Acalypha

Acalypha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. It is one of the largest euphorb genera, with approximately 450 to 462 species. The genus name "Acalypha" is from the Ancient Greek () ("nettle"), an alternative form of (), and was inspired by the nettle-like leaves. General common names include copperleaf and three-seeded mercury. Native North American species are generally inconspicuous most of the year until the fall when their stems and foliage turn a distinctive coppery-red.
The genus is distributed mainly in the tropics and subtropics, with about 60% of species native to the Americas and about 30% in Africa.
Description.
The genus includes annuals or perennial herbs, shrubs, and small trees. Most are monoecious, and some are dioecious. Indumentum of simple hair or glands, rarely of stellate hair. The leaves are alternately arranged, undivided, generally petiolate, stipulate; stipels rarely present at apex of petiole or leaf base, caduceus. The blades entire or more frequently dentate or crenate, pinnately or palmately veined. There are several types of inflorescence, terminal or axillary, frequently both, unisexual or androgynous. Male inflorescences spicate, densely flowered, with several flowers at each node subtended by a minute bract. Female inflorescences generally spicate, sometimes racemose or panicle-shaped, with 1–3(–5) flowers at each node, usually subtended by a large bract, increasing and foliaceous in the fruit, generally dentate or lobed; sometimes subtended by a small bract, entire or lobed, non accrescent in the fruit. Androgynous inflorescences usually with female flowers at proximal nodes and male flower at distal nodes. Flowers unisexual, apetalous, disc absent. Male flowers very small, shortly pedicellate, globose in bud; calyx parted into 4 small valvate sepals; stamens 4–8(–16) on a slightly raised receptacle, filaments free or basally connate; anthers with divaricate or pendulous thecae, unilocular, more or less elongated and later becoming vermiform; pollen grains oblate-spheroidal, with 3–5 pseudopores, tectate, psilate; pistillode absent. Female flowers generally sessile or subsessile, pedicellate in a few species; calyx of 3– (4–5) small sepals imbricate, connate at base; ovary of [1–2]3 carpels, surface often muricate, pubescent or papillose; ovules solitary in each cell, anatropes; styles reddish, free or basally connate, several times divided into filiform segment, rarely bifid or entire; staminodes absent. Fruits capsular, small, 3-lobed, soon dehiscing septicidally into 3 bivalved cocci; generally surrounded by the accrescent female bract. Seeds small, ovoid or ellipsoid, usually carunculate, smooth or foveolate; endosperm present, whitish; the embryo straight; cotyledons broad and flat. Allomorphic female flowers present in some species, generally terminal (sometimes median or basal) in the inflorescences; ebracteate, long pedicellate or subsessile; calyx as in the normal female flowers; ovary and fruits 1-2 locular.
Taxonomy.
The genus "Acalypha" was described in the "Species Plantarum" by Linné (1753), as belonging to the "monoecia monadelphia" class along with other "Euphorbiaceae" genera such as "Croton, Jatropha" and "Ricinus". Previously it was also included in the "Corollarium Generum Plantarum" (Linné, 1737). Its definition has been changed very little ever since, and it is confirmed as a natural and well specified genus. In its "Species Plantarum", Linné sets forth the first three binominal names, i.e. "A. virginica" from North America, and "A. indica" and "A. australis" from Asia; in 1760 he describes a fourth species: "A. virgata" from Jamaica. In the same year, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, as a result from his journey to Caribbean Sea, writes "Enumeratio Systematica Plantarum", in which species "A. villosa" and "A. carthagenensis" from Colombia, and "A. corensis" from Venezuela are described. The first "Acalypha" iconographies are also shown in the books by Jacquin; there coloured sheets of "A. villosa" (Jacquin, 1776), "A. alopecuroides" (Jacquin, 1792), "A. cuspidata, A. diversifolia" and "A. macrostachya" (Jacquin, 1797) can be found.
Until the late 18th century the outstanding incorporations to the genus were those from Pehr Forsskål, a Linné student, who sets forth six new species in his "Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica" in 1775; and also those from Swedish botanist Olof Swartz, author of "Nova Genera et Species Plantarum seu Prodromus," in 1788, where eight new species are published as a result of a journey around Western Indies. In 1789 Antoine de Jussieu also incorporates "Acalypha" in his "Genera Plantarum". 19th century going on, Antonio José Cavanilles describes six species from Mexico: these were collected by Luis Née, a botanist from Malaspina Expedition (Cavanilles, 1800). One year later, such species are again included in his book Icones et Descriptiones Plantarum together with some excellent monochrome drawings."
In 1804 and 1816, Jean Louis Marie Poiret makes the first compilation of all "Acalypha" known species in the "Encyclopédie Méthodique, Botanique" by Jean Baptiste Lamarck (vol. VI and suppl. IV). There he describes forty species, thirteen of them for the first time. In 1805, Carl Ludwig Willdenow compiles and describes thirty nine "Acalypha" species in his "Species Plantarum", in which the first classification of genus is made. The species are grouped as to whether they are monoecious or dioecious, and to the position of flowers and inflorescences. As an offspring from the American journey made by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland, twelve new "Acalypha" species, from Mexico and Colombia, are described by Sigmund Kunth in "Nova Genera et Species Plantarum" (1817, 1825).
In 1826, Kurt Sprengel compiles fifty eighth "Acalypha" species in his "Systema Vegetabilium", seven of them brand new. He puts them together under a key with characters similar to those used by Willdenow, finally, the herbaceous species are separated from the woody species. During the first half of the 19th century, many new species are published all around the world, with emphasis on the works by Eduard Poeppig (1841) and George Bentham (1839, 1844) about American species.
In the French botanist Henri Baillon publication "Étude générale du groupe des Euphorbiacées" (1858), a large morphological description of genus is made, and a peculiar classification is presented: two sections are considered –“"Sect. A"” and “"Sect. B"”– depending on whether the inflorescence axis is simple or branched out, and the female flowers calyx consists of three or five sepals. Baillon continued to publish a series of works under the title "Euphorbiacées américaines", to be issued in the first volumes of Adansonia journal, between 1860 and 1864. More than fifty new species of "Acalypha" are described thereto, most of them from South America, and specially from Brazil.
Johannes Müller Argoviensis, a Swiss botanist specialist in lichens and director of Geneva herbarium, was entrusted with making a good many "Euphorbiaceae", "Acalypha"genus included, ready for De Candolle’s "Prodromus" (Müller Argoviensis, 1866). As a preparation for that public book, he published in "Flora" journal a lot of descriptions of new species based on specimens of Hooker herbarium, at Kew Gardens (Müller Argoviensis, 1864). In such a work, Müller for the first time uses a classification of "Acalypha" in two sections, i. e. “"Linostachys"” and “"Euacalypha"”, names which accompany each of the described species. In 1865, he publishes in Linnaea journal a first revision of genus, in which 164 species are gathered –67 of them first time described– and "Acalypha" is formally divided into two sections as above referred. The "Linostachys" section is based on the homonymous genus from Klotzsch (1846), and includes seven species with pedicellate male flowers and bracts non-increasing in the fruit. The "Euacalypha" section incorporates all 157 remaining species, which have sessile female flowers and bracts increasing in the fruit. This latter section is in turn divided into “"series"”, “"subseries"”, and finally in groups designated by the symbol “§”, mainly according to the relative positions of male and female flowers in inflorescences and depending on whether these are axillary or terminal, unisexual or bisexual. Finally, in De Candolle’s "Prodromus" (Müller Argoviensis, 1866) 30 new species are described, thus raising up to 215 the number of accepted species, which are ordered as per such a complex infrasectional classification. Nearly all names of subgeneric taxa from Müller are illegitimate according to the current rules of International Code of Botanic Nomenclature. Müller Argoviensis was also entrusted with the preparation of "Acalypha" for the "Flora Brasiliensis" of Martius (Müller Argoviensis, 1874), in which 10 new species are described. There he maintains his two sections, but he does not use the infrasectional classification.
From 1867 to 1923 no new proposal is made concerning the classification of the high number of species which genus already consists of. This is, however, a plentiful period in discovery and description of new species: ca. 220 are published. We must highlight the work from John Hutchinson (1913) for "Flora of Tropical Africa" by Thiselton-Dyer, where he is dealing with 42 species in modern flower format and, for the first time, he introduces a dichotomous identification key.
In 1894 Ferdinand Pax, one of the most productive collaborators in the Engler German school, publishes 12 new African species of "Acalypha". Pax, and the German botanist Käte Hoffmann, were entrusted with preparing the genus for the enormous "Das Pflanzenreich", where all species known in the world so far are gathered and ordered (Pax & Hoffmann, 1924). They deem ca. 390 species as valid ones, of which 81 are first time described. Such a work is considered, even now, as the most complete revision of genus worldwide, and the necessary reference point for any taxonomic or local flora study. The infrageneric classification presented by Pax & Hoffmann is based on that from Müller Argoviensis, except in the rank of subgeneric taxa. Moreover, they use series and section categories in an opposite way to Muller’s: the series are described as higher ranked than sections are. So they divide "Acalypha" into three subgenera: "Linostachys", "Androcephala" and "Euacalypha". The subgenus "Androcephala", single-typed, includes a species from Madagascar with pedicellate female flowers and capituliform male inflorescences. They divide subgenus "Linostachys" into three sections, and subgenus "Euacalypha" into 8 series and 39 sections. Pax & Hoffmann consider as “sections” the lower category groups, which Müller designates by the symbol §. According to Grady Webster (1967), such “sections” from Pax & Hoffmann are comparable to subsections or series in other "Euphorbiaceae" genera. The last input on "Acalypha" from Pax & Hoffmann is published in "Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien" by Engler & Prantl (Pax & Hoffmann 1931). It is just a synthesis of the treatment given in "Das Pflanzenreich", where all species are classified and listed without any description or key.
In a general paper on "Euphorbiaceae" systematics, Isao Hurusawa (1954) sets forth a new classification, where the rank of infrageneric taxa is even raised and a proposal is made to divide "Acalypha" into seven subgenera with 19 sections. Grady Webster (1967), in a study of "Euphorbiaceae" genera from Southeastern USA, deems inadequate the treatments given by Pax & Hoffmann and Hurusawa; he thinks that by dividing genus into two sections with many infrasectional taxa, such as presented by Müller, the grade of kinship between "Acalypha" species seems to be better outlined. Accordingly, Webster compiles "Acalypha" species from the United States into ten series, which are based on corresponding “§” groups from Müller.
Uses.
"A. hispida", the chenille plant or red-hot cat's tail, is cultivated as a houseplant for its interesting flowers. It earned the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, as has "A. hispaniolae", the Hispaniola cat's tail. Others are grown for their foliage and a number of cultivars have been developed, such as "A. wilkesiana" 'Obovata Cristata' and "A. wilkesiana" 'Hoffmannii'.
"A. bipartita" is eaten as a vegetable in some parts of Africa, and it is used in basketry and as animal fodder.


Lomatia hirsuta

Lomatia hirsuta, known as radal, is a tree native to Argentina, Chile, and Peru.
In Chile it grows from Coquimbo to Chiloe (36 to 42°S). It grows on a variety of soils and humidity. It grows on poor soils near ravines.
Description.
"Lomatia hirsuta" is an evergreen tree that measures up to 15 m (50 ft) tall and 80 cm (31 in) in diameter. Light-grey bark with longitudinal fissures.
The leaves are alternate, ovate, heart-shaped base, the petioles are about 2–3 cm long, the leaves are 5-20 long and 4–12 cm wide, toothed edge, dark glossy green above and dull below, the nervation is distinct underneath,
The flowers are hermaphrodite, greenish-yellow color, covered in a rusty red, the flowers are arranged in axillary clustered inflorescences . Every flower is formed by four linear tepals, 4 sessile stamens and a shorter style.
The fruit is a greyish-black follicle almost woody and oval-oblong shaped 2–4 cm long, made up by two valves. Brown winged seeds arranged in imbricate form about 15 mm wide and 5.6 mm long.
Etymology.
"Lomatia"; from the Greek lomas ('fringe'), because of the seeds' edge, "hirsuta" from the Latin 'hairy'; the Spanish name is 'radal', which in turn comes from Mapudungun radal, the Mapuche name of this plant.
Uses.
The wood has beautiful marks, it is similar to Chilean hazel, but 'less elegant.' The leaves are used for dyeing wood brown color. It has been planted in Spain and in the British Isles as far north as Scotland.


Bear corn

Bear corn is a common name for several plants and may refer to:


Pontederia

Pontederia is a genus of tristylous aquatic plants, members of which are commonly known as pickerel weeds. "Pontederia" is endemic to the Americas, distributed from Canada to Argentina, where it is found in shallow water or on mud. The genus was named by Linnaeus in honour of the Italian botanist Giulio Pontedera.
"Pontederia" plants have large waxy leaves, succulent stems and a thick pad of fibrous roots. The roots give rise to rhizomes that allow rapid colonization by vegetative reproduction. Species are perennial, and produce a large spike of flowers in the summer. There is a species of bee ("Dufourea novaeangliae") that exclusively visits "Pontederia cordata"; waterfowl also eat the fruit of the plant.
"Pontederia cordata", and another member of the family, "Eichhornia crassipes", have become invasive in many tropical and temperate parts of the globe, but are, on the other hand, efficient biological filters of polluted water in constructed wetlands.


Ilex trachyphylla

Ilex trachyphylla is a species of plant in the family Aquifoliaceae. It is endemic to Peru.


Peraxilla

Peraxilla is a genus of two showy mistletoe species from New Zealand.


Xanthophyllum havilandii

Xanthophyllum havilandii is a plant in the family Polygalaceae. It is named for the naturalist George Darby Haviland.
Description.
"Xanthophyllum havilandii" grows as a shrub or small tree up to tall with a stem diameter of up to . The bark is blackish. The flowers are yellowish when dry. The round fruits measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Xanthophyllum havilandii" is endemic to Borneo. Its habitat is lowland mixed dipterocarp forests.


Neolepisorus

Neolepisorus is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I).
Taxonomy.
"Neolepisorus" was first described by Ren-Chang Ching in 1940. A molecular phylogenetic study in 2019 suggested that "Neolepisorus" was one of a group of closely related genera in the subfamily Microsoroideae, a group the authors termed ""Lepisorus" sensu lato". It species were embedded in a clade in which none of the genera appeared to be monophyletic:
Species.
, the "Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World" recognized the following species:
, "Plants of the World Online" did not accept the genus, sinking it into "Neocheiropteris", although placing some of its species in "Microsorum".


Encephalartos laevifolius

Encephalartos laevifolius is a species of cycad that is found in the KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces of South Africa, and at Piggs Peak in Eswatini. The species is facing extinction in the wild, but is widely cultivated.
Description.
It is a cycad with an arborescent habit, with an erect stem, up to 3.5 m tall and with a diameter of 25–35 cm, sometimes with secondary stems originating from basal suckers. The leaves, pinnate, are up to 1 m long, supported by a petiole 22–25 cm long, and composed of numerous pairs of lanceolate, coriaceous leaflets, 12–15 cm long, with entire margins and pungent apex. It is a dioecious species, with male specimens that have 1 to 5 cylindrical-fusiform cones, 30–40 cm long and 9–10 cm wide, yellow to brown in color, and female specimens with 1-5 cylindrical cones, 20–30 cm long and 10–15 cm wide, light yellow. The seeds are roughly ovoid, 2.5-3.5 cm long, covered with a yellow-orange flesh.


Solanum verrogeneum

Solanum verrogeneum is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. Its common name is berenjena. It can be found in Costa Rica's rainforest. It is only found in places where light is more abundant.
Fruit.
When ripe the fruit is soft and the skin is bright orange. The flesh appears glazed, slightly translucent and the flesh becomes juicy. The unripe fruit is green and hard. Its flesh is a white to tan color and is solidified.
Edibility.
When picking this fruit proceed with caution. Small needle like trichomes from the fruit can break off into skin, causing minor agitation. Before eating the fruit, first dip it in water then rub the skin against something hard and slightly abrasive (like a rock). This will remove the trichomes.
The fruit is edible. The roots are used as medicine.
Trichomes and spines.
The dermal tissue system of "Solanum verrogeneum" has interesting and distinguishable qualities. The apical and axillary buds along with the young leaves and flowers of the plant have large trichomes at higher densities than the rest of the shoot system. Spines are scattered around the stem and are easily noticed. Spines are present on the mature leaves as well but standout less. Covered on both sides of the leaf, these spines run perpendicular to and trail adjacently along the main veins. The spines follow or "trail" each other in a linear fashion, extending from the tip of the blade down to the petiole. Because of their inconspicuous location and unique arrangement, these spines have a tendency to be overlooked, especially by newcomers.


Brimmon Oak

The Brimmon Oak is a veteran tree in Newtown, Powys, Wales. An English oak, it is thought to be around 500 years old and has been on land farmed by the same family since the 1600s. The tree was scheduled to be felled as part of the construction of the A483 Newtown Bypass in 2015 but was saved as the result of a petition. The tree was named both Welsh and British Tree of the Year for 2016 and was runner up in the European Tree of the Year awards of 2017.
History.
The Brimmon Oak is an English or pedunculate oak thought to be more than 500 years old. The tree has been pollarded for timber in the past and has a girth of over . The land the tree stands on has been owned by the same family of farmers for generations – the current owner claims his family has farmed the field around the tree since the 1600s, and a 1901 photograph shows a wedding party sheltering beneath the tree's canopy. It has been described as one of the most significant natural monuments of Montgomeryshire, the historic county in which it stands.
The tree was scheduled to be felled as part of the construction of the A483 Newtown Bypass in 2015. The farmer of the land on which it stands organised a 5,000-signature petition to the Welsh Assembly calling for its preservation. This was successful and the route of the bypass was altered to protect the tree and a 15m area around it. The campaign sought further assurances from the contractors as they were concerned that the works specified within the area would damage the tree's roots. A further petition was launched in May 2018 to name the soon-to-be opened bypass as the "Newtown Brimmon Oak Bypass" in honour of the tree.
Tree of the Year awards.
In 2016 the tree won the Welsh Tree of the Year awards and in December of that year was selected by judges as the United Kingdom's tree of the year beating the winners of the national awards for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The prize was a £1,000 care grant and entry into the European Tree of the Year awards. In March 2017 it was announced that the tree had finished second in the European awards, determined by popular vote. The tree was second to the in Poland and received 16,200 votes. The result was the best placed finish for a British tree in the award's history.


Pinus taeda

Pinus taeda, commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. U.S. Forest Service surveys found that loblolly pine is the second-most common species of tree in the United States, after red maple. For its timber, the pine species is regarded as the most commercially important tree in the Southeastern U.S. The common name loblolly is given because the pine species is found mostly in lowlands and swampy areas.
Loblolly pine is the first among over 100 species of "Pinus" to have its complete genome sequenced. As of March 2014, it was the organism having the largest sequenced genome size. Its genome, with 22 billion base pairs, is seven times larger than that of humans. As of 2018, assembly of the axolotl genome (32Gb) displaced loblolly pine as the largest assembled genome.
Description.
Loblolly pine can reach a height of with a diameter of . Exceptional specimens may reach tall, the largest of the southern pines. Its needles are in bundles of three, sometimes twisted, and measure long, an intermediate length for southern pines, shorter than those of the longleaf pine or slash pine, but longer than those of the shortleaf pine and spruce pine. The needles usually last up to two years before they fall, which gives the species its evergreen character.
Although some needles fall throughout the year due to severe weather, insect damage, and drought, most needles fall during the autumn and winter of their second year. The seed cones are green, ripening pale buff-brown, in length, broad when closed, opening to wide, each scale bearing a sharp spine long.
The tallest loblolly pine currently known, which is tall, and the largest, which measures in volume, are in Congaree National Park.
Taxonomy and naming.
The word "loblolly" is a combination of "lob", referring to thick, heavy bubbling of cooking porridge, and "lolly", an old British dialect word for broth, soup, or any other food boiled in a pot. In the southern United States, the word is used to mean "a mudhole; a mire," a sense derived from an allusion to the consistency of porridge. Hence, the pine is named as it is generally found in lowlands and swampy areas. Loblolly pines grow well in acidic clay soil, which is common throughout the South, thus are often found in large stands in rural places.
Other old names, now rarely used, include oldfield pine due to its status as an early colonizer of abandoned fields; bull pine due to its size (several other yellow pines are also often so named, especially large isolated specimens); rosemary pine due to loblolly's distinctive fragrance compared to the other southern pines; and North Carolina pine.
For the scientific name, "Pinus" is the Latin name for the pines and "taeda" refers to the resinous wood.
Ecology.
With the advent of wildfire suppression, loblolly pine has become prevalent in some parts of the Deep South that were once dominated by longleaf pine and, especially in northern Florida, slash pine.
The rate of growth is rapid, even among the generally fast-growing southern pines. The yellowish, resinous wood is prized for lumber, but is also used for wood pulp. This tree is commercially grown in extensive plantations.
Loblolly pine is the pine of the Lost Pines Forest around Bastrop, Texas, and in McKinney Roughs along the Texas Colorado River. These are isolated populations on areas of acidic sandy soil, surrounded by alkaline clays that are poor for pine growth.
A study using loblolly pines showed that higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may help the trees to endure ice storms better.
Notable trees.
The famous "Eisenhower Tree" on the 17th hole of Augusta National Golf Club was a loblolly pine. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, an Augusta National member, hit the tree so many times that at a 1956 club meeting, he proposed that it be cut down. Not wanting to offend the President, the club's chairman, Clifford Roberts, immediately adjourned the meeting rather than reject the request outright. In February 2014, an ice storm severely damaged the Eisenhower Tree. The opinion of arborists was that the tree could not be saved and should be removed.
The "Morris Pine" is located in southeastern Arkansas; it is over 300 years old with a diameter of and a height of .
Loblolly pine seeds were carried aboard the Apollo 14 flight. On its return, the seeds were planted in several locations in the US, including the grounds of the White House. , a number of these moon trees remain alive.
Genome.
Pines are the most common conifers and the genus "Pinus" consists of more than 100 species. Sequencing of their genomes remained a huge challenge because of the high complexity and size. Loblolly pine became the first species with its complete genome sequenced. This was the largest genome assembled until 2018, when the axolotl genome (32Gb) was assembled.
The loblolly pine genome is made up of 22.18 billion base pairs, which is more than seven times that of humans. Conifer genomes are known to be full of repetitive DNA, which make up 82% of the genome in loblolly pine (compared to only 50% in humans). The number of genes is estimated at about 50,172, of which 15,653 are already confirmed. Most of the genes are duplicates. Some genes have the longest introns observed among fully sequenced plant genomes.
Inbreeding depression.
Gymnosperms are predominantly outcrossing, but lack genetic self-incompatibility. Loblolly pine, like most gymnosperms, exhibits high levels of inbreeding depression, especially in the embryonic stage. The loblolly pine harbors an average load of at least eight lethal equivalents. A lethal equivalent is the number of deleterious genes per haploid genome whose cumulative effect is the equivalent of one lethal gene. The presence of at least eight lethal equivalents implies substantial inbreeding depression upon self-fertilization.


Lincoln Oak

The Lincoln Oak was an oak tree in Bloomington, Illinois. Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln both gave speeches at the tree during the 1850s. The original Lincoln Oak died in 1976.
History.
The Lincoln Oak was an oak tree located in Bloomington, Illinois, that was the site of several speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas between 1855 and 1860 The tree was located in an area of Bloomington known as Dimmett's Grove when Lincoln and Douglas spoke there. In 1869, near the oak, the Vrooman Mansion was built. The house still overlooks the site of the Lincoln Oak today. The original Lincoln Oak died in 1976; in 1980 a new oak tree was planted in honor of the original Lincoln Oak.
Memorial and park.
Vachel Lindsay was the dedication speaker at a 1914 ceremony in which a plaque was affixed to the original Lincoln Oak. The plaque featured a quote from Adlai Stevenson I concerning the Lincoln Oak: I have heard Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln at different times speak from a platform erected under the shade of this tree. This historic spot was then a part of Dimmett's Grove.
In 1966 the 32 foot by 32 foot parcel of the Vrooman Mansion lot containing the oak was deeded to the city of Bloomington. The plaque from the original oak is on display at the McLean County Historical Society. A leaf from the original Lincoln Oak tree is held in the Milburn Lincoln Wilson Abraham Lincoln Collection at Montana State University.


Boerhavia dominii

Boerhavia dominii, commonly known as tarvine, is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family. It is native to Australia.
It is a prostrate perennial herb growing up to 1 metre in diameter. Leaves are about 40 mm long and 20 mm wide and may have a wavy edge. It produces pale pink or pale purple flowers followed by small, hairy, furrowed fruits.


Galeansellia

×Galeansellia, abbreviated in trade journals Gslla, is an intergeneric hybrid between the orchid genera "Ansellia" and "Galeandra" (Aslla × Gal).


Hedraianthera

Hedraianthera is a genus of a sole recognised species of shrubs or small trees endemic to Australia from the family Celastraceae.
The species Hedraianthera porphyropetala grows naturally in eastern Australia in littoral or sub-tropical rainforest north from Ballina, New South Wales to Cooktown in tropical northeastern Queensland. They grow in gullies or rocky slopes on shallow soils, sometimes enhanced by basalt.
The generic name "Hedraianthera" is from Greek, it refers to the flower anthers without stalks. The specific epithet "porphyropetala" is also from Greek, it alludes to the attractive deep purple coloured flowers, although the species definition includes plants which have different coloured flowers such as green. They are an unusually southern example of ramiflory.
Previously several publications provided informal scientific descriptions of another species under the provisional scientific name "Hedraianthera" sp. Mossman (V.K.Moriarty 2557) Qld Herbarium. In a 2012 published Celastraceae genetics study this provisionally named species was reassigned to the genus "Brassiantha" and formally scientifically described under the new name "Brassiantha hedraiantheroides", after its likeness to "Hedraianthera". Though still relatively closely related the two species were found to be constitutive of different genera. "H. porphyropetala" here, again became the only known species in this genus and now "Brassiantha" constituted not only by the one, but instead by only the two known species, this forementioned "B. hedraiantheroides" and the New Guinean "B. pentamera". "B. hedraiantheroides" grows naturally only (endemic) in a restricted area of the wet tropics region of northeastern Queensland, Australia. It grows as an understory shrub or small tree in rainforests and sclerophyll forests, from an altitudinal range near sea level to .


Wanda Kirkbride Farr

Wanda K. Farr (January 9, 1895 – April 16, 1983) was an American botanist known for her discovery of the mechanism by which cellulose is formed in the walls of plant cells.
Early life.
Wanda Farr ("née" Kirkbride) was born near New Matamoras, Ohio on January 9, 1895, to parents Frederick Alonzo Kirkbride and Clara M Nikolaus. When she was four years old, her father died and she and her mother went to live with Wanda's grandparents in New Matamoras. Her great grandfather, Dr. Samuel Richardson, was a physician who lived in the same town. He helped cultivate her interest in science, in particular in plants and growing things.
Education and research.
Wanda K. Farr received a bachelor's degree in biology from Ohio University at Athens in 1915 and a master's degree studying Botany at Columbia University in 1918. After graduating from Columbia, she taught at Kansas State University and Texas A&M University.
Around 1928, after marrying botanist Clifford Farr, Wanda Farr postponed enrolling in a Ph.D. program in order to move with her husband to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. There, she began working as a researcher under Dr. Montrose Burrows at the Barnard Skin and Cancer Clinic, and her husband began working as an assistant professor in botany at the same university. Farr performed microscopy on live animal and plant cell cultures.
In February 1928, Clifford Farr died and the University asked Farr to teach his classes. She began research related to her late husband's work studying the growth of root hairs in plants.
Within a few years, Wanda Farr was hired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a cotton technologist on the strength of her previous root hair research. She moved to the Boyce Thompson Institute laboratory in Yonkers, New York. After approximately ten years of research, she was appointed as Director of the Cellulose Laboratory of the Chemical Foundation at the same institute, until she was called to the laboratories of the American Cyanimide Company to do World War II war-related research.
In 1956, she started her own research firm, Farr Cyochemical Laboratories. The Royal Microscopical Society elected her a fellow. She was also a member of the Botanical Society of America and the Torrey Botanical Club.
Notable scientific discovery.
Farr answered a question that had puzzled researchers for a hundred years. Cellulose, a primary component of cell walls, was known to be constructed from cellulose granules. These granules had appeared to microscopists prior to this time to emerge fully formed in the cell's protoplasm. By contrast, the formation of starch, which is composed of the same elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, could be seen to occur in stages, in structures called plasmids inside the cell protoplasm.
Farr discovered that cellulose-manufacturing plastids do exist in the protoplasm of the cell, but that such plastids had been invisible because they have a light refractive index similar to that of the protoplasm in which they are located. She made the plastids visible in cotton cells by mounting the cells in a new bath derived from the juices of the cotton plant rather than in water, which had been used previously.


Berlandiera lyrata

Berlandiera lyrata, with the common names chocolate flower, chocolate daisy, or lyreleaf greeneyes, is a North American species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. The common name lyreleaf greeneyes is a reference to the shape of the leaf, which is curved like a lyre and the green disc which is left behind when the ray florets drop off which is thought to look like an eye.
Description.
The flower head is approximately 1.0 inch (2.54 cm) in diameter, with yellow ray florets and which grows with an "airy habit." The leaves are pinnately lobed or scalloped. In areas that freeze, the flowers bloom at night from spring until frost. When the plant freezes, it will "seem to disappear" with the roots alive, but dormant in the soil. In frost-free areas, it will bloom year-round. Around mid-morning, the flowers close or drop. The process of the flower head losing the ray florets is due to a change in temperature: as it gets hotter, the flower begins to turn white and then the ray florets begin to drop, leaving the green disc shape. The plant grows to be about 1–2 feet (30–60 cm) in height.
Range.
In the United States, the species is native to Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. In Mexico, it is native to Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Durango, Sonora, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes and Jalisco.
Uses.
The flower head is known to attract beneficial insects to the garden.
The stamens have a chocolate flavor and are edible. The plant was also used by Native Americans to alleviate symptoms of stomach problems. Some Native American cultures would burn the dried roots of the plant in order to treat nervous conditions or to inspire courage.
Cultivation.
"Berlandiera lyrata" is a hardy perennial, cultivated as an ornamental plant. It is grown in gardens for the chocolate-like scent of its flowers. The chocolate odor can also be produced by plucking the ray florets from the flower head. To ensure that it will continue to bloom as long as possible, spent flowers should be removed.
It grows best in full sun locations. It is native to soil types that are dry, shallow and rocky such as sandy loams and limestone soils. It is known to grow along roadsides and in grasslands in the southwest United States. It is drought-tolerant. In heavy, wet soils, "B. lyrata" is subject to root rot. It can be grown in elevations as 7,000 feet. "B. lyrata" can be planted in areas that are mowed frequently and can be mowed itself.
The plant is propagated through seeds which can be collected from the plant itself and germinated outdoors from spring to fall.


Dilleniaceae

Dilleniaceae is a family of flowering plants with 11 genera and about 430 known species. Such a family has been universally recognized by taxonomists. It is known to gardeners for the genus "Hibbertia", which contains many commercially valuable garden species.
Description and distribution.
The family is found in the tropics and subtropics plus all of Australia. Most of the members in it are woody plants - lianas or trees such as "Dillenia" - but herbaceous species such as "Pachynema" are also present in Dilleniaceae. The leaves of the plants in the family are wide and well-developed, but in "Pachynema" and certain species of "Hibbertia" they are strongly modified. The flowers are mainly showy and colorful with visible reproductive components. Buzz pollination is common in the group. Fruits of some species, such as "Dillenia indica" (elephant apple), are edible.
Taxonomy and phylogeny.
The position of the family in the phylogenetic tree and its classification among the other eudicots is uncertain. Some studies suggested that Dilleniaceae may be sister to Rhabdodendraceae which is a clade that was thought to be sister to all the rest Caryophyllales. The caryophyllid "Rhabdodendron" and the members in the family with the questionable placement in fact share some morphological characteristics but it was found that Rhabdodendraceae is actually sister only to the core members of its order.
Another possible situation places Dilleniaceae as an ancient group, sister to the superrosidae clade (the family shares some common morphology with Vitales) but this is not absolutely proven.
The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), also recognizes this family, unplaced as to order, assigned to the clade core eudicots.
APG II debates either including it in order Caryophyllales or reinstating the order Dilleniales for just this one family, but decides to leave it unplaced.
Evolution.
The family is remarkable because of its variability of morphological characteristics that now are much steadier in other Angiosperm groups. Thus, Dilleniaceae may be an ancient clade that expresses some phylogenetic relation between the higher Eudicots and the rather more primitive groups.
It is estimated that the clade diverged around 115 million years ago in Mid Cretaceous but the crown group was formed much later - only 52 million years before the present.


Viguierella madagascariensis


Oxalis bowiei

Oxalis bowiei, Bowie's wood-sorrel, red-flower woodsorrel, or Cape shamrock, is a plant from the genus "Oxalis", which is native to what was Cape Province and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It has also been naturalized in Australia.
It is named after James Bowie who collected plants for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew at the beginning of the 19th century.
Its flowering stems may be a foot or more in height and are produced continuously for a considerable length of time during summer.


Eucalyptus tumida

Eucalyptus tumida is a species of mallee that is endemic to the south coast of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of eleven to fifteen, white to pale yellow flowers and cylindrical fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus tumida" is a mallee that typically grows to a height of but can grow as high as , and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth brown and grey bark. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull bluish green leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of green on both sides, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of eleven to fifteen on a flattened, unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels long. Mature buds are sausage-shaped, long and wide with a horn-shaped operculum that is about three times as long as the floral cup. Flowering occurs from September to February and the flowers are creamy white to pale yellow.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus tumida" was first formally described in 1991 by Ian Brooker and Stephen Hopper in the journal "Nuytsia" from specimens collected by Brooker in 1983, north-east of Esperance. The specific epithet ("tumida") is from the Latin word "tumidus" meaning "swollen", referring to the flowering buds, the largest in the series "Levispermae" to which it belongs.
Distribution and habitat.
This mallee is found on flats and rises between in near-coastal areas between Ravensthorpe, Israelite Bay and Salmon Gums, where it grows in calcareous sandy-clay-loam soils.
Conservation status.
This eucalypt is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.


Lathyrus jepsonii

Lathyrus jepsonii is a species of wild pea known by the common names delta tule pea and Jepson's pea. It is endemic to California, where it grows in a number of habitat types, including forest and estuary.
This is a perennial herb with a long, winged stem which climbs by means of branched, coiled tendrils. The leaves are made up of several pairs of lance-shaped leaflets. The plant bears an inflorescence of up to 15 pink or purplish flowers each up to 2 centimeters wide. The fruit is a hairless, dehiscent legume pod.
There are two varieties of this species.


Nymphoides balakrishnanii

Nymphoides balakrishnanii is an aquatic plant in the Menyanthaceae, endemic to lateritic plateaus of the southern Western Ghats of India.
Distribution.
This species is restricted to a seasonal pond in the lateritic hillocks of Koovapara, Kasaragod, Kerala, India.
Etymology.
The species is named to honor Mr. V. C. Balakrishnan, a dedicated conservation biologist in Northern Kerala.


Diospyros simaloerensis

Diospyros simaloerensis is a tree in the family Ebenaceae. It grows up to tall. The twigs dry greyish. Inflorescences bear up to five flowers. The fruits are round, up to in diameter. The tree is named for Simaloer island in Sumatra. Habitat is lowland mixed dipterocarp forests from sea-level to altitude. "D. simaloerensis" is found in Sumatra and Borneo.


Vaccinium reticulatum

Vaccinium reticulatum, known as in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering plant in the heather family, Ericaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It grows at altitudes of on lava flows and freshly disturbed volcanic ash on Maui and Hawaii, and less commonly on Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai. Adaptations to volcanic activity include the ability to survive ash falls of over depth.
Description.
 is a shrub usually tall, rarely up to . The leaves are evergreen, spirally arranged, leathery, oval, long, red when freshly emerging, then green or green with reddish patches. The flowers are bell-shaped, long, variable in color, red to yellow or pink.
Fruit.
The fruit is an edible berry diameter, ranging in color from blue to purple to red to orange to yellow. The color does not necessarily indicate the ripeness of the berries. The berries taste somewhat similar to the related cranberries, less ripe ones being tart, while ripe berries are quite sweet but bland. They are an important food source for the nēnē ("Branta sandvicensis"); the seeds are dispersed in the birds' droppings (endozoochory).
Uses.
Oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC) can be obtained by the means of "V. pahalae" "in vitro" cell culture.


Marchantiophyta

The Marchantiophyta are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information.
It is estimated that there are about 9000 species of liverworts. Some of the more familiar species grow as a flattened leafless thallus, but most species are leafy with a form very much like a flattened moss. Leafy species can be distinguished from the apparently similar mosses on the basis of a number of features, including their single-celled rhizoids. Leafy liverworts also differ from most (but not all) mosses in that their leaves never have a costa (present in many mosses) and may bear marginal cilia (very rare in mosses). Other differences are not universal for all mosses and liverworts, but the occurrence of leaves arranged in three ranks, the presence of deep lobes or segmented leaves, or a lack of clearly differentiated stem and leaves all point to the plant being a liverwort.
Liverworts are typically small, usually from 2–20 mm wide with individual plants less than 10 cm long, and are therefore often overlooked. However, certain species may cover large patches of ground, rocks, trees or any other reasonably firm substrate on which they occur. They are distributed globally in almost every available habitat, most often in humid locations although there are desert and Arctic species as well. Some species can be a nuisance in shady greenhouses or a weed in gardens.
Physical characteristics.
Description.
Most liverworts are small, measuring from wide with individual plants less than long, so they are often overlooked. The most familiar liverworts consist of a prostrate, flattened, ribbon-like or branching structure called a thallus (plant body); these liverworts are termed "thallose liverworts". However, most liverworts produce flattened stems with overlapping scales or leaves in two or more ranks, the middle rank is often conspicuously different from the outer ranks; these are called "leafy liverworts" or "scale liverworts". ("See the gallery below for examples.")
Liverworts can most reliably be distinguished from the apparently similar mosses by their single-celled rhizoids. Other differences are not universal for all mosses and all liverworts; but the lack of clearly differentiated stem and leaves in thallose species, or in leafy species the presence of deeply lobed or segmented leaves and the presence of leaves arranged in three ranks, all point to the plant being a liverwort. Unlike any other embryophytes, most liverworts contain unique membrane-bound oil bodies containing isoprenoids in at least some of their cells, lipid droplets in the cytoplasm of all other plants being unenclosed. The overall physical similarity of some mosses and leafy liverworts means that confirmation of the identification of some groups can be performed with certainty only with the aid of microscopy or an experienced bryologist .
Liverworts, like other bryophytes, have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, with the sporophyte dependent on the gametophyte. Cells in a typical liverwort plant each contain only a single set of genetic information, so the plant's cells are haploid for the majority of its life cycle. This contrasts sharply with the pattern exhibited by nearly all animals and by vascular plants. In the more familiar seed plants, the haploid generation is represented only by the tiny pollen and the ovule, while the diploid generation is the familiar tree or other plant. Another unusual feature of the liverwort life cycle is that sporophytes (i.e. the diploid body) are very short-lived, withering away not long after releasing spores. In mosses, the sporophyte is more persistent and in hornworts, the sporophyte disperses spores over an extended period.
Life cycle.
The life of a liverwort starts from the germination of a haploid spore to produce a protonema, which is either a mass of thread-like filaments or else a flattened thallus. The protonema is a transitory stage in the life of a liverwort, from which will grow the mature gametophore ("gamete-bearer") plant that produces the sex organs. The male organs are known as antheridia ("singular:" antheridium) and produce the sperm cells. Clusters of antheridia are enclosed by a protective layer of cells called the perigonium ("plural:" perigonia). As in other land plants, the female organs are known as archegonia ("singular:" archegonium) and are protected by the thin surrounding perichaetum ("plural:" perichaeta). Each archegonium has a slender hollow tube, the "neck", down which the sperm swim to reach the egg cell.
Liverwort species may be either dioicous or monoicous. In dioicous liverworts, female and male sex organs are borne on different and separate gametophyte plants. In monoicous liverworts, the two kinds of reproductive structures are borne on different branches of the same plant. In either case, the sperm must move from the antheridia where they are produced to the archegonium where the eggs are held. The sperm of liverworts is "biflagellate", i.e. they have two tail-like flagellae that enable them to swim short distances, provided that at least a thin film of water is present. Their journey may be assisted by the splashing of raindrops. In 2008, Japanese researchers discovered that some liverworts are able to fire sperm-containing water up to 15 cm in the air, enabling them to fertilize female plants growing more than a metre from the nearest male.
When sperm reach the archegonia, fertilisation occurs, leading to the production of a diploid sporophyte. After fertilisation, the immature sporophyte within the archegonium develops three distinct regions: (1) a foot, which both anchors the sporophyte in place and receives nutrients from its "mother" plant, (2) a spherical or ellipsoidal capsule, inside which the spores will be produced for dispersing to new locations, and (3) a seta (stalk) which lies between the other two regions and connects them. When the sporophyte has developed all three regions, the seta elongates, pushing its way out of the archegonium and rupturing it. While the foot remains anchored within the parent plant, the capsule is forced out by the seta and is extended away from the plant and into the air. Within the capsule, cells divide to produce both elater cells and spore-producing cells. The elaters are spring-like, and will push open the wall of the capsule to scatter themselves when the capsule bursts. The spore-producing cells will undergo meiosis to form haploid spores to disperse, upon which point the life cycle can start again.
Asexual reproduction.
Some liverworts are capable of asexual reproduction; in bryophytes in general "it would almost be true to say that vegetative reproduction is the rule and not the exception." For example, in "Riccia", when the older parts of the forked thalli die, the younger tips become separate individuals.
Some thallose liverworts such as "Marchantia polymorpha" and "Lunularia cruciata" produce small disc-shaped gemmae in shallow cups. "Marchantia" gemmae can be dispersed up to 120 cm by rain splashing into the cups. In "Metzgeria", gemmae grow at thallus margins. "Marchantia polymorpha" is a common weed in greenhouses, often covering the entire surface of containers; gemma dispersal is the "primary mechanism by which liverwort spreads throughout a nursery or greenhouse."
Ecology.
Today, liverworts can be found in many ecosystems across the planet except the sea and excessively dry environments, or those exposed to high levels of direct solar radiation. As with most groups of living plants, they are most common (both in numbers and species) in moist tropical areas. Liverworts are more commonly found in moderate to deep shade, though desert species may tolerate direct sunlight and periods of total desiccation.
Classification.
Relationship to other plants.
Traditionally, the liverworts were grouped together with other bryophytes (mosses and hornworts) in the Division Bryophyta, within which the liverworts made up the class Hepaticae (also called Marchantiopsida). However, since this grouping makes the Bryophyta paraphyletic, the liverworts are now usually given their own division. The use of the division name Bryophyta "sensu lato" is still found in the literature, but more frequently the name is used in a restricted sense to include only the mosses.
Another reason that liverworts are now classified separately is that they appear to have diverged from all other embryophyte plants near the beginning of their evolution. The strongest line of supporting evidence is that liverworts are the only living group of land plants that do not have stomata on the sporophyte generation. Among the earliest fossils believed to be liverworts are compression fossils of "Pallaviciniites" from the Upper Devonian of New York. These fossils resemble modern species in the Metzgeriales. Another Devonian fossil called "Protosalvinia" also looks like a liverwort, but its relationship to other plants is still uncertain, so it may not belong to the Marchantiophyta. In 2007, the oldest fossils assignable at that time to the liverworts were announced, "Metzgeriothallus sharonae" from the Givetian (Middle Devonian) of New York, United States. However, in 2010, five different types of fossilized liverwort spores were found in Argentina, dating to the much earlier Middle Ordovician, around 470 million years ago.
Internal classification.
Bryologists classify liverworts in the division Marchantiophyta. This divisional name is based on the name of the most universally recognized liverwort genus "Marchantia". In addition to this taxon-based name, the liverworts are often called Hepaticophyta. This name is derived from their common Latin name as Latin was the language in which botanists published their descriptions of species. This name has led to some confusion, partly because it appears to be a taxon-based name derived from the genus "Hepatica" which is actually a flowering plant of the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. In addition, the name Hepaticophyta is frequently misspelled in textbooks as Hepatophyta, which only adds to the confusion.
Although there is no consensus among bryologists as to the classification of liverworts above family rank, the Marchantiophyta may be subdivided into three classes:
An updated classification by Söderström et al. 2016
It is estimated that there are about 9000 species of liverworts, at least 85% of which belong to the leafy group. Despite that fact, no liverwort genomes have been sequenced to date and only few genes identified and characterized.
Economic importance.
In ancient times, it was believed that liverworts cured diseases of the liver, hence the name. In Old English, the word liverwort literally means "liver plant". This probably stemmed from the superficial appearance of some thalloid liverworts which resemble a liver in outline, and led to the common name of the group as "hepatics", from the Latin word "hēpaticus" for "belonging to the liver". An unrelated flowering plant, "Hepatica", is sometimes also referred to as liverwort because it was once also used in treating diseases of the liver. This archaic relationship of plant form to function was based in the "Doctrine of Signatures".
Liverworts have little direct economic importance today. Their greatest impact is indirect, through the reduction of erosion along streambanks, their collection and retention of water in tropical forests, and the formation of soil crusts in deserts and polar regions. However, a few species are used by humans directly. A few species, such as "Riccia fluitans", are aquatic thallose liverworts sold for use in aquariums. Their thin, slender branches float on the water's surface and provide habitat for both small invertebrates and the fish that feed on them.
Gallery.
A small collection of images showing liverwort structure and diversity:


Alternanthera filifolia

Alternanthera filifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is native to the Galápagos Islands.
This plant is limited to the Galápagos, but it is common there in lowlands and coastal shrublands. It is variable in morphology, forming shrubs 0.5 to 1.5 meters tall.


Campanula lanata

Campanula lanata, the woolly bellflower, is a biennial herb belonging to the family Campanulaceae.
Description.
This plant has erect racemes tall, simple, alternate, serrated leaves and white or yellow bell-shaped flowers 2.5 cm long with five petals. It is very hairy (hence the common name).
Distribution.
"Campanula lanata" is endemic to Serbia and west and central Bulgaria. This species prefers meadows, fields, rocky and shady areas at an elevation of above sea level.


Leucopogon cordatus

Leucopogon cordatus is a small plant in the family Ericaceae, endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect spreading shrub, growing from 0.35 m to 1 m high, on sandy soils often over granite laterite or limestone. Its white flowers may be seen from July to November.
It was first described in 1845 by Otto Wilhelm Sonder.


Gentiana sino-ornata

Gentiana sino-ornata, the showy Chinese gentian, is a species of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae, native to western China and Tibet. It is a low-growing semi-evergreen perennial growing to tall, with multiple prostrate stems long, bearing single trumpet-shaped flowers of a pure blue with a white- and green-striped throat, in autumn.
In cultivation it is hardy down to , but requires a well-drained soil with an acid or neutral pH. It is suitable for growing in a rock or alpine garden. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Orcuttia viscida

Orcuttia viscida is a rare species of grass known by the common name Sacramento Orcutt grass.
Distribution.
It is endemic to Sacramento County, California, where it grows only in vernal pools, a rare and declining type of habitat. As of 1997, two of the nine known populations had been extirpated as habitat has been consumed for urban development, and it was federally listed as an endangered species.
Since its listing, one additional occurrence of the plant has been discovered, for a total of eight extant populations.
Description.
"Orcuttia viscida" is a small, hairy, aromatic annual grass forming sticky, glandular tufts up to 10 or 15 centimeters in maximum height. The inflorescence is a small, crowded cluster of spikelets with awned tips that curve outward at maturity, giving the spikes a bristly appearance.


Cystodium sorbifolium

Cystodium is a fern in its own family, Cystodiaceae. It contains a single species: Cystodium sorbifolium . Because it looks like a small tree fern, it had previously been placed in the tree fern family Dicksoniaceae. Subsequent analysis had moved it to the Lindsaeaceae, but the most recent phylogenetic studies have placed it in its own separate family, Cystodiaceae, with a sister relationship to the current Lindsaeaceae. A fossil species of the genus "Cystodium sorbifolioides" is known from the Cenomanian aged Burmese amber in Myanmar.
Distribution.
"Cystodium" is distributed through lowland rainforests from Borneo to New Guinea and nearby islands, as well as the Solomon Islands.


Didierea

Didierea is a genus of succulent flowering plants in the family Didiereaceae. It is dedicated to naturalist Alfred Grandidier (1836-1921).
Species of "Didierea" are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants. The two known species are endemic to Madagascar, where they are found in the spiny forest–thicket ecosystem. They are listed in CITES appendix II, which means that their trade is restricted to protect natural populations.


Fevillea

Fevillea is a genus of the plant family Cucurbitaceae (the cucumber, squash, and pumpkin family). Some references suggest that there is only one member of this genus, "Fevillea cordifolia" (antidote vine). Other online sources make reference to "Fevillea pedatifolia" (formerly "Fevillea peruviana"), "Fevillea trilobata" , and to "Fevillea passiflora".
The genus is named after the French botanist Louis Feuillée.
"Fevillea" consists of dioecious vines or lianas. Two subgenera exist: "Fevillea" and "Anisosperma". It is native to the Neotropics.


Collinsia torreyi

Collinsia torreyi is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name Torrey's blue-eyed Mary. It is native to California and adjacent sections of Oregon and Nevada, where it grows in the coniferous forests of several mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada.
This is an annual herb producing a slender, reddish stem up to about 25 centimeters tall. The inflorescence is a densely glandular array of flowers arising on pedicels. The corolla is no more than a centimeter long and two white or lavender-tinted upper lobes and three darker lavender to purple lower lobes.
There are several varieties:


Espostoa

Espostoa is a genus of columnar cacti, comprising 16 species known from the Andes of southern Ecuador and Peru. It usually lives at an altitude of between 800m and 2500m. Its fruit is edible, sweet, and juicy. The genus is named after Nicolas E. Esposto, a renowned botanist from Lima.
These candle-like cacti are covered with spines and white hair. Only the older specimens can divide. In adulthood, a cephalium sometimes appears, similar to the Mexican genus Cephalocereus.
They were discovered by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland in the early nineteenth century.
They are appreciated for their decorative qualities due to their white fleece. They can be propagated by seed.
For full development they must be planted in the ground. The cultivated specimens very rarely flourish.
Like all cacti, Espostoa requires a sunny location and well-drained soil. But in summer, it appreciates fertilizer and wetter conditions. In winter, it needs a rest, but the temperature must not drop below 12 °C.
Taxonomy.
Synonyms.
The following genera or species have been included in this genus:


Antrophyopsis

Antrophyopsis is a genus of vittarioid ferns, a member of subfamily Vittarioideae and family Pteridaceae. Like other vittarioids, ferns in the genus are epiphytes with simple, straplike leaves. They are native to tropical Africa and islands of the Indian Ocean. The presence of a midrib in their leaves, the shape of their spores, and the shape of cells at the tip of their paraphyses (minute hairs on the spore-bearing structures) help to distinguish members of the genus from other vittarioids. The group was raised to the level of genus in 2016.
Description.
Like most other vittarioid ferns, members of the genus have simple, straplike leaves. The rhizome has a distinct upper and lower side, lacking radial symmetry. Leaves are borne in two ranks in a single plane and lack a costa (midrib), unlike "Scoliosorus". The leaves have netlike venation, with three or more rows of areolae ("gaps" in the net of veins) on either side of the midline, with the exception of "A. bivittata", which has two to three freely branching veins. Sori follow the veins, forming a network in those species with netlike venation. The sori bear paraphyses (minute hairs) with spherical cells at the tip. Spores are monolete, unlike "Antrophyum" "sensu stricto", which has trilete spores.
Taxonomy.
Three species are presently known from the genus:
The genus was originally defined in 1907 by Ralph C. Benedict as a subgenus of a (broadly defined) "Antrophyum", typified by "Antrophyum boryanum" and including three other species (since reduced to two varieties of "Antrophyopsis boryana" and the species "A. manniana"). Benedict noted that the subgenus was distinguished by sori not sunken into the leaf, forming a complete reticulate network, monolete ("diplanate") spores, bulging tips on the paraphyses on the sori, and bumpy cell walls on the scales of the stipe.
The first molecular phylogenetic study of the vittarioids, by Edmund H. Crane, found "Antrophyum boryanum" to be sister to "Scoliosorus ensiformis". As both species share monolete spores, Crane transferred "A. boryanum" and "A. mannianum" to "Scoliosorus". A more extensive phylogeny using multiple chloroplast markers, published in 2016 by Eric Schuettpelz "et al.", placed these species together with "A. bivittatum" in a clade sister to the rest of "Antrophyum" and distant from "Scoliosorus". In light of their distinctive spore morphology and geographic distribution when compared to the remainder of "Antrophyum", Schuettpelz raised the subgenus to genus level, incorporating the three aforementioned species.
Distribution.
Members of the genus are found in tropical Africa and islands of the Indian Ocean.


Agathis

Agathis, commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely restricted to the Southern Hemisphere except for a number of extant Malesian "Agathis".
Description.
Mature kauri trees have characteristically large trunks, forming a trunk with little or no branching below the crown. In contrast, young trees are normally conical in shape, forming a more rounded or irregularly shaped crown as they achieve maturity.
The bark is smooth and light grey to grey-brown, usually peeling into irregular flakes that become thicker on more mature trees. The branch structure is often horizontal or, when larger, ascending. The lowest branches often leave circular branch scars when they detach from the lower trunk.
The juvenile leaves in all species are larger than the adult, more or less acute, varying among the species from ovate to lanceolate. Adult leaves are opposite, elliptical to linear, very leathery and quite thick. Young leaves are often a coppery-red, contrasting markedly with the usually green or glaucous-green foliage of the previous season.
The male pollen cones appear usually only on larger trees after seed cones have appeared. The female seed cones usually develop on short lateral branchlets, maturing after two years. They are normally oval or globe shaped.
Seeds of some species are attacked by the caterpillars of "Agathiphaga", some of the most primitive of all living moths.
Uses.
Various species of kauri give diverse resins such as kauri gum. The timber is generally straight-grained and of fine quality with an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio and rot resistance, making it ideal for yacht hull construction. The wood is commonly used in the manufacture of guitars and ukuleles due to its low density and relatively low price of production. It is also used for some Go boards (goban). The uses of the New Zealand species ("A. australis") included shipbuilding, house construction, wood panelling, furniture making, mine braces, and railway sleepers. Due to the hard resin of the wood, it was the traditionally preferred material used by Māori for wooden weapons, patu aruhe (fernroot beaters) and barkcloth beaters.
Species list.
Moved to "Nageia"


Passiflora racemosa

Passiflora racemosa, the red passion flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Passifloraceae, native to Brazil. It is an evergreen climber growing to , with simple or 3-lobed leaves to long, and vivid red flowers borne in summer. The flowers are in diameter, with purple and white coronas. They are followed by oblong green fruits.
The specific epithet "racemosa" indicates that the flowers are borne in racemes.
With a minimum temperature requirement of , in temperate regions this plant must be grown under glass. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Dennstaedtiineae


Athelia rolfsii

Athelia rolfsii is a corticioid fungus in the family Atheliaceae. It is a facultative plant pathogen and is the causal agent of "southern blight" disease in crops.
Taxonomy.
The species was first described in 1911 by Italian mycologist Pier Andrea Saccardo, based on specimens sent to him by Peter Henry Rolfs who considered the unnamed fungus to be the cause of tomato blight in Florida. The specimens sent to Saccardo were sterile, consisting of hyphae and sclerotia. He placed the species in the old form genus "Sclerotium", naming it Sclerotium rolfsii. It is, however, not a species of "Sclerotium" in the strict sense.
In 1932, Mario Curzi discovered that the teleomorph (spore-bearing state) was a corticioid fungus and accordingly placed the species in the form genus "Corticium". With a move to a more natural classification of fungi, "Corticium rolfsii" was transferred to "Athelia" in 1978.
Description.
The fungus produces effused basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are smooth and white. Microscopically, they consist of ribbon-like hyphae with clamp connections. Basidia are club-shaped, bearing four smooth, ellipsoid basidiospores, measuring 4–7 by 3–5 μm. Small, brownish sclerotia (hyphal propagules) are also formed, arising from the hyphae.
Southern blight.
"Athelia rolfsii" occurs in soil as a saprotroph, but can also attack living plants. It has an almost indiscriminate host range, but its capacity to form sclerotia (propagules that remain in the soil) means that it particularly attacks seasonal crops. It mostly occurs in warm soils (above 15 °C) and can be a serious pest of vegetables in tropical and subtropical regions (including Florida, where it was first recognized), causing "southern blight".
It can also be called mustard seed fungus.
Disease cycle.
The soil-borne fungal pathogen "Athelia rolfsii" is a basidiomycete that typically exists only as mycelium and sclerotia (anamorph: "Sclerotium rolfsii", or asexual state). It causes the disease Southern Blight and typically overwinters as sclerotia. The sclerotia is a survival structure composed of a hard rind and cortex containing hyphae and is typically considered the primary inoculum. The pathogen has a very large host range, affecting over 500 plant species (including tomato, onion, snapbean and pea) in the United States of America. The fungus attacks the host crown and stem tissues at the soil line by producing a number of compounds such as oxalic acid, in addition to enzymes that are pectinolytic and cellulytic. These compounds effectively kill plant tissue and allow the fungus to enter other areas of the plant. After gaining entry, the pathogen uses the plant tissues to produce mycelium (often forming mycelial mats), as well as additional sclerotia. Sclerotia formation occurs when conditions are especially warm and humid, primarily in the summer months in the United States of America. Susceptible plants exhibit stem lesions near the soil line, and thus often wilt and eventually die. Infection caused by Southern Blight is not considered systemic.
Environment.
"Athelia rolfsii" typically prefers warm, humid climates (whence the name of the disease, Southern Blight) which is required for optimal growth (i.e. to produce mycelium and sclerotia). This makes the disease an important issue in regions such as the Southern United States of America, especially for solanaceous crops. In addition, oxygen rich and acidic soils have also been found to favor growth of the pathogen. Southern Blight can be spread (by way of sclerotia and mycelium) by contaminated farm tools and implements, irrigation systems and infected soil and plant material.
Management.
Thus, management of the disease is critical, especially in agricultural regions. Although historically management has been difficult, there are several practical ways to reduce disease pressure. Simply avoiding infected fields is perhaps the most straightforward management technique given the large host range and durability of survival structures (i.e. sclerotia). However, when this is not possible, practicing proper sanitation and implementing effective crop rotations can help. Deep tillage has also been shown to reduce Southern Blight occurrence by burying infected plant tissues and creating an anaerobic environment that hinders pathogen growth. Soil solarization and certain organic amendments (e.g. composted chicken manure and rye-vetch green manure), as well as introducing certain "Trichoderma spp." have also been shown to reduce plant death and number of sclerotia produced in the field in tomatoes. In addition to these cultural methods, chemical methods (e.g. fungicides) can also be employed. These methods all disrupt the production of mycelium and sclerotia, thus reducing the spread of disease.


Mansoa hymenaea

Mansoa hymenaea is a species of liana in the family Bignoniaceae. It is native to Mexico through South America.


Harrisia tortuosa

Harrisia tortuosa is a species of cactus in the Trichocereeae tribe.
It is native to the tropical Americas.
"Harrisia tortuosa" is considered an exotic invasive in Australia.


Chevalierella

Chevalierella is a genus of African plants in the grass family. The only known species is Chevalierella dewildemanii, native to Republic of Congo and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


Dioscorea hastifolia

Dioscorea hastifolia, the Adjigo (ˈadʒɪɡəʊ) yam, also known as the Warram, is a yam with long, white, edible tubers that is native to South Western Australia. It is a climbing vine with hastate, spearheaded, leaves and bears green triangular fruit.
The tubers are used by Australian Aboriginals as a source of carbohydrates, whom cultivated the plant extensively.
After the yellow flowers have seeded the plant is dug up in winter and roasted.


Austroblechnum patersonii

Austroblechnum patersonii, synonym Blechnum patersonii, is a fern in the family Blechnaceae. It is known as the strap water-fern.
It is native to eastern Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania), Lord Howe Island, New Zealand and the Society Islands (Tahiti).


Passiflora sodiroi

Passiflora sodiroi is a species of plant in the family Passifloraceae. It is endemic to Ecuador.


Ipomoea tastensis

Ipomoea tastensis is a species of plant in the bindweed family, Convolvulaceae. It is native to the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and are particularly abundant in the Sierra El Taste, where the white showy flowers make them a conspicuous part of the landscape.
"Ipomoea tastensis" is a woody vine twining over other vegetation up to a height of 10 m (33 feet). Leaves are heart-shaped, pointed at the tip, up to 8 cm (3.2 inches) long. Flowers are large, white, the corollas up to 14 cm (5.6 inches) long.


Calystegia occidentalis

Calystegia occidentalis is a species of morning glory known by the common name chaparral false bindweed.
It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows in hilly and mountain habitat, such as woodland and chaparral slopes and the high Sierra Nevada.
Description.
"Calystegia occidentalis" is a woody perennial herb producing spreading or twisting and climbing branches, usually quite hairy in texture. The small leaves are up to 4 centimeters long and lobed into various spade or arrowhead shapes.
The inflorescence is one to four flowers atop a single peduncle, each bloom 2 to 5 centimeters wide and white to cream to yellow in color.


Packera castoreus

Packera castoreus is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names Beaver Mountain groundsel and Beaver Mountain ragwort. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it occurs only in the Tushar Mountains.
This small alpine plant grows just a few centimeters tall with one or more woolly stems. The lower leaves have blades one or two centimeters long with woolly undersides. The flower heads have purple-green, woolly phyllaries and no ray florets.
There are about 7 to 10 known occurrences of this plant on the high slopes of the Tushar Mountains of central Utah, mostly within the Fishlake National Forest. It occurs on Mt. Belknap and Gold Mountain, and probably other peaks. It grows on barren talus on windy, exposed mountain slopes in alpine tundra habitat above the tree line. Other plants in the sparsely vegetated habitat include sky pilot ("Polemonium viscosum"), Mt. Belknap draba ("Draba ramulosa"), and various grasses.


Argyrodendron actinophyllum

Argyrodendron actinophyllum is a large rainforest tree, native to eastern Australia. Common names include black booyong, blackjack, blush tulip oak, crowsfoot elm and Mackay tulip oak. The heartwood is coloured pink-brown. One of the most distinctive features of "Argyrodendron actinophyllum" is the large deep green leaves that radiate out from central stems - hence the name actino=ray, phyllum=leaf. Also the trunks form large characteristic buttresses.


Anchusa officinalis

Anchusa officinalis, commonly known as the common bugloss or alkanet, is a plant species in the genus "Anchusa".
The plant provides a great deal of nectar for pollinators. It was rated in the top 10 for most nectar production (nectar per unit cover per year) in a UK plants survey conducted by the AgriLand project which is supported by the UK Insect Pollinators Initiative.


Cistus symphytifolius

Cistus symphytifolius is a shrubby species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae. It is endemic to the Canary Islands".
Phylogeny.
"Cistus symphytifolius" belongs to the clade of species with purple and pink flowers (the "purple pink clade" or PPC), along with some other Canary Island endemics ("Cistus asper", "Cistus chinamadensis", "Cistus horrens", and "Cistus ocreatus").


Cymbidium suave

Cymbidium suave, commonly known as the snake orchid or grassy boat-lip orchid, is a plant in the orchid family and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an epiphytic orchid that forms long-lasting clumps of grass-like leaves. Up to fifty crowded olive green to dark or brownish green flowers are borne on an arching flowering stem. Of the three Australian species of "Cymbidium", this is the only one that does not have prominent pseudobulbs. It is found in eastern Australia, usually growing in the hollows of old or fallen, decaying trees.
Description.
"Cymbidium suave" is an epiphytic herb that forms clumps of grass-like leaves but lacks prominent pseudobulbs. It has stems long and wide covered with overlapping leaf bases. There are between four and eight strap-shaped leaves long and wide on each stem. Between five and fifty strongly scented, olive green to dark or brownish green flowers long and wide are borne on an often arching flowering stem long. The sepals are long and wide and the petals are long and wide. The labellum is long and wide and faintly divided into three lobes. Flowering occurs between August and January.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Cymbidium suave" was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who published the description in "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen". The specific epithet ("suave") is a Latin word meaning "sweet".
Distribution and habitat.
The snake orchid grows in woodland and forest in the hollows of old trees or in fallen, decaying trees. It occurs between Cooktown in Queensland and Bega in New South Wales and as far inland as Tamworth.


Lithocarpus beccarianus

Lithocarpus beccarianus is a tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is named for the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari.
Description.
"Lithocarpus beccarianus" grows as a tree up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The brown bark is scaly. The coriaceous leaves measure up to long. Its brown acorns are ellipsoid and measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Lithocarpus beccarianus" is endemic to Borneo. Its habitat is dipterocarp forests up to altitude.


Rhus garwellii

Rhus garwellii is an extinct species of flowering plant in the sumac family Anacardiaceae. The species is known from fossil leaves found in the early Eocene deposits of northern Washington State, United States. The species was first described from fossil leaves found in the Klondike Mountain Formation. "R. garwellii" likely hybridized with the other Klondike Mountain formation sumac species "R. boothillensis", "R. malloryi", and "R. republicensis".
Distribution and paleoenvironment.
"Rhus garwellii" is known from specimens which are recovered from an outcrop of the early Eocene, Ypresian Klondike Mountain Formation in Republic. The Klondike Mountain Formation preserves an upland temperate flora which was first interpreted as being microthermal, however further study has shown the flora to be more mesothermal in nature. The plant community preserved in the Klondike Mountain formation is a mixed conifer–broadleaf forest with large pollen elements of birch and golden larch, but also having notable traces of fir, spruce, cypress, and palm. Fossils of "Rhus garwellii" were described along with descriptions of the coeval species "R. boothillensis" and "R. republicensis" plus a redescription of "R. malloryi".
Taxonomy.
The species was described from a type specimen, the holotype leaf, number SR 00-04-24, plus two paratype specimens SR 93-14-02 and SR 07-39-05 A & B. The type series specimens are currently preserved in the paleobotanical collections of the Stonerose Interpretive Center in Republic, Washington. The specimens were studied by paleobotanists Soon Flynn and Kathleen Pigg of Arizona State University with Melanie DeVore of Georgia College and State University. They published their 2019 type description for "R. boothillensis" in the "International Journal of Plant Sciences". The etymology of the chosen specific name "garwellii" is a patronym honoring Gar Rothwell recognizing his excitement and dedication for paleobotany. In addition to "Rhus garwellii" Flynn "et al" also provided descriptions of the coeval species "R. boothillensis" and "R. republicensis" and a gave a redescription of "R. malloryi" in the 2019 paper. They noted that the Klondike Mountain Formation preserves a number of "Rhus" specimens which appear to be hybrids of the named species.
Description.
Full "R. garwellii" pinnately compound leaves are unknown, with the leaflets being found without a petiole or rachis having been found at the time of description. Unlike "R. malloryi" and "R. republicensis" which both have sessile leaflets, "R. garwell" and "R. boothillensis" leaflets have petiolules. The "R. garwell" leaflets are elliptical in outline, tapering from the wide middle to the symmetrical base and pointed apex. They have a width of and a length to width ratio of up to 2.6:1. The teeth along the margin have distinctly pointed tips with convex basal and apical sides running towards angular sinuses.
The midveins of the leaflets are thicker at the base and narrow from base to the leaflet apex, with smaller secondary veins branching off the midvein at acute angles. The secondaries are branch from the midvein subopposite to alternately, with frequent intersecondary veins between them that branch into tetiaries. The secondaries curved towards the leaflet edges, with a major fork between 40%–60% from the midvein. The secondary veins major branch terminate in a tooth, while the minor branch terminates in the sinus above or below a tooth. The tertiary veins are sinuous and connect to either the secondary veins or to the midvein.


Liliopsida

Liliopsida (synonym: Liliatae) is a botanical name for the class containing the family Liliaceae (or Lily Family). It is considered synonymous (or nearly synonymous) with the name monocotyledon. Publication of the name is credited to Scopoli (in 1760): see author citation (botany). This name is formed by replacing the termination "-aceae" in the name Liliaceae by the termination "-opsida" (Art 16 of the ICBN).
Although in principle it is true that circumscription of this class will vary with the taxonomic system being used, in practice this name is very strongly linked to the Cronquist system, and the allied Takhtajan system. These two are the only major systems to use the name, and in both these systems it refers to the group more widely known as the monocotyledons. Earlier systems referred to this group by the name Monocotyledones, with Monocotyledoneae an earlier spelling (these names may be used in any rank). Systems such as the Dahlgren and Thorne systems (more recent than the Takhtajan and Cronquist systems) refer to this group by the name Liliidae (a name in the rank of subclass). Modern systems, such as the APG and APG II systems refer to this group by the name monocots (a name for a clade). Therefore, in practice the name Liliopsida will almost surely refer to the usage as in the Cronquist system.
In summary the monocotyledons were named:
Each of the systems mentioned above use their own internal taxonomy for the group.
Liliopsida in the Takhtajan system.
The Takhtajan system used this internal taxonomy:
Liliopsida in the Cronquist system.
The internal taxonomy in the Cronquist system is
Liliopsida in the Reveal system.
The internal taxonomy in the Reveal system is


Townsendia leptotes

Townsendia leptotes is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names common Townsend daisy and slender townsendia. It is native to the western United States, where it grows in the alpine climates of high mountain ranges from California to Montana to New Mexico.
This is a petite perennial herb taking a clumped form just a few centimeters tall, its herbage growing on a caudex and taproot unit. The leaves are one to two centimeters long, linear or lance-shaped, and coated in rough hairs. The plant blooms in a profusion of flower heads each one to two centimeters wide with hairy to hairless, lance-shaped phyllaries. Each head contains many yellow disc florets and many white, pinkish, or blue ray florets each measuring roughly a centimeter in length. Occasionally, heads lack disc florets. The fruit is a hairless achene tipped with a pappus of bristles.


Capsicum mirabile

Capsicum mirabile is a wild species of the genus "Capsicum", which is found in the rainforests of Brazil. It was first described botanically in 1846.


Apostasia (plant)

Apostasia, commonly known as grass orchids, is a genus of eight species of primitive orchids in the family Orchidaceae. They are terrestrial, evergreen, grass-like plants, barely recognisable as orchids and are distributed in humid areas of the Himalayan region, China, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Queensland. They have many narrow leaves and small yellow or white, non-resupinate, star-like flowers usually arranged on a branched flowering stem.
Description.
Plants in the genus "Apostasia" are evergreen, terrestrial, grass-like plants with a scaly rhizome with a few roots that sometimes develop tubers. They have thin stems with many long, narrow, grass-like leaves spirally arranged around them. Small yellow or white, non-resupinate flowers are arranged on a short, often branching flowering stem. The three sepals and three petals are all similar in size, shape and colour, unlike in more familiar orchids which usually have one petal modified as a labellum and often a dorsal sepal which differs from the lateral sepals. The parts of the column are also different from those in other orchids, with the two stamens separate from the style and the pollen grains not adhering to each other in pollinia.
Taxonomy and naming.
The genus "Apostasia" was first formally described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume who published the description in "Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië". The genus name "Apostasia" is derived from the Ancient Greek word "apostasis" meaning "defection" or "departure from", referring to the distinct features of this genus.
The two genera in the subfamily "Apostasioideae", "Apostasia" and "Neuwiedia", differ from most other orchids in having three stamens. Recent studies suggest that the fifteen or so species in these two genera, although exhibiting "primitive" features, are "sister" genera rather than ancestors of other orchid families.
Distribution and habitat.
Species in the genus "Apostasia" are found from north-eastern India, Nepal and Bhutan to southern Japan, and through Southeast Asia to New Guinea and northern Australia. Three species, one of which is endemic, are found in China and one is endemic to Queensland.
List of species.
The following is a list of species of "Apostasia" recognised by the "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families" as at August 2018:


Metrosideros kermadecensis

Metrosideros kermadecensis, with common names Kermadec pōhutukawa and New Zealand Christmas bush is an evergreen tree of the myrtle family which is endemic to the volcanic Kermadec Islands about 900 km north-east of New Zealand. The tree produces a brilliant display of red flowers, made up of a mass of stamens and is the dominant forest tree on Raoul Island, growing to 15 m or more. The trunk is up to 1 m or more in diameter. It is very similar to, and often confused with, the pōhutukawa of mainland New Zealand, differing mainly by having smaller, more oval leaves, and by flowering throughout the year. It also resembles the ōhia lehua of Hawaii.
Conservation.
Because it is endemic to a small group of islands, "Metrosideros kermadecensis" is listed as range restricted, but is not regarded as threatened.
Cultivation.
"Metrosideros kermadecensis" is widely cultivated in New Zealand and has naturalised in Hawaii. A variegated form is widely planted in home gardens. Propagation is easy from fresh seed. Cuttings may be grown from water shoots. It hybridises with pōhutukawa ("M. excelsa").


Polygala persicariifolia

Polygala persicariifolia is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family (Polygalaceae). It is native to east Africa and Asia.
References.


Diospyros perfida

Diospyros perfida is a tree in the family Ebenaceae. It grows up to tall. Inflorescences bear up to three flowers. The fruits are roundish, up to in diameter. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin meaning "unsafe", referring to the allegedly poisonous fruits. Habitat is lowland mixed dipterocarp forests. "D. perfida" is endemic to Borneo.


Melicytus crassifolius

Melicytus crassifolius (thick-leaved mahoe; syn. "Hymenanthera crassifolia" Hook.f.) is an ornamental plant of Violaceae family, which is native to New Zealand.


Cynodontium

Cynodontium is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Dicranaceae.
Species:


Oldenlandia

Oldenlandia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is pantropical in distribution and has about 240 species. The type species for the genus is "Oldenlandia corymbosa".
"Oldenlandia" was named by Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum. The name honors the Danish botanist Henrik Bernard Oldenland (c.1663-1699). Some species are important in ethnomedicine; a number (usually island endemics) are threatened species, with one species and one variety being completely extinct already.
Some botanists have not recognized "Oldenlandia", but have placed some or all of its species in a broadly defined "Hedyotis". More recently, the circumscription of "Hedyotis" has been narrowed to a monophyletic group of about 115 species and no longer includes "Oldenlandia". The genus "Oldenlandia", as presently defined, is several times polyphyletic and will eventually be reduced to a group of species closely related to the type species. This group, known informally as "Oldenlandia" sensu stricto, is sister to a section of "Kohautia" that will eventually be separated from "Kohautia" and named as a new genus.


Pfaffia

Pfaffia (syn. "Hebantha" Mart., "Hebanthe" Mart.) is a genus of plants in the family Amaranthaceae.


Chonemorpha fragrans

Chonemorpha fragrans, the frangipani vine or climbing frangipani, is a plant species in the genus "Chonemorpha". It is a vigorous, generally evergreen, climbing shrub producing stems 30 metres or more long that can climb to the tops of the tallest trees in the forests of Southeast Asia. It has scented, white flowers and large shiny leaves. and it is native to China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It is very commonly used in "Ayurveda" (an Indian root medicine) and it is also cultivated mostly worldwide in frost free places.
Description.
"Chonemorpha fragrans" is a vigorous climber, reaching up to .
It can also grow or spread to about wide, depending on the support. It has a rusty brown, or grey barked stem which is numerously lenticelled. The bark can produce fibre of good quality.
It is evergreen in most tropical climates. Elsewhere, in the spring, the fresh new leaves are bright green with a bronze hue.
The mature leaves are large, deep green, shiny, and hirsute (hairy), especially underneath. They are broadly ovate, orbicular, or elliptic in shape. They have a 2cm long petiole, and they are wide and long, with 10-12 pairs of lateral, prominent veins.
It has terminal (end of stem), clusters of blooms, appearing from spring to autumn, from May to July, or between April and October. They are highly fragrant, and the scent is thought to be very similar to that of the Singapore White plumeria.
They have tubular sepals, which are 1 cm long, a white corolla which is long. It has a hairy throat, which is yellow.
After it has bloomed, between July and September, it produces a lanceolate or oblong seedcase. Inside the seed case, are flat seeds, shortly beaked with long white silky coma.
All parts of the plant produce a milk-like substance when damaged.
Biochemistry.
"Chonemorpha fragrans" contains alkaloids, such as 'camptothecin' (or CPT), 'chonemorphine', and 'funtumafrine'.
'Camptothecin' is a monoterpene indole anti-cancer alkaloid and is used in the production of its analog drugs approved for the chemotherapy of cancer of varied types. 'Chonemorphine' is a steroidal alkaloid has been used to treat intestinal infections in Wistar rats. (Chatterjee DK et al (1987) Parasitol Res 74, 1, 30-33).
The plants enzymes were also studied in 2016 for their anti-cancer potentials.
It has two sets of chromosomes with a count of 2n=20.
Taxonomy.
The Latin name is pronounced as "Chonemorpha" (koh-nee-MORF-a) "fragrans" (FRAY-granz).
It is commonly known as 'Frangipani Vine', or 'Climbing Frangipani' and rarely in India as 'Funnel-Flower Vine'.
The flowers are very similar to the Frangipani in scent and shape, hence the common names.
Due to its wide range it has various local names such as; 'Gardhedaro' in hindi,
'Manjinaru', or 'Chandra hoovina balli' in Kannada, 'Perunkurumpa', or 'Paal valli' in Malayalam, or 'akar gerip merah', 'Murva' or 'morala' in Sanskrit, 'velutha kaaka kodi' in Tamil and 'Chaga' in Telugu.
Also within parts of China (such as Guangxi, Yunnan and Tibet) and the Indian Subcontinent and Indochina, its name in Khmer is /vɔə crẹj cruəj/ វល្លិជ្រៃជ្រួយ or /vɔə ʔɑŋkɑt krəhɑːm/ វល្លិអង្កត់ក្រហម.),
It is written as 大叶鹿角藤 in Chinese script and known as "da ye lu jiao teng" in Pidgin in China.
It was first originally described and published by botanist Alexander Moon as "Echites fragrans" Moon, in his 'Catalogue of the indigenous and exotic Plants growing in Ceylon' (Cat. Pl. Ceylon.) Vol.20 in 1824. The species was then renamed and it was then re-published by English botanist Arthur Hugh Garfit Alston (1902-1958) in Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens (Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard.) Vol.11 on page 203 in 1929.
It was verified by United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service on 20 January 2012.
It is an RHS Accepted name and was last-listed in the RHS Plant Finder in 2005.
Distribution and habitat.
It is native to temperate Asia and Tropical and subtropical Asia.
Range.
It is native to a large area of Asia, from the Himalayas to Java.
In temperate Asia, it is found within China (within the provinces of Yunnan Sheng and Guangxi).
Within tropical Asia, it is found in the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, (including Nicobar Islands,) Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, (including the islands of Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands and Sumatra) Malaysia and the Philippines.
It is cultivated also in Fujian and Guangdong in China.
Habitat.
It prefers to grow in moist deciduous to semi-evergreen forests. or evergreen forests, where it often clings to the trees. In dense mountain forests it can reach altitudes of above sea level.
Cultivation.
As the plant is semi-deciduous in subtropical areas, it can tolerate some colder temperatures (about 30 - 40°F,) but will then be fully dormant during the winter months, but it prefers a frost-free warm position. It may lose leaves if temperature drops below 45°F.
In USA, it is hardy to between USDA Zone 9b: to -3.8 °C (25 °F) and USDA Zone 11: above 4.5 °C (40 °F).
It prefers to grow in well-drained, acid soils, which are rich and free draining.
Loamy soil is the ideal soil type as it does not like poor soils.
It needs ample moisture during the summer months, but not constantly moist.
It can grown in full or partial sun. but is best in full sun, for better flowering.
Within the garden setting, it is best grown on large structures (such as pergolas, trellises or columns). Alternatively it can naturally ramble over tall trees, as they do not cling to walls.
It is used to create a 'tropical' feel within the garden.
It is a disease free, and are not affected by frangipani rust.
They can be grown in pots but prefer to be directly into the ground.
During the winter, is the preferred time to prune to restrict the climbing growth to a manageable size.
Propagation.
It is possible to propagate "Chonemorpha fragrans" via seed. These can be collected from a mature plant via paper bags placed over the flower heads. Then the pods are dried and then broken open to reveal the seeds. Germination of the seed usually takes 3-6 weeks. It can also be grown from cuttings.
The only known pests of the plant, are Spider mites, which are most common if grown in greenhouses.
Uses.
It has been used in folk medicine to help treat various disorders.
It is fully used (roots, leaves, bark-stem,) in Ayurveda (an Indian root medicine), to treat various things such as skin diseases, leprosy, scabies, syphilis, gynecological disorders, inflammation, constipation, worm infestations (ascaris), hyperacidity, diabetes, jaundice, coughs, bronchitis, stomach disorders, intermittent fevers, anaemia, typhoid, polyuria, boils, eye diseases, poisoning,and bronchitis. It is also used as a laxative.
The crushed roots of the plant, which are sweet and bitter, are used to make a decoction drink to help remove a retained placenta, or to treat amebic dysentery. The stem of the plant is used to treat fractures and rheumatalgia.
The leaves of the plant are used a churna or extract used in combination with the other plant materials.
As the plant has diverse biological activities including muscle relaxant and antiparasitic properties.
The plant is sometimes cultivated for the fibre that is obtained from its stem, which is used to make fishing nets, especially in East Java.
External links.


Chaetocarpus

Chaetocarpus is a plant genus of the family Peraceae, formerly Euphorbiaceae, first described as a genus in 1854. "Chaetocarpus" species are trees or shrubs. There native to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Some species are endangered.
"Chaetocarpus pouteria" synonym of "Pouteria guianensis" (Sapotaceae)


Bonnetia multinervia

Bonnetia multinervia is a species of flowering plant in the Bonnetiaceae family. It is found only in Venezuela.