Datura metel

Datura metel is a shrub-like annual (zone 5-7) or short-lived, shrubby perennial (zone 8-10), commonly known in Europe as Indian Thornapple, Hindu Datura, or Metel and in the U.S.A. as Devil's Trumpet or Angel's Trumpet. "Datura metel" is naturalised in all the warmer countries of the world - notably in India, where it is known by the ancient, Sanskrit-derived, Hindi name धतूरा ("dhatūra") -from which the genus name "Datura" is derived, and in Tamil as ஊமத்தை ("ūmattai"). The plant is cultivated worldwide, both as an ornamental and for its medicinal properties, the latter being due (like those of all "Datura" species) to its tropane alkaloid content. Like its hardier and smaller-flowered relative "Datura stramonium", it is now of widespread occurrence, although showing a preference for warmer climates and of more attractive appearance. "Datura metel" was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, but few botanically correct illustrations were made until after the New World was settled. The original home of the plant (long conjectured to have been India) is now known to have been somewhere in the Americas, probably the Greater Antilles. As late as 1992 it was still being claimed that the plant was "...native probably to the mountainous regions of Pakistan or Afghanistan westward..."
While there now remains no doubt that the species originated in the New World, evidence is mounting that it was introduced to the Indian subcontinent - whether by human agency or some chance natural event is not known - at an early date (no later than the 4th century CE) preceding by far the arrival of the first European explorers in the Americas.
The plant is an annual or short-lived shrubby perennial herb (lacking the fleshy, perennial roots found in perennial species such as "Datura innoxia" (from which it has been found to have been created by selective breeding) and "Datura wrightii") growing up to high. It is slightly pubescent, with green to dark violet shoots and oval to broad oval leaves that are often dark violet as well. The pleasantly-scented flowers are immensely varied, and can be single or double. Corolla colour can range from white to cream, yellow, red, and violet. The seed capsule is covered with numerous conical warts or short, sparse spines. It is similar, in its above-ground parts, to "Datura innoxia", but, while "D. metel" has almost glabrous leaves and fruits that can be nodding or erect and are warty, rather than spiny; "D. innoxia" is pilose (softly hairy) all over and has a markedly spiny, nodding fruit with a more prominently frilled and reflexed persistent calyx.
Description.
Creation of 'species' from Datura innoxia.
A wild form of the plant as a distinct species is unknown, with "Datura metel", as currently described, forming essentially a group of ancient cultivars likely attributable to pre-Columbian horticultural practices. Symon and Haegi noted in 1991 the occurrence on the island of Cuba of an apparently wild plant given the name "Datura velutinosa" (no longer an accepted species and now listed as a form of "D. innoxia"), the capsules of which are tuberculate like those of "D. metel".
...two populations of D. inoxia...are slightly more similar to D. metel and grow on the Caribbean side of Mesoamerica which may be the prehispanic source area of the cultivated D. metel...
Historically, single-flowered forms of "D. metel" have frequently been confused with the widely naturalised "Datura innoxia" - from which it differs in its much less pubescent (=hairy) stems and foliage and shorter-spined and less densely-spined capsules (unlike those of "D. innoxia", the capsules of "D. metel" often bear sparse tubercles/warts rather than a dense coat of distinct spines). The reason for this confusion was finally discovered through genetic research carried out by Cavazos, Jiao and Bye and published in a paper in the year 2000:
Based upon overall morphological characters, it appears that "D. metel" was domesticated as an ornamental flower and was derived from southeastern Mexican-Central American populations of "D. inoxia".
In support of this claim regarding domestication, Cavazos et al. list the following pieces of evidence: a) while the flowers of wild Datura species are usually white (or pale), thin in texture, single and short-lived, the flowers of "D. metel" have several distinctive strong colour forms, are thick in texture, often have double or triple flowers (trumpet-like corollas nested one within the other) and can last for up to a week before withering. b) the seed capsules of wild "Datura" species are usually clad with sharp spines which protect them from premature predation, while those of "D. metel" bear short, sparse spines or tubercles. c) Regrowth of the perennial wild species sprouts from the top of the thick roots below ground level, while in D. metel such regrowth is sub-shrubby, sprouting from the woody stem base. It is just such woody stems that are used in the vegetative propagation of this 'species' in the indigenous horticulture of southern Mexico. In the light of such evidence, it appears highly likely that humans have in the past undertaken selective breeding of the species ancestral to "D. metel" to produce mutant forms that flower for longer, have colourful corollas of curious shapes, fruits that lack hurtful spines and somewhat shrubby stems that lend themselves readily to the taking of cuttings.
Ancient cultivars likely created through pre-Columbian horticultural selection.
...it seems clear that "D. metel" is essentially a collection of cultivars and recent critical authors have found it impossible to recognise a wild type for the species. This view is supported by the tuberculate capsules found in "D. metel" (as compared with the spinose capsules of other species) and the retention of seeds on the placenta, at least in cultivars 'Fastuosa' and 'Chlorantha'. Both of these traits suggest cultivar selection...The variants of "D. metel" have been widely grown as ornamentals over a long period of time...There is no evidence that the variants arose from horticultural plant breeding in the Old World...These facts taken together strongly suggest that "D. metel" was a well-established cultivated species with a range of forms in its place of origin and that these forms arrived ready-made in Europe.
A cultivar of "D. metel" with a glossy, purple-black stem (Hindi: काला धतूरा "kāla dhatūra" - "black datura") has long existed as a garden plant under the obsolete name "Datura fastuosa" (coined originally by Linnaeus and featuring the Latin epithet "fastuosa", meaning "haughty" or "proud"). Its flowers normally have a double or triple corolla, each corolla having a deep purple exterior and white or off-white interior. The same double or triple corolla is also a feature of the yellow-flowered cultivar 'Chlorantha'. The purple-flowered 'Fastuosa' has recently been reported to have become naturalised in Israel, where it may yet become as common a roadside weed as the related "D innoxia".
"D. metel" 'Fastuosa' has in recent times become known under a variety of superfluous cultivar names such as 'Black', 'Blackcurrant Swirl', 'Cornucopaea', 'Double Blackcurrant Swirl', 'Double Purple', and 'Purple Hindu'. It has also received many scientific names which should not be used for a cultivar:
Likewise the yellow-flowered "D. metel" 'Chlorantha' has recently acquired such superfluous cultivar names as 'Ballerina Yellow'.
Toxicity.
All parts of "Datura" plants contain dangerous levels of highly poisonous tropane alkaloids and may be fatal if ingested by humans or other animals, including livestock and pets. In some places, it is prohibited to buy, sell, or cultivate "Datura" plants.
"Datura metel" may be toxic if ingested in a tiny quantity, symptomatically expressed as flushed skin, headaches, hallucinations, and possibly convulsions or even a coma. The principal toxic elements are tropane alkaloids. Ingesting even a single leaf can lead to severe side effects.
Use in traditional medicine.
"Datura metel" is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is called "yáng jīn huā" (洋金花). However, the ingestion of "D. metel" in any form is dangerous and should be treated with extreme caution. According to Drug & Cosmetic Act 1940 & Rule 1995, "Datura metel" is banned in India except for use in Ayurvedic medicine.
Entheogen.
"Datura" Linnaeus...The important narcotic species of the Old World is "Datura metel". Early Sanskrit and Chinese writings report a hallucinogen that has been identified with this species, and it was probably "D. metel" that the Arabian Avicenna mentioned as a drug called "jouz-mathel" in the eleventh century...The epithet "Datura" was taken by Linnaeus from the vernacular name "dhatura" or "dutra" in India, where knowledge of the intoxicating effects of the plant go back to prehistory...This species, of which there are several rather distinctive types, is indigenous to Asia but now ranges widely in tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa and America.
Thus Schultes and Hofmann in 1979 in the second edition of "The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens" - confident in their assertion of an Asiatic origin and history of use in India stretching back to Vedic times for "Datura metel".
Considering its allegedly recent introduction to the Old World from the New, beginning in the sixteenth century, "Datura metel" has indeed been integrated with remarkable thoroughness into the religious and magical practices of Asia and Africa as an intoxicant and entheogen: Schultes and Hofmann later devote much of a chapter in their 1980 work " Plants of the Gods" on the use of "Datura" as a hallucinogen to Chinese, Indian and African practices involving the use of "Datura metel" as diverse as its employment in Taoist magic, in the worship of the Hindu deity Shiva and in the magical rites of the Eritrean Kunama people. They quote the oft-repeated idea that the plant is to be equated with the herb "Jouz-mathal" (= "metel-nut"), described in the eleventh-century writings of Persian polymath Avicenna (drawing in turn upon the work of Dioscorides), and thus has an Old World pedigree predating Columbus's arrival in the New. It is certainly the case that "D. metel" is not one of the species mentioned as being used in the ancient Datura cults of the southwestern U.S.A. and Mexico - a result possibly of its lacking the large, tuberous roots of the desert-adapted "Datura" species. A great deal of work undoubtedly still remains to be done on the unraveling of the early history and folklore of the plant and its wide dissemination in lands far from its place of origin.
America or Asia ? Resolution of controversy over continent of origin.
German expert on hallucinogenic plants Christian Rätsch, basing his contention on the researches of Hungarian scholar Dr. Bulcsu Siklós of London's SOAS (an authority on Vajrayana, the wrathful deity Bhairava and other aspects of Buddhism), asserts an Asiatic origin for "Datura metel",(Siklós claiming that references to the use of the plant may be found in the Vajra-mahabhairava-tantra (= "diamond-thunderbolt "Tantra" of the great and terrible one" (i.e. of the wrathful Shiva conceived of as a bodhisattva)), the Vamana Purana, the Garuda Purana), the Matsya Purana, the Amarakosha and the Kama Sutra of Vātsyāyana).
The occurrence of a plant known as "da dhu ra" is investigated in the pre-11th century "Vajra-mahabhairava-tantra", an Indian Buddhist tantric text existent in Tibetan translation. Internal evidence from the texts, and linguistic evidence, identifying "da dhu ra" as "Datura metel" is given despite current certainty of the New World origin of the genus Datura.
The "Vajra-mahabhairava-tantra" deals with the rituals of the wrathful Buffalo-headed deity Vajrabhairava (a manifestation of the Buddhist Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī). Notable amongst these many and varied rituals are a set of five, three from the 2nd chapter and two from the 4th. These all contain references to a plant known in the Tibetan text as "da dhu ra".
The argument for an Indian origin for "Datura metel" advanced in Dr. Siklós's paper hinges on the identity of the plant "da dhu ra" and an unbroken continuity of nomenclature for said plant i.e. to establish his contention as fact, a researcher would have to prove a) that the plant first designated by the name "da dhu ra" was indeed "Datura metel" (this necessarily involving, at the very least, a rudimentary description of the plant's anatomy) and b) that the name had always been applied to that plant and that plant only i.e. that the name "da dhu ra" was not first applied to an unrelated plant and only later applied to "Datura metel" at a time compatible with its introduction from the Americas by Europeans. None of the five extracts translated by Siklós provide a description of "da dhu ra", although some mention its (eminently "Datura"-like) effect of causing insanity. Of the extracts, the third ('C') is the most relevant in this context:
Then, if the mantrin wants to drive someone insane, he takes Datura fruit and, mixing it with human flesh and worm-eaten sawdust, offers it in food or drink. He recites the mantra and that person will instantly go insane and then die within seven days.
This said, Siklós does offer a linguistically unbroken pedigree for the Indian word corresponding to (and indeed ancestral to) Linnaeus's genus name "Datura", beginning with the Prakrit form "dhattūra", which can date from no later than the eighth century C.E. - long before the time of Christopher Columbus.
Siklós himself, however, acknowledges the weakness in his theory occasioned by the lack of the most rudimentary description of "da dhu ra" anywhere in the five extracts that he translates:
A member of the Solanaceae certainly suggests itself as a suitable candidate, but through lack of any physical description of the plant the quoted passages can at best only suggest the identification of "da dhu ra" as Datura metel on the basis of toxic effects common to other indian Solanaceae. Nonetheless, the "Vajra-mahabhairava-tantra" occurrences at least provide a roughly datable (and definitely pre-Columbian) record of the word "da dhu ra" on the basis of which the linguistic evidence can be investigated.
Even this is charitable: the effect of causing insanity is not peculiar to the Solanaceae. Furthermore, text extracts B and E refer to the lighting of fires the fuel of which is " "Datura" wood". "Datura metel" is an only slightly woody species - scarcely a tree which could yield enough wood for a substantial fire.
Dr. Siklós's paper, while of considerable interest, understandably approaches the vexed question of origin from an almost exclusively cultural perspective, drawing on a highly detailed knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism and the Sanskrit-derived languages of India, without addressing the botanical issues raised in such detail by Symon and Haegi - from whose paper he quotes only briefly.
Kew's "Plants of the World Online" continues to uphold Symon and Haegi's refutation of an Asiatic origin for "Datura metel". At this point, the abstract of their paper bears repeating:
As commonly understood in current works, the drug plant genus "Datura" is very curious biogeographically. Seven to nine species are generally recognised as native to the southern part of the North American continent and adjacent islands, with five native to Mexico. The two remaining species are reputed to be native to other far-flung parts of the world: "D. ferox" in China and "D. metel" in Asia, while one of the American taxa "D. leichhardtii" is reputedly shared with Australia. A substantial body of circumstantial evidence is brought together to demonstrate that, like the other species, these last three are in fact native only to the Americas, from where they were introduced to the Old World by Europeans at an early date.
It is interesting that Symon and Haegi should begin their discussion with a quotation from expert on entheogens William Emboden voicing concerns similar to those of Dr. Siklós over the apparent antiquity of Indian use of "Datura metel":
...our lack of knowledge of some of the earliest practices in the Old World, where the plant dates to prehistory...It is equally curious that the customs surrounding the use of "Datura" in temperate Asia at a very early date parallel those of contemporary native people of the New World.
However, Symon and Haegi point out two especially damning pieces of evidence showing that the supposed naturally disjunct distribution of the genus "Datura" is, in fact, profoundly unnatural: a) the genus supposedly has a wide distribution and yet shows diversification only in the Americas and b) the Old World species represent not a taxonomic unit in themselves, suggestive of independent evolution after isolation in Asia, but a cross-section of two sections of the genus "Datura" already present in the Americas: section "stramonium" (to which "D. ferox" belongs) and section "dutra" (to which belong "D. metel" and "D. leichhardtii").
Compelling evidence for pre-Columbian introduction from the Americas to India and Africa.
It will be clear from the above that the only way of reconciling the religious/ethno-linguistic evidence of Siklós with the sound botanical perspectives of Symon and Haegi was the positing of a pre-Columbian introduction of "Datura metel" to India, satisfying the requirement for both a homeland in the Americas and a cultural presence in India (and probably also Africa) of considerable antiquity. It is just such a solution that was provided in 2007 by a highly illuminating paper by scholars R. Geeta (Stony Brook University) and Waleed Gharaibeh (Jordan University of Science and Technology), accessing a wealth of evidence not hitherto available to western botanists (a lack freely acknowledged by Symon and Haegi in their paper of 1991 and noted by Siklós in his critique of their work). Such a solution is not to be proposed lightly in the academic community, as a consultation of the Wikipedia page Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories will readily reveal: most such theories fail to meet stringent academic criteria and are dismissed out of hand by specialists in the various fields of study necessarily involved; however it will also be seen that, of such theories, those that have won a measure of academic support often relate to ancient introductions of plants - the most notable case being that of the sweet potato "Ipomoea batatas", evidence for trans-Pacific introductions of which (both Polynesia-to-South America and vice versa) is now widely accepted.
Geeta and Gharaibeh add the following caveat, certain only of the fact of pre-Columbian introduction and maintaining an open mind as to how this introduction occurred.
...it is important to note that, given "Datura" was in Asia by the 4th century CE, it must have been transported from America at least 600 or so years before the putative trans-Pacific transport of the sweet potato by 1000 CE. Clearly, these hypotheses regarding the ancient transport of Datura from somewhere in Mesoamerica to somewhere in India, via either Southeast Asia or Africa, need to be tested using a range of methods: botanical, genetic, cultural, and historical.
Of the possible means of transport by wind, water, bird or human agency, the authors dismiss immediately scenarios involving dispersal by wind or via bird droppings as wholly implausible: the seeds of "Datura metel" are not only heavy but also lack any specialised adaptation to wind dispersal such as a wing or a pappus, and the fruits of "Datura" are not juicy berries which invite consumption by birds [unlike those of, for example, the bird-disseminated "Atropa"]. The authors settle upon transport by water as by far the most likely mode and, of the two scenarios involving water, human-mediated transportation being the more probable, although not ruling out a scenario whereby the buoyant fruits (and seeds possibly remaining viable after prolonged immersion in salt water) of "Datura" might have been carried to India by ocean currents. Another possibility is that "Datura" capsules might have been rafted naturally across the ocean on floating clumps of vegetation dislodged from their original locations, in the manner noted by Renner et al. to have occurred in the case of certain other plant species.
As to specific ocean currents which could have transported plant material of "Datura metel" from the New to the Old World, Geeta and Gharaibeh suggest that transport by the Gulf Stream followed by capture by the Canary Current could have brought the plant first across the Atlantic Ocean to Africa.
By contrast, a possible human-mediated route would involve first eminently feasible land transport from Mexico to Ecuador and Peru (borne out by observations of the ritual use of "Datura" in these South American countries), followed by water transport across the Pacific Ocean from South America to Oceania (as is recognised to have taken place in the case of the sweet potato) and finally from Oceania to Southeast Asia and South Asia.
We need to examine the history of the plant's presence in both cases
(Africa and South East Asia/Polynesia) in order to assess the plausibility of these scenarios.
The distances involved are formidable, the routes of transmission uncertain and the challenges to ancient seafarers (if such were involved) daunting in the extreme; yet the fact remains that somehow "Datura metel" did indeed find its way to ancient India.
Two linked African "Datura metel" rites: female initiation and witch-finding among the Tsonga.
Documentation of the traditional use of hallucinogens in Africa has lagged behind that of such use in the Americas, so the use of "Datura metel" 'Fastuosa' by the Tsonga people (Shangana-Tsonga) of Mozambique and the Northern Transvaal in their "khomba" puberty school initiation rite - as recorded by Dr. Thomas F. Johnston - is of particular interest. (Johnston incorporated some of his material on the "khomba" initiation into a PhD dissertation submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand).
According to Johnston, 'Datura fastuosa' (i.e. "Datura metel" 'Fastuosa') has the common name "mondzo" (alternative spelling "mondjo", the name being shared also with the (unrelated) "Combretum imberbe") in the Tsonga language and is a subspontaneous plant in the homeland of the Tsonga. Interestingly, in an (otherwise conventional) brief description of the plant he describes the seeds as being "blackish brown", rather than the pale, somewhat tawny shade of brown normal to those of "Datura metel" cultivars. The consumption by "khomba" neophytes of a potion prepared from the plant forms the culmination of three months of rituals which are timed to follow the May harvest and involve ritual bathing (immersion) and the performing of secret mimes, dances and songs.
The climactic "Datura" rite goes by the evocative name of "rendzo ra mianakanyo" (trans. : "journey of fantasy") and involves 'hearing' the voice of the fertility god and experiencing a hallucinatory vision of bluish-green colour patterns having the Tsonga name "mavala-vala". This 'journey in spirit' is reinforced with tactile stimuli and vocal cues from one of their "schoolmothers" (acting in the role of psychopomp), the girls being ritually beaten with a "Datura" switch through the blankets in which they are lying swaddled, while being told repeatedly that it is the "mavala-vala" which they are seeing. Johnston hypothesises that the "mavala-vala" visions may be symbolic representations of a local (blue-green) snake belonging to the genus Philothamnus (Tsonga: "shihundje"), individuals of which the Tsonga believe to be manifestations of the divine. According this theory, the "mavala-vala" would be a vision of the serpent form of the very fertility god whose voice is 'heard' by the initiates of the "khomba" in their "Datura"-induced trance. [Note: Johnston employs the obsolete name "Dendrophis subcarinatus" for the sacred snake of the Tsonga. This species is now known correctly as "Philothamnus natalensis".]
The rituals of the "khomba" puberty school are designed to prepare girls for child-bearing, playing out in highly-structured dramatic form the various aspects of female sexuality, with particular emphasis on fertility. A major symbolic theme in this transition from girlhood to womanhood is the crossing of a river, thoroughly in keeping with the sense in which initiation is always a symbolic death(compare the death symbolism traditionally associated with the crossing of the rivers Jordan and Styx).
Further death symbolism is present in the "Datura" potion itself, which always contains a small amount either of human fat or powdered human bone - ingredients which traditionally feature in Tsonga witchcraft, but in this instance are intended to counter malign witchcraft aimed at blighting fertility i.e. 'fighting fire with fire'. Johnston points out that it is this endocannibalistic element in the ritual and not "Datura" that has witchcraft associations in Tsonga culture, but points out that Solanaceous hallucinogens had very definite associations with witchcraft in Early Modern Europe. To this, however, might be added a further comparison with Early Modern European witchcraft, in which practitioners were accused of employing the fat from the corpses of unbaptised babies in the preparation of flying ointments infused with tropane-containing, hallucinogenic Solanaceous plants (and other toxic herbs). Again, the Tsonga and European practices are curiously reminiscent of the Tantric ritual to cause insanity (quoted above) the recipe in which calls for an admixture of human flesh.
Within a strictly Tsonga frame of reference, Johnston points out a marked similarity between a form of trial by ordeal known as "mondjo" (observed at the beginning of the 20th century by ethnographer of the Tsonga, Henri Alexandre Junod) and the "Datura" rite of the "khomba" puberty school which he observed himself in the course of the research he carried out during the period 1968-70:
In both instances, the "Datura fastuosa" potion was explained as containing either human fat or powdered human bone; the ceremony occurred by a river and involved a nearby tree; the patients formed a line along the ground; the officiant waved a head dress by vigorous shaking of the head...So far as is known, Tsonga use of "Datura fastuosa" is restricted to trial by ordeal (a suspect must survive a given dose in order to prove his innocence), and the described final rite of the girls' puberty school.
Johnston fails to note that the ordeal name "mondjo" is simply a variant spelling of the Tsonga name for "Datura metel" 'Fastuosa' as is made plain from a reading of Junod's account of this ritual, the full name of which is "ku nwa mondjo" (trans. "drinking the Datura (potion)"). The Tsonga consider their ordeal-by-Datura the supreme method for unmasking the supernatural witches known as "baloyi". "Baloyi" are believed to inherit their uncanny powers through the maternal line, and these consist of the ability to separate their souls from their "bodies" and send them out to nocturnal gatherings where the working of all manner of evil is plotted - notably theft, murder and the enslaving of others. The 'noyi' or separable soul is believed to fly off to its evil assignation on great wings, like those of a bird or bat, while what remains behind on the sleeping mat appears to the uninitiated to be a sleeping human body, but is actually a second type of (material) soul - the "ntjhuti" or shadow, which Junod describes as "a "wild beast", the one with which the "noyi" has chosen to identify himself". He cites an example in which a husband wounds such a spirit beast - in this instance a hyaena - at night, only to find that when his wife's wandering spirit returns in the morning it has been wounded in the leg, like the "hyaena".
Junod does not actually fully identify the plant involved in the Tsonga witch-finding ritual:
The "mondjo" is a plant of the Solaneae [sic.] family which possesses intoxicating properties...it seems that the "mondjo" dries up the saliva of all who drink it, but, in the case of the truly guilty, this effect is greatly accentuated; the jaws become locked. They try to speak but can only say "be-be-be-be" (they stammer).
- however, the intoxicating effect combined with a drying-up of the mouth referred to above points to a species containing tropane alkaloids, such as "Datura", and the identity of the plant is established, many years later, by Johnston's linking of the name "mondjo" (under the variant spelling "mondzo") specifically with "Datura metel" 'Fastuosa'.
In the early 1900s, the preparation of the "mondjo" drink was confined to a particular, small clan, the "Shihahu", who lived on the left bank of the Nkomati river, not far from the sea and a little to the north of the Manyisa district of Maputo Province. The "Shihahu" cultivated the "mondjo" plant for use as the major active ingredient of their ordeal poison-cum-hallucinogen, although Junod notes that their recipe for the "magic philter" was "very complicated and intricate" and contained "several strange ingredients", of which the most macabre (not to say insanitary) was purely symbolic, not psychotropic - namely a small amount of fat or bone from the body of a long-dead leper. If Johnston is correct in his conjecture that the Tsonga rite of female initiation is connected with the "mondjo" ordeal, the ingredients of the recipes for the respective potions involved may have been similar. In the context of active potion ingredients other than "Datura metel" 'Fastuosa', Johnston records the following of the fourth stage of the puberty school initiation which he witnessed:
Soon a screaming medium (a disguised "schoolmother") appears suddenly out of the bush, garbed in bandoliers of dried hallucinogenic agents ("Datura fastuosa", toads' skins etc.)...
It is clear from the above that the potion employed in the puberty school rite was not necessarily a simple "Datura" infusion - the addition of toad skins (see Colorado River toad) would modify considerably a basic intoxication caused by tropane alkaloids, by the addition of bufotenine and other hallucinogenic tryptamines. Junod mentions only unspecified "strange ingredients" in the potion concocted by the "Shihahu", but, in the light of Johnston's research, one such seems likely to have been toad skins, (and additional psychotropic plant species cannot be ruled out). Johnston does not specify the toad species involved and further research is needed to establish whether or not any of the species of amphibian native to Mozambique secretes psychotropic compounds in its skin.
Sacred to Shiva.
Shiva remains in divine intoxication. Hence, his association with dhatūra or thorn-apple...which has hallucinogenic properties. Dhatūra is called "shiva-shekhara", the crown of Shiva. It is believed to have emerged from Shiva's chest after he drank the deadly poison, halahal, produced during the churning of the cosmic ocean. Its leaves and fruit are offered to Shiva on special days.
The above is a quotation from a contemporary article devoted to Hindu liturgical practice and provides a rationale for the presentation of plant parts (often seed capsules) of "Datura metel" to the deity Shiva, integrated (no later, on evidence currently available, than the second century C.E.) into a much older mythological framework dating back to Vedic times.
The Vedic myth referenced is that of The Churning of the Ocean of Milk (Sanskrit "Samudra manthan"), in which two groups of gods, the Devas and the Asuras, churn the Cosmic Ocean of Milk (Sanskrit "Kshira Sagara") to bring forth treasures. In the course of the churning, the terrible, choking poison Halahala emerges from the ocean before the treasures and threatens to overwhelm the cosmos.
Only the god Shiva is strong enough to swallow the poison, thus neutralising it, and, even in so doing, still requires the help of his consort, the goddess Parvati, who squeezes his throat to trap the poison there. Such is the potency of the poison that, even though Shiva is able to transmute it to make it harmless, it turns his throat permanently blue, so that, ever afterward one of his epithets has been "Neelakanta" - "the blue-throated one".
Criminal poison of the "Thugs".
The Thugs, gangs of professional robbers and murderers who wandered the roads of central India, would sometimes use preparations of "Datura metel" to stupefy the rich merchants whom they favoured as victims, before strangling or stabbing them. The English word thug traces its roots to the Hindi ठग ("ṭhag"), which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Accounts of the Thugs written by early 19th century colonial authors tend to evoke an orientalist fantasy of a bloodthirsty (quintessentially) Hindu cult offering human sacrifices to the goddess Kali, while modern scholars tend to perceive the reality of Thuggee to have been more a matter of criminal activity undertaken for gain by organised groups of disaffected and recently unemployed soldiers of both Hindu and Muslim faith.
There were also occasional reports, from the earliest times, of gangs [i.e. criminal gangs active long before the advent of Thuggee] who poisoned their victims with "Datura", which was commonly used by many Indian highway robbers to stupefy their victims. It seems to have been used [by the Thugs] only intermittently. One Thug described this technique of using the drug as the tool of "mere novices", implying that an experienced strangler should have no need of such an aid to murder.


Crininae

Crininae is one of four subtribes within the tribe Amaryllideae (subfamily Amaryllidoideae, family Amaryllidaceae), with a pantropical distribution ("Crinum") and also sub-Saharan Africa.
Description.
Leaves frequently show an intercalary meristem and are usually fringed with cartilaginous teeth. The leaf apices are also often truncate (cut off). The flowers may be actinomorphic to zygomorphic, with a perigone tube with free stamens. The fruit is indehiscent, irregular, and often rostellate (rosetted). The scape does not abscise (shed) during seed dispersal, with the exception of "Ammocharis longifolia" where it detaches at ground level. The seeds also lack an integument, but are endosperm-rich and partially chlorophyllous with cork-covering.
Taxonomy.
Phylogeny.
Crininae are placed within Amaryllideae as follow:
These are phylogenetically related as follows:
Subdivision.
As circumscribed by Meerow "et al." (2001), there were three genera (Species), although the precise relationship between "Cybistetes" and "Amocharis" has been problematic, having been segregated in 1939 but later restored in 2007, submerging "Cybistetes" within "Ammocharis" as "A. longifolia":
Genera (species):
Distribution.
Widespread in the tropics (pantropical) and sub-Saharan Africa.


Atropa acuminata

Atropa acuminata, also known as "maitbrand" or Indian belladonna, is a close relative of deadly nightshade of Europe and North Africa and, like it, is an extremely poisonous plant valued in medicine for its richness in tropane alkaloids with anticholinergic, deliriant, antispasmodic and mydriatic properties. The specific name "acuminata" signifies acuminate i.e. 'tapering to a long point' - in reference to the distinctive shape of the leaves.
"Atropa acuminata" is native to the Himalayas, being found in Eastern Afghanistan, the North of India and Pakistan : from Balochistan in the West to Kashmir in the East, in an area including also Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand (part of Uttar Pradesh until the year 2000) and Pakistan's Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The plant described under the name "Atropa acuminata" Royle ex Miers (which may be referable to A. acuminata Royle ex Lindl.) is found also in Eastern Iran and Mongolia.


Dacrydium spathoides

Dacrydium spathoides is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is found only in a small area of the Central Highlands of Western New Guinea (Papua).


Campylopus bicolor

Campylopus bicolor is a species of moss found in Australia and New Zealand.


Calceolariaceae

Calceolariaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that has been recently segregated from Scrophulariaceae. The family includes three genera, "Calceolaria", "Porodittia", and "Jovellana", but analysis suggests that the monotypic "Porodittia" should be placed within "Calceolaria". Recent molecular phylogenies that included "Calceolaria" have shown not only that this genus does not belong in Scrophulariaceae (or any of the numerous families recently segregated from Scrophulariaceae) but also that it is the sister clade to the majority of the other families of the Lamiales. Morphological and chemical characters also support the separation of Calceolariaceae from Scrophulariaceae and other Lamiales. Some recent studies have supported a sister-group relationship between Calceolariaceae and Gesneriaceae. Given this close relationship, some authors opt to merge this family into Gesneriaceae as subfamily Calceolarioideae


Dendrophthoe falcata

Dendrophthoe falcata is one of the hemiparasitic plants that belong to the mistletoe family Loranthaceae. It is the most common of all the mistletoes that occur in India. At the moment reports say that it has around 401 plant hosts. The genus "Dendrophthoe" comprises about 31 species spread across tropical Africa, Asia, and Australia (Flora of China, 2003) among which 7 species are found in India.
"D.falcata" bears grey bark, thick coriaceous leaves variable in shape with stout flowers (Wealth of India. 2002). The inflorescence of "D.falcata" was described formerly as axillary or as developing from the scars of fallen leaves, but Y.P.S Pundir (1996) determined it to be of strictly cauliflorous nature and noted also that it bears a certain similarity to those of the fig species "Ficus glomerata, F. pomifera" and "F. hispida". Two of its varieties are widespread in India namely, var. "falcata" (honeysuckle mistletoe) and var. "coccinea" (red honeysuckle mistletoe) distinguishable by their bearing white and red flowers respectively. (Flowers of India). To date, "D.falcata" bears the distinction of being the mistletoe species with the largest global host range (Calvin and Wilson, 2009) - a range which is continuously and rapidly widening to include more and more host species.
Host-parasite interface.
Among angiosperms, parasitic relationship through the formation of haustorial linkages is known to be widespread (Wilson and Calvin, 2006). In general, haustorial connections among 72 (of the 75) aerial parasitic genera may belong to either of the four types viz., epicortical roots (ERs), clasping unions, wood roses, and bark strands (Calvin and Wilson, 1998). ERs may run along the host branches in either direction forming haustorial structures at variable intervals while “unions” occur as single points of attachment of individual parasites hence pronounced as solitary. In "D.falcata" on different hosts two of the haustorial kinds have been observed viz., solitary unions as on Sugar apple ("Annona squamosa"), and epicortical roots as on Sapota ("Achras zapota"), guava ("Psidium guajava"), pomegranate ("Punica granatum") have been known. It is unknown about what factors decide formation of different haustorial types by the leafy mistletoe on different hosts.
The host branches infected with "D.falcata" show a gradual reduction in growth and diameter as compared to other healthy uninfected branches (Karunaichamy et al., 1999). This mistletoe does not have an indigenous rooting system and is dependent on the host for water and minerals. Nutrient dynamics have shown that a higher titre of N, P, K, Mg and Na in the leaves of mistletoe than the leaves of uninfected and infected hosts which may be due to differential translocation of elements within the host phloem (Surya Prakash et al., 1967; Karunaichamy et al., 1999). The haustorial connections of the parasite with the plant are devoid of any efficient retranslocation system (Smith and Stewart, 1990).
Seed dispersal and pollination.
Seed dispersal and pollination is usually mediated by the birds that thrive on fruits from the parasite and/or host. Particularly in southern India, Tickel’s flowerpecker (also called the pale-billed flowerpecker) is reported to facilitate seed dispersal of "D. falcata" among Neem through fecal excretions or regurgitations (Karunaichamy et al., 1999; Hambali, 1977 and references therein). Studies conducted at the higher altitudes of the Western Ghats (where both the mistletoes and the flowerpeckers occur predominantly), which parallel the western coast of India infer that the flowerpecker pollinated mistletoes have particularly developed feature specialized to attract a unique vector both to facilitate pollination and seed dispersal: the fruit and flowers have similar resemblance and more significantly, the fruiting time overlap with the next flowering season (Davidar, 1983). The hair-crested drongo (sometimes called the spangled drongo) and sunbirds are also known to feed on the nectar from the "D.falcata" flowers adding to the list of pollinators to this mistletoe (Kunwar et al., 2005).
Medicinal uses.
"Dendrophthoe falcata" is used as traditional medicine through South and Central Asia. It possesses remarkable potential as a medicinal plant, as is evident from the wound healing, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant and antinociceptive properties of its ethanolic extracts (Pattanayak and Sunita, 2008, Shihab et al., 2006). Medicinal properties of this hemiparasite may vary in effects respective to different hosts it establishes a relation with (Mallavadhani et al., 2006).
The whole plant is used in indigenous system of medicine as cooling, bitter, astringent, aphrodisiac, narcotic and diuretic (Alekutty e al., 1993) and is useful in treating pulmonary tuberculosis, asthma, menstrual disorders, swelling wounds, ulcers, renal and vesical calculi and vitiated conditions of kapha and pitta (Anarthe et al., 2008; Sastry, 1952; Pattanayak et al., 2008 ). Also, the decoction of plant used by women as an anti-fertility agent has been evidenced to possess anticancer activity (Nadkarni, 1993). The leaf ethanolic extract significantly and dose dependently inhibits the acetic acid induced writhing in mice (Shihab et al., 2006) and has indicated a low level toxicity in the brine shrimp lethality assays. Besides, a more recent work by Pattanayak et al. (2008) shows significant tumor reduction in induced mammary carcinogenesis in Wistar female rats when fed with hydroalcoholic extracts of "D. falcata".
Diseases.
"Dendrophthoe falcata" is susceptible to diseases such as leaf blight caused by "Colletotrichum" stage of "Glomerella cingulata" (Mohamed Ali and Florence, 1987).
Hyper-parasitism.
"Dendrophthoe falcata" can be parasitised by "Scurrula cordifolia" (another mistletoe) (Pundir, 1979). Similarly, "Viscum orientale" has also been reported to grow on "D. falcata" (Saxena, 1971). In another instance "Cuscuta reflexa" has been shown to act as a rival to the leafy mistletoe (Nath and Indira, 1975).
From a conservation biologists’ viewpoint mistletoes are considered as a keystone resource of biodiversity (Watson, 2001) and from that of an ethnobiologist’s and/or pharmacologist’s (Pattanayak et al., 2008), they possess numerous ethnomedicinal assets with prospects extending to promises even for use as an anti-tumor agent. Besides, a farmer’s perspective entails that they are notorious and devastating parasitic plants. Being backed by easy seed dispersal mediated by frugivorous birds, they continue to pose serious losses to economically valuable fruit trees, flowering plants and those with medicinal properties whether growing in forests, orchards or gardens (Sridhar and Rao, 1978).


Cylindrocarpa

Cylindrocarpa is a genus of plants in the Campanulaceae. There is only one known species, Cylindrocarpa sewerzowii, endemic to Kyrgyzstan. It has been found only in the Gory Naryntau mountain range, part of the Tien-Shan chain.


Ulva prolifera

Ulva prolifera is a species of seaweed in the family Ulvaceae that can be found worldwide.
Distribution.
In Europe, it can be found in such countries as Bulgaria, France, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and on Lolland island of Denmark. It is also common on African islands such as Canary and Madeira islands, and in the US states such as Alaska, California, Florida, Texas and Washington. Besides the states, Africa and Europe, it is common in Central American countries such as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, and Cuba, with Mexico occasionally getting them on the Pacific side.
China had its largest recorded bloom of the algae in 2013, in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Qingdao.
In other languages.
The species have common names in other countries of the world:


Myrtales

The Myrtales are an order of flowering plants placed as a sister to the eurosids II clade as of the publishing of the "Eucalyptus grandis" genome in June 2014.
The APG III system of classification for angiosperms still places it within the eurosids. This finding is corroborated by the placement of the Myrtales in the Malvid clade by the One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes Initiative. The following families are included as of APGIII:
The Cronquist system gives essentially the same composition, except the Vochysiaceae are removed to the order Polygalales, and the Thymelaeaceae are included. The families Sonneratiaceae, Trapaceae, and Punicaceae are removed from the Lythraceae. In the classification system of Dahlgren the Myrtales were in the superorder Myrtiflorae (also called Myrtanae). The APGIII system agrees with the older Cronquist circumscriptions of treating Psiloxylaceae and Heteropyxidaceae within Myrtaceae, and Memecyclaceae within Melastomataceae.
Ellagitannins are reported in dicotyledoneous angiospermes, and notably in species in the order Myrtales.
Origins.
Myrtales is dated to have begun 89–99 million years ago (mya) in Australasia. There is some contention as to that date however, which was obtained using nuclear DNA. When looking at chloroplast DNA, the myrtales ancestor is instead considered to have evolved in the mid-Cretaceous period (100mya) in Southeast Africa, rather than in Australasia. Although the APG system classifies myrtales as within the eurosids, the recently published genome of "Eucalyptus grandis" places the order myrtales as a sister to the eurosids rather than inside them. The discrepancy is thought to have arisen due to the difference between using numerous taxa versus using various genes for constructing a phylogeny.


Cenchrus spinifex

Cenchrus spinifex, known commonly as the common sandbur or coastal sandbur, is a perennial grass that grows from high in sandy or gravelly terrain. It is native to the southern United States southward into Mexico and the Caribbean. It has been introduced elsewhere in the United States and in the Philippines and South Africa.
It is a noxious weed in Europe.
The grass produces a bur, a type of grain fruit, consisting of eight to forty sharp, barbed spines that lodge in clothes, exposed feet, and fur.


Eriosyce chilensis

Eriosyce chilensis or "Chilenito" is a critically endangered species of cactus from Chile. Found on the coast between Coquimbo and Valparaiso, the plant is one of the world's 100 most threatened species according to the IUCN. Its rarity is primarily due to its small native habitat range and illegal overcollection for the ornamental cactus trade. The cactus as two know varieties, which are similar except that var. chilensis produces red flowers while var. albidiflora produces yellow flowers.


Populus grandidentata

Populus grandidentata, commonly called large-tooth aspen, big-tooth aspen, American aspen, Canadian poplar, or white poplar, is a deciduous tree native to eastern North America.
Name.
The name "Populus" is from the Latin for poplar, and "grandidentata" refers to the coarse teeth on the leaves ("grandis" meaning "large", and "dentata" meaning "toothed").
Description.
"Populus grandidentata" is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to North America, found mostly in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Leaves are similar to "Populus tremuloides", but slightly larger and having larger teeth. The leaves tremble in the wind as "P. tremuloides" does. Bark of younger trees is olive-green, thin and smooth; after 30–40 years, the bark is gray, thick and rough with grooves.
Reproduction.
Bigtooth aspens produce seeds from wind-pollinated flower clusters, known as catkins. The tree is dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers are on separate trees, which flower from mid-April to mid-May depending on the climate zone. The seed, a two-valved capsule, is distributed widely by the wind. Seed production begins around 10 years old. Individuals can also reproduce through the roots after a disturbance event, such as fire or harvest; the roots of the dead/cut tree will begin to send up suckers, creating identical individuals, and can result in a stand of clones that resemble that individual. Seeds viability is high (around 80%) but despite this and the sheer number of seeds produced (a mature tree can produce over 1 million per season), very few actually end up germinating due to their short viability (two weeks), natural growth inhibitor, and high likelihood of landing in spots unsuitable for germination, which must be done on the surface of moist soil.
Growth.
Bigtooth aspens are dioecious, medium-sized deciduous trees with straight trunks and gently ascending branches. Heights at maturity are around with diameters of . They are fast growing and are relatively short-lived; stands will begin to deteriorate after 60–70 years, while individuals can live up to 100 years. They often constitute early successional species of their landscapes. Roots are shallow and wide spreading; lateral root growth in a forest may be as far as . Generally, four to five lateral roots originate from the tree, and then branch within ; vertical, penetrating roots near the base anchor the tree.
Distribution.
The range of "Populus grandidentata" extends from Virginia north to Maine and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia; west to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota; south through Iowa to extreme northeastern Missouri; and east through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia. Disjunct populations are found in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Ecology.
The species is able to adapt to a wide range of soils, though it is most abundant on sands, loamy sands and light sandy loams. Big-tooth aspens can tolerate sandy uplands and high, rocky sites. The depth to the water table is generally about . Soil must be moist but well-aerated for good growth. Being very shade intolerant, most shaded stems die. They are pioneer species on disturbed sites, persisting in successional communities until senescence. Rapid height growth of suckers allows it to outcompete other sprouting species such as red oak ("Quercus rubra") and red maple ("Acer rubrum") on many sites. In the absence of disturbance, it is soon replaced by conifers and hardwoods. In the Great Lakes Region at the turn of the 20th century, many mature pine forests were logged and burned. Bigtooth and quaking aspens frequently dominated the postdisturbance forests. Without fire or other disturbance, these forests are being replaced by later successional, shade-tolerant species. This aspen usually grows in even-aged, mixed stands, most commonly with quaking aspens. Codominant in both hardwood and conifer forests, it does not occur as a subdominant because of its extreme shade intolerance. Quaking aspen ("Populus tremuloides") is the predominant species in aspen stands in the Great Lakes region, but bigtooth aspen dominates on drier, upland sites. Aspen stands dominated by bigtooth aspens are generally more open than those dominated by quaking aspens. It is more disease resistant than "P. tremuloides". The most serious disease is hypoxylon canker (caused by "Entoleuca mammata"). Other rots, fungi, and root decay affect this species. A preferred host of gypsy moth, death occurs when nearly complete defoliation by gypsy moths is followed by a fungal infection by "Armillaria" spp. The ambrosia beetle ("Xyleborus saxesceni") attacks fire-damaged bigtooth aspens. Commonly, it occurs in areas that frequently burn, such as large upland areas distant from water and upwind of natural fire breaks, such as lakes.
Uses.
Various wildlife feed on the bark, foliage, and twig buds.
The wood weighs 27 pounds (12 kg) per foot and is light-colored, straight-grained, fine-textured, and soft. It is used primarily for pulp, but can be used to make particle board and structural panels. Minor uses include log homes, pallets, boxes, match splints, chopsticks, hockey stick components, and ladders. The bark is pelletized for fuel and supplemental cattle feed.
It is occasionally cultivated. A cultivar, "Grandmont", has recently been developed.


Alsophila hooglandii

Alsophila hooglandii, synonym Cyathea hooglandii, is a species of tree fern native to the Western Highlands of New Guinea, where it grows in mossy forest at an altitude of about 3000 m. The trunk of this plant is erect, up to 3 m tall and approximately 10 cm in diameter. Fronds are tripinnate, 1–2 m in length and produced in two whorls of five to seven each. The stipe may be dull and warty or densely covered with scales. These scales range in colour from dark to medium brown and have a broad, paler margin as well as fragile edges. Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of this species are its sori, which are borne singly at the base of each tertiary pinnule on the midvein. They are protected by firm indusia that are saucer-like in appearance.
John Braggins and Mark Large note that "A. hooglandii" appears to be related to "Alsophila microphylloides". It differs from that species in having single sori at the base of fertile tertiary pinnules.
The specific epithet "hooglandii" commemorates botanist Ruurd Dirk Hoogland (1922-1994), who collected numerous plants in New Guinea, Australia and Europe.


Oxalis schaeferi

Oxalis schaeferi is a species of plant in the family Oxalidaceae. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is cold desert.


Haworthiopsis venosa

Haworthiopsis venosa, formerly Haworthia venosa, known in Afrikaans as venstertjie, is a species of flowering plant in the genus "Haworthiopsis" belonging to the family Asphodelaceae, native to Namibia and South Africa.
Naming and taxonomy.
The genus name "Haworthiopsis" means "like "Haworthia"", which honors the British botanist Adrian Hardy Haworth (1767–1833), while the species epithet "venosa" means "veined".
The species was previously included in "Haworthia" subgenus "Hexangulares". Phylogenetic studies demonstrated that subgenus "Hexangulares" was actually relatively unrelated to other haworthias and so it was moved to the new genus "Haworthiopsis".
Description.
It is a mat-forming succulent evergreen perennial reaching in height. Stemless rosettes of 12-15 fleshy, triangular, lanceolate, dark green leaves show a few pale green lines along the upper surfaces and small teeth along the margins.
In spring (November to December) it bears long stems of green-white, tubular flowers in racemes.
Distribution.
This species occurs over a large area, from the inland Karoo and Namibia to as far south as the northern part of the Breede River valley. Here it occurs on rocky slopes.
Cultivation.
In cultivation it requires a minimum temperature of , so is grown under glass in temperate locations.
"Haworthia venosa" subsp. "tesselata" has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Thunbergioideae

Thunbergioideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Acanthaceae.


Gomontiaceae

Gomontiaceae is a family of green algae in the order Ulotrichales.


Acharagma

Acharagma is a genus of two small cactus species from northern Mexico. A third species, A huasteca, was described in 2011.
Description.
These cacti are usually solitary but sometimes occur in small clusters. The globose stems tend to be about 3–7 cm in diameter. The ribs have tubercles, with ungrooved areoles. The flowers are at the stem tips, and range from cream to pink and yellow.
The genus is of relatively recent creation, the species originally being described as part of "Escobaria", although recognized as a separate section by Nigel Taylor in 1983, and raised to a genus by Charles Glass in 1998.


Conospermum undulatum

Conospermum undulatum is a shrub in the Proteaceae family, endemic to Western Australia, first described by John Lindley in 1839.
The erect and compact shrub typically grows to a height of . It blooms between May and October producing white flowers.
It is found in a small area in the hills of the Darling Range in Perth in Western Australia where it grows in sandy-clay soils.
This species is listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act.


Saxegothaea

Saxegothaea is a genus comprising a single species, Saxegothaea conspicua. It is a conifer in the podocarp family Podocarpaceae, native to southern South America. It grows in Chile and Argentina from 35° to 46° South latitude; in its northernmost natural distribution it grows between 800 and 1000 (2600–3300 ft) m above sea level and in the south it lives at sea level. The species is most often known by its genus name, or sometimes as female maniu (a translation of its name in Spanish) and Prince Albert's yew; in South America it is known as mañío hembra or maniú hembra.
It is a slow-growing, long-lived evergreen tree growing to 15–25 m (50–80 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is thin and flaky to scaly, dark purple-brown. The leaves are arranged in an irregular spiral; they are lanceolate, 1.5–3 cm long, 2 mm broad, fairly hard with a prickly spine tip, dark green above, and with two glaucous blue-white stomatal bands below. The cones are 1 cm long, with 15-20 soft scales; usually only 2-4 scales on each cone are fertile, bearing a single seed 3 mm in diameter.
Saxegothaea is endemic to the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southern Chile and adjacent parts of Argentina, where it is generally found in association with "Pilgerodendron uviferum" and "Fitzroya cupressoides".
The wood has a good quality and is used in furniture and barrels.


Grammitis nudicarpa

 Grammitis nudicarpa is a fern in the family Polypodiaceae.
Description.
The plant is a very small epiphytic fern. It has a short rhizome with dark brown, pointed scales. Its simple fronds combine a short stipe with a narrowly oblanceolate lamina 2–8 cm long and 0.3–0.8 cm wide.
Distribution and habitat.
The fern is endemic to Australia’s subtropical Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea; it is confined to the densely shaded summit areas of Mounts Lidgbird and Gower.


Aphyllanthoideae


Aditya Narayan Purohit

Aditya Narayan Purohit (born 30th July 1940) is an Indian scientist and professor who has mainly worked on ecophysiology of tree species and physiology of high altitude medicinal plants. He was born in village Kimni, Dist. Chamoli.
He has served as the Vice-Chancellor of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University and as director of the university's High Altitude Plant Physiology Research Center.
He was also the Director of Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development from 1990 to 1995.
Purohit was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, by the President of India in 1997 for his valuable scientific contribution in Indian mountains.
Personal life.
Purohit was born in Kimni, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India.
He had his early education in Tharali and Rudraprayag in Chamoli district, Lansdowne in Pauri district, Nainital and research studies in Panjab University Chandigarh.
He worked at Forest Research Institute Dehradun, Panjab University Chandigarh, Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, the University of British Columbia and North Eastern Hill University, Shillong before joining H.N.B. Garhwal University in 1977.
He has travelled all over the world to deliver lecturers and seminars in various conferences. He is married to Malti Purohit; they have a daughter and a son.
After joining HNB Garhwal University, Purohit initiated work on high altitude plants. He established an institute with its alpine field station at 13000-ft elevation at Tungnath, which is the "first Alpine Center in India". The work conducted at this centre has revealed that "high altitude species are less sensitive than the low altitude species to the environmental stresses". The germination studies of alpine plants made by Purohit and his associates have helped in germinating many endangered species and establishing them in nature in the alpine field station at Tungnath. He and his associates have come up with the cultivation technology for Aconites, alpine and sub-alpine plants of very high medicinal value, where yield is increased 10 to 12 fold. He has made valuable scientific contribution on mountain plants and the mountain ecosystem. After retiring from H.N.B. Garhwal University in 2002, he was offered the special Chair by Government of Uttarakhand to advice on conservation, development and cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants in the State. He has established a Centre for Aromatic Plants for the State.
He was the member of Board of Governors, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal from 1991–1997; Member, Initial Organizing Committee of International Mountain Forum from 1995 to 1997. He is also the member of editorial board for the Journal of Sustainable Forestry.
Besides being the member of several national committees, Purohit was the member of the group constituted by the Planning Commission, Govt. of India to formulate the national policy for the development of Himalayan region. He was instrumental in preparing the action plan for the Himalayan region, which was approved by the Indian Parliament in 1992.
Positions held.
2010 onwards: Adjunct Professor, School of Environmental Studies, Doon University, Dehradun
Professional services (international).
[[File:High Altitude Plant Physiology Centre, Srinagar Garhwal.jpg|thumb|The High Altitude Plant Physiology Centre, Srinagar Garhwal was established by Prof. A.N. Purohit and he served as its director from March 1985 to August 1990 and from September 1995 to June 2002]]
Popular publications.
He has published more than 175 papers and has guided 20 research scholars.
Contribution to science and technology development.
Purohit has worked mainly on ecophysiology of tree species and physiology of high altitude medicinal plants.
Purohit demonstrated for the first time that the indeterminate species can be made determinate. Based on this observation, he proposed that it is the channelization of food factors and the reproductive hormones, which controls the indeterminate or determinate nature of the plants. Prof. Purohit has shown a close relationship between photosystem I and onset of generative phase, which he has explained in terms of the energy requirement as a prelude to generative phase. He has proposed that evocation in leaves leading to the onset of floral induction starts with biophysical processes relating to the excitation of molecules in response to light and oxidation-reduction state of reaction centre pigments.
Purohit worked out the dynamics of shoot elongation and expansion showing recurrent growth pattern and reported appreciable histological changes in the shoot apex during longest period of dormancy and onset of reproductive phase, which was the first report of such developmental process in trees. This he further confirmed by a simple experiment in which he grew dogalus fir seedlings in high concentration of CO2 which induced bud dormancy leading to differentiation of cone like structure in one year old seedlings of this plant.
He studied the effect of CO2 enrichment and reported that high concentration of CO2 inhibits flowering in classical short day plants and induces flowering in long day plants and even the phytochrome mediated responses in flowering are associated with the presence of CO2 during red light interruption. He also reported for the first time that CO2 enrichment also affects viral multiplication.
Purohit and his associates have added valuable information to the scientific field with respect to the applied value of variations in leaf temperatures in plants. They have identified two groups of tree species; namely under and over temperature tree species. According to their findings under temperature species have higher survival potential on highly exposed subtropical mountain slopes with high temperature and irradiance. Based on physiological parameters, he worked out the superiority index for selection of tree species for plantation in mountains and their fuel wood value index.
Purohit's study on large cardamum and mandarin based agroforestry systems in Sikkim revealed: (1) acceleration of nutrient cycling under the influence of N2 fixing trees, (2) greater release of nutrients from non-N2-fixer letter and (3) solubilisation of secondarily fixed phosphorus by Alnus and Albizia. These findings have great significance in agroforestry model development.
After joining Garhwal University, Purohit initiated work on the physiology of high altitude plants. He established a High Altitude Plant Physiology Research Centre with its alpine field station at 13000-ft elevation at Tungnath. The work conducted at this centre has reveals that high altitude species are less sensitive than the low altitude species to the environmental stresses. He has reported "Pseudomonocotyle" and regulatory role of cotyledons in the growth of epicotyle in some of the alpine dicot species. The germination studies of alpine plants made by Purohit and his associates have helped in germinating many endangered species and establishing them in nature in the alpine field station at Tungnath. He and his associates have come up with the cultivation technology for Aconites, alpine and sub-alpine plants of very high medicinal value, where yield is increased 10 to 12 fold.
Purohit helped the government of India in establishing G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development. The Institute has its units all over Indian Himalaya. With the assistance of all the staff members of the institute, Purohit prepared a based document entitled "Action Plan for Himalaya" which forms the base document for the sustainable development of the Himalayan region. During his tenure, he initiated number of programmes in Himalayan region Badrivan Restoration with the help of pilgrims was one of the unique programme which has been cited internationally as a model for restoration of religious places all over the World.
For his valuable scientific contribution in Indian mountains, Purohit was awarded [[List of Padma Shri award recipients (1990–99)|Padma Shri]] by the President of India in 1997.
External links.
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Indian ecologists]]
[[Category:Plant physiologists]]
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Scientists from Dehradun]]
[[Category:Fellows of The National Academy of Sciences, India]]
[[Category:Fellows of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian botanists]]


Hyacinthoides hispanica

Hyacinthoides hispanica (syn. "Endymion hispanicus" or "Scilla hispanica"), the Spanish bluebell, is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial native to the Iberian Peninsula. It is one of around 11 species in the genus "Hyacinthoides", others including the common bluebell ("Hyacinthoides non-scripta") in northwestern Europe, and the Italian bluebell ("Hyacinthoides italica") further east in the Mediterranean region.
It is distinguished from the common bluebell by its paler and larger blue flowers, which are less pendulous and not all drooping to one side like the common bluebell; plus a more erect flower stem (raceme), broader leaves, blue anthers (where the common bluebell has creamy-white ones) and little or no scent compared to the strong fragrant scent of the northern species. Like "Hyacinthoides non-scripta", both pink- and white-flowered forms occur.
The Spanish bluebell was introduced in the United Kingdom. Since then, it has hybridised frequently with the native common bluebell and the resulting hybrids are regarded as invasive. The resulting hybrid "Hyacinthoides × massartiana" and the Spanish bluebell both produce highly fertile seed but it is generally the hybrid that invades areas of the native common bluebell. This has caused the common bluebell to be viewed as a threatened species.
The Spanish bluebell is also cultivated as a garden plant, and several named cultivars exist with flowers in various shades of white, pink and blue.


Caulanthus cooperi

Caulanthus cooperi is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Cooper's wild cabbage. It is native to the southwestern United States and Baja California, where it is a common plant in a number of open, sandy habitats. This annual herb produces a slender, somewhat twisted stem with widely lance-shaped to oblong leaves clasping it. The flower has a rounded or urn-shaped coat of pinkish or pale greenish sepals enclosing light yellow or pale purple petals. The fruit is a straight or curving silique several centimeters long.


Halimium

Halimium (rockrose, false sun-rose, or halimium) is a genus of 12 species of evergreen or semi-evergreen subshrubs in the family Cistaceae, closely related to "Cistus". They are native to Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor, with the centre of diversity in the western Mediterranean region.
The leaves are opposite, simple oval, 1–5 cm long and 0.5–2 cm broad, varying from glossy green to tomentose grey-green. The flowers are 1.5–4 cm diameter, with five petals, white or yellow; in some species the flowers are bicoloured with a dark red or brown basal spot on each petal to act as a nectar guide for pollinating insects.
Cultivation and uses.
Several "Halimium" species, and the numerous hybrids and cultivars derived from them, are widely grown as ornamental plants, popular in rockeries. A broader range of colours is available among the cultivars. 'Susan', with bright yellow flowers and a purple centre, has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Acer tenellum

Acer tenellum is an uncommon Asian species of maple. It is native to China (Hubei and Sichuan).
"Acer tenellum" is a small deciduous tree up to 7 meters tall with smooth gray bark. Leaves are non-compound, up to 6 cm wide and 6 cm across, thin, usually with 3 lobes but sometimes none.


Georg Friedrich Kaulfuss

Georg Friedrich Kaulfuss (8 April 1786 – 9 December 1830) was a professor at Halle. He described the pteridophytes collected by Adelbert von Chamisso, and he named the fern "Cibotium chamissoi" after him. The genus "Kaulfussia" is named for Kaulfuss.
In 1816 he obtained his doctorate from the University of Halle, where in 1823 he became a full professor of botany.
Plants Named by Kaulfuss.
More than 200 plant names were published by Kaulfuss. These include the genera:
Plant families named by Kaulfuss include:


Epacris glacialis

Epacris glacialis is a plant species of the genus "Epacris". It is endemic to Australia. The species forms a prostrate or decumbent shrub, between 5 and 30 cm high. The leaves are crowded on the branchlets and are 2 to 4 mm long and 1.5 to 2.5 mm wide. White flowers appear in small clusters between December and January in the species' native range.
It occurs near streams and bogs on rocky slopes ranging southward from Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales and into Victoria.
The species was originally described as a subspecies of "Epacris heteronema" by botanist Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name "Epacris heteronema" var. "glacialis" in his 1868 paper "Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae"


Asplenium trichomanoides

Asplenium trichomanoides is an invalid species name, which may refer to:


Calceolaria martinezii

Calceolaria martinezii is a species of plant in the Calceolariaceae family. It is endemic to the Ambato plateau in central Ecuador, where it is known from only two subpopulations: one on the slopes of the Tungurahua volcano, and another close to the town of Patate.


Walkomiella

Walkomiella is an extinct conifer-like gymnosperm genus which occurred in India and Africa in the Lower Permian, and in Australia in the Upper Permian.
It was named for Arthur Bache Walkom, an Australian palaeobotanist.


Marcgravia evenia

Marcgravia evenia is a species of flowering vine in the family Marcgraviaceae. Within this family it belongs to the Galetae group, which is characterized by a long inflorescence axis and boat shaped nectaries. The plant is endemic to Cuba.
Bat ecology.
"Marcgravia evenia" relies on "Monophyllus", a Cuban nectar-feeding bat, for pollination.
This plant has evolved bowl shaped leaves which act as reflectors for a bat's biosonar. This helps the bats to find the plants with greater ease and hence pollinate them with more frequency. The shape of the leaves also helps to guide the bats in locating the hidden feeders. The reflectors are convergent with those of a Bornean pitcher plant, "Nepenthes hemsleyana", that attracts bats to its pitchers as roosting sites and uses bat guano as a source of nutrition.


Calomnion

Calomnion is a genus of mosses in the family Rhizogoniaceae. They have been reported from Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, Melanesia, New Guinea, and eastern Indonesia.
Classification.
The genus was originally placed within its own family, the Calomniaceae, with the genus "Nadeaudia". "Nadeudia" contained one species, "Nadeaudia schistostegiella", which is now considered a synonym for "Calomnion schistostegiellum".
Species included in the genus are:


Elliptochloris

Elliptochloris is a genus of green algae in the order Prasiolales.


Passiflora citrina

Passiflora citrina is a species of passion flower ("Passiflora") native to Central America. It is also grown as an ornamental plant.


Conospermum floribundum

Conospermum floribundum is a shrub endemic to Western Australia.
The shrub has an erect and compact habit is non-lignotuberous and typically grows to a height of . It blooms between September and December producing white flowers.
It is found in the southern Wheatbelt, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy gravelly soils.


Asplenium aequibasis

Asplenium aequibasis is a species of fern in the family Aspleniaceae. It is found in Tristan da Cunha. Its natural habitat is subantarctic shrubland.


Roridulaceae


Brucea

Brucea is a genus of plant in the family Simaroubaceae. It is named for the Scottish scholar and explorer James Bruce.
It contains the following species (this list may be incomplete):


Hydnocarpus alpina

Hydnocarpus alpinus is a species of plant in the Achariaceae family. It is found in China, Laos, and Vietnam. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Varieties.
"Hydnocarpus alpinus" may include:


Olearia homolepis

Olearia homolepis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, endemic to Western Australia. It grows to between 0.2 and 1 metre high. White or blue flowers appear between July and November in the species' native range.
The species was formally described in 1865 by Victorian Government Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in "Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae" based on plant material collected in the vicinity of the Murchison River. Mueller gave it the name "Aster homolepis". The species was transferred to the genus "Olearia" by English botanist George Bentham in 1867.


Ranunculus aquatilis

Ranunculus aquatilis, the common water-crowfoot or white water-crowfoot, is a plant species of the genus "Ranunculus", native throughout most of Europe and western North America, and also northwest Africa.
This is an aquatic plant, growing in mats on the surface of water. It has branching thread-like underwater leaves and toothed floater leaves. In fast flowing water the floaters may not be grown. The flowers are white petaled with yellow centres and are held a centimetre or two above the water. The floater leaves are used as props for the flowers and are grown at the same time.
References.
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Pinnatella

Pinnatella is a genus of moss in family Neckeraceae.
Species.
The genus "Pinnatella"t contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete):


Nepenthes mikei

Nepenthes mikei is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sumatra. It is characterised by its black mottled lower and upper pitchers. The species is closely related to "N. angasanensis" and "N. tobaica".
The specific epithet "mikei" honours Mike Hopkins, who co-discovered the species with the describing authors.
Botanical history.
"Nepenthes mikei" was discovered on Mount Pangulubao in September 1989 by Bruce Salmon, Mike Hopkins, and Ricky Maulder, during a "Nepenthes" expedition to Sumatra. On this trip, the team also found two other undescribed "Nepenthes" taxa on the mountain: "N. ovata" and a plant they named "N. xiphioides". The latter is now considered a heterotypic synonym of "N. gymnamphora".
An early colour photograph of "N. mikei" was published by Mike Hopkins, Ricky Maulder, and Bruce Salmon, in a 1990 issue of the "Carnivorous Plant Newsletter", where the plant was identified simply as "Nepenthes" sp. 'New Species'. The authors described it as follows:
We saw another "Nepenthes" that is different than the others we saw in the higher highland areas. It has small pitchers slightly similar to "N. tentaculata", "N. tobaica" and "N. gracilis" but tougher and thicker. The pitchers are always nicely colored with blackish lines and markings similar to "N. fusca". There was very little variation with this species as all mature plants had ample rosettes on the ground and also at intervals up the stem. The stems were slimbing up to about 7 meters and had upper pitchers similar in color and shape to the lower pitchers but with the usual differences. The male inflorescences were about 20 centimeters, peduncle inclusive.
Prior to its description, "N. mikei" was known as "N. minutissima" among pitcher plant growers. This name is a "nomen nudum" (naked name), as it was never formally published.
"Nepenthes mikei" was formally described by Bruce Salmon and Ricky Maulder in a 1995 issue of the "Carnivorous Plant Newsletter". The herbarium specimen "B.Salmon & R.Maulder 221719" is the designated holotype, and is deposited at the Auckland Institute and Museum (AK) in Auckland, New Zealand. It was prepared on February 17, 1995, from a plant cultivated in New Zealand, and consists of a vine bearing a female inflorescence, a lower pitcher, and a rosette. The specimen was originally collected in 1989 from a "very steep ridge in wet mossy forest" near the summit of Mount Pangulubao, at an altitude of 2000 m. The authors described the plant as growing "in peaty humus or moss at the base of 5–6 m tall trees". Salmon and Maulder also pressed a second specimen of "N. mikei" from material collected at the same elevation on Pangulubao. Additional herbarium specimens of "N. mikei" are known and these show slight morphological variability.
In 1997, Matthew Jebb and Martin Cheek published their monograph "A skeletal revision of "Nepenthes" (Nepenthaceae)", in which they provided an emended description of "N. mikei" that encompassed specimens of the closely related, and at the time undescribed, "N. angasanensis" from Mount Leuser, Goh Lembuh, and the Kappi region. Salmon and Maulder did not support this interpretation and reinstated their original description of "N. mikei" when they described "N. angasanensis" in 1999. Jebb and Cheek retained "N. angasanensis" as a synonym of "N. mikei" in their 2001 monograph, "Nepenthaceae", writing: "We suspect that it ["N. angasanensis"] may prove not distinct from "N. mikei" and here treat it as a synonym."
Description.
"Nepenthes mikei" is a climbing plant growing to a height of 7 m. The stem, which may be branched, is up to 0.4 cm in diameter and has cylindrical to angular internodes measuring up to 9 cm in length. Plants from Mount Bandahara are known to produce offshoots from short underground rhizomes. "Nepenthes mikei" is noted for rapidly transitioning from a rosette to a climbing stage; sequential internodal lengths of 2–3 mm and 10 cm have been recorded.
Leaves are sessile and coriaceous in texture. The lamina (leaf blade) is linear and measures up to 10 cm in length by 2 cm in width. Its apex may be acute or obtuse and it is abruptly contracted at the base, clasping the stem for around half of its circumference. One to two longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib, while pinnate veins are irregularly reticulate. The upper surface of the lamina is typically green, but may be red if exposed to direct sunlight. Tendrils are up to 15 cm long.
Rosette and lower pitchers are ovate in the basal third to quarter of the pitcher cup, becoming approximately cylindrical above and infundibular towards the pitcher mouth. They are relatively small, growing to only 12 cm in height by 3 cm in width. A pair of wings (≤4 mm wide) typically runs down the ventral surface of the pitcher cup, with fringe elements measuring up to 8 mm in length. These wings may be reduced to ribs in some plants. The glandular region on the inner surface is restricted to the ovate portion of the pitcher cup. The glands are small (0.2–0.3 mm in diameter) and occur at a density of around 150–180 per square centimetre. The waxy zone is well developed and eye spots may occasionally be present on the rear inner surface, visible through the opening. The peristome is sub-cylindrical to cylindrical and up to 4 mm wide. It bears ribs up to 0.1 mm high and spaced 0.2 mm apart, which terminate in teeth up to 0.4 mm long. The inner portion of the peristome accounts for around 51% of its total cross-sectional surface length. The pitcher lid or operculum is ovate and has a cordate base. It measures up to 3 cm in length by 2.5 cm in width and does not bear any appendages. The underside of the lid has an even distribution of small (0.1–0.2 mm in diameter) convex glands, occurring at a density of about 40/cm2. The spur, which is inserted near the base of the lid, is up to 7 mm long and may be simple, forked, or fasciculate with up to 12 branches.
Upper pitchers are ovate in their basal third to fifth, becoming cylindrical above and infundibular towards the peristome. They are smaller than their lower counterparts, reaching only 8 cm in height by 2 cm in width. Wings are always reduced to ribs. In other respects, upper pitchers are similar to the lower traps.
"Nepenthes mikei" has a racemose inflorescence measuring up to 18 cm in length by 1.8 cm in diameter. The peduncle itself may be up to 8 cm long by 1 mm wide in female plants, and up to 3 cm long in males. The rachis is up to 8 cm long. The inflorescence bears one-flowered pedicels (≤6 mm long), which may be bracteoleate. The oblong-lanceolate tepals measure up to 4 mm in length. Fruits are up to 22 mm long.
Most parts of the plant are glabrous. An indumentum of short, white or yellowish hairs is usually present on the tendrils and some parts of the inflorescence. This indumentum is a mixture of simple and stellate hairs. Caducous hairs cover developing pitchers and other parts.
Ecology.
"Nepenthes mikei" is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where it has been recorded from only two mountains: Mount Pangulubao in North Sumatra and Mount Bandahara in Aceh. Its altitudinal distribution extends from 1100 to 2800 m above sea level.
The typical habitat of this species is summit scrub vegetation as well as lower and upper montane mossy forest. It always grows terrestrially, often in open sites such as ridge tops and cliff sides, where it is exposed to direct sunlight. The species is rare in blangs, where the lack of surrounding vegetation means the stems scramble along the ground. "Nepenthes mikei" may be difficult to find on Mount Pangulubao, where it is sympatric with "N. gymnamphora" ("N. xiphioides"), "N. ovata", and "N. spectabilis". On Mount Bandahara, where it is common above 2400 m, it grows alongside "N. diatas". Natural hybrids with all of these species have been recorded. At another location, which is undisclosed for conservation purposes, "N. mikei" grows alongside "N. flava".
The conservation status of "N. mikei" is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, based on an assessment carried out in 2000. This agrees with an informal assessment made by Charles Clarke in 2001, who also classified the species as Vulnerable based on the IUCN criteria. However, Clarke noted that since substantial populations of "N. mikei" lie within protected areas, they "are unlikely to become threatened in the foreseeable future". Taking this into account, he suggested a revised assessment of Conservation Dependent. The species is threatened by habitat loss and disturbance, as well as over-collection by plant collectors.
Related species.
"Nepenthes mikei" is most closely allied to the Sumatran endemics "N. angasanensis" and "N. tobaica", and may be conspecific with the former.
In their description of "N. mikei", Salmon and Maulder noted many differences between it and "N. angasanensis" which are now known to be unreliable. For example, the authors wrote that "N. angasanensis" produces offshoots from underground rhizomes, while "N. mikei" does not; populations of "N. mikei" from Mount Bandahara are now known to produce such offshoots. Similarly, "N. angasanensis" was said to lack a fasciculate spur, but this has since been recorded in lower pitchers of this species. Disregarding these supposed differences leaves only a few stable distinguishing features between the species. Firstly, the teeth lining the inner margin of the peristome are shorter in "N. mikei", although both have minute teeth and this difference is minor. Secondly, the pedicels of "N. mikei" bear simple bracteoles, while those of "N. angasanensis" do not. Finally, "N. angasanensis" exhibits a greater density of digestive glands on the inner pitcher surface.
"Nepenthes angasanensis" and "N. mikei" are more easily distinguished by their differing ecology. While "N. angasanensis" is generally found growing terrestrially or epiphytically in shady mossy forest, "N. mikei" is always terrestrial and favours more exposed sites where it receives strong sunlight. "Nepenthes angasanensis" also typically produces longer stems, with regular offshoots from the leaf axils, although these have been observed in "N. mikei" as well.
"Nepenthes tobaica" differs from "N. mikei" in a number of floral and vegetative features. Whereas the latter has a shorter inflorescence with flowers borne singly on pedicels, "N. tobaica" has two-flowered partial peduncles. In addition, "N. tobaica" lacks the fasciculate spur of "N. mikei" and generally has wider laminae.
Salmon and Maulder also compared "N. mikei" to "N. adnata" and "N. tentaculata". Stewart McPherson noted that the species may also superficially resemble "N. eustachya" in the shape of its pitchers.
In 2001, Charles Clarke performed a cladistic analysis of the "Nepenthes" species of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia using 70 morphological characteristics of each taxon. The following is a portion of the resultant cladogram, showing part of "Clade 6". The sister pair of "N. angasanensis" and "N. mikei" has 79% support.
Clarke concluded that the "relationships between [these species] are very complex and are somewhat difficult to interpret at present".
Natural hybrids.
Four natural hybrids involving "N. mikei" have been recorded.
"N. diatas" × "N. mikei".
"Nepenthes diatas" is restricted to Mount Bandahara and thus this hybrid only occurs on that mountain. This cross is common between 2300 and 2700 m, where the altitudinal ranges of the two species overlap. It was first reported in 1998.
This hybrid is similar to "N. mikei" and also produces mostly black lower pitchers. It differs in that the terrestrial traps have a wider basal portion. The plant is also larger in stature, having broader stems and leaves, and bears a wider peristome than "N. mikei".
"Nepenthes diatas" × "N. mikei" has only been found at the forest margins in the summit area of Mount Bandahara. It has not been recorded from the mountain's open blangs.
Other hybrids.
Three other natural hybrids — with "N. gymnamphora", "N. ovata", and "N. spectabilis" — have been observed. All three were first reported in 1995 by Salmon and Maulder from Mount Pangulubao. "Nepenthes gymnamphora" × "N. mikei" was given the informal name "N. × pangulubauensis" in 1996.


Aethionema saxatile

Aethionema saxatile, the burnt candytuft, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae.
It is found in the European Alps.


Dendrochilum

Dendrochilum (commonly abbreviated Ddc. in horticulture) is a genus of epiphytic, lithophytic and a few terrestrial flowering plants in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). The name of this genus is derived from Ancient Greek words ("tree"), and either ("lip") or ("green food"), alluding to either the flowers' large lip or to their epiphytic growth. These orchids are popular among fans of non-traditional orchid curiosities.
Distribution and description.
They are distributed at higher elevations in the humid rainforests throughout the Malesian region, with some in the surrounding lands; thus they occur from Southeast Asia to New Guinea. But most species are found on Borneo or the Philippines.
This genus produces miniature, fragrant, star-shaped flowers that are generally produced in two rows on erect or arching pendant, many-flowered racemes. These inflorescences can grow to a length of 50 cm (e.g. in the Hay-scented Orchid, "D. glumaceum"). The stems are ovoid to cylindrical, striped, sharply reduced pseudobulbs, about 4–10 cm long, with green to brown bracts at their base. Each carries one or two tough, erect and lanceolate leaves, usually about 20 cm long, with narrow petioles. The elliptical leaves of the Long-leaved Dendrochilum ("D. longifolium") may grow to a length of 40 cm.
Taxonomy.
The precise number of species is disputed; many websites accept as few as 100 or so, while others recognize far more. The World Checklist of Monocotyledons for example lists 390 records, including names that have become synonyms. Numerous new taxa have become known in recent decades; in the "Dendrochilum" species list on Wikipedia, a more split-up approach is followed pending more up-to-date information. For it seems that the very low species numbers are certainly gross overlumping, and while the very high numbers sometimes presented are probably a result of oversplitting, they are likely to be closer to the truth.
Many of these orchids (67 species in the list used here) were named by Johannes Jacobus Smith, an eminent Dutch botanist. The genus' type species, described by Carl Ludwig Blume in 1825, is "Dendrochilum aurantiacum" of Java and Sumatra. Several species were formerly separated in "Acoridium" (established by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck and Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen in 1843) or "Platyclinis" (established by George Bentham in 1881), but these two taxa are nowadays regarded as synonyms of "Dendrochilum".


Carallia borneensis

Carallia borneensis is a tree of tropical Asia in the family Rhizophoraceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin, referring to the species being native to Borneo.
Description.
"Carallia borneensis" grows as a tree up to tall. Its fissured bark is pale to brownish. The oblong to ellipsoid fruits measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Carallia borneensis" grows naturally in Borneo, the Philippines and New Guinea. Its habitat is lowland forest from sea-level to altitude.


Mansoa verrucifera

Mansoa verrucifera is a species of liana in the family Bignoniaceae. It is native to Mexico, Guyana, and Venezuela. "M. verrucifera" bears long, narrow fruit, and has trifoliolate leaves that grow oppositely.


Cuphea lanceolata

Cuphea lanceolata, also known as the cigar flower, is an annual herbaceous flowering plant in the genus "Cuphea" of the family Lythraceae.
Description.
"Cuphea lanceolata" reaches on average a height of . It has a branched stem with opposite, narrow, up to 7 cm long leaves. The flowers are tubular, dark-lilac or cherry-red, with six petals. The two upper petals are large and ear-shaped, while the others are quite small. The flowering period extends from June through August. The fruit is a capsule.
Distribution.
This species is native to north and central Mexico.
Habitat.
This tropical plant prefers hot, humid weather and rich, well drained soils in full sun.


Tritomaria exsectiformis

Tritomaria exsectiformis is a species of liverwort belonging to the family Lophoziaceae.
It is native to Northern Hemisphere.


Paphiopedilinae


Larix


Lathraea clandestina

Lathraea clandestina, the purple toothwort also known as clandestine in France, is a parasitic plant species in the flowering plant family Orobanchaceae. It is native to western Europe.
Description.
"Lathraea clandestina" is a holoparasite that has neither leaves nor chlorophyll and draws its food from the roots of its hosts via suckers known as haustoria. The subterranean part, which can weigh several kilograms, consists of white stems covered with fleshy scales. The flowers are 40 to 50 mm, with long pedicels; they appear near to the ground in April - May. The normal colour of the flowers is purple or purplish-violet, but rarely colonies with paler, pink or even wholly white flowers may be encountered.
Mature fruits can project their 4 to 5 large seeds some distance into the surrounding area. The plant then disappears from the surface until the following spring. Seedlings grown from seed will take about ten years to produce their first flowers.
The total absence of green indicates the parasitic nature of the species which, free of chlorophyll, attaches to the roots of the host to harvest the nutrients necessary for its growth. Given that it flowers and produces fruits during the rise of the sap in the spring, the hosts appear to suffer very little from this parasitism.
Distribution.
Purple toothwort grows mainly in the West and South of Europe, especially Western and Central France, from Western Belgium, where it is locally abundant in the Flemish Ardennes, as far as Northern Spain, with localised populations in Central Italy.
In France, it is found almost exclusively southwest of the Loire river to the Pyrenees, with an extension north of the Loire to the south-east of Brittany and the departments of Mayenne, Orne and Sarthe. It is protected in some departments, but is relatively common in the wetlands of the department of Charente and Charente-Maritime where it is not protected. In Spain, it occurs mainly in the Cantabrian Cordillera: extending to Galicia, where it is rare.
Populations found far from the Franco-Iberian continuous area suggests that they may originally be the result of deliberate or accidental introductions of parasitised trees. The plant can be found elsewhere in France (Alsace), the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and the British Isles, where the plant is locally naturalized in parks and old gardens. At Arduaine Garden in Argyll, in the absence of well-known hosts, it grows on the roots of a variety of ornamental trees and shrubs; in the same garden cats are frequently seen to roll in the flowers and to eat them.
Habitat.
"Lathraea clandestina" grows preferentially in damp woodlands of valley bottoms, usually near streams where it parasitizes the roots of various plants: especially the deciduous trees "Populus" and "Salix" (poplars and willows). Purple toothwort also has been recorded as parasitising a wide range of other plants, including: "Acer", "Alnus", "Buxus", "Carpinus", "Corylus", "Juglans", "Metasequoia", "Quercus", "Rhododendron", "Taxus" and even "Gunnera".


Tectaria subrepanda

Tectaria subrepanda is a species of fern in the family Tectariaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Echinolaena ecuadoriana

Echinolaena ecuadoriana is a species of grass in the family Poaceae.
It is found only in Ecuador.


Nothofagus obliqua

Nothofagus obliqua, commonly known as Patagonian oak, "roble", "pellín", "roble pellín", and "hualle" in its early state of growth or roble beech, is a deciduous tree from Chile and Argentina. It grows from 33 to 43° south latitude. The northern extent of this tree's range in Chile is considered to be the Vizcachas Mountains and La Campana National Park. "N. obliqua" was proposed to be renamed "Lophozonia obliqua" in 2013.
Description.
"Nothofagus obliqua" reaches a height of 50 meters (175 ft). and 2 m (6.5 ft) diameter.
The trunk has greyish-brown to dark brown bark and is often forked. The leaves are alternate and somewhat curled between the veins and the serrated margin. The trees bear separate male and female flowers, both of which are small, surrounded by green bracts, and rather inconspicuous.
In Chile, young specimens ( which have soft, yellowish wood ) are known as "roble hualle", while old trees, which have developed the reddish heartwood characteristic of mature specimens are known as "roble pellín". The tree has a good shape and its timber is valued for its durability, being used for furniture-making and in construction.
Cultivation.
The tree was introduced to the British Isles in 1849. Material with provenance from different places in its natural environment was tested in cultivation in Scotland. Trees cultivated from material collected from Ñuble, which is the provenance closest to the Equator, were the most damaged by frosts. Unfortunately seeds of that provenance were supplied to many commercial growers in the 1970s in the United Kingdom. Seeds sourced from Neuquen in Argentina proved the hardiest. A selection from Malleco, Chile, which is the provenance of the first trees planted in the British Isles also gave good hardiness results. It has also been planted on the North Pacific Coast of the United States.
Experimental plantations established in Wales suffered severe damage during the 1981–1982 cold wave that swept through Britain.
Subspecies.
There are two recognised subspecies of "N. obliqua". These are:
"Nothofagus macrocarpa" was once also considered a subspecies, as "Fagus obliqua" var. "macrocarpa".