Solanum aculeastrum calyx on a fruit

The calyx of Solanum aculeastrum shown here was earlier found at the base of a flower, but is still serving a purpose. It is even enlarged at the fruiting stage with prickles added by now and spread open in a pointed, shallowly lobed star-shape at the back of the fruit. This calyx is still green, being fed by the plant for rendering its protective services.

A calyx, the outermost whorl around a flower usually serves as protection for the flower, especially the ovary where the developing seed hold the key to life of the species. In many species the calyx is redundant once the flower has wilted, while others, such as Solanum plants, require it for a while longer until the seeds are ready for dispersal.

The word calyx arrived in English with its meaning unmodified from Latin. Earlier similar words, kalux in ancient Greek and kalika (Sanskrit) meaning calyx, bud, wrapping or husk, were derived from a yet older word contained in a prototype language once spoken in parts of Asia. This ancestor of all the Indo-Germanic languages is long dead and lost today, but for some reconstruction achieved through studies of what is shared among the existing Indo-Germanic languages that include the four mentioned above.

When our less technology-dependent forefathers spoke that ancient forerunner of todays languages very long ago, the plant species they saw around them were fewer in number and different; early forms of todays plants adapted in a more primitive and less diverse habitat, no longer in existence. The Afro-Asian language family has an even longer recorded history of its constituent languages than the Indo-Germanic one.

Languages and dialects form and vanish over time with the vicissitudes of their speakers, similar to plant and animal species in habitat; evolving as all living things do to overcome their specific obstacles to survival. Much differentiation and proliferation of kinds of plants, animals, languages and social systems have occurred in this way on earth over the aeons.

This gives later generations glimpses of their rich heritage of continually increasing complexity. They can study and preserve it if they have the interest and capacity, or ignore and ruin it (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; Wikipedia).