Caltex

Caltex is a petroleum brand name of Chevron Corporation used in 29 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Southern Africa.
History.
Caltex timeline:
Operations.
Australia.
1941 to 2020.
Texaco products were first sold in Australia in 1900. Texas Company Australasia Limited was incorporated in New South Wales in 1918. The Caltex brand name began to be used for the first time in Australia in 1941.
Caltex operated in Australia for another 54 years as Caltex Oil (Australia) Pty Ltd, during which it opened its Kurnell refinery in 1956. It also took over Golden Fleece in 1981. Caltex Oil (Australia) Pty Ltd merged with its rival Ampol in May 1995 to form Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd. Caltex acquired full ownership of Australian Petroleum in 1997 and the merged company was renamed Caltex Australia Limited in 1997.
Until 2015, Caltex Australia was owned 50% by Chevron, and 50% by Australian shareholders. In 2015, Chevron sold its 50 per cent stake in Caltex Australia (the deal valuing the company at AU$9.24 billion), but allowing Caltex Australia to continue using the Caltex brand. In December 2019, Caltex announced that Chevron had given notice to terminate the licence agreement for the use of the Caltex brand in Australia. Caltex Australia was renamed Ampol Limited during the annual general meeting in May 2020. Under the licence agreement, Caltex Australia will have until December 2022 to complete the rebrand.
Since 2020.
In November 2019, Chevron announced it would re-enter the Australian market, having purchased Puma Energy's Australian operations. The acquisition was completed in July 2020. Chevron intends to revive the Caltex brand in Australia by rebranding its Puma sites, however, can only do so after the expiry of the licence to Ampol in 2022. In the meantime, Chevron has a licence agreement to continue to use the Puma brand in Australia.
New Zealand.
Caltex has been operating in New Zealand since 1936. In 2009, the non-service station Star Mart stores were sold off and rebranded as "Fix" stores, which in turn were rebranded as "Night 'n' Day" from 2017.
On 1 June 2016, Chevron New Zealand, which operated the Caltex brand in New Zealand, was acquired by Z Energy Ltd. Z Energy, a New Zealand owned company, operates the Caltex network in New Zealand using the brand under licence from Chevron International. The Caltex-branded retail network is independently owned and operated, with the operators setting their own retail fuel prices. There are more than 140 Caltex branded service stations and 70 truck stops around New Zealand.
Malaysia.
There are around 420 Caltex stations across Peninsular Malaysia and three 3 terminals in Pulau Indah, Prai and a joint-venture in Pasir Gudang.
Pakistan.
In 2015, Total Parco announced that it would acquire and rename Caltex petrol pumps in Pakistan by an investment between and .
Philippines.
Caltex was established in the Philippines in 1917 when Texas Company began marketing its products in the Philippines through a local distributor, Wise and Co. In 1921, Texaco (Philippines) was formally established and opened its office in Binondo, Manila. Eleven years later, its Pandacan oil depot was converted into a key distribution terminal to bring products by barge to nearby provinces.
They only sell two kinds of gasoline namely Caltex Platinum (Replacement of Gold) (95 octane) and Caltex Silver (91 octane) and one kind of diesel named Caltex Diesel. All these products contain Techron.
India.
Caltex had a subsidiary in India in the early 1940s through the early 1980s, however as state owned corporation Indian Oil came in to market, strategically Caltex decided to reduce its operation in India. In State of Gujarat there were 2 major dealers of Caltex, T.C. Brothers Company (Saurashtra region) & MS. N. K. Sheth Co. CEO of T.C. Brothers Co, was Mr. Tribhovandas D Parekh (also known as Mr. Pampu-sheth ) & Chairman was Mr. Cuhnilal D Parekh. T. C. Brothers company dealt in Petrolium products, service station for automobiles, paint, tiles, pipes, cements and transportation of oil, kerosene, gasoline/petrol in state of Gujarat. In 2010, Caltex started trading under the name GS Caltex.
Singapore.
Caltex arrived in Singapore around the 1950s. There are 25 stations across the island.
South Africa.
A quarter of Caltex's service stations are located in South Africa making it one of the country's top five petroleum brands. As a subsidiary of Chevron it also owns a refinery in Milnerton, north of Cape Town which has a production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day and produces a range of petrochemical products which include petrol, diesel, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas, fuel oil and paving asphalt. The company also has a lubricants manufacturing plant and laboratory in Durban.
Caltex had been criticized frequently.
Taiwan.
Some Asian operations are run by Caltex (Asia) Limited, based in Taipei.


Bulbophyllum goliathense

Bulbophyllum goliathense is a species of orchid in the genus "Bulbophyllum".


Galium suecicum

Galium suecicum or Swedish bedstraw is a plant species of the Rubiaceae. It is native to central and southern Sweden, and has also been collected in Germany.


Damnamenia

Damnamenia is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family.
The only known species is Damnamenia vernicosa, called the black-eyed Daisy. It is endemic to New Zealand (Auckland and Campbell Islands).
Description.
"Damnamenia vernicosa" is a small, perennial, stoloniferous herb. It has glossy green leaves and white daisy flowers with dark purple centres. The plant flowers from November to January and fruits from December to March.
Distribution and habitat.
The plant is endemic to New Zealand’s subantarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands. Its preferred habitats are upland cushion bogs and "Pleurophyllum"-dominated herbfields. It also grows at lower elevations in exposed and sparsely vegetated sites.
Taxonomy & naming.
It was first described in 1844 as "Celmisia vernicosa" by Joseph Hooker. In 2012, David Given separated "C. vernicosa" from "Celmisia" and from related genera on the basis of its morphology, and allocated it to the new genus, "Damnamenia". Given named the genus "Damnamenia" for the Dactyl, Damnamenius, since "Celmisia" was named for Celmis, another Dactyl. The specific epithet, "vernicosa", is the Latin adjective, "vernicosus,-a, -um", meaning "varnished", and refers to the apparently varnished leaves.
Conservation Status.
The species is listed as "At Risk - Naturally Uncommon" on the most recent (2018) New Zealand Threatened Classification for plants, because of its restricted range).


Crater National Forest

Crater National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon on July 1, 1908 with from portions of Cascade, Klamath and, Siskiyou National Forests as well as all of Ashland National Forest. On July 18, 1915 part of Paulina National Forest was added, and on July 9, 1932 the forest's name was changed to Rogue River National Forest.


Planchonella pinifolia

Planchonella pinifolia is a species of plant in the family Sapotaceae. It is endemic to New Caledonia.


Federation Drought

In Australia, the Federation Drought is the name given to a prolonged period of drought that occurred around the time of Federation in 1901.
Though often thought of as a long drought, until the record dry year of 1902 the period was actually one of a number of very dry spells interspersed with wetter weather. Dry conditions gradually became established during the late 1890s and several dry areas joined together to create the end result of a drought covering more than half the continent.
Beginnings.
Except for a widespread El Nino drought in 1888, the late 1880s and early 1890s were a period of extremely heavy rainfall over New South Wales, Queensland and to a lesser extent Victoria and the "settled" areas of Tasmania and South Australia. Lake Eyre is believed to have filled with water from Cooper Creek in 1886/1887, 1889/1890 and 1894.
The wet spell of the early 1890s ended earliest in the area between Melbourne and Sydney, where rainfall in 1894 was below normal even as much of inland Queensland and New South Wales had one of their wettest years on record. A very hot November with temperatures reaching made the situation critical in some areas. Though Sydney had heavy rainfall in January and February 1895, from March that year drought began spreading widely across New South Wales and Victoria. The winter that year was the driest on record in Sydney, and despite a relieving fall during September, Sydney's rainfall for the period March to December was the third-lowest on record. The winter was dominated by very strong westerly winds to quite low latitudes and was very wet in southwestern Australia and wet in the Adelaide region and Western District of Victoria, but only about average in the drier areas further inland. Over all of Victoria and South Australia, however, extremely dry weather in October and November was sufficient to cause the failure of many wheat crops, whilst in East Gippsland these months saw unprecedented rainless spells.
1896.
These years began with a hot spell and numerous bushfires especially in Gippsland, which had suffered two years of deficient rainfall. Despite a very powerful monsoon in the north, heavy rains therefrom during February only broke the drought temporarily, as El Niño developed later that year. Despite El Niño, drought-stricken Gippsland has one of its wettest winters on record as a series of storms produced torrential rains between Melbourne and Sydney—and around Hobart—in June and again in August. Early in September, huge floods occurred on East Gippsland streams as Orbost received in three days, but inland Victoria and New South Wales had been dry ever since May and the rest of September and October were almost completely dry, leading to another wheat crop failure.
November was very wet in northern New South Wales, but still dry further south, whilst in the settled areas of South Australia dry conditions had been much worse, with no above-average rainfall since April.
1897.
This year began with cool, moist summer weather in most of Victoria and New South Wales, but conditions in Queensland, which had continued to have heavy rain during the "wet" season in 1895 and 1896 became drier. In inland districts the first transition to drought began as February and March were distinctly dry.
April was particularly dry despite the breakdown of El Niño, as was May except in Gippsland, but June and July were very wet over inland New South Wales and northern Victoria (it was the wettest winter on record at some stations such as Nyngan and Echuca). August saw good rains shift to South Australia and coastal Victoria, but despite continued good rains in September and October over inland New South Wales water supplies did not really recover owing to a very dry November and a hot December in inland regions, which saw temperatures again reach in many parts of Victoria and not much less in Tasmania, where rainfall had again been deficient throughout the winter. Heavy rains on the North Coast of New South Wales were of little use to an agricultural sector that was seeing many inland properties demonstrably overstocked based on expectations of higher rainfall than was falling.
1898.
The heatwave conditions during December 1897 continued early this year as Melbourne set a still-standing record mean maximum for February of . The northeast of New South Wales was deluged by moist easterly winds and a low-pressure system that moved over inland Victoria with valuable rain later gave the South Coast some of the heaviest rainfall ever known in Australia: Bega had in five days, or more rainfall than it has received in two-fifths of all complete years.
However, despite continued heavy rain and flooding in Queensland and the North Coast of New South Wales in March, extremely dry conditions were established over all the rest of southeastern Australia and good rains in South Australia during April and May had little effect inland despite producing heavy rain in Gippsland - which had been rainless since the beginning of the year apart from its February deluge.
Although a weak La Niña began developing and June was very wet over most of South Australia and inland Victoria, it was still dry in Tasmania and southern Victoria, and July was dry generally except in Tasmania and the southeast of South Australia. August, though wet in southwestern Australia and the west of New South Wales, was extremely dry in the worst-hit areas of southern Victoria, whilst useful September rains did little to ameliorate the situation there. November was very dry except in Tasmania and South Gippsland, and December even worse except in areas of the Mallee affected by thunderstorms.
Despite 1898 being wet over most of Queensland, it was very dry in the northwestern slopes of New South Wales and much of southern Victoria. in Melbourne, 1898 was the driest year until 1967, and in Orbost it is still the third-driest year on record.
1899.
This year saw southern Victoria and Tasmania have heavy rains in January, as did Queensland, whilst February and March - though dry in New South Wales - again saw good rains there as cold fronts linked with tropical moisture. March and April saw heavy rains in southern Victoria continue, but these months were still dry in inland New South Wales and Queensland.
With El Niño returning, however, May was very dry in most inland districts, but June was—welcomingly as it turned out—extremely wet in Victoria and northeastern South Australia. July, however, saw some of the coldest conditions on record in the grain country: in Melbourne, the mean minimum temperature of is the lowest on record and in many places sub-zero minima were general on most days during July and August. Adelaide had its driest July on record with a total of only .
The anticyclonic conditions, however, created a strong onshore flow that gave the cost of New South Wales almost continuous heavy rain: in Sydney the winter of 1899 was the second-wettest on record. Major flooding occurred on most coastal rivers.
Dry conditions continued throughout the rest of the year except on the coast of New South Wales, and only the heavy June falls prevented grain crops being a total failure. By the end of 1899, El Niño was already producing a very poor northern monsoon, and apart from the southeast December was unusually dry throughout Queensland, and also the Top End and Kimberley.
1900.
The early part of this year saw one of the most complete monsoon failures in the north of Australia, especially in normally wet Cape York Peninsula where the year proved the driest on record at many stations. In February, a major heatwave and dust storms hit southeastern Australia.
Although the monsoon did not return in the north, March saw the beginning of a very wet period in Victoria, South Australia, and most of Western Australia as northwest cloudbands generated repeated heavy rain. With the associated troughs developing into low pressure systems in the Tasman Sea, Melbourne and most of South Gippsland had their wettest autumn on record. On 17 May, the Yarra River was flooded and a few days later the torrential rain extended to Sydney and the south coast of New South Wales, which saw further heavy rain in June and July - in the latter case after most unseasonable rain had hit tropical northwestern Australia. In the process snow fell to low levels in New South Wales.
Tasmania and Queensland remained very dry as a result of missing the heavy autumn falls, and after some heavy rain in August over the settled areas of South Australia and southwestern Western Australia, dry conditions returned to the continent in a fashion more decisive than at any earlier stage of the drought. Almost the whole continent apart from the southeast of Western Australia was below average for the September to December period, with October being the third-driest on record in Brisbane. A promising season for the wheat and pastoral industries thus became mediocre at best.
1901.
The monsoon in Queensland was again very poor apart from the Wet Tropics and Cape York, and in February an extremely active and vigorous monsoon low over inland South Australia brought further east not rain but a disastrous heatwave with Melbourne reporting its hottest February temperature () until 1983.
March was wet over northwestern Queensland, the Moreton region, South Gippsland and Tasmania, but the rains did not extend into the dry reaches of the continent. Then, despite a torrential downpour ( in three days at Melbourne) producing another big Yarra flood in April, May to July was generally dry apart from June in southern coastal areas and the settled parts of South Australia, besides which June was also very cold. During July, a huge cold outbreak produced record low maximum temperatures at many places. Snow astonishingly fell as far north as Winton and at Daylesford the temperature on 26 July never rose above .
A record wet August over New South Wales and adjacent areas of Queensland and Victoria proved no more than a temporary respite. Very dry conditions set in in September over New South Wales, again affecting crop yields severely, and despite the first half of spring being distinctly wet over Victoria and Tasmania and these rains extending as far north as the Eyre Peninsula and Condobolin, November and December were exceedingly dry - sixth-driest and second-driest averaged over Australia since 1900.
1902.
Although dry conditions had been a feature over significant parts of the continent since 1894, it was only this year that large-scale drought began to become genuinely disastrous.
January and February were wet over Tasmania, but distinctly dry further north, and despite a heavy storm over southern Victoria and the settled areas of South Australia, March continued the trend of complete summer rainfall failure in New South Wales and Queensland. Most areas of those two states had their lowest rainfall for the November to March period on record, and April was even worse—being "averaged over Australia, the driest month of the twentieth century", with a rainfall of only . Sheep and cattle over the inland pastoral districts were already starving, and so extensive was the drought that agistment was not available in any place to which transport could be arranged. The result was that sheep died in numbers that have never been equalled before or since: some sources estimate that "half" the sheep population was lost in the drought.
Although in southwestern Australia—often looked upon as a "saviour" when the rains fail further east—the rainy season began on time in May, the dry weather continued without a break in the eastern states. Then, despite June being quite wet in southern Victoria, Tasmania and even parts of South Australia, the month's rain was associated with cold outbreaks that produced extremely severe frosts and several cases of low-level snowfalls. Oatlands recorded a temperature as low as during one of these outbreaks, and snow fell in Hobart. Worse still, northern New South Wales and southern Queensland remained as dry as ever, and southwestern Australia was very dry.
Despite torrential rains in July around Eden and heavy rains in the far southwest of Western Australia, rainless or near-rainless conditions continued elsewhere with extremely severe frosts. August was the driest-ever winter month in Perth with only , and Melbourne, equally dry, set a record for lowest mean August minimum temperature at broken only in 1943 and 1944.
Though September was wet over southern Western Australia and a single heavy storm produced above-average rainfall in eastern Tasmania and southern Victoria, and October saw very heavy coastal rains in New South Wales (Sydney's on the 13th is still its wettest-ever October day), unrelenting dryness inland combined with hot northerly winds saw one of the worst dust storms ever hit Melbourne on 12 November. Any hope for the wheat crop had gone as early as the end of August, and yields were close to the worst ever.
Although November 1902 later proved a very wet month in a band of country between about Southern Cross and Jundah, it was still very dry in more coastal areas.
Aftermath.
December 1902 proved the first month since 1898 when most of the continent had heavy rain. Indeed, in southwestern Victoria many stations had their highest daily rainfall on record, resulting in flash flooding. Only the Kimberley, the North Coast of New South Wales and Western Tasmania remained below average.
The remainder of the 1902/1903 summer was disappointing and the monsoon generally weak (though parts of Queensland had heavy falls from cyclones) but from March onwards 1903 proved a generally wet year apart from coastal areas of New South Wales and East Gippsland. Cereal crops, which had constantly failed due to frost and lack of spring rainfall, were exceptionally good due to a wet September throughout southern Australia apart from Tasmania and the Western District. It was in these critical spring months where the rainfall deficiencies of the Federation Drought were concentrated, and the return of the spring rains was followed by a strong monsoon over tropical Australia: at Cooktown and Kojonup 1903 is the wettest calendar year on record.
Overall for eastern states 1903 came out as the wettest year since 1894, even if its rainfalls were distinctly short of the high marks of the early 1890s except over western Victoria and parts of South Australia.
In East Gippsland and coastal regions of New South Wales the entire decade between 1901 and 1910 was consistently dry: Sydney did not exceed its long-term mean rainfall once, and Brisbane did so only twice between 1899 and 1915.
Other parts of eastern Australia, even with a significant improvement over falls between 1895 and 1902, rarely saw rainfall during the 1900s and 1910s nearly so heavy as during the early 1890s. Climatologists today frequently view the Federation Drought as a major climate shift across eastern Australia from the wet period of the nineteenth century to a dry spell lasting until the mid-1940s. such an indication is found in many hydrological records, such as that of Lake George near Canberra and many coastal rivers in South Wales.


Aspergillus versicolor

Aspergillus versicolor is a slow-growing filamentous fungus commonly found in damp indoor environments and on food products. It has a characteristic musty odor associated with moldy homes and is a major producer of the hepatotoxic and carcinogenic mycotoxin sterigmatocystin. Like other "Aspergillus" species, "A. versicolor" is an eye, nose, and throat irritant.
Taxonomy.
The fungus was first described by Jean-Paul Vuillemin in 1903 under the name "Sterigmatocystis versicolor", and was later moved to the genus "Aspergillus" by Carlo Tiraboschi in 1908. Presently, the genus "Sterigmatocystis" is obsolete.
Ecology.
"Aspergillus versicolor" is a highly ubiquitous species commonly isolated from soil, plant debris, marine environments, and indoor air environments. It is among the most common of indoor molds, often reported in dust and in water-damaged building materials, such as wallboards, insulation, textiles, ceiling tiles, and manufactured wood.
"Aspergillus versicolor" is a highly resilient fungus, explaining its wide global distribution in a variety of environmental conditions. Although it grows optimally between 22 and 26 °C, "A. versicolor" can grow at a larger temperature range from 4–40 °C. The fungus can also tolerate a wide pH range, and is particularly resistant to alkaline conditions. The soil depth at which the fungus can be found is variable (down to 50 cm), but it appears to be particularly abundant in deeper soils.
Like other members of its genus, "A. versicolor" displays moderate xerophillic characteristics, meaning that it can grow in conditions with low water activity (down to aW of 0.75–0.81 in the optimal temperature range). "A. versicolor" is also considered to be osmophilic as it is able to survive in solutions that are up to 30% NaCl or 40% sucrose. This makes the fungus an economically important spoilage organism for stored grains, rice, tea, and spices. Additionally, "A. versicolor" has been isolated from areas with high saline levels including the Dead Sea. Other extreme habitats from which the fungus has been reported include peat bogs, deglaciated Arctic soil, and uranium mines.
Morphology.
Colonies vary greatly in colour, growth rate, and surface characteristics depending upon growth conditions. By contrast, microscopic morphology tends to be consistent independent of growth parameters. Colonies are typically white at the start of development, and change to yellow, orange, and green, often with pink or flesh hues intermixed, as they mature. Reverse pigmentation is often variable as well, especially for incubation periods greater than two weeks in duration.
"Aspergillus versicolor" has long, septate hyphae that appear glassy and transparent. Conidiphores, which are specialized hyphal stalks for asexual reproduction, typically measure 120–700 μm in length. Conidiophores terminate in small vesicles (10–15 μm in diameter) that are biseriate (i.e., with two successive layers of cells interposing the vesicle and conidia). The first layer of cells are called metulae upon which phialides are borne. The vesicles are variable in shape but are often described as "spoon-shaped". Conidia are spherical, approximately 2.5–3.5 μm in diameter, and may have smooth or slightly roughened surfaces.
Secondary metabolism.
"Aspergillus versicolor" is able to grow on a variety of surfaces, including those that are nutrient-deficient, because it is autotrophic for most growth substances and the macronutrient riboflavin. Additionally, "A. versicolor" has high activity levels of xylanase, an enzyme that breaks down hemicellulose in plant cell walls. Xylanase is a secondary metabolite controlled through gene-specific induction and carbon catabolite repression.
Many metabolites produced by "A. versicolor" exhibit antibacterial, fungicidal, insecticidal, and cytotoxic properties. For example, a sesquiterpenoid nitrobenzoyl ester isolated from hyphae have been shown to be potent inhibitor of human breast and colon cancer cell lines. Other extracted compounds that are cytotoxic towards cancer cells include xanthones, fellutamides, and anthraquinones. Anthraquinone appears yellowish in appearance, and like other pigment molecules, it is regularly produced by "A. versicolor". Additional studies on the fungus have demonstrated various metabolites with activity against bacteria such as "M. tuberculosis" and yeasts like "C. albicans". Aspergillomarasmine A has been reported to inhibit two antibiotic resistance carbapenemase proteins in bacteria.
Mycotoxins, such as nidulotoxins and aflatoxin B1, are typically produced in relatively low concentrations by "A. versicolor". The only exception is sterigmatocystin, which can account for up to 1% of the total biomass of "A. versicolor" under optimal conditions (e.g. aW of 1). Not many spores are produced by "A. versicolor", so it is suspected that human exposured to sterigmatocystins occur through micro-fragments derived from the colonies.
Disease.
Like other members of its species, "A. versicolor" is an opportunistic pathogen and is considered to be an important causative agent of aspergillosis. There have been reported cases of the fungus causing onychomycosis, which is often treated with topical azoles. However, "A. versicolor" is insensitive to these treatments and the infection can persist even after months or years of treatment. Studies have shown that like other "Aspergillus" species, "A. versicolor" is highly sensitive to terbinafine, which has "in vitro" fungicidal activity.
There are more than 20 allergens that have been identified from "A. versicolor", with the most abundant being glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Other proteins include sorbitol reductase, catalase, enolase, malate dehydrogenase, and Asp v 13. It is common in developed countries to measure IgG responses in humans.
Additionally, mycotoxins can act as immunosuppressants, which may explain some increased prevalence of frequent infections among inhabitants of damp buildings.
Industrial uses.
Fungi provide an effective, economic, and environmentally-friendly method of removing harmful wastes that accumulate as byproducts of industrial activities. For example, "A. versicolor" is very effective at removing lead ions, adsorbing 45 mg of lead per gram of dry fungal biomass. The process proceeds quickly with 80% of ions adsorbed within an hour. "Aspergillus versicolor" is also useful in the industrial production and purification of xylanase, which is often used to degrade xylan in waste products from hardwood manufacturing and agricultural activities.


Amphipneustes marsupialis

Amphipneustes marsupialis is a species of sea urchin of the family Temnopleuridae. Their armour is covered with spines. It is placed in the genus Amphipneustes and lives in the sea. Amphipneustes marsupialis was first scientifically described in 1926 by Koehler.


Ranunculus silerifolius

Ranunculus silerifolius is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It is native to eastern Asia, where it is found in Bhutan, China, northeast India, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea. Its natural habitat is in moist places, by steams, in forests, or on grassy slopes. It is considered a common species in Japan, and can be found in disturbed areas.
It is a perennial, growing 30 to 80 cm tall. It produces yellow flowers from April to July.


Banisteriopsis elegans

Banisteriopsis elegans is a species of flowering plants in the family Malpighiaceae. It is found in Colombia and Mexico.


Schistotylus

Schistotylus purpuratus, commonly known as purple sprites, is the only species in the genus Schistotylus from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is a small epiphytic orchid with up to six crowded, linear leaves and up to ten cup-shaped, pale green flowers with purple marking and a mostly white labellum. It grows in rainforest and swampy heath in eastern Australia.
Description.
"Schistotylus purpuratus" is a small epiphytic herb, usually with only a single growth. The stems are long with between two and six crowded, linear to narrow elliptic leaves long and wide. Between four and ten fragrant, cup-shaped, pale green flowers with purple blotches, long and wide are borne on a thin, arching flowering stem long. The sepals are about long and wide, the petals are slightly shorter and narrower. The labellum is white with yellow markings, about long and wide with three lobes. The side lobes have a beak-like front and the middle lobe is short and thickened with a spur long. Flowering occurs from August to October.
Taxonomy and naming.
Purple sprites was first formally described in 1938 by Herman Rupp who originally gave it the name "Cleisostoma gemmatum" and published the description in "The Victorian Naturalist". That name was, however a nomen illegitimum because it had been used for a different species, and Rupp changed in the name to "Cleisostoma purpuratum" in a later edition of the same journal. In 1941, Rupp changed the name again to "Schistotylus purpuratus". The specific epithet ("purpuratus") is derived from the Latin word "purpura" meaning "a purple dye", referring to "the striking reddish purple suffusion of the column.
Distribution and habitat.
"Schistotylus purpuratus" grows on shrubs and the twigs of trees in forest, heath and scrub. It is found between Nerang in Queensland and the Carrai National Park in New South Wales.


Carson National Forest

Carson National Forest is a national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers (1.5 million acres) and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service's "mixed use" policy allows for its use for recreation, grazing, and resource extraction.
Geography.
Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in New Mexico at , is located in the National Forest.
The forest is located mainly in Rio Arriba (63.4% of acreage) and Taos (34.65%) counties, but smaller areas extend eastward into western Mora and Colfax counties.
Wildlife.
Big game animals roam this forest. They include mule deer, elk, pronghorn, black bears, coyotes, bobcats, foxes, cougars, and bighorn sheep. There are also many species of smaller mammals and songbirds. Forest personnel work closely with the State Game and Fish Department to provide the best wildlife habitat possible. Carson has four hundred miles of sparkling clean mountain streams and numerous lakes. Many of them are stocked with native trout by the Game and Fish Department.
History.
The forest was once inhabited by the Ancestral Pueblo people, who left ruins of adobe dwellings and other artifacts at an archaeological site now called Pot Creek Cultural Site. Some areas of the forest were formerly lands granted to settlers by the Spanish monarchy and the Mexican government. After the Mexican–American War, the national forest was established, and was named for American pioneer Kit Carson.
Carson National Forest was established with the merger of Taos National Forest and part of Jemez National Forest on July 1, 1908.
Included in the merged lands was the land surrounding Blue Lake, an important cultural, religious site to the Tao Indians. In the early 20th century, the Taos Indians petitioned the federal government to regain Blue Lake, but their requests were denied. Attempts to prevent Taos ceremonies at Blue Lake were included in the government's attempts to assimilate Indigenous peoples into mainstream settler culture. The Department of Agriculture therefore denied requests to set aside land at Blue Lake for the Taos Indians to perform ceremonies, claiming that it was "foreign to the policies of the Department of Agriculture, when once some land has been set aside as a National Forest, to allow it to be withdrawn completely and donated to a private purpose."
In 1965, the Association on American Indian Affairs published a booklet called "The Blue Lake Appeal" in order to garner support for requests to return Blue Lake through the Indian Claims Commission (ICC). The ICC then concluded that the Taos Indians' land had been illegally obtained and no proper amends had been made to rectify it, suggesting a monetary award as compensation. The Taos Indians refused a monetary settlement, leading to a deliberation in Congress to return Blue Lake back to the tribe. When the bill was deadlocked in Congress, the Taos Pueblo brought their case to President Richard Nixon, who pushed their request through Congress in 1970, returning the Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo.
In October 1966, the Alianza Federal de Mercedes, an organization dedicated to the restoration of certain land grants entrenched in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to descendants of then-Mexican citizens, occupied the Carson Forest's Echo Amphitheater in an attempt to create a land grant community. The occupants were evicted, after five days, for overstaying camping permits. In 1982, the forest grew by 405 square kilometers (100,000 acres) when the Pennzoil corporation donated the Valle Vidal Unit to the American people.
Wilderness areas.
Within the Carson National Forest are five designated and one proposed wilderness areas. Two of these are located mostly in neighboring Santa Fe National Forest (as indicated).
Forest service.
Forest headquarters are located in Taos, New Mexico. There are local ranger district offices in Bloomfield, Canjilon, El Rito, Penasco, Questa, and Tres Piedras.


Valdivian soft coral

The Valdivian soft coral ("Parasphaerasclera valdiviae") is a species of colonial leathery or soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae.
Description.
Valdivian soft corals grow in small colonies of between 1 and 11 cm in height and up to 10 cm in diameter. The colony has stubby branches extending from a conspicuous short thick trunk. The polyps are white, but the colony colour is variable from white to pink to orange or even red. Some colonies may be bi-coloured.
Distribution.
This species is known from the Cape Peninsula to northern KwaZulu-Natal off the South African coast, and is common in 14-18m of water, although it is found down to at least 30m. It is endemic to this area.
Ecology.
Research at Rhodes University has shown that chemicals in this soft coral may have anti-inflammatory properties.


Bicol Natural Park

The Bicol Natural Park is a protected area of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region of southern Luzon. It straddles the mountainous border between the provinces of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur in the northern interior of the Bicol Peninsula. First declared as a national park covering on 13 February 1934 through Proclamation No. 657 of Governor General Frank Murphy, the Bicol National Park was later extended to its present area of through amendments made in Proclamation No. 655 signed by President Manuel Luis Quezon on 23 December 1940. The area was reclassified as a natural park on 29 December 2000 by virtue of Proclamation No. 43 by President Joseph Estrada.
Geography.
The Bicol Natural Park spreads across the Camarines Norte municipalities of Basud and Mercedes, and the Camarines Sur municipalities of Sipocot and Lupi. It is situated at an elevation of above sea level bordered by the Tuaca River to the north, the agricultural lands of Sipocot and Lupi to the south, the Tuaca and Pulantuna rivers to the west, and the forests of Mercedes to the east. Located some southeast from Manila, the park is well known for its "Bitukang Manok", a winding road through the park that forms part of the Pan-Philippine Highway (N1/AH26) to Naga and Legazpi, the region's largest cities.
The park is crossed by five rivers and eleven creeks which empty into the Bicol River. It contains natural swimming pools, picnic areas, park and camping areas, natural trails, back country shelters, and botanical and zoological gardens. A few settlements also exist within the park's boundary with a population total of 9,802 in 1991, the largest being Tuaca and San Pascual in Basud, Tible, Aldezar & Banban in Sipocot, and Sooc, San Jose & Napolidan in Lupi.
Biodiversity.
The park covers more than thirty percent of the total lowland rainforest area remaining in the Philippines. It is composed of of virgin forest, of residual forest and of planted forest. The park is dominated by apitong trees, as well as yakal, white lauan, bagtikan, guijo, dalingdingan, hagakhak, narig, and red lauan. It also supports palm tree species such as kaong, Albert palm, bamboo palm and anahaw. Other flora found in the park are kamagong, molave, dita, magabuyo, malaikmo, almaciga, heart leaf, hauili, balobo, catmon, malugai and tibig.
The National Museum also documented the following wildlife species in 1991: the Philippine forest rat, Geoffroy's rousette, Malay civet, palm civet, Philippine dawn bat, Philippine long-tailed macaque, red junglefowl, king quail, brahminy kite, green imperial pigeon, Eastern grass owl, black-naped oriole, snowy egret, South American cane toad, giant Visayan frog, Tokay gecko, and several species of snakes and lizards.
Threats.
The Bicol Natural Park faces threats from illegal logging, firewood collection, charcoal production and human encroachment. In 1992, with the passage of the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act (NIPAS), a total of 738 families were evicted from the park and were transferred to resettlement sites in Labo and Camarines Sur. Their houses, located mostly along the highway, were demolished and their agricultural crops and farms abandoned. However, according to a 2009 report from the Department of International Development of the United Kingdom, illegal practices and settlement still exist and only of the park's forest cover remains. In 2013, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the Bicol Region ordered the park's closure to human activities with a total log ban and anti-illegal logging task force set up as part of the government's National Greening Program. The program also aims to plant 1.5 billion trees from 2011 to 2016.
Accessibility.
The park is easily accessible from the Pan-Philippine Highway (AH26) that runs through the middle of the park. Before Andaya Highway was opened in 2003, this was the main highway that connected Manila to Naga and Legazpi as well as the Visayas and Mindanao passing through Daet and other coastal Camarines Norte municipalities. The park is north from the Naga Airport and some south from Daet and Bagasbas Airport.


Acacia linearifolia

Acacia linearifolia, commonly known as stringybark wattle or narrow-leaved wattle, is a shrub or tree of the genus "Acacia" and the subgenus "Phyllodineae" that is endemic to eastern Australia.
Description.
The shrub or tree can grow to a height of with an erect to spreading habit and smooth grey to gery-brown bark that becomes fissured toward the base. It has dark-reddish glabrous branches that are sometimes scurfy. It has thin, smooth, glabrous, green to grey-green phyllodes with a narrowly linear shape. The phyllodes have a length of and a width of . When it blooms between August and October produces racemose inflorescences along an axes with a length of . The spherical densely packed flower-heads contain 20 to 26 golden coloured flowers. The seed pods that follow are raised on opposite sides over alternate seeds and usually constricted between the seeds. The glabrous reddish-brown pods have a length of up to and a width of and are firmly chartaceous to thinly coriaceous. The oblong to elliptic shiny black seeds found within the pods have a length of .
Distribution.
It is native to an area in the upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales from around Scone and Denman, New South Wales in the east to around Gulgong in the east with southerly outliers around Wagga Wagga. It is often found growing on the lower portions of sandstone hills in colluvial rocky sandy soils where it is often a part of dry sclerophyll forest and woodland communities.


Prasophyllum constrictum

Prasophyllum constrictum, commonly known as the tawny leek orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to South Australia. It has a single tubular leaf and up to thirty five scented, brown or reddish-brown flowers with a pink or purplish labellum. Richard Sanders Rogers, who named this species, described the flowers as "prune-coloured".
Description.
"Prasophyllum constrictum" is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single tube-shaped leaf, long and wide. Between ten and thirty five flowers are arranged along a flowering spike long, reaching to a height of . The flowers are scented, brown or reddish-brown, long and wide. As with others in the genus, the flowers are inverted so that the labellum is above the column rather than below it. The dorsal sepal is about long and wide and the lateral sepals are a similar length but narrower and parallel to each other. The petals are about long, wide and curve forwards. The labellum is pink or purplish, lance-shaped to egg-shaped, long, about wide and turns sharply upwards at about 90° near its middle. The middle of the labellum is narrowed and the upturned part has wavy edges. There is a fleshy, shiny callus in the centre of the labellum and extending almost to its tip. Flowering occurs from October to December.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Prasophyllum constrictum" was first formally described in 1909 by Richard Sanders Rogers from a specimen collected near Tailem Bend and the description was published in "Transactions, proceedings and report, Royal Society of South Australia". The specific epithet ("constrictum") refers to the constriction of the labellum.
Distribution and habitat.
The tawny leek orchid grows in shrubby forest mainly in the Adelaide Hills and Mount Lofty Ranges.
Conservation.
"Prasophyllum constrictum" is listed as "Rare" under the South Australian "National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972".


Acianthera brachiloba

Acianthera brachiloba is a species of orchid plant native to Brazil.


Brimley State Park

Brimley State Park is a public recreation area covering on the shore of Whitefish Bay at the far eastern end of Lake Superior in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located on the northeast side of the Village of Brimley, eleven miles southwest of Sault Ste. Marie. The state park was established in 1923 when the village gave the park's first to the state for park purposes. The park went fifty years without bears after Wilford Brimley showed up with nothing more a neckerchief, kazoo and fishing lines and slaughtered all the bears for sport. The park offers facilities for camping, picnicking, swimming, fishing, and boating.


Vriesea incurva

Vriesea incurva is a plant species in the genus "Vriesea". This species is an epiphyte native to Central America (Costa Rica and Panama), the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola), and South America (Colombia, Guyana, Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador).


Carex gracilior

Carex gracilior, the slender sedge, is a species of sedge that was first described by Kenneth Mackenzie in 1917. It is native to California.


Eumorphia prostrata

Eumorphia prostrata is a plant in the genus "Eumorphia" found in the eastern mountain regions of southern Africa, at an altitude of . It is distinguished by the silvery silky hairs that lie flat on its leaves.
Description.
"E. prostrata" is similar to "Eumorphia sericea", but is shorter, flatter, has shorter heads and rays, and a shinier and flattened coverage.


Guignardia musae

Guignardia musae is a plant pathogen that causes banana freckle a disease that forms water soaked lesions of banana fruit and is spread by rain splash.


Dipterocarpus caudiferus

Dipterocarpus caudiferus is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae, endemic to Borneo. This very large tree occurs in mixed dipterocarp forests on hillsides and undulating land.


Sooke Mountain Provincial Park

Sooke Mountain Provincial Park is a Class B provincial park located at the southern end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The park was established on June 25, 1928 to protect local wildlife and preserve the scenic wilderness of the area. Sooke Mountain is now part of the larger Sea to Sea Green Blue Belt surrounding Greater Victoria.
History.
The park was originally used as a wilderness destination by the Canadian Pacific Railway where visitors could stay at a private lodge overlooking Sheilds Lake. The lodge burned down in the 1960s with only its brick foundation remaining.
The park and its neighbouring properties was logged during the 1950s.
Activities.
The park is largely undeveloped with no park facilities. Fishing, hunting, and backcountry hiking are popular activities. Off-road vehicles are prohibited within the park.


Prostanthera howelliae

Prostanthera howelliae is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to New South Wales and Queensland. It is a small shrub with narrow stems, aromatic, hairy leaves and violet-coloured, tube-shaped flowers.
Description.
"Prostanthera howelliae" is an erect or spreading, virgate shrub which grows to a height and spread of with its branches densely covered with short hairs. The leaves have a fragrant odour when crushed, and are narrow egg-shaped, long, wide with their edges turned under. The leaves have a very short stalk, sometimes a maroon tinge and are covered with short, cone-shaped hairs.
The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils with two bracteoles at their base, the bracteoles leaf-like, linear in shape, about long and remaining on the plant after flowering. The tube formed by the sepals is long, with the tubular part about long. The petal tube is long, pink to purple-mauve and spotted inside the tube. As with many other prostantheras, the petal tube has two "lips" with the upper one having two lobes and the lower one three lobes. Flowering occurs in spring.
Taxonomy and naming.
The species was first formally described in 1929 by William Blakely and the description was published in "Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales". The specific epithet ("howelliae") honours "Mrs. T.J. Howell, who, for a number of years, has taken a keen interest in the native flora".
Distribution and habitat.
This prostanthera grows in woodland and shrubland, often in gravelly or sandy soil, in the eastern half of New South Wales and in Queensland.


Platythelphusa conculcata


Slayton Arboretum

Slayton Arboretum, 14 acres (5.7 hectares), is an arboretum located adjacent to the campus of Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. It is privately owned but open to the public.
Although the site's use by the College students dates back to at least the 1860s, the Arboretum began in 1922 when Mr. and Mrs. George A. Slayton donated 14 acres (5.7 hectares) to Hillsdale College. By 1924, the first donated plantings were in place, led by Professor Bertram A. Barber. A pond was excavated in 1928, and a field station, a hillside rock garden, waterfall, and pump house were added in 1929. In the early 1930s two bridges were added, and an amphitheater built in the late 1930s on the site of a former gravel pit.
On October 17, 1999 the Arboretum was the site of a suicide or murder when Lissa Jackson Roche, the managing editor of Hillsdale College Press, was found dead of a gunshot wound after claiming that she and her father-in-law, the college's president, had been involved in a nineteen-year extramarital affair.
The initial period of development of Slayton Arboretum under Professor Barber resulted in an intimate botanical garden much loved by students and alumni of Hillsdale College as well as the residents of Hillsdale. It was the focal point for student outdoor activity in biology and ecology. The rock gardens, waterfalls, gazebos, amphitheater and rustic cement bridges have survived virtually intact. The arboretum occupies the site of a disused gravel pit, and it is the distinct topography of the site along with the coniferous trees planted during Barber's directorship that provide the garden with its special charm. These original plantings matured over forty years of benign neglect following the demise of Professor Barber.
In the early 1990s the arboretum was re-discovered as an important asset to the college and recovery of the site was begun under the direction of Dr. David Crabtree. Alumni and student support for the renewal of plantings and the conservation of the original structural elements was important in the restoration of the gardens during this time period. Today the gardens are notable for stately mature trees, semi-natural settings, and collections of conifers, magnolia, viburnum, witchhazel, mountain ash, maple, oak, and hickory as well as several genera of hardy deciduous shrubs.
The site is of considerable interest to ecologists in that several species of exotic woody shrubs have naturalized in the area to the exclusion of the native woody flora. The exotic shrubs that have become rampant are common buckthorn and common privet. Preferential deer herbivory of native species seems to be the primary cause of this invasion, and a deer exclusion has been attempted. The arboretum also has heavy and repeated infestation with Japanese beetle and this may also play a role in the dynamics of the shrub community which has developed in the garden over the last seventy years. The arboretum is currently directed by Dr. Ranessa Cooper and hosts art programs and children's programs during the summer.
As of late 2013 the arboretum underwent a renovation. The college has added a waterfall and the arboretum is open to the public once again.


Kostermanthus heteropetalus

Kostermanthus heteropetalus is a tree in the family Chrysobalanaceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Greek meaning "uneven or unequal petals".
Description.
"Kostermanthus heteropetalus" grows up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The fissured bark is grey-brown. The flowers are pink, tinged white. The ovoid fruits measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Kostermanthus heteropetalus" grows naturally in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, the Philippines and Sulawesi. Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp forests from sea-level to altitude.


Abacion magnum

Abacion magnum is a species of crested millipede in the family Abacionidae. It is found in North America.


Mount Koven (Alaska)

Mount Koven is a mountain in the Alaska Range, in Denali National Park and Preserve. Mount Eldridge lies to the northeast of Denali on Karstens Ridge, with Mount Carpe to the northeast on the Carpe Ridge extension of Denali's northeast buttress. Mount Koven overlooks the Great Icefall of Muldrow Glacier, with the west fork of Traleika Glacier to the east. It was named for Theodore G. Koven, who, while trying to rescue Allen Carpe (for whom Mount Carpe is named) from a crevasse in Muldrow Glacier, fell into the same crevasse and was killed while on the Rockefeller Cosmic Ray Expedition in May 1932.


Brickellia vollmeri

Brickellia vollmeri is a Mexican species of flowering plants in the daisy family. It is native to northwestern Mexico in the state of Baja California.


Cornularia elegans

Cornularia elegans is a species of fungi in the family Dermateaceae. It is found in Italy.


Cladium procerum

Cladium procerum, known commonly as the leafy twigrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It is found mostly in swampland and on the margins of lakes. It grows up to tall. It was described by Stanley Thatcher Blake in 1943.


Erigeron pacayensis

Erigeron pacayensis is a Central American species of flowering plant in the daisy family. It has been found only in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
"Erigeron pacayensis" is a perennial subshrub with a woody stem up to 55 cm (22 inches) tall, producing a woody taproot. Leaves are very narrow, almost thread-like, though with a few teeth along the edges. The plant produces flower heads on long, thin stalks. Each head contains 50-120 white ray florets surrounding numerous yellow disc florets.


Cyperus neokunthianus

Cyperus neokunthianus is a species of sedge that is endemic to Hawaii.
The species was first formally described by the botanist Georg Kükenthal in 1936.


Picea meyeri

Picea meyeri (Meyer's spruce; ) is a species of spruce native to Nei Mongol in the northeast to Gansu in the southwest and also inhabiting Shanxi, Hebei and Shaanxi.
It is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 30 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 0.8 m. The shoots are yellowish-brown, glabrous or with scattered pubescence. The leaves are needle-like, 13–25 mm long, rhombic in cross-section, bluish-green with conspicuous stomatal lines. The cones are cylindric, 7–11 cm long and 3 cm broad, maturing pale brown 5–7 months after pollination, and have stiff, smoothly rounded scales.
It is closely related to the dragon spruce from western China.
It is occasionally planted as an ornamental tree; its popularity is increasing in the eastern United States, where it is being used to replace Blue Spruce, which is more disease-prone in the humid climate there. The wood is similar to that of other spruces, but the species is too rare to be of economic value.


Sespe Condor Sanctuary

The Sespe Condor Sanctuary is a wildlife refuge in the Topatopa Mountains, in northeastern Ventura County, California. It is within the Sespe Wilderness in the southern Los Padres National Forest.
History.
The United States Forest Service established the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in 1947 for the California condor, an endangered species which is the largest living bird in North America.
On January 14, 1992, two captive-bred California condors and two Andean condors were released into the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, overlooking the Sespe Creek, near Fillmore, California. This was done by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the lead office for the California Condor Recovery Program. These captive-bred condors thrived in the wild and have begun to reproduce freely.
Before the sanctuary was established, numerous condors were killed by power line collisions. In order to circumvent this mishap, the captive condors were treated with "mock power poles" through the power pole aversion program. These poles emitted mild shocks when landed upon. They quickly learned to avoid power poles, which has significantly reduced their mortality rate.
Future plans.
Currently the California Condor Recovery Program is in effect in California, Arizona, and Baja. There are nearly 450 California condors in the world, with more than 275 flying free in the wild. California has four release sites, of which the Sespe Condor Sanctuary is one. With the advent of more natural condor births, more release sites are in the works.


Trichoglottis mindanaensis

Trichoglottis mindanaensis is a species of epiphytic orchid endemic to the Philippines growing at elevations of 60 to 1,500 meters above sea level. The species was first found on trees overhanging a tidal stream in island of Mindanao in Zamboanga peninsula, hence the specific epithet. The orchid is widely distributed throughout the Philippine archipelago and can also be found in islands of Luzon, Panay and Samar.


Eosentomon indicum

Eosentomon indicum is a species of proturan in the family Eosentomidae. It is found in Southern Asia.


Amblypneustes leucoglobus

Amblypneustes leucoglobus is a species of sea urchin of the family Temnopleuridae. Their armour is covered with spines. It came from the genus Amblypneustes and lives in the sea. Amblypneustes leucoglobus was first scientifically described in 1914 by Ludwig Döderlein.


Tynanthus elegans

Tynanthus elegans, the "cipó-cravo" or "cipó-trindade" in Portuguese, is a species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. It is found in Bolivia and Brazil.


Goniodiscaster insignis

Goniodiscaster insignis is a species of sea stars in the family Oreasteridae.


Aglaia mariannensis

Aglaia mariannensis (Chamorro: mapunyao; Carolinian: ), is a tree endemic to the Mariana Islands and Guam with large (about 10–18 cm in length) dark green, glossy pinnately compound leaves, densely arranged on stems. Terminal leaf buds are often orange and fuzzy and look like praying hands.
Axillary or terminal flowers arranged in panicles are small, yellowish green and fragrant, smelling of citronella.
The fruit is yellow or orange in color, ovoid, and contains one or two coffee-bean-sized seeds. The sparse flesh of the fruit is spongy and dry, but the fruits are dispersed by birds.
The name "aglaia" comes from the Greek language and it means "wisdom and glory".


Phoronopsis californica

Phoronopsis californica is a species of marine horseshoe worm in the phylum Phoronida. It was first described as a new species by William Hilton in 1930 when he found it at Balboa Bay in Newport Beach, California.
Description.
"Phoronopsis californica" lives in a stiff tube encrusted with sand and embedded in sandy or muddy sediment. The tube is up to 250 millimetres long, 3 millimetres wide at the open end and twice this diameter in the middle. There is a bulge at the other end, which is sealed. At the collar, just below the lophophore or feeding organ, the worm has the marked involution of the epidermis which distinguishes the genus "Phoronopsis". When the worm is extended it can reach 450 millimetres in length with a diameter of up to 5 millimetres. The colour varies but is usually orangish-brown with a red, orange or green lophophore. This organ has about 1,500 tentacles, each some 2.5 millimetres long, arranged in a pair of helicoid whorls with four to seven coils. These project from the seabed and are the only part of the animal normally visible. They can be retracted back into the tube if danger threatens or when the animal is no longer submerged.
Distribution and habitat.
"Phoronopsis californica" occurs in shallow coastal waters in California and in temperate European waters near Spain, Portugal and Madeira. It lives singly and builds its tube in soft sediments varying from mud to coarse sand. It is found on the lower shore and in the neritic zone down to a depth of thirty metres. In the Mediterranean Sea it is found growing in association with the sea grass, "Cymodocea nodosa".
Biology.
"Phoronopsis californica" is a filter feeder. Numerous cilia on the tentacles create a current which brings food particles within reach. These then get trapped in mucus and moved towards the mouth. At the same time, the tentacles act as gills for gas exchange.
Individual worms are either male or female but little is known of the process of reproduction in this species and the larval form, "Actinotrocha californica", has not yet been identified.


Commersonia borealis

Commersonia borealis is a species of Malvaceae native to Western Australia
Taxonomy.
The species was first described as "Rulingia malvifolia" var. "borealis" in 1904 by Ernst Georg Pritzel It was raised to species rank in 2005 by Carolyn Wilkins, giving the name, "Rulingia borealis", and in 2011 she and Barbara Ann Whitlock transferred the species to the genus "Commersonia", resulting in the name, "Commersonia borealis".
Etymology.
The specific epithet, "borealis", is from the Latin "borealis" ("north"), and refers to the northern distribution of this former variety in comparison to the more southerly distribution of "R. malvifolia" (now "Commersonia cygnorum").


Rheubarbariboletus armeniacus

Rheubarbariboletus armeniacus is a small mushroom in the family Boletaceae native to Europe. It was formerly placed in the genera "Boletus", "Xerocomus", and "Xerocomellus". It acquired its current name when it was transferred to genus "Rheubarbariboletus" in 2015.
Taxonomy.
French naturalist Lucien Quélet described this species as "Boletus armeniacus" in 1885, before placing it in the genus "Xerocomus" in his 1888 work "Flore mycologique de la France et des pays limitrophes" ("Mycological flora of France and neighbouring countries").
It was transferred to the new genus "Xerocomellus" described by Czech mycologist Josef Šutara in 2008, and then to "Rheubarbariboletus" in 2015.
Description.
The cap is initially globular before expanding to become convex and flattening somewhat; it grows to a diameter of . The cap margin initially adheres to the stipe and has a tendency to become lobed or undulated in age. The cap surface is first somewhat pubescent but later becomes smooth and hairless, and may develop cracks in age. Its color is orangish-apricot, aging to ochre. Tubes are initially pale yellow, but become more vivid in age, and eventually develop greenish-yellow to greenish-olive tones. They will become pale blue upon with bruising. The pores are circular or a bit angular, with the same coloring and bruising reaction as the tubes. The robust stipe measures long by thick. It is usually thicker in the middle or lower region, and its base roots into the substrate. The top part of the stipe is yellow; under this the coloration tends to be masked by a dense and fine reticulation that becomes brown to brownish-crimson in age. In some specimens the stipe cuticle cracks and pointed patches lift from the surface. The flesh is pale yellow in the cap, with a narrow strip of pinkish-yellow under the cuticle; in the stipe, the flesh is orange-ochre, with a reddish tint. The flesh sometimes shows a slight and temporary color change to blue when cut or otherwise injured, but this feature is not consistent. It has a pleasant odor and a fruity-acid taste.
Spores are fusiform (spindle shaped), measuring 10–15 by 4.5–6 µm. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are club-shaped, four-spored, and contain internal oil droplets; they measure 28–35 by 9–12 µm. The cystidia are fusiform, hyaline (translucent), and 40–55 by 9–12 µm.
Ecology.
It has been recorded forming ectomycorrhizal association with white poplar ("Populus alba") in Hungary. Its ectomycorrhizae contain bright yellow pigments, especially the rhizomorphs, and have warts on the outer surfaces of both the rhizomorphs and the mantle. The ectomycorrhizae of "R. armeniacus" cannot be reliably distinguished from those of "Xerocomus subtomentosus".


Phebalium lepidotum

Phebalium lepidotum is a species of rounded shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has scaly branchlets, leathery, narrow oblong leaves and white to cream-coloured flowers arranged in umbels of between three and six on the ends of branchlets.
Description.
"Phebalium lepidotum" is a rounded slender shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its branchlets are slightly glandular-warty and covered with scales. The leaves are leathery, narrow oblong, long and wide on a short petiole, glabrous on the upper surface and covered with silvery scales on the lower surface. The flowers are white or cream-coloured and borne in umbels of between three and six, each flower on a thin pedicel about long. The five sepals are about long, joined for half their length and covered with rust-coloured scales on the outside. The petals are broadly elliptical, long and wide, covered with rust-coloured scales on the back. Flowering occurs from August to November.
Taxonomy.
This species was first formally described in 1863 by Nikolai Turczaninow and given the name "Boronia lepidota" in the journal "Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou", from specimens collected by James Drummond. In 1970, Paul G. Wilson changed the name to "Phebalium lepidotum", publishing the change in the journal "Nuytsia".
Distribution.
"Phebalium lepidotum" is found between Merredin, Zanthus and the south coast of Western Australia.
Conservation status.
This phebalium is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.


Daisetsuzan National Park

, or Taisetsuzan is located in the mountainous center of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō. At , Daisetsuzan is the largest national park in Japan, and is approximately the size of Kanagawa Prefecture. Daisetsuzan, meaning "great snowy mountains", an apt description of these peaks. There are 16 peaks over in Daisetsuzan National Park, both with and without trails. The park offers some of the most rugged scenery in Japan. Asahidake (), located in the north of the park, is the highest peak in Hokkaidō. Daisetsuzan National Park spans two subprefectures of Hokkaidō, Kamikawa and Tokachi. Daisetsuzan National Park was established in 1934.
Mountain groups.
Daisetsuzan National Park consists of three volcanic mountain groups. The groups consist of stratovolcanoes piled on top of each other. As one vent becomes active, it builds a peak then stops until a new vent appears. These groups are:
These volcanic groups lie around a central highlands dominated by Mount Tomuraushi. The park is also known for its alpine meadows and remote backcountry.
Nature.
Daisetsuzan National Park is famous for its wildlife, and the park is home to several rare species. The park is notably home to a population of brown bears. The pika, a small mammal, with short limbs, rounded ears, and no external tail, is also found in the park. The forests of Daisetsuzan National Park are dominated by the "Picea jezoensis", the Jezo spruce, and the "Abies sachalinensis", the Sakhalin fir. Of the 450 species of alpine plants found in Hokkaidō, half are found in Daisetsuzan National Park.
Onsen.
Daisetsuzan National Park also includes the onsen hot spring resorts of Asahidake Onsen, Fukiage Onsen, Sōunkyō Onsen and Tenninkyo Onsen.


Pycnoporus coccineus

Pycnoporus coccineus is a saprophytic, white-rot decomposer fungus in the family Polyporaceae. A widely distributed species, the fungus was first described scientifically by Elias Magnus Fries in 1851. A study conducted by Couturier al et. (2015) concluded that the combined analysis of sugar and solid residues showed the suitability of "P. coccineus" secreted enzymes for softwood degradation. "P. coccineus" is a promising model to better understand the challenges of softwood biomass deconstruction and its use in biorefinery processes.


Pseudomonas suis

Pseudomonas suis is a Gram-negative bacterium that causes croupous pneumonia of swine (genus "Sus") from which it derives its name. It was first isolated in the Philippines. The type strain is ATCC 11729.


Elk Neck State Park

Elk Neck State Park is a public recreation area located between Chesapeake Bay and the Elk River near the southern tip of the Elk Neck Peninsula in Cecil County, Maryland. The state park is home to the historic Turkey Point Light and offers land-based and water-based recreation. The park is located on MD 272, eight miles (13 km) south of the town of North East, and south of exit 100 on I-95. It is operated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
History.
The park had its genesis when, in 1936, naturalist Dr. William Abbott bequeathed his holdings along the Elk River to the state for use as a state park. Although he originally intended the land to be a gift to the Boy Scouts, a meeting with State Forester Fred W. Besley in 1935 persuaded Abbott to change the terms of his will. Following the state's purchase of additional acreage, the Civilian Conservation Corps created park improvements from 1937 to 1941.
Activities and amenities.
Dating from 1833, the Turkey Point Lighthouse sits on a bluff overlooking the Upper Chesapeake Bay. The tower is a "private aid to navigation" maintained by a non-profit organization, Turkey Point Light Station, Inc., which offers weekend tours seasonally.
The park offers more than 250 campsites, rustic cabins, camper cabins, and youth group sites.
The park has of trails for hiking and biking.
The park offers a swimming beach, fishing, and crabbing, plus a boat launch and launch area for canoeing and kayaking.
Ecology.
The park is part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion, with a landscape characterized by deep forests, bluffs, beaches, and marshlands.
In popular culture.
The park was used as a filming location for the 1997 Clint Eastwood movie "Absolute Power" and as the setting of an episode of the television series "Hannibal".


Lake Superior Provincial Park

Lake Superior Provincial Park is one of the largest provincial parks in Ontario, covering about along the northeastern shores of Lake Superior between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa in Algoma District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Ontario Highway 17 (at this point part of the Trans-Canada Highway) now runs through the park. When the park was established by Ontario in 1944, there was no road access.
History.
Traces of ancient volcanic activity can be seen in rock outcrops near Red Rock Lake and several other sites. For more than 2000 years, this was long an area of occupation by various cultures of indigenous peoples. The oldest artifacts found here date to approximately 500 BC.
At Agawa Rock, near the mouth of the Agawa River, there are pictographs created by the early Ojibwe people of this region. The figures are painted on the rock with a mixture of powdered hematite and animal fats and are estimated to be 150–400 years old. The records are visual representations of both historical events and legendary figures.
Selwyn Dewdney was the first scholarly figure to discover the pictographs. The first written description of these pictographs was published in 1851 by American ethnologist, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. As United States Indian agent in Sault Ste. Marie, he conducted extensive studies about the Ojibwe people, aided by his wife Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, who was half-Ojibwe and the daughter of a major fur trader in the city.
While the Ojibwe were forced to cede their lands to the Canadian government under an 1850 Treaty in exchange for reserves and annuities, they have preserved hunting and fishing rights to former territory. In the 1940s, the Lake Superior Provincial Park was established, and it took over an Ojibwe fishing village known as "Nanabozhung" within the boundaries.
From the late 20th century, the Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways, whose traditional territory included the village, also known as Gargantua Harbour, had long agitated to regain road access to the village. One of its reserves is Rankin Location Indian Reserve No. 15D in Ontario and members have fished at Gargantua Harbour. In 2007 some 200 members, led by Chief Dean Sayers, restored a road to the village along a park trail, without a work permit. After trying to negotiate with the band, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) filed charges against it in 2008, saying that the First Nation had damaged park property.
The First Nation contended this was a traditional fishing and ceremonial area and construction of the road was necessary to exercise their Treaty rights. In March 2015 Justice Logan dismissed all but one of the eleven counts in the case. In his decision, Logan upheld that a Treaty right existed for the Batchewana First Nation to use Gargantua Harbour for commercial fishing and agreed that the road was necessary to get to the shore. He upheld one charge against Sayers and the Band for obstruction, requiring a fine to be paid.
Activities.
Recreational activities in the park include canoeing (especially in the interior lakes of the park), camping and hiking, fishing, swimming, boating, hunting, educational programs, wildlife viewing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
Hiking Trails
The 11 hiking trails located throughout the park can be accessed from Agawa Bay, Crescent Lake, or Rabbit Blanket Lake campgrounds, or from Highway 17. The Coastal Trail stretches and reveals the beautiful Lake Superior coastline. It is very demanding and can take between 5 and 7 days to complete. The Coastal Trail is part of the long-distance Voyageur Hiking Trail.
The 11 trails offer a wide variety of distances and difficulty from short half-hour hikes to multi-day trips. Orphan Lake Trail is a moderate difficulty trail that has a variety of terrain over an 8 km loop and takes approximately 2–4 hours to complete.
Pictographs
A short trail leads to the Agawa Rock Pictographs. They are located on a sheer rock face on Lake Superior. Several of the pictographs can be seen only from the water.
Facilities.
Park office.
The park office is located in the northern part of the park at Red Rock Lake. Senior staff, including the superintendent, can be reached at the park office between 9 am and 4 pm during summer months.
Campgrounds.
Agawa Bay.
Agawa Bay has 152 campsites. There are two comfort stations located in the campground equipped with showers, laundry facilities and flush toilets. An amphitheatre is located in the campground, and presentations here by park staff are a common occurrence in the summer months. All the campsites are within walking distance to Lake Superior. There is a premium for campsites located beside the beach. Permits are obtained at the Agawa Bay gatehouse. Firewood and ice is available for purchase at the Agawa Bay gatehouse.
Agawa Bay is also the location of the park's visitor centre where information can be obtained about the park and surrounding areas. There are washrooms and a gift shop open to the public from May through September. The visitor centre has a display area orchestrating the history of the park and the influence that Lake Superior Park had on the fur trade, the Group of Seven artists and shipwrecks in the region. There are trailer storage opportunities available, but arrangements must be made with senior staff located in the northern part of the park at the park office. The visitor centre has received a number of awards for its design.
Crescent Lake.
Crescent Lake (now closed) had 46 campsites and was located approximately 2 kilometres off of Highway 17 beside Crescent Lake.
Rabbit Blanket Lake.
Rabbit Blanket Lake has 60 campsites. There is one comfort station located within the campground equipped with showers, laundry facilities and flush toilets. The campground is located beside Rabbit Blanket Lake. Firewood and ice can be purchased at the Rabbit Blanket gatehouse or the park office.
Ecology.
Forests.
Due to its size and location, the park lies in both the Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion and the Central Canadian Shield forests region. Its rugged landscape is wooded with a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees such as pine, maples and birch. Sugar maple dominates many forests in the southern two-thirds of the park.
Topography.
The predominantly rocky coastline is interrupted by sandy beaches in a few locations. The park is situated within the Great Canadian Shield, dominated by exposed rocks or a thin layer of soil over rock.
Fauna.
The park supports a large moose ("Alces alces") population. The best time for viewing moose is in the months of April, May, and June when the spring melt occurs. Other large animals found in the park include:
During the summer months, the park provides habitat for warblers and other birds of the northern forests.
Lakes and rivers.
In addition to its namesake, the park has numerous smaller lakes in its interior. A number of rivers also flow from the park's interior:
Several waterfalls on these rivers can be seen from the road or reached via hiking trails.


Neobracea bahamensis

Neobracea bahamensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae that is endemic to Cuba and several islands in the Bahamas including Andros, New Providence, Cat Island, Great Exuma, Long Cay and Crooked Island. In its native environment, the plant grows in coastal thickets, pine barrens and along the borders of brackish swamps. It can also be found along roadways on these islands.
"Neobracea bahamensis" is a shrub and grows to about high with greyish brown branches. Its leaves are long and are firm in texture, oblong or obtuse in shape, narrowing at the base. The leaves are clustered at the tips of branches. The flowers appear with the leaves and have a white corolla with a reddish throat. The flower's five petals are fused, forming a tube. The petals form a pinwheel shape, overlapping to one side. There are five fused stamens, a superior ovary, two locules, and many ovules. The mature fruits are brown and are dispersed using tufts of hair on the seeds.
This species, along with other Bahamian-endemic plant species, is an ecologically important part of iguana habitats in the Bahamas. Economically, the flowers can reportedly be used as flavouring for rice in its native range.


Columbia State Historic Park

Columbia State Historic Park, also known as Columbia Historic District, is a state park unit and National Historic Landmark District preserving historic downtown Columbia, California, United States. It includes almost 30 buildings built during the California Gold Rush, most of which remain today. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
Description.
The site was proclaimed a state historic park in 1945, and the restored buildings are operated as an inhabited, working open-air museum. Individuals in period costumes run a handmade candy store, a Daguerreotype studio, and stagecoach rides, among other stores and restaurants. The Columbia Museum, formerly the Cavalier Museum, is located in the Knapp building.
Volunteers with the Friends of Columbia State Historic Park host many special living history programs at the park each year. During Gold Rush Days, held the second Saturday of each month, park docents in period clothing lead programs in the park, and there are special exhibits and hands-on activities. Free tours of the town are offered on weekends year-round and daily in the summer.
History.
Gold was discovered in the area that became Columbia on March 27, 1850, and was one of the richest finds of the California Gold Rush. The surface-level deposits were amenable to placer mining, but lacked water needed for such operations. Over the next seven years, a network of water supply aqueducts was built (at a cost of over $1 million) to the area to support mining operations. By 1852, sufficient water was arriving to support the development of a mining boom town, and large-scale mining operations began in 1856. The town was incorporated in 1854, and its population fluctuated in the 1850s between 2,000 and 5,000 people. The town was repeatedly struck by fire, and much of the construction after an 1857 fire was in brick.
Media exposure.
Columbia State Historic Park has been used as a shooting location for many films and television scenes. "High Noon" includes scenes filmed in 1952 in and around the Wilson House, on Main Street and in front of Engine House #2. The Shadow Riders (1982) was also filmed in and around Columbia.


Leptinella lanata

Leptinella lanata is a small flowering plant in the daisy family, native to the Antipodean Islands. Its specific epithet, "lanata", describes its woolly-haired (lanate) rhizomes.
Description.
"Leptinella lanata" is a creeping perennial, monoecious herb.
Distribution and habitat.
It is found on the Auckland and Campbell Island and was recently found on Heard Island. It is a coastal species, found on rocks, on cliff tops, on damp exposed peat, in rock crevices and within nesting grounds and seal haul outs.
Conservation status.
In both 2009 and 2012 it was deemed to be "At Risk – Naturally Uncommon" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, and this New Zealand classification was reaffirmed in 2018, due to its restricted range, and with the further comment that it is "data poor".


Lava Beds National Monument

Lava Beds National Monument is located in northeastern California, in Siskiyou and Modoc counties. The monument lies on the northeastern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano and has the largest total area covered by a volcano in the Cascade Range.
The region in and around Lava Beds National Monument lies at the junction of the Sierra-Klamath, Cascade, and Great Basin physiographic provinces. The monument was established as a national monument on November 21, 1925, and includes more than .
Lava Beds National Monument has numerous lava tubes, with 25 having marked entrances and developed trails for public access and exploration. The monument also offers trails through the high Great Basin xeric shrubland desert landscape and the volcanic field. In 1872 and 1873, the area was the site of the Modoc War, involving a band led by Kintpuash (also known as Captain Jack). The area of Captain Jack's Stronghold was named in his honor.
Geologic formations.
Lava Beds National Monument is geologically significant because of its wide variety of volcanic formations, including lava tubes, fumaroles, cinder cones, spatter cones, pit craters, hornitos, maars, lava flows, and volcanic fields.
Volcanic eruptions on the Medicine Lake shield volcano have created a rugged landscape punctuated by these many landforms of volcanism.
Cones.
Cinder cones are formed when magma is under great pressure. It is released in a fountain of lava, blown into the air from a central vent. The lava cools as it falls, forming cinders that pile up around the vent. When the pressure has been relieved, the rest of the lava flows from the base of the cone. Cinder cones are typically monogenetic.
The cinder cones of Hippo Butte, Three Sisters, Juniper Butte, and Crescent Butte are all older than the Mammoth and Modoc Crater flows, more than 30,000–40,000 years old. Eagle Nest Butte and Bearpaw Butte are 114,000 years old. Schonchin Butte cinder cone and the andesitic flow from its base were formed around 62,000 years ago. The flow that formed Valentine Cave erupted 10,850 years ago. An eruption that formed The Castles is younger than the Mammoth Crater flows. Even younger were eruptions from Fleener Chimneys, such as the Devil's Homestead flow, 10,500 years ago, and Black Crater 3,025 years ago. About 1,110 years ago, plus or minus 60 years, the Callahan flow was produced by an eruption from Cinder Butte. Though Cinder Butte is just outside the boundary of the monument, the Callahan flow is in Lava Beds and is the youngest flow in the monument.
Spatter cones are built out of thicker lava. The lava is thrown out of the vent and builds, layer by layer, a chimney surrounding the vent. Fleener Chimneys and Black Crater are examples of spatter cones.
Lava flows.
Roughly ninety percent of the lava in the Lava Beds Monument is basaltic. There are primarily two kinds of basaltic lava flows: pahoehoe and ʻaʻā. Pahoehoe is smooth, often ropy and is the most common type of lava in Lava Beds. ʻAʻā is formed when pahoehoe cools and loses some of its gases. ʻAʻā is rough, sharp, and jagged; an excellent example is the Devil's Homestead lava flow, which originated at Fleener Chimneys. Most of the rest of the lava in the monument is andesitic. Pumice, a type of rhyolitic lava, also is found covering the monument; this rained down around 900 years ago during the eruption of Glass Mountain.
The flows from Mammoth and Modoc Craters comprise about two-thirds of the lava in the monument. Over 30 separate lava flows located in the park range in age from 2,000,000 years BP to 1,110 years BP. Some of the major lava flows within Lava Beds National Monument include the Callahan Flow; Schonchin Flow; Mammoth Crater Flow; Modoc Crater Flow; and Devil's Homestead Flow.
Lava fields.
Gillem Bluff, a fault scarp, was created as the region stretched and a block of earth dropped down along this fault (see Basin and Range Province). The tuff layer on top of Gillem Bluff is 2,000,000 years old, indicating the rock layers beneath are even older. The oldest lava flow from the Medicine Lake Volcano within the monument is the Basalt of Hovey Point, near Captain Jack's Stronghold, which is 450,000 years old. Petroglyph Point was created about 275,000 years ago when cinders erupted through the shallow water of Tule Lake; violent explosions of ash and steam formed layers upon layers of tuff.
The caldera is thought to have formed by subsidence, during which basalt and andesite were erupted up on the slopes.
Lava tubes.
Lava flows dated to about 30,000–40,000 years ago formed most of the lava tubes in the monument. As the hot basaltic lava flowed downhill, the top cooled and crusted over, insulating the rest of the lava and forming lava tubes. Lavacicles on the ceiling of a lava tube were produced as the level of lava in the tube retreated and the viscous lava on the ceiling dripped as it cooled.
Dripstone was created when lava splashed on the inside walls of the tubes. The leaching of minerals from pumice gravel, soils, and overlying rock provides for deposition of secondary speleothems in lava tubes.
Lava Beds National Monument has the largest concentration of lava tubes in North America. One has electrical lighting, the others are illuminated by ceiling collapse portals or require flashlights, available on loan.
Recent activity.
A series of small earthquakes in late 1988 has been attributed to subsidence in the caldera. North-northeast trending ground cracks, as well as north-northeast trending vent series show relationships between tectonism and volcanism. One notable ground crack, the Big Crack, extends along the northeastern boundary of the monument.
Climate.
The high elevation, semi-arid desert environment of Lava Beds National Monument receives an average of of annual precipitation, including of snowfall. The climate is characterized by warm, dry summers and cold, moderately snowy winters. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in December to ; there are 21 days with + highs annually, and 10 days where the high does not rise above freezing. The average window for freezing temperatures is September 23 thru June 7.
Flora and fauna.
Flora.
The lava tube collapse systems and lava outcrops support a great diversity of plant life, from an impressive variety of lichens and mosses to plants such as desert sweet ("Chamaebatiaria millefolium"), the aromatic purple desert sage ("Salvia dorrii carnosa") and yellow blazing star ("Mentzelia laevicaulis").
An impressive variety of fern species are present in cave entrances including the spreading wood fern ("Dryopteris expansa") and the western swordfern ("Polystichum munitum"). These species are well outside of their normal range, which is west on the northern California coastline.
Fauna.
Despite harsh, semi-arid conditions, native wildlife has adapted to the environmental constraints present in the region. There are no terrestrial water resources in Lava Beds National Monument. Some animals obtain water from caves, while others fly about twenty km (12 miles) north to Tule Lake. Federal and state animal species of special concern in the Monument include the Cooper's hawk ("Accipiter cooperii"), fringed myotis ("Myotis thysanodes"), long-eared myotis ("Myotis evotic"), long-legged myotis ("Myotis volans"), pallid bat ("Antrozous pallidus"), silver-haired bat ("Lasionycteris noctivigans"), Townsends big-eared bat ("Corynorhinus townsendii"), western small-footed myotis ("Myotis ciliolabrum"), and American badger ("Taxidea taxus").
Because of a lack of surface water, amphibian presence in the monument is limited. The most common species found in the monument is the Pacific tree frog ("Pseudacris regilla"). This species is also found in the biologically rich cave entrances in the monument. Reptile species found in the monument include the northern sagebrush lizard ("Sceloporus graciosus graciosus"), Great Basin fence lizard ("Sceloporus occidentalis biseriatus"), western skink ("Eumeces skiltonianus skiltonianus"), Rocky Mountain rubber boa ("Charina bottae utahensis"), gopher snake ("Pituophis melanoleucus"), desert night snake ("Hypsiglena torquata deserticola"), and western rattlesnake ("Crotalus viridis").
Key animal species by habitat:
History.
Archeological site.
Lava Beds National Monument includes Petroglyph Point, one of the largest panels of Native American rock art in the United States. The region was historically occupied by the Modoc people. The Lava Beds National Monument Archeological District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in March 1991.
Modoc War.
During the Modoc War of 1872–1873, warriors of a band led by Kintpuash (Captain Jack) used the lava beds as a defensive stronghold to resist being captured and returned to the Klamath Reservation in Oregon, to which they had been removed, as European Americans wanted their lands. The Modoc took refuge in a natural lava fortress that was later named Captain Jack's Stronghold. From this defensive base, a group of 53 fighting men and their families held off US Army forces, amounting to ten times the Modocs' population, for five months.
In April 1873, at a peace commission meeting, Captain Jack killed General Edward Canby while associates killed Reverend Eleazer Smith and wounded two other commissioners. Canby was the only casualty of the Indian Wars who had the rank of general at the time of his death. The Modoc mistakenly thought the Americans would leave if their leaders were killed. Instead Army reinforcements were brought in and the Modoc were eventually forced to surrender. Kintpuash and his associates were convicted of war crimes for the murders, and executed by hanging at Fort Klamath.
Lava Beds Wilderness.
The Lava Beds National Wilderness is a wilderness area within the Lava Beds National Monument. It was designated by the US Congress on October 13, 1972 with passage of Public Law 92-493.
The wilderness protects more than half of the national monument in two separate eastern and western units. The larger eastern unit contains the extensive Schonchin lava flow on the east side of the monument. The western unit covers the monument's area within the transition zone of the Cascade Range's montane southern end and the arid Modoc Plateau ecosystems.
The different soil types creates plant community diversity in the wilderness area, providing various habitats for a wide range of wildlife. The numerous coyotes and foxes, as well as raptors, feed on rodents such as the jackrabbit and kangaroo rat. The kangaroo rat is especially adapted to waterless environments because it does not need to drink. It obtains water as a byproduct of the oxidation of nutrients in the seeds it eats.
Many raptors are seen in the wilderness area, with 24 species of hawks identified. The monument is located on the Pacific Flyway, and the bald eagle winters in the northern portion of the wilderness area.
The National Park Service manages the Lava Beds wilderness area and has several restrictions in place. Camping is prohibited near cave entrances or trails. Open campfires may be prohibited during very hot and dry weather.
Lava Beds trails.
The Lava Beds National Monument has 13 hiking trails, all of which cross or enter the backcountry. The most popular trails are short, but lead to a number of historic sites as to several geological areas within the Lava Beds Wilderness. The long trails are mostly in designated wilderness areas.
These trails are primarily associated with park attractions, especially the Lava Beds geological wilderness, and are sometimes out-and-back day hikes, and in many cases are improved boardwalks and supported with interpretive signs and exhibits.
Monument expansion.
The only expansion in the modern era occurred in 2011 when the monument expanded by roughly 132 acres. An administrative transfer brought two parcels of land which were previously managed by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Land Management into National Park Service management. These two parcels adjoin the Petroglyph Point Unit of the monument.


Habenaria triplonema

Habenaria triplonema, commonly known as the twisted rein orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to northern Australia. It two or three leaves at its base and up to twenty five yellowish, strongly scented flowers.
Description.
"Habenaria triplonema" is a tuberous, perennial herb with between two and three bright green leaves. The leaves are long and wide. Between eight and twenty five fragrant, greenish yellow and white flowers, long and wide are borne on a flowering stem tall. The dorsal sepal is about long and wide and the lateral sepals are slightly wider and spread apart from each other. The petals are a similar size to the lateral sepals. The labellum has three thread-like lobes, the side lobes long and often twisted, the middle lobe long. The nectary spur is long. Flowering occurs from February to March.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Habenaria triplonema" was first formally described in 1911 by Rudolf Schlechter from a specimen collected from Port Darwin and the description was published in "Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis".
Distribution and habitat.
The twisted rein is found in northern parts of the Northern Territory, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, between Ingham and Rockhampton in Queensland, on some Torres Strait Islands and in New Guinea. It grows in open forest and woodlan, sometimes near swamps and often with tall grasses.


Penicillium turbatum

Penicillium turbatum is an anamorph species of fungus in the genus "Penicillium" which was isolared from "Taxus baccata". "Penicillium turbatum" produces pipolythiopiperazinedione-antibiotics, hyalodendrin A and hadacitin.


Utricularia guyanensis

Utricularia guyanensis is a small, probably perennial, terrestrial carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus "Utricularia" and is the only member of Utricularia" sect. "Stylotheca. "U. guyanensis" is native to Central (Honduras and Nicaragua) and South America (Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela). It grows as a terrestrial plant on wet or damp sandy savannas at lower altitudes, but up to in Bolívar. It has been collected in flower between January and November. It was originally published and described by Alphonse Pyrame de Candolle in 1844 and placed in its own section, "Stylotheca".


Dendrobium johannis

Dendrobium johannis, commonly known as the chocolate tea tree orchid, is a species of epiphytic or lithophytic orchid native to Australia and New Guinea. It has spindle-shaped pseudobulbs, between five and ten dark green leaves with purplish markings and flowering stems with up to fifteen chocolate brown flowers with a yellow labellum.
Description.
"Dendrobium johannis" is an epiphytic or lithophytic herb with brownish or purplish pseudobulbs that are long, wide and tapered at both ends. There are between five and ten dark green to purplish leaves long and wide near the upper end of the canes. Between six and fifteen flowers long, wide are borne on a flowering stem long. The flowers are chocolate brown with a bright yellow labellum, long lasting and have an unpleasant scent. The sepals and petals are thick, shiny and twisted, the sepals long and wide and the petals a similar length but narrower. The labellum is long, wide with three lobes. The side lobes are upright and the middle lobe is curved with three ridges along its midline. Flowering occurs from March to July.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Dendrobium johannis" was first formally described in 1865 by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach who published the description in "The Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette" from a specimen collected by John Gould Veitch. James Bateman noted the following: "Prof. Reichenbach being anxious to connect in some way the name of Mr John G. Veitch with that of a plant which forms one of his more remarkable discoveries, and being unable to call it Dendrobium Veitchianum because that name had long since been given by Dr. Lindley to another species of the genus discovered by Lobb, hit upon the ingenious device of making his Christian name the passport to immortality in the present instance. Certainly no one ever laboured harder in the cause of science or deserved the compliment better than the adventurous young traveller, who has already added so many new things to our collections, and who, we sincerely hope, may be spared to enrich them still more.
This orchid is sometimes included in the genus "Cepobaculum", but the splitting of "Dendrobium" into numerous genera has not typically been accepted.
Distribution and habitat.
The chocolate tea tree orchid occurs in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea and in Australia from the tip of Cape York Peninsula to the McIlwraith Range and Coen. It is locally common at altitudes of between in open forest, swampy areas and monsoonal thickets.
Conservation status.
This orchid is classed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The main threat to the species is illegal collection.