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Free keywords:
Iridescence
Multilayer interference
Plant cuticle
Spectroscopy
Structural colour in plants
Color
Optical multilayers
Degree of confidence
Experimental approaches
Microscopic structures
Periodic multilayers
Plant cuticles
Structural colour
Plants (botany)
confocal microscopy
diffraction
diffraction grating
flower
fruit
light scattering
nonhuman
optics
plant leaf
plant structures
plant tissue
review
scanning electron microscopy
structure analysis
transmission electron microscopy
anatomy and histology
angiosperm
Commelinaceae
plant
Selaginellaceae
tulip
ultrastructure
article
histology
Angiosperms
Flowers
Optics and Photonics
Plant Leaves
Plants
Tulipa
Abstract:
The outer layers of a range of plant tissues, including flower petals, leaves and fruits, exhibit an intriguing variation of microscopic structures. Some of these structures include ordered periodic multilayers and diffraction gratings that give rise to interesting optical appearances. The colour arising from such structures is generally brighter than pigment-based colour. Here, we describe the main types of photonic structures found in plants and discuss the experimental approaches that can be used to analyse them. These experimental approaches allow identification of the physical mechanisms producing structural colours with a high degree of confidence. © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
