Barley yellow mosaic virus

Barley yellow mosaic virus is plant pathogenic virus that causes the yellow mosaic disease of barley. Its shape is categorized as being flexuous filamentous, with lengths of 275 and 550 nanometers. The virus has a limited host range, and barley appears to be the only known susceptible host. The virus is transmitted via "Polymyxa graminis", which is a plasmodiophorid protist, through the resting spores that survive in the soil, and eventually zoospores. Eastern Asia is the most affected region, but the virus can be found worldwide. Current agricultural practices have been ineffective at eliminating the virus, but breeding resistance appears to be the only way to help reduce the disease.
Hosts and Symptoms.
Barley ("Hordeum vulgare") is the only current known host for the virus. Other species of "Hordeum" have been experimentally innocultated and exhibited similar symptoms, but this has since been categorized as a different strain of disease called barley mild mosaic virus. When dealing with viruses, it is important to understand that symptoms are not reliable in diagnosing the specific virus. That being said, the signature symptom exhibited by the barley from the virus is a yellowing and mosaic flecking of the youngest leaves that often appears in the winter or early spring. Early on the plant leaves begin to show a pale green color, and over time the changes become more drastic with severe yellowing and mosaic patterns. In addition, leaf curl, stunting, and necrosis can all be observed.
The symptoms are categorized as systemic, due to the spread of the disease throughout the plant. Once the virus enters the plant through the root cells via "Polymyxa graminis" it is able to multiply and spread throughout the plant. The symptoms arise due to the virus's ability to hack into the plant cells' machinery, which disrupts the normal cycle of the plant.
Disease Cycle.
Barley Yellow Mosaic Virus (BaYMV) is a virus, and therefore doesn't divide, produce energy, or have any reproductive structures. The only way BaYMV is able to multiply is by "taking over" host cells and manufacturing more viruses. It is spread through the protist "Polymyxa graminis", so its disease cycle largely depends on that of "P. graminis". "P. graminis" is a soil-borne pathogen, so it is spread by tools, water, animals, and other means of physically moving soil. BaYMV overwinters in the resting spores of "P. graminis", and can survive decades in this state. When "P. graminis" invades the roots of a plant and begins growing in the root cells, the BaYMV is transmitted from protist to barley through zoospores. It then can enter barley plant cells and use the cell machinery to make more virus, thus infecting the plant. The virus does this by using its coat protein to gain access into plant cells, and then taking over cell machinery in the nucleus. It uses the cell machinery to manufacture more virus, and can rapidly reproduce this way. Once a plant is infected, there is no known way to "cure" the plant, so the plant stays infected indefinitely. The virus remains in the resting spores in the soil, and in this way it can infect other plants, overwinter, or be spread via cultivation or harvest (spreading the soil).
BaYMV is known as a systemic plant pathogenic virus, which means it is transmitted throughout the plant via the plant's natural pathways. Once the virus has taken over the cell's machinery and begins copying the virus, it is then able move from cell to cell via movement proteins, which are produced by the virus. The virus continues to travel until it eventually gets into the vascular system, from which it can travel throughout the plant and continue to infect new plant cells.
Environment.
BaYMV is found mainly in Eastern Asia and Western Europe. Common countries to find the virus include Japan, China, Ukraine, Greece, Germany, English, Belgium, and France. It has also recently been discovered in Poland. The conditions which favor the virus are cold winters and mild, wet autumns. This is because factors which are conducive to virus infection are conditions that favor "Polymyxa graminis", the organism that transmits the virus. "Polymyxa graminis" is a protist and thus thrives in wet conditions, so this would favor BaYMV activity. If conditions are dry, infection may occur in lower and wetter regions of a field because the wet conditions will allow the zoospores of "P. graminis" to swim with ease.
Management.
Once a plant is infected with BaYMV, it is infected for the plant's lifetime. When the virus is in the soil, it remains there in the resting spores for years. It can also infect barley roots in autumn, remain there for the winter, and then infect the upper part of the plant in spring through the phloem. We currently do not know of a way to cure a plant with this disease. For this reason, prevention is key when trying to control this disease. Chemical controls, crop rotation, and soil sanitation have all proven rather ineffective at combatting the virus. Resistance is the main way of controlling BaYMV at this time. Researchers have discovered 15 recessive and 3 dominant genes that are resistant to the virus, but none of them are completely resistant. Furthermore, new virulent strains of the virus are constantly emerging. Even when a certain gene provides resistant to one strain, there are oftentimes other strains that it is susceptible to. To further complicate matters, the mechanism of resistance is still unknown. However, since resistance yields the best results at this point, this is the primary measure of control.
Resistant cultivars are sold across Europe and have been used with mild success. A study performed in Japan yielded positive results for resistance to BaYMV when using Kashimamugi, Haruna Nijo, and Haganemugi, which are all barley cultivars. These cultivars yielded no symptoms after inoculation, and it appears specific genes are responsible for resistance.
Importance.
The main problem with the BaYMV, or any cereal virus for that matter, is that it is an important cash crop for a number of different uses. Some examples include animal feed, beer and alcohol production, and a number of other essential items. This valuable resource has suffered tremendous losses due to the barley yellow mosaic virus. Numbers have reached upwards of 50% yield loss in the United Kingdom at times, and up to 80% yield loss in Japan. This would equate to losing 255 million dollars in one year in the UK, and even more in Japan if barley yields remain steady. The most significant problems can be found in Eastern Asia and the United Kingdom.


Adenaria

Adenaria is a monotypic genus of plants in the family Lythraceae containing the single species Adenaria floribunda. Its common names include fruta de pavo. It is native to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and parts of Central and South America.


Cheiridopsis denticulata

Cheiridopsis denticulata is a species in the genus "Cheiridopsis".
"Cheiridopsis denticulata" is native to South Africa and is described as rare. Its flowers are described as yellow.


Guttiferales

Guttiferales is a descriptive botanical name. It was used in the Bentham & Hooker system, the Wettstein system and Bessey system for an order of flowering plants that included the family "Guttiferae". The latter is also a descriptive botanical name and refers to the latex present in these plants.
The order was fairly small in the Bentham & Hooker system:
It was much larger in the Wettstein system:
The difference in composition between these two systems, and the fact that these taxa were scattered over various orders in more recent systems such as the Cronquist system and the APG II system suggests it was never a very good unit in the first place. (Note that Bentham & Hooker's Ternstroemiaceae is equivalent to Wettsteins's Theaceae, and that Wettstein's Guttiferae includes Bentham & Hooker's Hypericaceae.)


Rhynia

Rhynia is a single-species genus of Devonian vascular plants. "Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii" was the sporophyte generation of a vascular, axial, free-sporing diplohaplontic embryophytic land plant of the Lower Devonian that had anatomical features more advanced than those of the bryophytes. "Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii" was a member of a sister group to all other eutracheophytes, including modern vascular plants.
Description.
"Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii" was first described as a new species by Robert Kidston and William H. Lang in 1917. The species is known only from the Rhynie chert in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where it grew in the vicinity of a silica-rich hot spring. "Rhynia" was a vascular plant, and grew in association with other vascular plants such as "Asteroxylon mackei", a probable ancestor of modern clubmosses (Lycopsida), and with pre-vascular plants such as "Aglaophyton major", which is interpreted as basal to true vascular plants.
"Rhynia" is thought to have had deciduous lateral branches, which it used to disperse laterally over the substrate and stands of the plant may therefore have been clonal populations.
Evidence of the gametophyte generation of "Rhynia" has been described in the form of crowded tufts of diminutive stems only a few mm in height, with the form genus name "Remyophyton delicatum". Like those of "Aglaophyton major", "Horneophyton lignieri" and "Nothia aphylla" the gametophytes of "Rhynia" were dioicous, bearing male and female gametangia (antheridia and archegonia) on different axes. A significant finding is that the axes were vascular, unlike almost all of the gametophytes of modern pteridophytes except for that of "Psilotum".
Taxonomy.
Two species of "Rhynia" were initially described by R. Kidston and W. H. Lang from the Rhynie chert bed: "R. gwynne-vaughnii" in 1917, and "R. major" in 1920. "R. gwynne-vaughanii" was named by Kidston and Lang in honour of their former colleague, the botanist Helen Gwynne-Vaughan.
A study of the vascular tissue of the two by David S. Edwards in 1986 lead to the conclusion that the cell structure of "R. major" lacked secondary thickening bars seen in the xylem of "R. gwynne-vaughanii", and was more like the water-conducting system (hydrome) of moss sporophytes. His conclusion was that "R. gwynne-vaughanii" belongs in the vascular plants, while "R. major" belongs among the bryophytes. Accordingly, he transferred it to a new genus as "Aglaophyton", leaving "R. gwynne-vaughnii" as the only species of "Rhynia". "Rhynia" is the type genus for the rhyniophytes, established as the subdivision Rhyniophytina by Banks, but since treated at various ranks.
Phylogeny.
In 2004, Crane et al. published a cladogram for the polysporangiophytes, in which "Rhynia" and the other Rhyniaceae are placed as basal vascular plants (tracheophyes).


Acantholimon karamanicum

Acantholimon karamanicum is a species of flowering plant. It grows on calcareous mountain slopes in Ermenek.


Cytinus visseri

Cytinus visseri, commonly known as the Northern vampire cup, is a holoparasitic flowering plant in the family Cytinaceae. This flower favorably interacts with another plant, "Helichrysum reflexum", that is a woody shrub in South Africa.
Etymology.
This flower was first discovered by Johann Visser but he was unable to name it himself due to his untimely passing. But after recognition of his discovery, the species was officially named after him by Prix Burgoyne.
Distribution.
"Cytinus visseri" is native to South Africa.
This flower is seen in the areas of rocky outcrops in Long Tom Pass in Mpumalanga province, Limpopo province, and Swaziland.
Habitat and ecology.
"Cytinus visseri" is an erect, perennial, and a dioecious species. It lacks a true root system but forms endophytic cells to attach to the host and burst out of the host's primordium bearing red flowers at its tip. They can grow up to 30-120mm high with seed size of 0.2 – 0.4 mm long.
The members of "Cytinus" are not host-specific parasites and are seen to favorably interact with members from the family Asteraceae. However the flower may interact with other woody shrub taxa. "C. visseri" often interacts with "H. reflexum", a plant that belongs to Asteraceae.
When "H. reflexum" is infected, it is rarely seen that more than one "C. visseri" infects the same host plant. They are commonly located under the dense canopy of the host where it synchronizes with the host's flowering period.
Pollination and seed dispersal.
The method of pollination is by using scent cue to lure mammalian ground-dwellers. Due to location, scent cues are more effective in manipulating behaviors in mammalian ground-dwellers. Mammals that assist in pollination are the elephant shrews ("Elephantulus brachyrhynchus"), the striped field mouse ("Rhabdomys pumilio"), and the Pygmy mouse ("Mus minutoides").
The scent is chemically derived into two substances: 1-hexen-3-one and 3-hexaone. The first substance is used primarily to attract the pollinators. The latter is a strong repellant but when both substances are released, the net effect attracts the mammals.
Method of seed dispersal is through mammalian locomotion and fecal disposal. Lizards have also been observed to assist this flower in seed dispersal.


Correa reflexa var. angustifolia

Correa reflexa" var. "angustifolia, commonly known as Grampians correa, is a variety of "Correa reflexa" endemic to Victoria in Australia. It grows to tall. Leaves are up to long and wide and are dark green on the upper surface, while the lower surface is covered with hairs and pale grey. The pendent, tubular flowers are red with yellow-green tips.
The variety was first formally described by Paul G. Wilson in the botanical journal "Nuytsia" in 1998 It occurs in the Grampians region in heathy woodland in high rainfall areas with altitudes ranging from 668 to 824 metres AHD.
The Grampians correa is listed as "Rare in Victoria" on the Department of Sustainability and Environment's "Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria".


Tardigrade specific proteins

Tardigrade specific proteins (TDPs) are specific types of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) that are seen in tardigrades. They are most notably used to help them survive desiccation which makes them very extremotolerant.
Taxonomy.
TDPs are found in the clade Tardigrada and more specifically, the branch called Parachela.
Function.
TDPs are a type of IDP. This means that they have no specific shape unlike traditional folded proteins. There are three families of TDPs. They are each named after where the protein is localized within a cell. These proteins are similar to Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins, except for their specificity to tardigrades. The three families do not resemble each other and are found to be expressed or enriched during desiccation. Unlike traditional proteins, IDPs are not found to precipitate out of solution or denature during high heat.
Discovery of the Cytoplasmic and Secreted Abundant Heat Soluble proteins were found when searching for LEA proteins in tardigrades.
Types.
Cytoplasmic.
Cytoplasmic Abundant Heat Soluble (CAHS) proteins have been seen to be highly expressed in response to desiccation. The oldest theory in the mechanism of CAHS proteins is the vitrification hypothesis in which when the organism dries, the viscosity within the cell would increase so much that denaturation and membrane fusion in proteins would stop. A second theory is the water replacement theory in which the CAHS proteins replaces water in the proteins, protecting the bonds that would normally be affected by the hydrogen in water.
Secreted.
Secreted Abundant Heat Soluble (SAHS) proteins have been noted to be similar to fatty acid binding proteins. They are often secreted into media and often associated with special extracellular structures.
Mitochondrial.
Mitochondrial Abundant Heat Soluble (MAHS) proteins are localized in the mitochondria and are responsible for protecting the mitochondria during desiccation. It is thought that the MAHS proteins act to replace water in the membrane of the mitochondria, preventing uneven rehydration and breaking of the membrane.


Polygala sinisica

Polygala sinisica is a species of plant in the family Polygalaceae. It is endemic to Italy.
Distribution.
"Polygala sinisica" occurs only in Sardinia, along the coast at Capo Mannu, situated just north of Tharros in the Sinis region.
Its natural habitats are in Mediterranean shrubby vegetation and rocky areas.
It is an IUCN Red List Critically Endangered plant species and IUCN Top 50 Campaign Mediterranean Island Plants, threatened by habitat loss.


Arthropteris beckleri

Arthropteris beckleri is a small rainforest fern of the genus "Arthropteris" native to eastern Australia. It is found north of Nowra, usually growing on rocks or from trees in areas of high altitude.


Radula marginata

Radula marginata (Wairuakohu) is a species of plant in genus "Radula", a genus of liverworts. It is endemic to New Zealand. It has been found to contain cannabinoids.
Cannabinoids.
Users smoking the plant have experienced different effects. The cannabinoid is not THC, the main psychoactive chemical in cannabis, but it is of similar molecular structure. The liverwort contains perrottetinene and perrottetinenic acid. The quantity of cannabinoid present is much less than in cannabis. Perrottetinene has been shown to be a moderately potent CB1 agonist leading to mild psychoactive effects in mice.
Legal status.
The liverwort grows as a common weed. Owning, growing and distributing the liverwort is legal.
"Radula marginata" may have been used in rongoā (Māori herbal medicine), but there is no firm evidence of this.


Begonia pavonina

Begonia pavonina, or peacock begonia, is a species of rhizomatous plant in the family Begoniaceae. It is endemic to the dim understory in the montane forests of peninsular Malaysia.


Pittosporum rhytidocarpum

Pittosporum rhytidocarpum is a species of plant in the Pittosporaceae family. It is endemic to Fiji.


Kampochloa brachyphylla


Clematis pauciflora

Clematis pauciflora is a species of clematis known by the common name ropevine. This flowering plant is native to the high desert and chaparral slopes of southern California and Baja California. It is a woody vine with nodes every few centimeters which produce leaves and flowers. The leaves are made up of several dark green lobed leaflets, each one to three centimeters wide. From each leaf-bearing node grows an inflorescence of one to three flowers with narrow petallike sepals in shades of light yellow. Most of the flower is made up of a spray of up to 50 stamens and almost as many similar-looking pistils. The fruit is an achene equipped with a long plume-like style.
The specific epithet "pauciflora" is Latin for 'few-flowered'.


Iridoideae

Iridoideae is one of the two main subfamilies in the popular family Iridaceae. It contains the best-known genus - "Iris". The members of this subfamily are widely distributed worldwide. They grow in all continents except Antarctica.
They produce typical sword-shaped leaves and have mainly corms or rhizomes. There are some exceptions which have bulbs. These are two subgenera of "Iris" - "Xiphium" and "Hermodactyloides".
The blooms, which are often scented, are arranged in often terminal inflorescences. Each flower has six petals. In most cases three of them are separated from the others and are specialized in different functions. However some are not, as in "Nemastylis". Nectar is produced in their base. In some of the species the stamens are partially fused with the petals.
The 3-locular seed capsule contains the seeds which are often circular, flat in some cases drop-like grains coloured black or sometimes orange ("Iris pseudacorus").
The species in the subfamily are often used as ornamental plants such as "Iris" and "Tigridia". There are also species members which are at risk in their natural environment such as some subspecies of "Ferraria crispa" and "Moraea villosa".


Hexalectris colemanii

Hexalectris colemanii, or Coleman's crested coralroot, is a terrestrial, myco-heterotrophic orchid lacking chlorophyll and subsisting entirely on nutrients obtained from mycorrhizal fungi in the soil. It is a very rare species endemic to southern Arizona, known from only three counties (Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz). It is closely related to "H. revoluta" and the two are sometimes considered varieties of the same species.


Canarium pilosum

Canarium pilosum is a tree in the family Burseraceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin meaning "hairy", referring to the soft hairs of the twigs and leaves.
Description.
"Canarium pilosum" grows up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is smooth and pale brown. The oblong fruits measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Canarium pilosum" grows naturally in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Its habitat is lowland to montane forest.


Bamboo palm

Bamboo palm is a plant name applied to certain genera and species of palm trees. They are unrelated to true bamboos.


Miltonia

Miltonia, abbreviated Milt. in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus comprising twelve epiphyte species and eight natural hybrids. The miltonias are exclusively inhabitants of Brazil, except for one species whose range extends from Brazil into the northeast of Argentina and the east of Paraguay.
The genus of "Miltonia" was established by John Lindley in 1837, when he described its type species, "Miltonia spectabilis". Formerly many more species were attributed to "Miltonia", however, beginning in 1978, the miltonias from Central America and from cooler areas of northwest South America have been moved to other genera, including Miltoniopsis and Oncidium, and these changes are still in the process of being accepted by the horticultural trade.
"Miltonia" species have large and long lasting flowers, often in multifloral inflorescences. This fact, allied to being species that are easy to grow and to identify, make them a favorite of orchid collectors all over the world. Species of this genus are extensively used to produce artificial hybrids.
Despite the fact that "Miltonia" is now a well established genus, most of its species were originally classified under other genera as "Cyrtochilum", "Oncidium", "Odontoglossum", and "Brassia". All were discovered between 1834 and 1850 with the exception of "M. kayasimae", discovered only in 1976.
These orchids have two leaves, arising from a pseudobulb, covered with a foliaceous sheath. The inflorescence consists of waxy, nonspurred flowers. The lip is large and flat and lacks a callus at its base. They possess a footless column with two hard pollinia. The flowers have a delicate, exotic scent, some compare to that of roses.
They are named after Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 5th Earl Fitzwilliam, formerly Viscount Milton, an English aristocrat, politician, patron of science and horticulture, and orchid enthusiast.
The species in this genus are sometimes referred to as the pansy orchids, but it is the "Miltoniopsis" orchids that have flowers that closely resemble the pansy. Almost everyone except for the most serious orchid hobbyists use the name pansy orchids interchangeably, which may cause confusion.
"Miltonia" looks more like "Oncidiums" than the other pansy orchids. The most "pansy-like" a "Miltonia" can get is the species "Miltonia spectabilis". Taxonomists are debating whether to combine "Miltonia" with the genus "Oncidium" because of the many connections between the two.
"Miltoniopsis" is the pansy orchid with huge showy flowers. They grow in cooler climates and are more challenging to grow than "Miltonia".
This genus forms with "Miltoniopsis" a hybrid genus ×"Milmiltonia" J.M.H.Shaw.
Distribution.
"Miltonia" species range starts on the area of Missiones in the northeast of Argentina and east of Paraguay and spreads north along the Brazilian mountains of Serra do Mar and its branches up to the State of Pernambuco on Brazilian northeast. They occupy mostly areas between 200 and 1,500 meters of altitude meters, however the majority of the species are more often found about 600 to 900 meters. "Miltonia" species can be found from shady areas inside the forest to areas more exposed to the sun, however never are under full sunlight; usually in ventilated places where they receive plenty humidity during the night and early morning. They are always epiphyte and, because they grow very fast, each pseudobulb originating two new growths every year, they soon form large colonies.
"Miltonia russelliana" and "M. flavescens" are the ones with the widest dispersion and found at lower altitudes. "M. flavescens" is the only species that exists in countries other than Brazil and is also the one that spreads farther north. "M. russelliana" range starts on Rio Grande do Sul and ends at Bahia State. "M. regnellii" is also widespread although does not go northern than Rio de Janeiro. "M. moreliana" is a species more common at lower altitudes and warmer areas existing from Rio to Pernambuco. "Miltonia candida", "M. clowesii" and "M. spectabilis" are restricted to the four states of Region Southeast of Brazil. "Miltonia cuneata" is just from São Paulo and Rio and the one that grow at highest altitudes. "M. kayasimae" is the only species really rare; it has been found just a couple of times in a very restricted area close to Salesópolis, in São Paulo State. The mountains area between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where almost all species do exist may be considered the center of distribution of "Miltonia".
Description.
"Miltonia" are comparatively medium large orchid plants reaching about fifty centimeters height. They present subcaespitous growth, that means their pseudobulbs are not tightly packed but slightly spaced by a rhizome, that is longer than on caespitous plants, with length between two and five centimeters. Their roots grow along the rhizome in high numbers. They are white, comparatively thin, usually short and hardly branched. The rhizome is covered by dried imbricating steaths which get increasingly larger at the base of pseudobulb becoming articulated foliar steaths that partially cover them. The pseudobulbs and leaves vary in color from yellowish bright light green to olive green depending on the species and to the amount of sunlight they are exposed to. They may be more oval and laterally highly flattened to slightly tetragonal and elongated and almost always bear two apical leaves. The leaves are narrow, flexible and hardly larger than three centimeters wide and forty long with the apexes rounded sometimes slightly pointed. Some species are about half of this size. The inflorescences are one or two per pseudobulb, shoot from their bases behind the protecting steaths. They are erect and never branched, often longer than the leaves, bearing from one to twelve moderately spaced flowers that open at the same time or in succession holding three or four opened all the time, when the older fades a new one opens. The older flowers of species with white lips that open in succession usually get yellower about the time the next flower opens although they still last one more week before fading. The first to bloom is "M. cuneata", during late winter, but the majority of species bloom from late spring to late summer.
The flowers of "Miltonia" vary from four to fifteen centimeters across; the larger are the ones with fewer flowers. Their colors vary from entirely white and pink to dark purple, pale yellow or lilac when plain, or they may highly spotted but then usually they are greenish or brownish with a contrasting labellum often white with purple dots, stains or veins close to the base. The petals and sepals shapes are highly variable from species to species but always somewhat similar to each other within a species. They may be erect and flat or sometimes less open. The labellum is simple or very slightly lobed, usually very wide and showy without salient calli although normally showing more or less subtle keeled thickenings close to the base, usually of different colors; it is much larger and wider than the other segments, often flat but in "M. candida" embraces the column and in all species it is slightly fused to the column at their bases. The short column does not have a foot and presents two lateral auricles sometimes merged to each other through a fringe that surrounds the superior edge of the clinandrium. The anther is apical and bears two yellow hard pollinia. They possibly are pollinated by bees.
Taxonomic notes.
The first species to be described, among the ones today classified under the genus "Miltonia", was originally published by John Lindley, in 1834, as "Cyrtochilum flavescens". In this description Lindley notices that the flowers of this species turn orange color when drying and, for some confusion regarding the origin of the species, attributes it to Mexico instead of Brazil. Two years later Lindley described another "Miltonia" species but, then, under the genus "Oncidium", as "O. russellianum" in homage to Duke of Bedford. When describing this plant, Lindley considered it as a "transition species" pointing out that it was very different from the average "Oncidium" because of its purple colors and undivided lip.
In 1837, Lindley received from Mr. Loddiges and from George Baker two other specimens of a very distinctive new species. Recognizing then this should in fact be a new genus, he proposed the name "Miltonia" to it as a homage to Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 5th Earl Fitzwilliam, formerly Viscount Milton, an English orchid enthusiast. Lindley states then that the limits between a number of Oncidiinae genera, "Cyrtochilum", "Oncidium", "Odontoglossum", "Brassia" and "Miltonia", at that time classified as Vandaea, were yet to be perfectly established; although closely related, the differences should possibly be: "Oncidium" has a column with two ears and labellum distinctively lobed; "Miltonia" has a column with two ears and an entire labellum partially united to the column base; "Odontoglossum" and "Cyrtochilum" have winged columns and entire labelli but the former has it partially united to the column; and "Brassia" does not have any appendages on the column. Although Lindley described the genus "Aspasia" (which is the most closely related to "Miltonia") in 1833, both by flower and vegetative morphologies, he did not mention it on his "Miltonia" description.
Three other Botanists were working with "Miltonia" species around the time Lindley described this genus. All recognized these plants should be classified under a new genus and, as communications were slower then, all proposed new genera: Knowles and Westcott also received also a plant of "M. spectabilis" and, just one month after Lindley, proposed for it the genus "Macrochilus", calling the species "Macrochilus fryanus"; the other one was Rafinescque who, in 1838, decided that the "Oncidium russellianum" already described by Lindley in 1836 should be under another genus and created for it the genus "Gynizodon". Both "Macrochilus" and "Gynizodon" are synonyms of "Miltonia" and no other species has ever been submitted to them.
As "Miltonia" species are common plants, comparatively large, with also large flowers of bright colors, that, moreover, are spread mostly over an area of early settlements in Brazil all species but one were already described in 1850; six of them by Lindley, "M. regnellii" by Reichenbach and "M. moreliana" by Achille Richard. Despite the early description of "M. moreliana" in 1848, and two other as "M. rosea" by Lemaire in 1867, and as "M. warneri" by George Nicholson in 1886, Arthur Henfrey reduced it to a variety of "Miltonia spectabilis" in 1851, and as such it was considered until 2002, when Cássio van den Berg reestablished it as a distinct species. The last "Miltonia" species to be discovered was "M. kayasimae", found by an orchid collector not far from the city of São Paulo, in an area around nine hundred meters of altitude nearby the top of Serra do Mar mountains. It was named after their collector by Guido Pabst in 1976. So far very few plants were found, all living at the same area.
Since the genus "Miltonia" was established, many species, now classified under a number other genera, were submitted to it. The most noticeable cases were four of the five species of "Miltoniopsis", a genus proposed in 1889 but only really accepted in 1976. Despite its somewhat similar flowers, "Miltoniopsis" are from cooler forests on the Andean slopes closely related to "Cyrtochilum" and only remotely related to "Miltonia". Also five of the six "Miltonioides" species were occasionally considered as "Miltonia" until 1983 when Brieger and Lückel proposed this genus for them. These are species of more delicate and narrower flowers, from Mexico and Central America, which some taxonomists claim might be better classified under the genus "Oncidium" to whom they are closely related. The last common species which was occasionally classified under "Miltonia" is "Chamaeleorchis warszewiczii", which is related to "Oncidium" and some taxonomists identify as "Oncidium fuscatum".
In 1983, Brieger and Lueckel, considering that four species of "Miltonia", "M. candida", "M. cuneata", "M. kayasimae" and "M. russelliana", show the junction of the labellum with the column in a different angle than the other species, proposed the genus "Anneliesia" for them. Although this four species form a small sister clade to the rest of "Miltonia" species, the difference did not seem important enough to justify the acceptance of this new genus, therefore this proposal has not been generally accepted by the scientific community.
In 2001, based on molecular analysis, Norris Williams and Mark Chase, transferred a species previously classified under the genus "Oncidium", as "O. phymatochilum", to "Miltonia". As this species shows a morphology that closer to "Oncidium" species than to "Miltonia", because of its small yellowish flowers and highly branched inflorescence, this result and following transfer was a great surprise to most taxonomists. In 2005, Eric Christenson suggested a new genus and the name "Phymatochilum brasiliense" for it. There is no consensus about the name to be generally accepted as yet.
Molecular analysis show that "Miltonia" most closely related genus is "Phymatochilum" and then "Aspasia", "Brassia" and "Ada", which are the most important genera included in this that is one of the eight clades that form the subtribus Oncidiinae of tribus Cymbidieae.
Species.
The species of "Miltonia" show many differences to each other are very easy to identify, therefore, just the most evident differences are mentioned here; more details are given on individual species articles. The species are presented here according to their morphology and this order keeps no correspondence with phylogenetic relationships.
Regarding vegetative morphology "Miltonia moreliana" and "Miltonia spectabilis" can be immediately separated from the rest because their much flatter pseudobulbs, longer rhizome and inflorescences completely covered by flattened bracts that bear only one highly flat flower. These are the species with largest flowers in the genus. They are closely related and usually are recognized because the flowers of "M. moreliana" usually have dark purple petals and sepals and the lip of a lighter bright purple while "M. spectabilis" has very light purple or white petals and sepals and a purple veined labellum, however, the real technical difference among the species is on the proportions of their segments which are much wider. Despite colors are often mentioned to identify species they are not accepted by taxonomy as enough to establish distinct species by themselves. All other "Miltonia" species have similar vegetative appearance and only can be positively identified by their flowers.
Three species are unique: "Miltonia flavescens" has the most narrow flowers, almost star shaped, with all segments of straw color with some purple bots on the base of petals and sepals which are more intense on the labellum almost forming stripes; "Miltonia candida" is the only species with a labellum that embraces the column in a way that reminds the "Cattleya" species; "Miltonia russelliana" is the less showy of "Miltonia" species because its sepals and petals do not really open, being always bent over the column, revealing only the lighter tip of its purple labellum.
"Miltonia regnellii" shows the widest flower color variation among all "Miltonia" species; they can vary from white to yellow, pink and lilac with labelli also varying from white to dark purple. The flowers open in succession and slightly resemble the ones of "M. spectabilis" although much smaller. They actually are the "Miltonia" species with the smallest flowers.
"Miltonia kayasimae" and "Miltonia cuneata" are somewhat similar and possibly are closely related, both have straw color petals and sepals almost entirely covered by large brown stains and white labelli, however, they show different proportions on the flowers segments. "M. kayasimae" has much wider petals and sepals and smaller labellum which, moreover, has a larger and more salient and complex entirely purple callus on its base which is delicate, more straight and simple, and just occasionally purple dotted on its apex on "M. cuneata".
"Miltonia clowesii" has the same color pattern of "M. russelliana" with light yellow greenish brown sepals and petals completely covered with large darker dots or stains and labellum of bright purple at the base and lighter apex, however here they are whiter. On the other hand, "M. clowesii" flowers' pointed segments are larger and wide opened making it resemble a spider.
Natural hybrids.
Considering its limited number of species, it is surprising that eight natural hybrids of "Miltonia" are currently known, a number that almost equals the number of species and also implies that the most important pollinator of the majority of the species possibly is the same. As the crossing of two species uses to produce variable plants most of these hybrids have been described more than once and some have three or four synonyms.
"M. spectabilis" is the species which has produced the largest number of hybrids, five: "Miltonia × bluntii" when crossed with "M. clowesii", "Miltonia × cogniauxiae" with "M. regnellii", "Miltonia × flava" with "M. flavescens", "Miltonia × leucoglossa" with "M. candida" and "Miltonia × rosina" with "M. cuneata", furthermore it is possible there is also one with "M. moreliana", which has not yet been described because "M. moreliana" itself was earlier considered a variety of "M. spectabilis".
"M. candida", besides the hybrid already mentioned with "M. spectabilis", also produced two others: "Miltonia × binotii" with "M. regnellii" and "Miltonia × lamarckeana" with "M. clowesii". The remaining hybrid, "Miltonia × peetersiana" was previously considered a synonym of "M. × bluntii" but because "M. moreliana" is now a species distinct from "M. spectabilis" it is its hybrid with "M. clowesii", which has entirely purple flowers instead the one with light brown petals and sepals.
Cultivation.
Despite being easy to grow, "Miltonia" species tend to be subject to spots on their thin leaves, generally caused by fungi proliferation and normally, when exposed to the amount of light they need to a full bloom, their foliage gets a bit too yellow-colored, although they should never be exposed to full sunlight. Finding the right balance of light exposure to avoid yellow leaves but still produce nice blooming is important and with some precautions the grower will succeed. They are not terribly sensitive to temperature, but they do vary according to their species make-up and origin; "M. cuneata" being one that grows cooler and "M. moreliana" the warmer growing, but all species under intermediate temperature with at least 10 °C of variation between day and night. Despite the fact that they exhibit a rest period after blooming, "Miltonia" always need to be watered, and more abundantly during active growth and blooming. they need at least 65% relative humidity and good ventilation all the time. Moderate weekly fertilizing with a balanced formula is beneficial during active growth. They may be potted in a compost of half-chopped Sphagnum, peat, and some medium-sized lumps of charcoal, or mounted on plaques of vegetable fiber, however if mounted they will need more frequent waterings.
Intergeneric hybrids.
Hybrids between "Miltonia" and orchids from other genera are placed in the following nothogenera:


Tropical Andes

The Tropical Andes is northern of the three climate-delineated parts of the Andes, the others being the Dry Andes and the Wet Andes. The Tropical Andes' area spans .
Geography and Ecology.
The Tropical Andes are located in South America following the path of the Andes. They run, mainly, through five countries, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The land initially was roughly but has decreased to , leaving 25% of the original land. Due to the massive amount of area the landscape is diverse. Diverse landscapes lead to diverse habitats and the ability to provide needed resources for many species. The diverse landscape includes snow-topped mountains down to canyons and valleys. The different vegetation as altitude changes includes tropical rainforests at , cloud forests ranging from , and the highest altitudes of contain grasslands up to snow. The most diverse cloud forests found in Peru and Bolivia covers . Dry forests and woodlands are also found throughout the Tropical Andes. The range is also home to the deepest gorge in Peru at deep and Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable water with an altitude of .
Biodiversity.
The Tropical Andes are a biodiversity hotspot named the "global epicentre of biodiversity" according to the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund.
The Tropical Andes is an area of rich biodiversity. This location contains about 45,000 plant species of which 20,000 are endemic. There are over 3,000 vertebrate species with about 1,500 endemics. Besides plants and vertebrates, 1,666 bird species, 479 reptile species, and 830 amphibian species reside in the Tropical Andes. All hotspots are important for conservation biology, but especially the tropical Andes with so many endemic species. The biodiversity within the Tropical Andes is dwindling in numbers due to threats.
The diversity between vegetation throughout altitudes was further studied in Colombia. Chengyu Weng studied how pollen diversity is affected by different temperatures due to changing altitudes. The team studied different vegetations, the subandean forest, Andean forest, subparamo and grassparamo located in the Andes. There was more plant diversity as altitude increased throughout the vegetations. Pollen diversity positively correlated with more diversity at lower altitudes. With these findings, they were able to see changes in plant diversity in the past 430000 years. During hot temperatures, pollen diversity increased at higher altitudes, from plant species moving up. Cooler temperatures saw pollen diversity in lower altitudes. The study explains how temperature influences plant diversity.
Ecoregions.
The ecoregions in the hotspot include:
Hotspots.
A hotspot can be identified as an area with great biological diversity with high endemism. The location must also have lost a significant amount of land and threatened species, according to the fourth edition of the "Essentials of Conservation Biology". The term "hotspots" was used by Norman Myers written to describe ten tropical forests. The forests contained the characteristics of high levels of plant endemism and loss of habitats. Myers went on to add eight more hotspots by 1990. The Conservation International reassessed Myers definition of a hotspot and by 1999 criteria for a hotspot developed to be used globally. A hotspot needs 1,500 endemic vascular plant species and a loss of at least 70 percent of its original land. With these criteria, 25 hotspots were identified in 1999 and published in the journal "Nature". They contained at least 44 percent of earth's endemics plants and 35 percent of land vertebrates. The combined area between the 25 hotspots used to cover 11.8 percent of land. The total amount of land has reduced from 17 million km2 to 2 million km2, or about 85% of the land. This leaves this great biodiversity limited to about 1 percent of Earth's land surface.
Research.
There are a little over 30 hotspots now recorded and used for research. A few other hotspots include the Caribbean Islands, Himalaya, and Japan. Due to a hotspot's great diversity and endemic species, conservation biology and many other sources conduct research in these locations. Research is also needed considering the amount of threatened species in hotspots. Researchers have the opportunity to preserve many species along with their habitats within hotspots. Some organizations that use hotspots for research are World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Birdlife International, Conservation International, and World Wildlife Fund. Research is also done on humans' impact to the hotspots land and species that reside in them. Funding for hotspot conservation has been estimated at $750 million accumulated over the past fifteen years. By focusing research on hotspots, many species can be helped at once.
One specific research studies fire's impact on vegetation in Northern Ecuador of the Tropical Andes. This location's variety of vegetation includes different forests, land used for agricultural and páramo, or tropical alpine found at 4,500 meters. Páramo is dominated by grasses but still high in diversity. The article "Fire Ecology and Conservation in the High Tropical Andes: Observations from Northern Ecuador" looks at páramo's ability to withstand disturbances such as fire. Humans have lived in this location for 7,000 years, and the páramo has been through fires and grazing. The writer believes that policies used to implement fire suppression are not probable or beneficiary to the plant. Policies instead should be written up according to specific plant species and impact on natives living there. This is a small example of research in the Tropical Andes that could make a big impact to saving diversity.
Further research is also processed on looking into the decrease in avian populations, focusing in hotspots due to its massive diversity. The study focuses in Endemic Bird Areas or EBAs in order to understand why they become extinct and possible conservation plans. there were 218 EBAs, with over 30 percent of bird species threatened. EBAs located in hotspots interfere with many human activities, leading to habitat loss in 51 percent of EBAs. According to the article's chart, five EBAs with habitat loss are located in the Tropical Andes. By studying the effect of human activities on EBAs that are losing avian populations, plans to help the future of other EBAs are possible. Their results showed that if a species has habitat specificity and is large in size, the chance of extinction increases. Habitat loss will impact those with habitat specificity greatly. Conservation goals need to look into human activities and the bird's habitat specificity in order to make a positive impact.
An example of research on a specific threatened species in the Tropical Andes is the rare "Tremarctos ornatus", also known as Andean (or spectacled) bears. Two males were captured, and radio collars were attached in order to track and study their habits and movement. They portrayed similar patterns compared to many other bear species. These findings contrasted with the belief of spectacled bears being nocturnal and no change in patterns between seasons because only slight change in temperature. The radio collars proved these spectacled bears to be diurnal. The bears were in motion from sunrise to sunset with periods of rest in between. There was a small change in level of activity between seasons, with an increase during the dry season. Due to the technology of radio collars, hypotheses about these bears were tested. By knowing their habitat and lifestyle, we can better understand and help threatened species.
Rich diversity.
The Tropical Andes is said to be the most diverse of the world's scientific hotspots of diversity. The journal "Nature" contained an article by Norman Myers comparing the 25 hotspots with land and species in 2000. At the time, the Tropical Andes was recorded to have 45,000 plant species with the next closest hotspots recorded to have 25,000 plant species. Actually a sixth of all plant species can reside in the Tropical Andes. The Tropical Andes also has the most endemic plant species at 20,000, while the next hotspot contains 15,000. The Tropical Andes has a lot of land compared to other hotspots, but is not the largest. That the large land area shows the Tropical Andes can provide for biodiversity with diverse landscape.
Many endemic plant and animal species are currently threatened in the Tropical Andes. An example of a threatened plant species is the Andean bromelilad, an endemic plant that takes up to 100 years to mature and a common diet for species that forage. Other plants species include many crops such as tobacco and potatoes. Some endemic animals include the Andean condor, which almost became extinct from hunting. Thanks to a conservation reintroduction program, their numbers are growing. Another threatened endemic bird in the Tropical Andes is the yellow-eared parrot. One threat this species faces is the loss of the vulnerable wax palm. The yellow-eared parrot uses the wax palm for nesting and roosting. However, humans, especially in Colombia, are removing the vulnerable wax palm from the wild for Palm Sunday. Some conservation programs are helping the situation to educate churches to use other resources besides the vulnerable wax palm. The yellow tailed monkey is another endemic animal being endangered. They are one of the rarest mammals, with a recorded population of 250 found in the cloud forests of Peru. They are threatened by humans causing habitat loss and fragmentation of their habitat. Their slow maturity and low population densities do not help. Programs have tried to relocate them to secondary forests, but attempts have failed. Many species reside in the Tropical Andes but are threatened severely.
Habitat degradation threats.
There are many threats that the Tropical Andes faces every day. One of the main threats is human activities, especially with increasing population. Some activities include mining, logging, and construction. Humans also use land for agriculture and keep relocating once the land is used up. Valleys are severely degraded due to humans living there. Hydroelectric dams have also been put in the Tropical Andes and negatively pressured cloud forests. The 25 percent of land that is protected is still poorly managed with little help from the public from lack of education. Invasive species have also been a threat to the Tropical Andes' land and species, possibly brought in by humans. Invasive species include the American bullfrog and certain grasses used for cattle.
Humans have the ability to cause habitat loss and habitat fragmentation for species. The forest habitats that are threatened in the Tropical Andes are modified and destroyed 30 percent faster than lower tropical areas. Fragmentation causes a separation within species and decreases the diversity of genes. There is the possibility of inbreeding to increase as well. An article also looked at fragmentation causing certain phenotypes to arise in organisms. By studying feathers of 2,500 individual bird species within nine forests, observation showed asymmetry linked with fragmentation. Asymmetry was lowest if the forest continued and highest with small or medium fragmentation. They suggest asymmetry of bird feathers influenced by the stress of fragmentation and changing environments. That is one outcome from fragmentation in the Tropical Andes.
A study by Niall O'Dea looks at bird communities in general and how habitat degradation impacts them. He compared the bird communities that reside in primary forests, secondary forests, edge habitat and agricultural land, all modified by humans. Most diversity was found in secondary forests and edge habitats but different species. The agricultural land and primary forest held the lowest diversity. This study suggests that within Andean montane forests, preserving secondary forests offers most benefit for these threatened birds.
Another serious threat to the Tropical Andes is global warming, the effect of too much of greenhouse gasses trapped in the air that hold in heat. Some locations are increasing in temperature and others decreasing. The change in temperatures has a major effect on the Tropical Andes; some say that this is more negative than deforestation. One serious issue is the melting of the glaciers in the mountains. It is estimated that 80 percent of freshwater comes from mountains and with them melting about half of the Earth's population will be affected. All over the world glaciers are melting, but the mountains in the Tropical Andes are very susceptible. It is said that a quarter of the Tropical Andes glacier has already begun retreating. These glaciers make up many species water supply, and the location could be in crisis if they melt away. Glaciers in the Andes provide two main functions; decrease seasonal discharge variability and provide greater specific discharge. The article by Bryan Mark predicts an increase in discharge as glaciers melt, with the ability to trace glacier water melting into watersheds using isotopes. Global warming can lead to the extinction of many species, especially in hotspots. A study done by Jay Malcolm predicts that less than 1 percent up to 43 percent of endemic biota will become extinct due to global warming. He also believes the Tropical Andes is in the top six vulnerable hotspots, with the possibility of plant extinction exceeding 2000 species.
Global warming is also causing an increase in diseases among amphibians. Considering that the Tropical Andes is recorded to have the most amphibians, some restricted to this location, diseases could decrease the diversity greatly. Another factor is that 400 of the amphibian species are already threatened. These deadly fungi have actually been linked to the extinction of dinosaurs. One chytrid fungus that is infecting amphibians is the batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus will impair the amphibian's skin and reduce its ability to absorb. One example of an amphibian in the Tropical Andes is the genus "Atelopus", with 56 of the species Critically Endangered. Due to increase in temperature, the fungus has the ability to spread rapidly and thrive on living amphibians.
A new threat that is being researched is the effect from nitrogen deposition. Studies done in Europe have shown diversity among plants decreased due to nitrogen deposition. Current models are estimating what could happen to hotspots across the world if nitrogen deposition keeps increasing. By comparing to past research, nitrogen deposition has already increased 50 percent since the 1990s. The estimation for the future shows an increase by 100 percent in 2050. Considering the great plant diversity in the Tropical Andes, especially so many endemics, nitrogen deposition could be a severe threat. The decrease in plant diversity could cause a chain reaction on other species that depend on the plants.
These are just few threats the Tropical Andes faces on a daily basis. The impact on the land is shown by a 75 percent decrease from its original mass. Species affected are decreasing in numbers, and the number of species listed on the Endangered Species Act is increasing. The situation is worse when threatened species are endemic to the Tropical Andes. 14 endemic mammals and 110 endemic birds are threatened in the Tropical Andes. Two species from the Tropical Andes have already become extinct.


Cladocephalus

Cladocephalus is a genus of green algae in the family Dichotomosiphonaceae.


Eulaema

Eulaema is a genus of large-bodied euglossine bees that occur primarily in the Neotropics. They are robust brown or black bees, hairy or velvety, and often striped with yellow or orange, typically resembling bumblebees. They lack metallic coloration as occurs in the related genus "Eufriesea".
Distribution.
"Eulaema" is found from Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), Misiones (Argentina) and Paraguay to northern Mexico with occasional strays into the United States.


Stipa capensis

Stipa capensis, the Mediterranean needle-grass, cape rice grass, Mediterranean steppegrass or twisted-awned speargrass, is an annual grass from family Poaceae.
It is normally found in the Persian Gulf desert ad semi-desert biome. In Persian it is called bahman and is probably the same plant which was used in the Persian festivity of bahmanagān.


Horikawaella

Horikawaella is a genus of liverworts belonging to the family Jungermanniaceae.
Species:


Spirodela

Spirodela is a genus of aquatic plants, one of several genera containing plants commonly called duckweed. "Spirodela" species are members of the Araceae under the APG II system. They were formerly members of the Lemnaceae.
"Spirodela" species are free-floating thalli; two to five plants may remain connected to each other. Plants are green, but may have a red or brown underside. Multiple roots (seven to 12) emerge from each thallus. "Spirodela" is larger () than "Lemna" ( – , one root per thallus).
Certain species of "Spirodela" overwinter as turions, a dormant form that lacks air pockets, so sinks to the bottom of the pond. In spring, turions rise to the surface and germinate to start a new population.
"Spirodela" often forms floating mats with related species, e.g. "Lemna" and "Wolffia".
The genus is virtually cosmopolitan in distribution. "Spirodela punctata" is sometimes treated as "Landoltia punctata".


Notogrammitis heterophylla

Notogrammitis heterophylla is a species of fern within the family polypodiaceae ferns. The species is found in New Zealand, Tasmania and Victoria, Australia. This plant is epiphytic In New Zealand's Westland "N. heterophylla" occurs in association with other epiphytes such as "Asplenium polyodon" and "Trichomanes reniforme".


Selenipedium

Selenipedium is a genus of the Orchid family ("Orchidaceae") (Subfamily "Cypripedioideae"). The genus has been given its own tribe, Selenipedieae, and subtribe, Selenipediinae. It is abbreviated Sel in trade journals.
The name of the genus is derived from the Greek "selen", which means "moon", and "pedium", which means "slipper" (referring to the pouch).
The seed capsules of these Central and South American lady's slipper orchids were formerly used as vanilla substitutes, but selenipediums are now rarely cultivated. Partly this is because of the difficulty of doing so, but is probably also due to the relatively small size of the Selenipedium's flower. The wild flower's Amazonian habitat is also under threat, so extinction is a risk for all species of Selenipedium.
Accepted species include:
Allied genera include "Paphiopedilum", "Mexipedium", "Cypripedium" and "Phragmipedium" - a genus containing several species formerly known as "Selenipedium", such as "Selenipedium caricinum" (now "Phragmipedium caricinum"), and "Selenipedium laevigatum" (now "Paphiopedilum philippinense").


British NVC community OV8

British NVC community OV8 ("Veronica persica" - "Alopecurus myosuroides" community) is one of the open habitat communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of eight arable weed and wasteland communities of fertile loams and clays.
This community is essentially the same as the Alopecuro-Chamomilletum recutitae assemblage of Wasscher 1941, though the latter is now usually treated as part of the "Veronico - Lamietum hybridi" assemblage.
It is a widespread community. There are no subcommunities.
Community composition.
The following constant species are found in this community:
There are no rare species associated with the community.
Distribution.
This is a weed community that is associated with winter-sown arable crops on heavy loams and clays. Its distribution is dictated by the range of "Alopecurus myosuroides" which, in Britain, is common only in the south-east Midlands and East Anglia, and locally as far west as Dorset.


Alsophila esmeraldensis

Alsophila esmeraldensis is a species of tree fern which is endemic to Ecuador. It grows in coastal forest and forested slopes of the Andes.
Description.
The erect, slender trunk is about 80 cm tall and approximately 3 cm in diameter. Fronds may be either simply pinnate or bipinnate basally. They are erect or spreading and up to 2.5 m long. The rachis ranges in colour from dark brown to blackish and bears a few scales. The scales are linear, bicoloured (whitish with a central brown region) and with edges and apexes with dark setae. Sori are covered by cup-like indusia. "Alsophila esmeraldensis" forms part of the group centered on "Alsophila minor".


Alsophila woodwardioides

Alsophila woodwardioides is a species of tree fern native to Jamaica, Cuba and Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic).


Asteropeia multiflora

Asteropeia multiflora is a plant species in the Asteropeiaceae family. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitat is sandy shores. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Oxalis dillenii

Oxalis dillenii, also the southern wood-sorrel and slender yellow woodsorrel, is part of the wood-sorrel family Oxalidaceae, in the genus "Oxalis". Like other "Oxalis" species, the leaves of this plant resemble clover leaves, with three leaflets. Flowers have five yellow petals that are in length. Leaflets are wide with pointed hairs. Fruits are rather brown and . It is often considered a weed, and can be found worldwide, but likely originated in North America.


Rachis

In biology, a rachis (from the (), "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft" .
In zoology and microbiology.
In vertebrates, "rachis" can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the "rachis" usually forms the supporting axis of the body and is then called the spine or vertebral column. "Rachis" can also mean the central shaft of pennaceous feathers.
In the gonad of the invertebrate nematode "C. elegans", a rachis is the central cell-free core or axis of the gonadal arm of both adult males and hermaphrodites where the germ cells have achieved pachytene and are attached to the walls of the gonadal tube. The rachis is filled with cytoplasm.
In botany.
In plants, a rachis is the main axis of a compound structure. It can be the main stem of a compound leaf, such as in "Acacia" or ferns, or the main, flower-bearing portion of an inflorescence above a supporting peduncle. Where it subdivides into further branches, these are known as rachilla (plural rachillae).
A ripe head of wild-type wheat is easily shattered into dispersal units when touched or blown by the wind. A series of abscission layers forms that divides the rachis into dispersal units consisting of a small group of flowers (a single spikelet) attached to a short segment of the rachis. This is significant in the history of agriculture, and referred to by archaeologists as a "brittle rachis", one type of shattering in crop plants.


Cyperus eragrostis

Cyperus eragrostis is a species of sedge known by several common names, including tall flatsedge, nutgrass, tall nutgrass, umbrella sedge, chufa, Earth almond, zula nuts, edible galingale and pale galingale.
Distribution.
This species is native to the West Coast of North America from California to Washington, the Southeastern United States, Jamaica, and South America. It has become naturalized elsewhere in some regions in the northeastern and southeastern U.S., Europe, South Africa, and various oceanic islands (Azores, Canary Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Norfolk Island, Easter Island, etc.). It can become a weed where it is introduced; it has been known to infest rice fields.
It is found in riparian areas, roadsides ditches, damp grasslands, and other moist habitats.
Description.
"Cyperus eragrostis" is an herbaceous perennial growing from rhizomes. It is a green sedge with tall, erect stems, in height. Long, thin, pointed leaves radiate from the top, similar to parasol ribs.
Its flowers are found within tough, rounded, greenish-yellow or beige spikelets. Fruiting is in the summer.


Phalaenopsis cacharensis

Phalaenopsis cacharensis is a rare orchid native to Cachar, Assam which has only one plant ever recorded. The single plant was discovered by of the Botanical Survey of India while doing field work in the Borail Wildlife Sanctuary. The specific epithet, "cacharensis" refers to the district where it was found.
Description.
"Phalaenopsis cacharensis" is a monopodial epiphyte with mid-green leaves that are 19.0–21.0 cm × 3.0–4.3 cm, with a sheathing base that is 1.0–1.2 cm long. The flowers are red-purple, 1.7 cm in diameter, held on inflorescences that are 35–38 cm long, with branches holding 30-70 flowers.
Habitat.
The only specimen was found growing on the trunk of "Duabanga grandiflora" at 130 m elevation in wet evergreen lowland forest. The plant is critically endangered, with the plant threatened by local slash and burn farming and tree cutting.


Sarcotheca glomerula

Sarcotheca glomerula is a species of plant in the family Oxalidaceae. It is endemic to Peninsular Malaysia.


Pyrrosia eleagnifolia

Pyrrosia eleagnifolia, commonly known as the leather-leaf fern, or ota in Māori, is a climbing fern endemic to New Zealand. "P. eleagnifolia" has thick, fleshy rounded leaves, and grows both on the ground and as an epiphyte.
Name.
This species was originally confused with "Pyrrosia serpens", a Pacific species. The name "eleagnifolia" refers to the leaf appearance, and comes from "elaeagnus" (olive) and "folium" (leaf).
Description.
Leather-leaf fern has thick, undivided fronds that are rounded and extremely variable in length – they can be long and thin, up to 20 cm in length, or short and broad (2 cm, rarely 3 cm wide). The fronds grow on long creeping rhizomes. Sterile fronds are generally shorter and broader than fertile ones. The fronds are thick and leathery, smooth and rounded, with blunt ends. They are dark green above and abundantly covered with light-brown irregularly-branched hairs underneath.
Distribution.
"P. eleagnifolia" is found throughout New Zealand, from the Kermadecs through to Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands. It is a very adaptable and durable species, able to tolerate dry conditions, and grows either as an epiphyte on trees (native or introduced) or on rocks, from the coast to the mountains. It is less common in the south of New Zealand, especially in Central Otago.
Ecology.
Pests and diseases.
Larvae from several moth species have been observed feeding on the leaves and sori of "P. eleagnifolia". These include "Sarisa muriferata", "Calicotis crucifera", "Philocryptica polypodii", "Apoctena taipana", "Eudonia zophochlaena", "Scoparia illota" and "Scoparia molifera".


Blechnum occidentale

Blechnum occidentale is a fern in the family Blechnaceae. Its native range is from Mexico through Central America and the Caribbean to tropical South America.
"Blechnum scaberulum" and "Blechnum sodiroi" have been regarded as separate species, but are now regarded as synonyms of "Blechnum occidentale".


Picea rubens

Picea rubens, commonly known as red spruce, is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec and Nova Scotia, west to the Adirondack Mountains and south through New England along the Appalachians to western North Carolina. This species is also known as yellow spruce, West Virginia spruce, eastern spruce, and he-balsam.
Description.
Red spruce is a perennial, shade-tolerant, late successional coniferous tree that under optimal conditions grows to tall with a trunk diameter of about , though exceptional specimens can reach tall and in diameter. It has a narrow conical crown. The leaves are needle-like, yellow-green, long, four-sided, curved, with a sharp point, and extend from all sides of the twig. The bark is gray-brown on the surface and red-brown on the inside, thin, and scaly. The wood is light, soft, has narrow rings, and has a slight red tinge. The cones are cylindrical, long, with a glossy red-brown color and stiff scales. The cones hang down from branches.
Habitat.
Red spruce grows at a slow to moderate rate, lives for 250 to 450+ years, and is very shade-tolerant when young. It is often found in pure stands or forests mixed with eastern white pine, balsam fir, or black spruce. Along with Fraser fir, red spruce is one of two primary tree types in the southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest, a distinct ecosystem found only in the highest elevations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Its habitat is moist but well-drained sandy loam, often at high altitudes. Red spruce can be easily damaged by windthrow and acid rain.
Notable red spruce forests can be seen at Gaudineer Scenic Area, a virgin red spruce forest located in West Virginia, the Canaan Valley, Roaring Plains West Wilderness, Dolly Sods Wilderness, Spruce Mountain and Spruce Knob all also in West Virginia and all sites of former extensive red spruce forest. Some areas of this forest, particularly in Roaring Plains West Wilderness, Dolly Sods Wilderness as well as areas of Spruce Mountain are making a rather substantial recovery.
Related species.
It is closely related to black spruce, and hybrids between the two are frequent where their ranges meet. Genetic data suggests that the red spruce peripatrically speciated from the black spruce during the Pleistocene due to glaciation.
Uses.
Red spruce is used for Christmas trees and is an important wood used in making paper pulp. It is also an excellent tonewood, and is used in many higher-end acoustic guitars and violins, as well as musical soundboard. The sap can be used to make spruce gum. Leafy red spruce twigs are boiled with sugar and flavoring to make spruce beer. Also it can be made into spruce pudding. It can also be used as construction lumber and is good for millwork and for crates.
Red spruce is the provincial tree of Nova Scotia.
Damaging factors.
Like most trees, red spruce is subject to insect parasitism. Their insect enemy is the spruce budworm, although it is a bigger problem for white spruce and balsam fir. Other issues that have been damaging red spruce has been the increase in acid rain and current climate change.
One of the consequences of acid rain deposition is the decrease of soil exchangeable calcium and increase of aluminum.  This is because acid precipitation disrupts cation and nutrition cycling in forest ecosystems. Components of acid rain such as H+, NO3−, and SO42- limit the uptake of calcium by trees and can increase aluminum availability.
Calcium concentration is important for red spruce for physiological processes such as dark respiration and cold tolerance, as well as disease resistance, signal transduction, membrane and cell wall synthesis and function, and regulation of stomata. Conversely, dissolved aluminum can be toxic or can interfere with root uptake of calcium and other nutrients. At the ecosystem and community levels, Calcium availability is associated with community composition, mature tree growth, and ecosystem productivity. One study testing the effects of added aluminum to soil, found that "P. rubens" mortality rate increased under these conditions.
During the 1980s, increased acid deposition contributed to a loss of high-elevation red spruce trees, due to leached calcium and decreased freezing tolerance. Additionally, the structure of the spruce needle enhances the capture of water and particles, which has been shown to add to soil acidification, nutrient leaching, and forest decline.
However, more recently, reductions in acid deposition have contributed to red spruce resurgence in some mountain areas in the northeastern United States. This increase in red spruce growth has been associated with an increase in rainfall pH, which reduces bulk acidic deposition. This suggests that policies aiming to reduce atmospheric pollution in this area have been effective, although other species sensitive to soil acidification, such as sugar maple, are still continuing to decline.
Conservation.
The Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI) seeks to unite diverse partners with the goal of restoring historic red spruce ecosystems across the high-elevation landscapes of central Appalachians. The partners that make up this diverse group are Appalachian Mountain Joint Venture, Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The Mountain Institute, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, West Virginia Division of Forestry, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, West Virginia State Parks, and West Virginia University.
Prior to the late 1800s, of red spruce were in West Virginia. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a vast amount of logging began in the state and the number of red spruce dwindled to . Silviculture is being used to help restore the population of the lost red spruce.
Significant efforts have been made to increase the growth of red spruce trees in western North Carolina. Most notably by Molly Tartt on behalf of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Tartt, a resident of Brevard North Carolina, embarked on a mission to find the lost red spruce Pisgah Forest that had been planted by the DAR as a memorial to the lives lost during the American Revolution. The forest, consisting of 50,000 trees was dedicated in 1940 and had until recently been forgotten until Tartt located and identified the forest.


Hypodontium

Hypodontium is a genus of haplolepideous mosses (Dicranidae) in the monotypic family Hypodontiaceae.


Bauhinia acuminata

Bauhinia acuminata is a species of flowering shrub native to tropical southeastern Asia. Common names include dwarf white bauhinia, white orchid-tree and snowy orchid-tree. The exact native range is obscure due to extensive cultivation, but probably from Myanmar (Burma), Malaysia, Indonesia (Java, Borneo, Kalimantan, Lesser Sunda Islands), and the Philippines.
It grows two to three meters tall. Like the other "Bauhinia" species, the leaves are bilobed, shaped like an ox hoof; they are long and broad, with the apical cleft up to deep; the petiole is long. The flowers are fragrant, in diameter, with five white petals, ten yellow-tipped stamens and a green stigma. The fruit is a pod long and broad. The species occurs in deciduous forests and scrub.
It is widely cultivated throughout the tropics as an ornamental plant. It may be found as an escape from cultivation in some areas, and has become naturalised on the Cape York Peninsula, Australia.
It is also used in many culinary dishes of Odisha


Coccothrinax baracoensis

Coccothrinax baracoensis is a palm which is endemic to southeastern Cuba.
Henderson and colleagues (1995) considered "C. baracoensis" to be a synonym of "Coccothrinax miraguama".


Didymoplexis

Didymoplexis, commonly known as crystal orchids or as 双唇兰属 (shuang chun lan shu), is a genus of terrestrial leafless orchids in the family Orchidaceae, about twenty species of which have been described. Orchids in this genus have swollen, fleshy rhizomes and thin, pale, upright fleshy flowering stems with resupinate, bell-shaped white or pale yellowish brown flowers. They are native to Africa, Madagascar, Southeast Asia, Australia and various islands of the Pacific.
Description.
Orchids in the genus "Didymoplexis" are small, leafless, terrestrial, mycotrophic herbs with a swollen, fleshy rhizome. The flowering stem is thin, upright and fleshy with a few scale-like bracts fleshy and one to a few flowers. The flowers are resupinate, white or pale yellowish brown and often last for less than a day. The sepals and petals are joined at the base to form a short, bell-shaped tube with the tips spreading widely. The labellum is relatively broad and has a band of calli along its midline.
Taxonomy and naming.
The genus "Didymoplexis" was first formally described in 1843 by William Griffith and the description was published in the "Calcutta Journal of Natural History". The name "Didymoplexis" is derived from the Ancient Greek "didymos" meaning "double" or "twin" and "plexis" meaning "twine", "twist" or "weave" referring to the interlocking calli on the labellum.
List of species.
The following is a list of species of "Didymoplexis" recognised by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as at October 2018:
Distribution and habitat.
Crystal orchids grow in grassy forest, bamboo thickets and rainforest in India, southern China and Indochina to southern Japan and the Philippines, throughout the Malay Archipelago to New Guinea, Christmas Island, tropical Australia, and the southwest Pacific islands. Some also occur in South West Africa and Madagascar.


Viburnum cassinoides

Viburnum cassinoides is a species of shrub in the viburnum family, Viburnaceae. It is native to eastern North America.


Peruvian Amazonia

Peruvian Amazonia () is the area of the Amazon rainforest included within the country of Peru, from east of the Andes to the borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia. This region comprises 60% of the country and is marked by a large degree of biodiversity. Peru has the second-largest portion of the Amazon rainforest after the Brazilian Amazon.
Extension.
Most Peruvian territory is covered by dense forests on the east side of the Andes, yet only 5% of Peruvians live in this area. More than 60% of Peruvian territory is covered by the Amazon rainforest, more than in any other country.
According to the Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon ("Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana", IIAP), the spatial delineation of the Peruvian Amazon is as follows:
Ecoregions and climate.
The Peruvian Amazon is traditionally divided into two distinct ecoregions:
The lowland jungle (in Spanish "Selva Baja") is also known as "Omagua region", "Walla", "Anti", Amazonian rainforest or Amazon basin. This ecoregion is the largest of Peru, standing between 80 and 1,000 meters above sea level. It has very warm weather with an average temperature of 28 °C, high relative humidity (over 75%) and yearly rainfall of approximately . Its soils are very heterogeneous, but almost all have river origins. Because of high temperatures and high rainfall, they are poor soils with few nutrients.
The jungle contains long and powerful rivers such as the Apurimac, Mantaro, Amazon, Urubamba, Ucayali, Huallaga, Marañón, Putumayo, Yavarí, Napo, Pastaza, Madre de Dios, Manu, Purus, and Tigre. The Apurimac River is the source of the Amazon River. The Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve and the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area are within the forest.
The highland jungle (in Spanish "Selva Alta") is also called "Rupa-Rupa region", "Andean jungle", "ceja de selva". This ecoregion extends into the eastern foothills of the Andes, between 1,000 and 3,800 m above the sea level. The eastern slopes of the Andes are home to a great variety of fauna and flora because of the different altitudes and climates within the region. Temperatures are warm in the lowlands and cooler in higher altitudes. There are many endemic fauna because of the isolation caused by the rugged terrain of the area.
Within the Amazon rain forest there are several other types of forest
But they all have one characteristic in common: abundant rains. Over the course of a year, a portion of tropical forest will receive between 1,500 and 3,000 mm of rain. This creates the typical tropical atmosphere of a rain forest, with an average temperature of around 24 °C or more.
Biodiversity.
The Peruvian Amazon jungle is one of the most biologically diverse areas on Earth. As a nation, Peru has the largest number of bird species in the world and the third-largest number of mammals; 44% of bird species and 63% of mammal species inhabit the Peruvian Amazon. Peru also has a very high number of species of butterflies, orchids, and other organisms.
Demography.
Although it is the largest region of Peru, the Peruvian Amazon is the least populated. It is home to approximately 5% of the country's population. Many indigenous peoples, such as the Aguaruna, Cocama-Cocamilla and the Urarina, inhabit the jungle, some in relative isolation from the rest of the world.
The primary cities located in the Peruvian Amazon include:
Illegal logging.
Over the last decades illegal logging has become a serious problem in the Peruvian Amazon. In 2012 the World Bank estimated that 80% of Peru’s timber exports are illegally harvested. This uncontrolled deforestation could negatively affect the habitats of indigenous tribes, the Peruvian biodiversity and contribute to climate change. Moreover, illegal deforestation might lead to more violent crimes. This has already been demonstrated on 1 September 2014, when four indigenous leaders were murdered, including the famous environmental activist Edwin Chota. These leaders were asking for governmental protection against illegal loggers, after being threatened several times. Partly due to this, illegal loggers are being blamed for the assassination.
Emergence of illegal industry.
In an attempt to support local incomes in the Amazon, the Peruvian government granted non-transferable contracts to individual farmers to perform small-scale logging activities. Soon however, big logging companies started paying individual loggers for the use of their contracts and established an illegal, large-scale logging industry. In 1992 the National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA) was founded to guarantee a more sustainable use of national resources. Yet, this institution has never been able to carry out its task due to several reasons. First of all, INRENA lacked sufficient resources compared with the magnitude of their responsibilities. Next to this, corruption was a problem in several layers of the organisation. Moreover, until recently, INRENA was part of the Ministry of Agriculture. This suggests that INRENA was not completely independent; it was housed in an institution that had to safeguard the interest of the agricultural sector, which could be conflicting with INRENA’s objective.
In 2000 Peru modified the Forestry and Wildlife Law in order to improve the logging sector. In the subsequent years however, the situation in the Peruvian timber industry only deteriorated. To some extent this can be explained by the fact that Brazil illegalised the exports of mahogany (one of the most valuable and endangered types of wood in the world) from 2001 on. This Brazilian ban is likely to have caused the increase in Peruvian mahogany exports. Soon after the ban, international institutions revealed their severe concerns about the state of the Peruvian timber industry. In particular the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), started paying extra attention to Peru as the trade in mahogany falls under CITES’ regulation. Albeit the fact that from then on, one needed special permits for harvesting and exporting any endangered species, the forestry sector was still far from sustainable.
Illegal logging with permits.
Although it is understandable that illegal logging cannot be stopped easily in the Peruvian Amazons (an inaccessible area bigger than Spain), the illegal exportation of timber is supposed to be more difficult; the shipments are huge and there are very few routes from the Amazons to the coast. Nevertheless, until now it has been relatively easy for companies to ship and export illegal timber. Despite the fact that the Peruvian government claims that it does not know anything about the method used by these companies, it is common-knowledge.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) provided a clear picture of this mechanism in their report The Laundering Machine. According to them, the biggest flaw in the Peruvian system for years has been the granting of logging permits: ‘Concessionaires submit for approval lists that do not exist in the real world, and complicit authorities approve the extraction of this non-existent wood’. These permits allow companies to transport almost all sorts of wood (both legal and illegal) out of the country. There are only two ways to stop illegal loggers: catching them in the act, or, in case of controlling a shipment, environmental prosecutors have to prove that the timber does not come from the place written on the permit (which is only possible by going to this place). With not more than a hundred environmental prosecutors in Peru, it is not surprising that both methods are far from effective.
The American-Peruvian Free Trade Agreement.
The international attention levels increased again in 2007, when Peru and the United States (US) agreed on a new Free Trade agreement (FTA), which was implemented in 2009. According to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) the FTA included a number of binding commitments to ensure environmental protection, focussing on the Peruvian forestry sector. Both parties agreed, amongst others, on the following measures: establishing an independent forestry oversight body, penalising those who committed logging crimes, creating new (and a better implementation of existing) laws, developing an anti-corruption plan and the US would provide monetary help. Yet the results are ambiguous. On the one hand proponents claim that the forestry sector experienced significant improvements. Some (small) improvements are indeed visible. With the formation of the Supervisory Body of Forest and Wildlife Resources (OSINFOR), the first promise was met. Next to this, US officials started training Peruvian law enforcement officers, although only on a minor scale.
On the other hand, the FTA caused a lot of social unrest as indigenous groups expected the FTA to ‘give incentives for further and irreversible destruction of virgin rainforest’. Local communities were not the only ones who criticised the agreement. In 2010 Public Citizen published an article, which stated that, despite all promises, ‘environmental and labour conditions in Peru have deteriorated rapidly since the congressional passage of the FTA’.
Notwithstanding who was right, the FTA has not prevented illegal timber trade between Peru and the US. At least 35% of the Peruvian timber exports to the US between 2008 and 2010, contained illegal wood. This percentage however, only covers the trade in species that are regulated by the CITES. As only very few types of timber fall under this legislation, the real percentage of illegally harvested timber in Peru is assumed to be significantly higher.
Illegal gold mining.
Illegal gold mining is rampant among the Madre de Dios Region of Peru, and is extremely harmful to the environment. Individuals are mining more gold each year because of the exponential price hike in this commodity – a 360% surge in the last ten years. This price surge is driving many people who often are not able to attain jobs into the gold mining business because of the great financial gain. With the Interoceanic Highway available, "30,000 miners are estimated to be in operation without legal permits."
More mercury is being imported into the country than ever before for mining purposes because of the price increase. In mining, mercury is used to “amalgamate gold particles and then burned off – generally without even rudimentary technology”. The import of mercury for this purpose is shown through atmosphere and water pollution, directly impacting human, animal, and plant lives in the area and beyond Much of this contamination is a result of lack of education by the people directly mining the gold in Peru. The harmful impacts of gold mining in Madre De Dios can be seen from space.
Illegal oil extraction.
Oil extraction is a critical threat to the health of Peruvian Amazonia. While the land is potentially oil-rich, there are also many indigenous peoples living within the Amazon rainforest. The Camisea Gas Project on Lot 88 impacts the daily lives of indigenous residents. Project Camisea has numerous economic benefits, including savings of up to $4 billion in energy costs, however the environmental and cultural payoffs are widespread. In 2008, 150,000 square kilometers was set aside for oil drilling in the Western Amazon, and today that number has grown exponentially to over 730,000 square kilometers Direct destruction and deforestation often comes from the creation of access roads for oil and gas extraction. These roads then become catalysts for other illegal industries such as logging and gold mining
The plot of land where Camisea is located is on one of the most highly prioritized areas for biodiversity and conservation. In addition, these oil extraction projects impact the country through: fish stock decline, deforestation, pollution, disease and death of indigenous people, and roads and migration. The World Wildlife Federation concluded that the government has very little power over these oil sanctions, and there are countless loopholes in the policy, which makes stopping them in Peru extraction extremely difficult. Additionally, only seven percent of the oil blocs in the Western Amazon have been extracted, so there is potential for further illegal exploration in undiscovered areas.


Sloanea woollsii

Sloanea woollsii, commonly known as yellow carabeen, is a large tree species with plank buttresses that is native to northeastern NSW and eastern Queensland, Australia. Its southern distributional limit is near the town of Bulahdelah (32° S) at Tallowwood Forest Park and O'Sullivans Gap Reserve.
"Sloanea woollsii" is one of the common tree species in subtropical rainforests of Australia growing up to 55 metres tall. It is a typical long-lived (up to 800 years), slow growing and shade tolerant climax species.


Malvoideae

Malvoideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, which includes in the minimum the genus "Malva". It was first used by Burnett in 1835, but was not much used until recently, where, within the framework of the APG System, which unites the families Malvaceae, Bombacaceae, Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae of the Cronquist system, the aggregate family Malvaceae is divided into 9 subfamilies, including Malvoideae. The Malvoideae of Kubitzki and Bayer includes 4 tribes:-
Baum et al. have a wider concept (cladistically, all those plants more closely related to "Malva sylvestris" than to "Bombax ceiba") of Malvoideae, which includes additionally the tribe Matisieae (three genera of Neotropical trees) and the genera "Lagunaria", "Camptostemon", "Pentaplaris" and "Uladendron".


Pectobacterium betavasculorum

Pectobacterium betavasculorum is a plant pathogenic bacterium that infects beets. It can cause significant losses during sugar beet production and storage. Little is known about the epidemiology of this disease. Its type strain is CFBP 2122T (=LMG 2464T=NCPPB 2795T =ICMP 4226T).


Abronia latifolia

The perennial flower Abronia latifolia or Abronia arenaria is a species of sand-verbena known commonly as the coastal, or yellow sand-verbena. It is native to the west coast of North America, from southern California to the Canada–United States border.
The plant bears attractive neatly rounded heads of small, bright golden flowers. The individual flowers have no petals; rather, they are composed of yellow bracts forming a trumpet-shaped calyx about the stamens. It bears a small, winged fruit. The plant grows in succulent mats on sand or other coastal substrate. The roots are stout, fusiform and often several feet long. These roots are edible, traditionally eaten by the Chinook Indians. This plant is seen exhibiting psammophory, a method by which plants save themselves from herbivores by attracting sand to their body making them difficult to be eaten. It needs salt water, not fresh water, and will not tolerate extreme drought.


Eutrema penlandii

Eutrema penlandii is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names Penland's alpine fen mustard and Penland's eutrema. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it is known only from a small strip of unique mountain habitat measuring 40 kilometers long. It is threatened by mining and associated environmental changes in this part of the Continental Divide in central Colorado. The plant was federally listed as a threatened species of the US in 1993.
Distribution.
This plant is the only "Eutrema" in the lower 48 states and only one of two that occur in North America; its nearest close relative is "Eutrema edwardii", a plant of the Arctic. "E. penlandii" is a small alpine climate species, possibly a relict from the last ice age which persists in the high, cold fens of the Rocky Mountains. Today the plant only occurs in the Mosquito Range, a ridge of mountains in the Rockies. It was first collected by the botanist C. William Penland in 1935 on Hoosier Ridge in the Mosquito Range, and it is one of several rare alpine plants native to the area, such as the globe gilia ("Gilia globularis").
Description.
This plant is a perennial herb growing about six inches tall and bearing clusters of cream-white flowers in the summer. The alpine habitat of the plant is a wet tundra kept constantly fed with ample water by the surrounding snowfields. Wind melts the snow which runs into the tundra and turns it to a fen, a wetland on limestone substrates. The plant grows in rocky nooks that shelter it from the wind and keep the mossy peat soil saturated, but not flooded. The elevation is at least 3700 meters. The habitat is within a section of the Continental Divide that trends east-west in opposition to the general north-south direction of most of the ranges, and the plants grow on south- and east-facing slopes. There are about eleven occurrences, with populations at Hoosier Ridge, Mount Silverheels, the Mosquito Pass, the Hilltop Mine, Mount Evans, and Loveland Mountain. The total area occupied by the plant is probably around .
Status.
Threats.
Mining is a common industry in the high mountain peaks occupied by the plant, and mining companies and stakeholders did not agree with federal protection plans for the species and its habitat. Active claims for gold and trace metals are still in place, though mining activity is currently low because of the status of the market. Activities associated with mining, such as ditching, diking, and trail maintenance, alter the hydrology of the landscape, and this is a major threat to the habitat that the plant depends on. There is a specific water balance maintained by the snowmelt from the high ridges which keeps the soil quite wet but not flooded, and changing the path of flowing water could disrupt it. The plant almost always grows within half a meter of actively flowing meltwater. Mining activity could also lower the pH of the normally alkaline soils.
Other threats include recreational activity including hiking, mountain biking, and the use of off-road vehicles, horses, and burros.


Cortusa

Cortusa is a genus that consists of 19 species of delicate, hardy, alpine perennials, relative to "Primula" both in general appearance and habit of growth. The genus is named by the herbalist Matthiolus after his friend Cortusus, professor of botany at Padua, who discovered the plant called today "Cortusa matthioli". The plants are flowering herbaceous perennials native to the mountains of southern and eastern Europe, including the Alps and the Carpathians, and some species native to China. Most of the species are small spring bloomers for shade and rock garden. These low-growing and rather handsome little plants have clumps of downy, light green, heart-shaped leaves with serrated edges. In late spring, small loose umbel of delicate bell-shaped to lily-liked flowers born terminally on drooping spikes arise from the base, some 6-8in high. Flowers are magenta, pink, white and yellow. They are dormant in some months, and as spring begins, stems and leaves quickly start to reproduce.


Rumex britannica

Rumex britannica is a flowering plant species in the family Polygonaceae.


Xanthophyllum macrophyllum

Xanthophyllum macrophyllum is a plant in the family Polygalaceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Greek meaning "large leaf".
Description.
"Xanthophyllum macrophyllum" grows as a shrub or tree up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The smooth bark is pale brown. The flowers are yellow or white, drying brown or blackish. The round fruits are yellow-brown or blackish and measure up to in diameter.
Distribution and habitat.
"Xanthophyllum macrophyllum" is endemic to Borneo. Its habitat is lowland mixed dipterocarp forests or lower montane forests from sea-level to altitude.


Encephalartos hirsutus

Encephalartos hirsutus is a species of cycad that is native to Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was recorded from three separate localities on south-east-facing quartzite cliffs in the Makuya Nature Reserve bordering the Kruger National Park at altitudes ranging from 800 to 1 000 m asl.
Description.
It is an arborescent cycad, with an erect stem, which becomes decumbent in older specimens, up to 4 m high and with a diameter of 35–40 cm.
The leaves, pinnate, arranged in a crown at the apex of the stem, are 1.1-1.4 m long, supported by a petiole about 13 cm long, and composed of numerous pairs of elliptic leaflets and coriaceous, long 13– 17 cm, with entire margin and thorny apex, fixed on the rachis with an angle of about 40 °, reduced to thorns towards the base of the petiole.
It is a dioecious species, with male specimens that have from 2 to 5 cylindrical-ovoid cones, erect, about 50 cm long and 9 cm broad, and female specimens with 1-3 ovoid cones, about 40 cm long and 35 cm broad, of glaucous green color, glabrous.
The seeds are coarsely ovoid, 3–3.5 cm long, covered with an orange-red sarcotesta.


Leptocereus

Leptocereus is a genus of cacti native to the Greater Antilles. It has been placed in the tribe Leptocereeae or in a broadly defined Echinocereeae.
Species.
, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:


Brunia (plant)

Brunia is a genus of shrubs of the family Bruniaceae, native to the cape region of South Africa.