic-influenced band from Aberdeen. The founding members are Colin Angus (born 24 August 1961), Derek McKenzie (born 27 February 1964) and Keith McKenzie (born 30 August 1961) . Peter Stephenson (born 1 March 1962) joined shortly after to take over keyboards from Colin. Several other people were later in the band. Colin Angus then teamed up with Will Sinnott who together found credibility as pioneers of rock/dance crossover, before moving on to international commercial success when joined by Mr. C with "Ebeneezer Goode" and the Boss Drum 1992 album.

History[link]

1980s[link]

The Shamen were preceded by Alone Again Or, the Love-inspired name under which they recorded their first psychedelic electronic pop singles. After their name change, further singles picked up airplay from John Peel. Released in June 1987, The Shamen's first album, Drop illustrated their love of 1960s psychedelia, with influences such as Love, Syd Barrett and the 13th Floor Elevators.

By mid-1987, frontman Colin Angus was discovering the sounds of early house-music pioneers, such as S-Express and M/A/R/R/S, and increasing his knowledge of the latest studio gadgetry. By September 1987, the Shamen were applying these techniques to their own music, mixing rock guitars, techno and hip-hop rhythms and sampled radio voices to create the prototype rock-dance sound which was to prove so influential to groups like Jesus Jones and EMF. However, the newfound sound proved too radical for co-founder and vocalist Derek McKenzie, who then left the band in late 1987 to study at university. The Shamen were suddenly one crucial player short. Help was at hand in the charismatic form of Will Sinnott (23 December 1960–23 May 1991), aka Will Sin, who joined the group in October 1987, on bass, freeing up Colin Angus to handle vocal and guitar chores. Sinnott's musical background was an extensive one. He had already made an impression as part of the Can/SAHB influenced improvisation troupe Edith And The Ladies, and his father, a master wood craftsman, had made guitars for the Incredible String Band and John Martyn.

"Knature of a Girl" was the first record by the Shamen to feature Sinnott, but it wasn't until June's "Jesus Loves Amerika" single that the techno influence began to show. By this stage, Angus and Sinnott had become hooked on the acid house movement taking place in London, and its music and clubs were to exert a massive influence on the pair. Keith McKenzie and Peter Stephenson were less impressed by these new developments, and left the group the following summer, after the January 1989 release of the In Gorbachev We Trust album, which saw the group further enhancing their sound.

Angus and Sinnott relocated to London, allowing them to start afresh, and plunge headfirst into the emerging rave scene. 1989 was to be a busy year. They set out on their legendary Synergy tour, a nightclub experience combined with live music from The Shamen and others like Orbital and with DJing from the likes of Paul Oakenfold, Mixmaster Morris.Mr C, and Evil Eddie Richards The tour was to last nearly two years. Synergy was innovative at the time, in being a touring rock dance club introducing live bands to clubber's and house, techno and ambient Dj's to rock fans. They also released the Phorward mini album, produced by ex-Fiction Factory singer/songwriter Kevin Patterson.

1990s[link]

Their third album, En-Tact, was released in 1990, and it spawned the hit singles "Move Any Mountain (Progen '91)", "Hyperreal" and "Make It Mine". Also notable was the appearance of rapper and DJ Mr. C (real name Richard West), as well as incorporation of a female vocal talent, Plavka Lonich – who was intended to become the focal point of the group. The transformation into a successful rave-music act was complete. Tensions had already begun to show, however. The band's barely concealed espousal of the then-fashionable New Psychedelics, the artistic pressures of altering direction from that of an acceptably skilled guitar band to an electro-pop group. As they continued their Synergy tour, their popularity in the United Kingdom began to rapidly expand.

In early 1991, with the expansion of the popularity of their band, Will Sin decided to release an EP entitled "U Make Me Feel" under the pseudonym Elsi Curry, and it was released in France, primary on vinyl, as a promotional record. In May 1991, The Shamen headed to Tenerife, to film a video for "Move Any Mountain". On 23 May, Will Sinnott drowned while swimming off the coast of La Gomera. Colin Angus later said:

"When it first happened, I was still reeling from the shock of Will's completely unexpected and tragic death, and I couldn't think about the Shamen at all, couldn't see how anything could continue. But as I came to terms with it and thought about the situation I realised that what the Shamen's about was positivity and that positivity is like the spirit of the music and positivity acknowledges the need for change. So for those reasons I elected to carry on and also I knew that the name Shamen really meant a lot to Will and that was one of the main attractions for joining the band for him."^[1]

The "U Make Me Feel" EP never got a promotional release after Will Sin's death. Soon afterwards, in July 1991, Plavka Lonich chose to leave the band.^[2]

With Mr C now a full member of The Shamen, and Jhelisa Anderson (who was chosen to replace Plavka) providing guest vocals, the Boss Drum album followed in 1992. Boss Drum featured a spoken-word collaboration, "Re:Evolution" with Terence McKenna, and The Shamen's biggest and most controversial hit: "Ebeneezer Goode". "Ebeneezer Goode" was accused of promoting drug use, owing to the refrain, "Ezer Goode, Ezer Goode" as homophonic with "E's are good" ("E" being slang for the dance drug Ecstasy), "These F'in E's are good" as "He's Ebenezer Goode", and to double entendre drug references throughout the song. This echoed similar references in previous songs such as "Synergy"'s "M D M A-zing... we are together in ecstasy". Despite – or maybe because of – the subsequent storm of publicity, the song stayed at the top of the UK charts for 4 weeks.

Subsequent singles such as "Boss Drum" and "Phorever People" were chart hits, and they were voted "Best New Act" by Radio 1 listeners at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party in 1992, but after the unexpected success of Ebeneezer Goode some long-term fans believed they paled in comparison to earlier singles.^{[citation needed]} As Terence McKenna observed:

"Nothing ruins you for the underground like success. So when Boss Drum went double platinum, they were obviously 'establishment'... I've talked to Colin about this, and he agrees. It would have been wonderful to hit it big at 23. At 35 it becomes a pain in the ass, and you just have to manage the money and the image."^[3]

However, The Shamen's new mainstream popularity enabled them to release an unusually large number of remix singles, EPs, and LPs during the Boss Drum era, including the "Face EP", the "S.O.S. EP", and the On Air and Different Drum albums. On Air featured a series of popular tracks from En-Tact and Boss Drum as performed live on BBC radio; Different Drum was a remix album containing alternate versions of every track from Boss Drum. The tracks "Boss Drum", "LSI (Love Sex Intelligence)", "Phorever People", "Ebeneezer Goode", and "Re:Evolution" were all released as singles in their own right. It was however impossible for the band to fully escape the shadow that Will Sin's untimely exit had cast across them. At a time and in a scene when performers were very often both masked and anonymous, the emerging early 1990s Electrorock world had lost one of its more notable personalities.

Axis Mutatis was released in 1995, with new vocalist Victoria Wilson James replacing Jhelisa Anderson. Early special editions of this album featured a bonus disk, Arbor Bona Arbor Mala, an ambient album.

Always seeking to push out musical and communication boundaries, the Shamen saw themselves as an information band. Their Internet site Nemeton was amongst the first uk music sites to host to unique web based events, e.g. releasing the first ever UK band single and LP's on the net in 1995^[4] and it also features a remarkable piece of software devised by Colin to convert the DNA structures of human life into electronic music. "S2 Translation", a track on "Axis Mutatis", was generated using this software.^[5]

The Shamen continued recording into the late 1990s, releasing two additional LPs with an increasingly experimental bent. Their penultimate studio album, the instrumental Hempton Manor, followed an acrimonious split with their label One Little Indian. It is alleged to have been recorded in seven days to conclude the recording contract with One Little Indian, and the first letter of each track spells out "Fuck Birket", referring to label founder Derek Birket, who wanted the group to move back into more commercial territory.^[6] UV, in 1998, was their last album. UV was released independently on Moksha Recordings and marked a return to form, with both modern techno production and classic Shamen song structures.

Mr. C has since continued as a house music DJ and became a successful nightclub owner of the The End club. As of 2007, he was also recording as a member of the group called Sycophant Slags, with Francis Harris a.k.a. Adultnapper on his record label, Superfreq Records. Colin Angus worked in a project called Pablo Sandoz, from 2004 to 2008.

Band members[link]

• Colin Angus - Vocals, guitars, keyboards (1985–1999)
• Derek McKenzie - Vocals (1985–1987)
• Keith McKenzie - Drums (1985–1988)
• Allison Morrison -live Keyboards, backup vocals (1985–1986)
• Peter Stephenson - Keyboards (1986–1988)
• Will Sinnott - Bass, vocals, keyboards (1987–1991)
• Richard West (Mr C) - Vocals, keyboards (1989–1999)
• Plavka Lonich - Vocals (1990–1991)
• Cheryl Melder - live Vocals (1991–1992)
• Richard Sharpe - live Keyboards (1991–1992)
• Bob Breeks - additional live keyboards (1992–1999)
• Gavin Knight - live drums (1992–1999)
• Jhelisa Anderson - Vocals (1992–1993)
• Victoria Wilson James - Vocals (1994–1998)

Discography[link]

See also[link]

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
• List of number-one singles from the 1990s (UK)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Shamen Facebook Page
• Official Shamen Twitter Feed
• Official Shamen YouTube channel
• Shamen website
• Shamen itunes
• Shamen amazon