Alternanthera mosaic virus

"Alternanthera mosaic virus (AltMV)" is a plant pathogenic virus. AltMV belongs to the virus genus "Potexvirus" and the virus family "Alphaflexiviridae".
AltMV was first identified in 1999 in Queensland, Australia. The virus was found in "Alternanthera pugens" "(Amaranthaceae)", a weed found in both the southern USA and Australia. Since then, AltMV has been identified in various ornamental plants in Italy, the United States (Maryland and Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York), and Brazil.
This virus has a close serological relationship (ELISA/antiserum to the capsid protein) with another well known "Potexvirus" called "Papaya mosaic virus" (PapMV). This relationship has led to several examples of misdiagnosis in the past. Sequencing has shown that the core region of the capsid protein is only 79.8% identical to PapMV at the nucleotide level. Isolates of AltMV have shown a 93-99% nucleotide identity to the original Australian isolate.
Host range and symptoms.
This virus had been diagnosed in several ornamental plants since its discovery in 1999. These include moss rose ("Portulaca grandiflora"), phlox ("Phlox stolonifera"), skullcap ("Scutellaria" sp), firecracker plant ("Crossandra infundibuliformis"), angelonia ("Angelonia angustifolia"), "Torenia" sp, "Helichrysum" sp., and "Salvia splendens". Three of these ("Angelonia", "Salvia" and "Torenia" sp) showed no obvious symptoms.
Host range studies showed this virus can also systemically infect tomatoes ("Lycopersicon esculentum"), faba beans ("Vicia faba"), sunflowers ("Helianthus annuus"), and Zinnias ("Zinnia elegans"). Some cultivars of watermelon ("Citrullus lanatus"), cucumbers ("Cucumis sativus"), and black-eyed peas ("Vigna unguiculata") also became systemically infected. Many of these plants showed mild symptoms or were asymptomatic. The virus does not seem to infect papaya ("Carica papaya").
Transmission.
Like other members of the potexvirus genus, this virus is not known to have a specific insect vector. These viruses occur in high concentration in their hosts and are transmitted easily by mechanical means (tools, leaf contact etc.). International trade of ornamental plants propagated by infected cuttings can and probably has spread the disease worldwide.


Rubia tinctorum

Rubia tinctorum, the rose madder or common madder or dyer's madder, is a herbaceous perennial plant species belonging to the bedstraw and coffee family Rubiaceae.
Description.
The common madder can grow up to 1.5 m in height. The evergreen leaves are approximately 5–10 cm long and 2–3 cm broad, produced in whorls of 4–7 starlike around the central stem. It climbs with tiny hooks at the leaves and stems. The flowers are small (3–5 mm across), with five pale yellow petals, in dense racemes, and appear from June to August, followed by small (4–6 mm diameter) red to black berries. The roots can be over a metre long, up to 12 mm thick and the source of red dyes known as rose madder and Turkey red. It prefers loamy soils (sand and clay soil) with a constant level of moisture. Madder is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the hummingbird hawk moth.
Uses.
It has been used since ancient times as a vegetable red dye for leather, wool, cotton and silk. For dye production, the roots are harvested after two years. The outer red layer gives the common variety of the dye, the inner yellow layer the refined variety. The dye is fixed to the cloth with help of a mordant, most commonly alum. Madder can be fermented for dyeing as well ("Fleurs de garance"). In France, the remains were used to produce a spirit.
The roots contain the acid ruberthyrin. By drying, fermenting, or a treatment with acids, this is changed to sugar, alizarin and purpurin, which were first isolated by the French chemist Pierre Jean Robiquet in 1826. Purpurin is normally not coloured, but is red when dissolved in alkaline solutions. Mixed with clay and treated with alum and ammonia, it gives a brilliant red colourant (madder lake).
The pulverised roots can be dissolved in sulfuric acid, which leaves a dye called "garance" (the French name for madder) after drying. Another method of increasing the yield consisted of dissolving the roots in sulfuric acid after they had been used for dyeing. This produces a dye called "garanceux". By treating the pulverized roots with alcohol, colorin was produced. It contained 40–50 times the amount of alizarin of the roots.
The chemical name for the pigment is alizarin, of the anthraquinone-group, and was used to make the alizarine ink in 1855 by Professor Leonhardi of Dresden, Germany. In 1869, the German chemists Graebe and Liebermann synthesised artificial alizarin, which was produced industrially from 1871 onwards, effectively ending the cultivation of madder. In the 20th century, madder was only grown in some areas of France.
The plant's roots contain several polyphenolic compounds, such as 1,3-Dihydroxyanthraquinone (purpuroxanthin), 1,4-Dihydroxyanthraquinone (quinizarin), 1,2,4-Trihydroxyanthraquinone (purpurin) and 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone (alizarin). This last compound gives it its red colour to a textile dye known as Rose madder. It was also used as a colourant, especially for paint, that is referred to as madder lake. The substance was also derived from another species, "Rubia cordifolia".
History.
Early evidence of dyeing comes from India where a piece of cotton dyed with madder has been recovered from the archaeological site at Mohenjo-daro (3rd millennium BCE). In Sanskrit, this plant is known by the name Manjishtha. It was used by hermits to dye their clothes saffron. Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder (De Re Natura) mention the plant (which the Romans called rubia passiva). In Viking Age levels of York, remains of both woad and madder have been excavated. The oldest European textiles dyed with madder come from the grave of the Merovingian queen Arnegundis in Saint-Denis near Paris (between 565 and 570 AD). In the "Capitulare de villis" of Charlemagne, madder is mentioned as "warentiam". The herbal of Hildegard of Bingen mentions the plant as well. The red coats of the British Redcoats were dyed with madder, after earlier being dyed with cochineal. Madder is mentioned in the talmud (e.g., tractate Sabbath 61b) where the madder plant is termed "puah" in Arameic and translated into old French by Rashi (loc cit).
Turkey red was a strong, very fast red dye for cotton obtained from madder root via a complicated multistep process involving "sumac and oak galls, calf's blood, sheep's dung, oil, soda, alum, and a solution of tin." Turkey red was developed in India and spread to Turkey. Greek workers familiar with the methods of its production were brought to France in 1747, and Dutch and English spies soon discovered the secret. A sanitized version of Turkey red was being produced in Manchester by 1784, and roller-printed dress cottons with a Turkey red ground were fashionable in England by the 1820s.
Folk medicine.
According to Culpeper's herbal, the plant is "an herb of Mars" and "hath an opening quality, and afterwards to bind and strengthen". The root was recommended in the treatment of yellow jaundice, obstruction of the spleen, the melancholy humour, palsy, sciatica, and of bruises. The leaves were advised for women “"that have not their courses"” and for the treatment of freckles and other discolorations of the skin.
Risks.
Madder root may cause birth defects and miscarriages in humans when taken internally.


Corymbia dolichocarpa

Corymbia dolichocarpa, commonly known as the long-fruited bloodwood, is a tree native to New South Wales and Queensland in eastern Australia.


Mexipedieae


Mellissia

Mellissia was formerly a monotypic genus in the family Solanaceae with the single species, Mellissia begoniifolia (Saint Helena boxwood), , endemic to the island of Saint Helena. It was named by Joseph Dalton Hooker in honour of John Charles Melliss, a 19th-century engineer and amateur naturalist who worked on Saint Helena. The plant is now known correctly as Withania begoniifolia (Roxb.) Hunz. & Barboza, the genus Mellissia having been subsumed in the genus Withania.
The plant formerly known as "Mellissia begoniifolia" is notable for the subcampanulate calyx which encloses the white corolla, and is strongly accrescent in fruit, as in certain species of Physalis e.g. "Physalis philadelphica". Like Physalis, the species belongs to tribe Physaleae of the Solanaceae, but (within that tribe) to subtribe Withaninae, not Physalinae.
The plant was long thought to be extinct but a small population was discovered in 1998 by Stedson Stroud. As of 2011, it was considered "effectively extinct in the wild" by experts at Kew Botanical Garden because there were no longer any flowering plants left in the wild. Only one adult plant was left by 2010, and it was under extreme stress due to drought and pests. That plant died, but some seedlings sprouted from 2011 rains. The survival of the seedlings is questionable.


Passiflora bogotensis

Passiflora bogotensis is a climbing plant native to Colombia, in the genus "Passiflora". It can also be found in Venezuela.
Etymology.
The specific name is due to the town where, in 1843, Karl Th. Hartweg collected the type specimen: "between Bogotá and Zipaquirá".
Description.
It is a climbing plant, which usually forms dense crawling masses, covered with more or less dense and often ferruginous hair. The stem is robust, angulated, and tomentose; with thick cirrus, pubescent, and very long.
The leaves have septate stipules, 4 to 5 mm long, deciduous; petiole 0.6 to 1.5 cm long, thin, tomentose, devoid of glands; blade of general profile very variable even in the same specimen, oblong, occasionally oval or triangular-ovate; from 4 to 15 cm long and 3 to 10 cm wide; briefly 2-lobada, with the truncated interlobular sinus, sometimes with a third lobule in the center, and even in some specimens the apex is only subplane and wavy, (the lobes are short, up to 1.5 cm long, obtuse or sub-rounded, mucronulated); rounded or sunburned at the base, whole or slightly wavy at the edges; 3-palmatinervia with very protruding nerves on the underside; pubescent or almost glabrous and lustrous on the upper surface, densely hirsute-tomentosed on the underside; It is subcoriaceous. Lonely or more commonly bined peduncles, up to 4 cm long, hairy; with three bracts, from 3 to 10 mm long, violet, placed near the apex of the peduncle or something scattered on it.
The flowers are up to 4 cm diameter: short receptacle, purple outside; sepals oblong-lanceolate, from 1 to 1.5 cm long and about 5 mm wide at the base, obtuse at the apex, more or less hairy and green-purplish externally, white inside; petals oblong, 6 to 9 millimeters long, obtuse, white; crown distributed in two series: the outer one with filaments of 4 to 5 mm long, narrowly liguliform, subangulated, widened at the apex in the form of a flattened button, greenish-yellowish with soft transverse purple; the interior with filiform filaments, 2 to 3 millimeters long, of pale green color; follicle operculum, greenish, with the margin divided into small teeth; delete ring; globose ovary, densely covered with long white hairs; very elongated styles.
Globose fruit, from 1 to 1.5 cm in diameter, purple-blackish at maturity; ovate or cuneate-obovate seeds, about 3 mm long, crossed transversally.
Distribution.
"P. bogotensis" is native to the Eastern mountain range of Colombia, at altitudes of 2,000 to 3,000 meters above sea level. It has also been found sometimes in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta. It blooms all year.


British NVC community MC3

British NVC community MC3 (Rhodiola rosea - Armeria maritima maritime cliff-ledge community) is one of the maritime cliff communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of five communities categorised as maritime cliff crevice and ledge communities.
This community is confined to Scotland. There are no subcommunities.
Community composition.
Four constant species is found in this community:
No rare species are associated with this community.
Distribution.
This community is found on western and northern coasts of Scotland, in the Shetland Isles, and in Aberdeenshire.


Achyranthes

Achyranthes is a genus of medicinal and ornamental plants in the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae. Chaff flower is a common name for plants in this genus.
Species include:


Schumacheria castanaefolia

Schumacheria castaneifolia is a species of plant in the family Dilleniaceae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.


Ashoka tree

Ashoka tree is a common name for two plants which are frequently confused with each other:
Holy tree of the ancient Jains as well as Hindus.


Cruoriella elegans

Cruoriella elegans is a species of red algae in the family Peyssonneliaceae. It is found in the southern islands of Japan.


Nyssa sylvatica

Nyssa sylvatica, commonly known as tupelo, black tupelo, black gum or sour gum, is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to eastern North America from the coastal Northeastern United States and southern Ontario south to central Florida and eastern Texas, as well as Mexico.
Names.
"Nyssa sylvatica" genus name, "Nyssa", refers to a Greek water nymph; the species epithet "sylvatica" refers to its woodland habitat.
The species' common name, tupelo, is of Native American origin, coming from the Creek words "ito" "tree" and "opilwa" "swamp"; it was in use by the mid-18th century.
While these trees are often known as simply "tupelo", the fuller name, black tupelo, helps distinguish it from the other species of the tupelo genus "Nyssa", some of which have overlapping ranges, such as water tupelo ("N. aquatica") and swamp tupelo ("N. biflora"). The name "tupelo" is used primarily in the American South; northward and in Appalachia, the tree is more commonly called the black gum or the sour gum, although no part of the plant is particularly gummy. Both of these names contrast it with a different tree species with a broadly overlapping range, the sweet gum ("Liquidambar styraciflua"), which does produce an aromatic resin. Another common name used occasionally in the Northeast is pepperidge.
In Appalachia, the frequent variant is "Nyssa sylvatica" var. "caroliniana", which is sometimes called the Yellow Gum. Its leaflets are thinner and less glossy, "with rather long tips, the under surface persistently somewhat downy and covered with minute warty excrescences easily seen under an ordinary hand lens" "Yellow Gum is not a swamp tree, like Black Gum, but an inhabitant of dry land, hills, and the coves of the southern Appalachians which it ascends to 3500 f.
On Martha's Vineyard, in Massachusetts, this species is called "beetlebung", perhaps for its use in making the mallet known as a beetle, used for hammering bungs (stoppers) into barrels.
Description.
"Nyssa sylvatica" grows to tall, rarely to , with a trunk diameter of , rarely up to . These trees typically have a straight trunk with the branches extending outward at right angles. The bark is dark gray and flaky when young, but it becomes furrowed with age, resembling alligator hide on very old stems. The twigs of this tree are reddish-brown, usually hidden by a greyish skin. The pith is chambered with greenish partitions.
The leaves of this species are variable in size and shape. They can be oval, elliptical, or obovate, and long. They have lustrous upper surfaces, with entire, often wavy margins. The foliage turns purple in autumn, eventually becoming an intense bright scarlet. Deer are extremely fond of the leaves on seedlings and saplings, to the point where large populations of them can make establishment of the tree almost impossible. For comparison, mature trees are largely left alone.
The flowers are very small, in greenish-white in clusters at the top of a long stalk and a rich source or nectar for bees. They are often dioecious so a male and female tree in proximity is required to set seed, however, many trees are also polygamo-dioecious, which means they have both male and female flowers on the same tree. The fruit is a black-blue, ovoid stone fruit, about 10 mm long with a thin, oily, bitter-to-sour tasting flesh and very popular with small bird species. There are from one to three fruits together on a long slender stalk. They are a valuable energy food for birds, especially the American robin.
"Nyssa sylvatica" forms a large deep taproot when young that makes transplanting difficult. Because of this, it is fairly uncommon in cultivation and the nursery trade.
Additional characteristics include:
Distribution.
"Nyssa sylvatica" grows in various uplands and in alluvial stream bottoms from southwestern Maine and New York, to extreme southern Ontario, central Michigan, Illinois, and central Missouri, south to southern Florida, eastern Texas, and eastern Oklahoma. It also occurs locally in central and southern Mexico. Optimum development is made on lower slopes and terraces in the Southeastern United States.
Ecology.
"Nyssa sylvatica" is found in a variety of upland and wetland habitats in its extensive range. Its flowers are an important source of honey and its fruits are important to many birds and mammals. Hollow trunks provide nesting or denning opportunities for bees and various mammals. It is the longest living non-clonal flowering plant in Eastern North America, capable of obtaining ages of over 650 years.
Habitats.
"Nyssa sylvatica" is found in a wide range of climates, due to its extensive distribution. It commonly grows in both the creek bottoms of the southern coastal plains, to altitudes of about in the Southern Appalachians. These trees grow best on well-drained, light-textured soils on the low ridges of second bottoms and on the high flats of silty alluvium. In the uplands it grows best on the loams and clay loams of lower slopes and coves.
The species occurs 35 different forest cover types. When found on drier upper slopes and ridges, it is seldom of log size or quality.
Wildlife.
"Nyssa sylvatica" is an important food source for many migrating birds in the fall [autumn]. Its early color change (foliar fruit flagging) is thought to attract birds to the available fruit, which ripen before many other fall fruits and berries. The fruit is quite marked, dark blue, in clusters of two or three. The sour fruits are eagerly sought by many kinds of birds, including: American robin, Swainson's thrush, gray-cheeked thrush, hermit thrush, wood thrush, northern cardinal, northern mockingbird, blue jay, red-bellied woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker, northern flicker, pileated woodpecker, eastern phoebe, brown thrasher, eastern bluebird, European starling, scarlet tanager, gray catbird, cedar waxwing, and American crow, all primarily eastern North American birds migrating or residing year-round within the tree's range.
The limbs of these trees often deteriorate early, and the decayed holes make excellent dens for squirrels, raccoons, Virginia opossums, as well as nesting sites for honeybees.
Uses.
Cultivation.
"Nyssa sylvatica" is cultivated as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, where it is often used as a specimen or shade tree. The tree is best when grown in sheltered but not crowded positions, developing a pyramidal shape in youth, and spreading with age. The stem rises to the summit of the tree in one tapering unbroken shaft, the branches come out at right angles to the trunk and either extend horizontally or droop a little, making a long-narrow, cone-like head.
The leaves are short-petioled and so have little individual motion, but the branches sway as a whole. The spray is fine and abundant and lies horizontally so that the foliage arrangement is not unlike that of the beech "(Fagus)". Its often spectacular autumnal coloring, with intense reds to purples, is highly valued in landscape settings. It is claimed to be the most fiery and brilliant of the 'brilliant group' that includes maple, dogwood, sassafras, and sweet gum, as well as various species of tupelo.
In the UK the cultivar 'Wisley Bonfire' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Honey production.
"Nyssa sylvatica" is a major source of wild honey in many areas within its range. Hollow sections of black gum trunks were formerly used as bee gums by beekeepers.
Wood.
The wood of "Nyssa sylvatica" is heavy, hard, cross-grained, and difficult to split, especially after drying. This resistance to splitting led to its use for making mauls, pulleys, wheel hubs, agricultural rollers, bowls, and paving blocks. The wood is also used for pallets, rough floors, pulpwood, and firewood. Since the wood is very tough, resistant to wear, it has been used for shuttles in weaving. Because it is resistant to wear and very readily accepts creosote-based preservatives it is considered to be a premier wood for making railroad ties. The wood's resistance to wear and some acids has led to its use as factory flooring.
Teeth-cleaning twig.
It was also used traditionally by Native Americans as a teeth-cleaning twig. It also was used for dipping snuff.


Coprosma propinqua

Coprosma propinqua is a New Zealand plant of the genus "Coprosma" in the family Rubiaceae. Its Māori name (in common New Zealand usage) is mingimingi, a name which is also applied to closely related species such as "C. dumosa", "C. rhamnoides", "C. virescens" and "C. crassifolia". It is a small-leaved shrub or tree which grows 3 to 6 metres high.
It has divaricating branches, and is common in swampy forest, in scrub, along stream banks and in stony places. It has a wide distribution, ranging from Mangonui in the North Island as far south as Stewart Island. It grows from sea level to 460 metres.
The male flowers occur in axillary clusters of one to four on very short branches. Female flowers are found on their own at the ends of short branchlets.
The fruit is a drupe, pale when immature, turning dark blue or blue-flecked when mature.
"Coprosma propinqua" freely hybridizes with "C. robusta" (karamu).


Arenaria macradenia

Arenaria macradenia is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names Mojave sandwort and desert sandwort.
Distribution.
It is native to the Southwestern United States, where it grows on desert slopes and in dry woodland and sagebrush, such as in the Mojave Desert in California.
Description.
This is a perennial herb producing a tuft of erect stems 20 to 40 centimeters tall. The leaves are needlelike, a few centimeters long and sharp or blunt at the tip. The inflorescence is an open cyme of white flowers each with five petals. The fruit is a toothed capsule containing several small reddish to black seeds.
Varieties.
There are four varieties of this species. Three are not rare but one variety, var. "kuschei", is limited to about 130 individuals in the San Gabriel Mountains of eastern Los Angeles County, California.


Johannes Max Proskauer

Johannes Max Proskauer (December 5, 1923 – December 20, 1970) was born in Göttingen, Germany. He attended the University of London, which awarded him a B.Sc. in 1944, a Ph.D. in 1947, and a D.Sc. in 1964, all in the field of botany.
In 1948, Proskauer moved to Berkeley, California, where he became an instructor in botany at the University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1954. He became a United States citizen in 1957.
Professor Proskauer's thesis research was concerned with the biology and morphology of the British species of the hornwort "Anthoceros". Much of his life's work focussed on this group, and in 1951, he recognized and defined the genus "Phaeoceros" for the first time. He continued to work at Berkeley on the morphology and cytology on the hornworts and also the liverworts.
He died in 1970, leaving a legacy of careful and meticulous study.


Neckeraceae

Neckeraceae is a moss family in the order Hypnales. There are about 200 species native to temperate and tropical regions. Most grow on rocks, or other plants.
Description.
Members of the family are usually large and glossy plants with creeping stolons that bear small leaves and tufts of rhizoids. Stems are generally frondose, but may rarely be dendroid. Leaf cell shape is almost always smooth, short, and firm-walled. Marginal cells are typically quadrate to short-rectangular in few to several rows. The sporophyte features are variable between genera.
Species are epiphytic, epilithic, or aquatic.
Classification.
The Neckeraceae were originally placed within the Leucodontales. However, they are now included in the Hypnales. The family includes the following genera:


Plasmodiocarp

A plasmodiocarp is a special form of fruit bodies of slime moulds. It is produced if the plasmodium concentrates during the fructification and pull back into the venetion of the plasmodium, from which the fruit body is created. The fruit body traces the process of the venetion, whereby the structure of its subsurface becomes plainly strand-shaped, branched, net or ring-shaped. The production of plasmodiocarps can be generic, or can be also caused by the deranged development of sporocarps or aethalia.
Slime moulds with plasmodiocarps including "Physarum aeneum", "Physarum bivalve", "Physarum lateritium", "Diderma effusum", "Physarella oblonga", "Willkommlangea reticulata" or "Hemitrichia serpula".


Brassocattleya

Brassocattleya or Brasso-cattleya, abbreviated Bc. in the horticultural trade, is an intergeneric orchid hybrid derived from the genera "Brassavola" and "Cattleya". "Brassocattleya" contains both hybrids that appear in nature (in Brazil, see the species list below), as well as hybrids from cultivation (which are referred to by their grex names).
Species.
Species include:


Koenigia davisiae

Koenigia davisiae is a flowering plant in the knotweed family that is known by the common names Davis' knotweed or Newberry knotweed.
Distribution.
"Koenigia davisiae" is native to the western United States from Washington, Oregon, and central and northern California (northern Coast Ranges and northern Sierra Nevada). There are also isolated populations in central Idaho. It grows in high mountain habitat, such as talus and fellfields.
Description.
"Koenigia davisiae" is a perennial herb producing a decumbent or upright stem from a woody caudex, growing to a maximum erect height near 40 centimeters (3 feet). The leaves are oval and pointed or widely-lance-shaped to somewhat triangular, yellowish or pale green and waxy, slightly hairy, or smooth in texture. At the base of each leaf is a thin reddish sheath formed from the leaf's stipules which is known as the ochrea.
Flowers occur in clusters of 2 to 5 in the leaf axils. The flowers are yellowish, greenish, or purple-tinged and just a few millimeters wide.


Weinmannia racemosa

Weinmannia racemosa, commonly called kāmahi, is an evergreen small shrub to medium-sized tree of the family Cunoniaceae. It is the most abundant forest tree in New Zealand, occurring in lowland, montane, and subalpine forests and shrubland from the central North Island south to Stewart Island.
Description.
Kāmahi bears racemes of small, pink or white flowers from July to January. Fruits are small capsules, long, ripening from October to May. Kāmahi generally occurs with other broadleaf trees, at times acting as a pioneer species which is eventually succeeded by the southern beeches ("Nothofagus" spp.) or podocarps. It reaches or more in the Catlins of the south-eastern South Island. In forests to the west of the Southern Alps it codominates with southern rātā ("Metrosideros umbellata") and black beech ("N. solandri"). A closely related tree, tōwai or tawhero ("W. silvicola"), replaces kāmahi in the North Island north of latitude 38°S.
Uses.
The bark is very high in tannin, about 13%, and was once exported for tanning. The inner bark was used as a laxative by Māori. The wood has a tendency to warp or crack, so it is little used despite the tree's abundance.


Cryptantha flava

Cryptantha flava is a yellow flowered perennial plant in the borage family (Boraginaceae) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.


Saxifraga rotundifolia

Saxifraga rotundifolia, common name round-leaved saxifrage, is a flowering herb and alpine plant of the genus "Saxifraga".
Description.
"Saxifraga rotundifolia" can reach a height of . This perennial herbaceous plant has fleshy leaves arranged in dense basal rosette. They are petiolate (up to 10 cm), up to 5 cm across, dark green, hairy, simple, rounded or almost heart-shaped, bordered by numerous triangular notches. The flowering stems are erect, pubescent, branched at the top, bearing narrow panicles of star-shaped flowers. These flowers have five lanceolate petals, usually white with numerous minute pink-purple specks. They bloom from April to August.
Distribution.
This species is present in the central and southern Europe in the Iberian Peninsula, the Alps and the Balkans.
Habitat.
"Saxifraga rotundifolia" prefers shady forests, damps, cliffs, stony soils and margins of streams at elevation of above sea level.


Carpodetus

Carpodetus is a genus of flowering plants in the Rousseaceae family. It was formerly considered to lie within the Escalloniaceae. Its species occur in New Guinea, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. The genus is characterised by small trees with alternate, evergreen leaves, bearing small white flowers with few stamens.
Species.
Described species include:
Taxonomy.
"Carpodetus" and its type species "C. serratus" were first described by father and son Forster in 1773 and placed in the Saxifragaceae. In 1934 it was assigned to the newly created Escalloniaceae by Hutchinson in his major revision of the dicotyledon families. In the APG III system, "Carpodetus" has been referred to the Rousseaceae.
Phylogeny.
"Carpodetus" is the sister to the clade consisting of "Abrophyllum" and "Cuttsia". "Roussea" is sister to the rest of the family and is geographically most distanced from the other genera. Most related to this family are the Campanulaceae. This results in the following phylogenetic tree.
Etymology.
"Carpodetus" is derived from the Greek words καρπός () (fruit) and (bound together), a reference that the seeds are bound together in clusters in the berry.


Ellipanthus beccarii

Ellipanthus beccarii is a plant in the family Connaraceae. It is named for the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari.
Description.
"Ellipanthus beccarii" grows as a tree or shrub measuring up to tall with a diameter of up to . The unisexual flowers grow in groups of four. The stipitate fruits measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Ellipanthus beccarii" is endemic to Borneo. Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp forest.


Lithops helmutii

Lithops helmutii is a species of pebble plant. It is native to Southern Africa.
Description.
The leaves, which grow in pairs of two, are green and marked with grey patterns. The flowers are golden yellow with a white center.


Hyptis crenata

Hyptis crenata, the Brazilian mint, is a shrub species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to Bolivia and Brazil. The genus "Hyptis" is commonly known as the bushmints. It is traditionally used for pain relief in Brazil.


Passiflora edmundoi

Passiflora edmundoi is a species in the family Passifloraceae. It is native to western to southwestern Brazil. It is similar to "Passiflora kermesina". It is named after Edmundo Pereira, who collected the type specimen.


Ceratostigma

Ceratostigma (;), or leadwort, plumbago, is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Common names are shared with the genus "Plumbago".
They are flowering herbaceous plants, subshrubs, or small shrubs growing to tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, 1–9 cm long, usually with a hairy margin. Some of the species are evergreen, others deciduous. The flowers are produced in a compact inflorescence, each flower with a five-lobed corolla; flower colour varies from pale to dark blue to red-purple. The fruit is a small bristly capsule containing a single seed.
Cultivation and uses.
Plants of this genus are valued in the garden for their late summer flower colour and their autumn leaf colour. The following varieties have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017):


Lacandonia schismatica

Lacandonia schismatica is a species of mycoheterotrophic plant in the Triuridaceae. It is endemic to Lacandon Jungle in the State of Chiapas in southern Mexico. It is known from very few populations and is considered endangered by the researchers who investigate this species. It is the only known flowering plant which in its natural population has a spatial inversion of the reproductive floral whorls (ie stamens and carpels): the stamens are positioned centrally within the flower, and the carpels arranged in a ring around them.
"Lacandonia schismatica" is known from several small populations at altitudes around in the Lacandon Jungle. It grows in shady sites within this rainforest. Gerrit Davidse and Esteban Martínez noted in 1990 how the plants are "extremely localized and highly endangered" due to encroaching habitat conversion to cattle pasture. They also explain that the species is difficult to cultivate and therefore they encourage other scientists to study this unique organism's biology before it can no longer be found in the wild.


Bakerella (plant)

Bakerella is genus of sixteen showy mistletoe species in Madagascar and the Mascarenes. The genus was described by the Belgian botanist Simone Balle in Flora de Madagascar, 1964. In some parts of Madagascar they are an important food source for lemurs.


Disocactus

Disocactus is a genus of epiphytic cacti in the tribe Hylocereeae found in Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. It should not be confused with "Discocactus", which is a different genus.
Species of "Disocactus" grow in tropical regions either on trees as epiphytes or on rocks as lithophytes. They have two distinct growth habits. Species such as "D. phyllanthoides" have stems which are round at the base but then become flattened and leaflike.
Many of the cultivated plants known as epiphyllum hybrids or just epiphyllums are derived from crosses between species of "Disocactus" (rather than "Epiphyllum") and other genera in the Hylocereeae.
Taxonomy.
Synonymy.
The boundaries of the genera in the tribe Hylocereeae have been subject to considerable change and uncertainty, which is reflected in the number of names which have been used for "Disocactus":
"Pseudorhipsalis" is sometimes included in "Disocactus", but it is kept separate by the International Cactaceae Systematics Group. "Aporocactus" is formerly included in "Disocactus", but it should be a genus on its own according to molecular evidence.
Species.
, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:


Ombrophobe

Ombrophobe or ombrophobous/ombrophobic plant (from Greek ὄμβρος - "ombros", "storm of rain" and φόβος - "phobos", "fear") is a plant that cannot withstand much rain. The term was introduced by the 19th century botanist Julius Wiesner, who identified the two extreme kinds of plants, ombrophobes and ombrophiles. Xerophytes are usually ombrophobous.


Lithocarpus curtisii

Lithocarpus curtisii is a species of plant in the family Fagaceae. It is a tree found in Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Succinodon

Succinodon putzeri (meaning "narrow jaw") was the scientific name given by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene to a fossil that he attributed to the sauropod family Titanosauridae. It was discovered in late-Cretaceous rock near Warsaw, Poland, in 1941. He believed it to be a jaw bone.
In 1981, however, an analysis by Polish paleontologists Krystyna Pożaryska and Halina Pugaczewska showed that the specimen was actually a piece of fossilized wood filled with the burrowings of wood-boring bivalves in the family Teredinidae, most likely in the genus "Kuphus".


Echinodorus berteroi

Echinodorus berteroi (upright burhead or cellophane sword) is an aquatic plant species in the Alismataceae It is native to the southern and central parts of the United States, as well as Central America, the West Indies, and South America as far south as Argentina.
Description.
Submersed leaves often modified into phyllodes, 10 – 45 cm long x 0.5 – 4 cm wide, linear to narrowly elliptical, of very variable shape and size, light-green, membraneously transparent, network between the veins often lighter or darker, thus the submersed leaves often appearing mosaic-like coloured. Emerse leaves long-petioled, 5 – 55 cm long, blades light-green, cordate, 5 – 12 cm long x 3 – 5 cm wide, in terrestrial dwarf forms the blades are ovate, truncate at the base, 2 – 5 cm long x 1 – 2 cm wide. In the blades there are very clear pellucid lines 1 – 5 mm (exceptionally up to 11 mm) long. Stem upright, inflorescence compound, branched in lower whorls. In terrestrial forms stem only 6 – 10 cm long. Corolla white, about 1.5 cm in diameter, stamens 12, achenes numerous in echinate head, nutlets grey-brown, 2.5 - 3.5 mm long x 1 - 1.3 mm wide, broadly keeled, with 2 winged ribs alternating with 3 non-winged ribs; facial gland single, close to the beak, indistinct or quite absent. Mature specimens may have between 10 - 30 leaves. most of them differing in shape and size.
Cultivation.
Prefers a larger tank with a deep, rich substrate and good light. It is easy to grow but will soon outgrow the average aquarium. Can be divided, or in submerse plants, adventitious plantlets will form on the inflorescence and can be divided and planted out. Seed will be set in emerse plants, and can be planted out in shallow trays with sand and shallow warm water. Prefers soft, rather acid water. Sub-tropical to tropical temperatures. It doesn't seem to thrive in hard water. Will grow in and by the pond in warmer regions, but must be protected from frost.


Pyrrosia lingua

Pyrrosia lingua is a species of epiphytic fern in the family Polypodiaceae. It occurs through China, Southeast Asia and into Japan and Taiwan. "Pyrrosia lingua" is grown as a cultivated plant, and multiple named cultivars have been developed.


Gymnocalycium stellatum

Gymnocalycium stellatum is a species of "Gymnocalycium" from Argentina.


Bactris simplicifrons

Bactris simplicifrons is a small (0.5–2 m tall, 0.3–1 cm in diameter) palm which is found in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
Unlike most other species of "Bactris", "B. simplicifrons" is usually non-spiny, or only spiny along the leaf margins. It also tends to have simple, rather than compound leaves.


Cryptomitrium tenerum

Cryptomitrium tenerum is a species of liverwort native to North America. It is the only representative of its genus on the continent.
Description.
Like most other Marchantiales, it has a flat, dichotomously branched thallus, which in this species is pale green, flattened, dichotomously branched, thin, and somewhat shiny, measuring 0.6 to 1.5 cm long, less than 1 cm wide. The thallus margins are brownish purple in patches and somewhat undulate, curling upward when dry. The dorsal surface has a faint pattern of irregular polygons, and around inconspicuous pores to the air chambers below. The ventral surface is dark purple, shiny towards the margins, and green medially. The ventral scales are small, dark, and purple, poorly developed at maturity. The peculiar oil bodies found in so many liverworts are found scattered throughout the thallus, ventral scales, and sporogonial receptacle. Cryptomitrium does not reproduce asexually via gemmae.
It usually reaches its best development in February or March, depending on the amount and distribution of the winter rainfall. During the long rainless season the plants dry up, the tips reviving and giving rise to new plants with the advent of the autumn rains.
Taxonomy.
The species was originally named "Marchantia tenerum" by Hooker, but later placed in the genus "Cryptomitrium" by Austin before being revised into its current description by Underwood in 1884. The genus "Cryptomitrium" is placed in the Aytoniaceae with other liverworts with flat thalli and stalked receptacles, such as Asterella, The genus name means “hidden turban” in reference to the inconspicuous sheath around the immature sporangium. The common name for "Cryptomitrium tenerum" is the flying saucer liverwort referring to the flat disc-shaped sporangiophore perched on a tall thin stalk.
Reproduction.
The species is monoecious. As in certain related species, such as Asterella, the antheridia form a narrow, elongated, median, dorsal group lying immediately posterior to the female receptacle. The female receptacle is terminal. Its stalk has a single rhizoid furrow. The disk is hemispherical when young but finally becomes circular and nearly flat. It is without lobes when mature. The distinctive discoid carpocephalum is easily recognized when mature, but earlier in its development may be more or less low-pyramidal; however, it is never lobed, and rather distinctive on this account.
Sporangia brown, nearly spherical, with very short seta, three to seven per receptacle, each opening by a lid; mauring in early spring. Spores brown, 35-450 um, more or less distinctly tetrahedral, irregularly areolate-lamellate, with a pellucid margin. The elaters are attenuate, 300-450 um contorted, often branched, and spiraled.
Distribution and habitat.
"Cryptomitrium tenerum" occurs in Mediterranean climates with cool wet winters and dry summers and forms small to locally extensive mats on bare and usually shaded humid soil on hillsides, rock outcrops, and streambanks.
Wildfires are suspected to play a role in maintaining habitat. Capsules develop in late winter to early spring, depending on elevation. It is a poor competitor with vascular plants and populations tend to disappear as succession progresses.


Chionanthus leopoldii

Chionanthus leopoldii grows as a tree up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is greyish. The flowers are pale greenish. The fruit is purple or red-brown when ripe, round, up to in diameter. Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp forest from to altitude. "C. leopoldii" is endemic to Borneo.


Paspalum dilatatum

Paspalum dilatatum is a species of grass known by the common name dallisgrass, Dallas grass, or sticky heads. It is native to Brazil and Argentina, but it is known throughout the world as an introduced species and at times a common weed. Its rapid growth and spreading rhizomes make it an invasive pest in some areas. It is present in the southern half of North America, southern Europe, much of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and many tropical and subtropical areas.
"Paspalum dilatatum" is a food source for several avian species, including the long-tailed widowbird.
The common name dallisgrass was derived from A. T. Dallis, a 19th-century farmer who grew the species extensively near La Grange, Georgia.
Description.
This is a perennial bunch grass forming dense, stiff clumps in the soil and spreading outward. It grows decumbent in a mat or erect to well over 1 m (3 ft) tall. The leaves are mostly hairless, growing up to 35 cm (14 in) long and 2.5 cm (1 in) wide. The inflorescence is divided into a few branches lined neatly with beadlike pairs of green to purple spikelets.


Dialium holtzii

Dialium holtzii is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania.


Frasera parryi

Frasera parryi (syn. "Swertia parryi") is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name Coahuila frasera.
It is native to southern California and adjacent Baja California, and Arizona. It grows in oak woodland and chaparral habitats along the coast and inland.
Description.
"Frasera parryi" is a perennial herb that produces one or two erect stems growing up to 1.5 m in height.
The basal leaves are lance-shaped, strap-shaped, or somewhat oval and elongated with pointed tips, reaching up to 25 cm long. Leaves higher on the plant are widely lance-shaped to oval, smaller, and oppositely arranged. The leaves are green with white margins.
The inflorescence is an open panicle of flowers atop the stem. Each flower has a calyx of four pointed sepals and a corolla of four pointed lobes each 1 to 2 cm long. The corolla is greenish with purple speckles, and each lobe has a fringe of hairs near the base. There are four stamens tipped with large anthers and a central ovary.


Preston Twins

The Preston Twins were a pair of English elm ("Ulmus minor" 'Atinia') trees that grew in Brighton, England at the northern end of Preston Park. They were planted around 1613 and were "almost certainly" planted as part of a hedgerow. Believed to be among the oldest and largest English elm trees in the world, they reached heights of more than and widths of . An outbreak of Dutch elm disease in England in the late 1960s caused Brighton to enact several measures to protect its 17,000 elm trees, including setting traps for the beetles that spread disease. They also dug trenches between neighboring elms to prevent the disease from passing easily from tree to tree via their root systems. Infected branches were pruned and destroyed in efforts to save trees.
In 2017, a storm caused a large limb to break from the eastern twin, which showed that its trunk was entirely hollow. The tree appeared to respond well to pruning to reduce the weight of its limbs. Prior to its damage and branch loss, it had been the larger of the two trees. The storm-damaged eastern twin became infected by Dutch elm disease, likely in summer of 2018. It did not show any symptoms of infection until the following summer, by which time the disease had already spread to its roots. A trench was immediately dug between the two twins to sever their connecting roots.
In December 2019, the infected tree was cut down. It was hoped that cutting it down would prevent Dutch elm disease from spreading to the other twin. In 2008, a cutting of the eastern twin was planted in Amsterdam.
In 2018, the eastern twin was shortlisted in the Tree of the Year competition.


Chorizanthe staticoides

Chorizanthe staticoides is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Turkish rugging. It is endemic to California, where it is a common member of the flora in the chaparral and scrub habitats in a number of regions.
This is a plant which is quite variable in morphology, producing small patches on the ground or growing erect to heights over half a meter. The leaves measure from just a few millimeters to about 8 centimeters long. Most of them grow at the base of the fuzzy green or reddish stem. The top of the stem branches neatly into flat-topped inflorescences packed densely with tiny flowers. Each flower has a cylindrical base of six sharp-tipped bracts in shades of red to purple or green. Within this involucre is the pink to red flower which is a few millimeters wide and contains nine tiny stamens.


Orobanche elatior

Orobanche elatior is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Orobanchaceae.
Its native range is Europe to China and Iran.


Helichrysum thianschanicum

Helichrysum thianschanicum is a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae. It is commonly known as silver spike or icicle plant. It is part of a large genus of over 500 species.
Description.
"H. thianschanicum" is a small perennial shrub that grows tall and wide. It resembles a lavender plant with basal branching and erect stems and is covered with long linear leaves that are covered with white pubescence. Yellow clusters of flowers are produced at the ends of stems during the summer. Up to 30 yellow, florets are in each cluster. In its native habitat, "H. thianschanicum" develops a finger-sized rhizome.
Taxonomy.
"H. thianschanicum" was first described in 1880 by Eduard August von Regel. The specific epithet refers to the Tian Shan mountain range of Central Asia.
Distribution.
"H. thianschanicum" grows on gravelly slopes and sand dunes in its native range of western China (Xinjiang) and adjacent Kazakhstan.
Uses.
Cultivars.
"H. thianschanicum" 'Icicles' is a cultivar commonly grown in the United States for its foliage. During the summer, yellow flowers are produced at the ends of the stems and are composed of up to 30 florets. They are not spectacular but do accent the gray-white foliage. "H. thianschanicum" is a perennial that originates from a mountain range with hot dry summers and cold dry winters and is difficult to grow in wetter climates. 'Icicles' is usually grown as an annual plant in gardens. It seems resistant to most insect problems.


Odontoglossum

Odontoglossum, first named in 1816 by Karl Sigismund Kunth, is a genus of about 100 orchids. The scientific name is derived from the Greek words "odon" (tooth) and "glossa" (tongue), referring to the two tooth-like calluses on the base of the lip. This genus of cool to cold growing orchids is to be found on open spots in the humid cloud forest at higher elevations from Central- and West South America to Guyana, with most species around the northern Andes. The abbreviation for this genus is Odm. in the horticultural trade.
Most are sympodial epiphytes, or rarely terrestrials.
The pseudobulbs are compact with leaf-like bracts at the base. They give one to three apical leaves. An arching (and sometimes erect) inflorescence grows from its base. The ruffled sepals and petals of these spectacular flowers are spreading. The lip is rather complex, entire or with three lobes. It stands erect or parallel to the long column. The high altitude species show long inflorescences with up to 150 flowers (as in "O. cirrhosum"), while the lower altitude species have shorter inflorescences with up to 20 flowers. These flowers may be white, red, purple, brown, yellow, or even be blotched with a showy blend of many colors.
Many of these species are in great demand with orchid lovers because of their spectacular and flamboyant flowers.
Species.
This genus used to contain more than 400 species. Many have now been reclassified in other genera such as "Amparoa", "Aspasia", "Cochlioda", "Cuitlauzina", "Cyrtochilum", "Gomesa", "Lemboglossum", "Mesoglossum", "Miltonia", "Miltonioides", "Oliveriana", "Oncidium", "Osmoglossum", "Otoglossum", "Rhynchostele", "Rossioglossum" and "Ticoglossum". This new genera occurred outside the Andes in different climatological habitats.
There is some debate going on whether Odontoglossum is a separate genus or if most or even all species should be included in Oncidium. If the latter opinion is followed (see Genera Orchidacearum by Alec M. Pridgeon, Phillip J. Cribb, Mark W. Chase, and Finn N. Rasmussen) most species in the list below are actually called Oncidiums.
The following list gives the presently accepted names. There are six subgenera : "Erectolobata", "Lindleyana", "Nevadensia", "Odontoglossum", "Serratolaminata" and "Unguisepala".
Intergeneric hybrids.
Odontoglossum lends itself to the production of many artificial intergeneric hybrids. The hybrids with red pigmentation are nearly all derived from a crossing with the genus "Cochlioda" and especially with "Cochlioda noezliana."
If the merge of Odontoglossum into Oncidium is followed, most of following nothogenus names are obsolete :


Arnold Grimme

Arnold Grimme (28 November 1868, Bückeburg – 1 November 1958, Kassel) was a German veterinarian and naturalist, known for his botanical investigations of northern Hesse.
He attended the veterinary school in Hanover, and later studied botany and zoology in Berlin. In 1902 he received his doctorate from the University of Marburg. During his career, he worked as a district veterinarian in Melsungen (1895–1910), Kiel (1910–1921) and Kassel (1921–1934). From 1932 to 1945 he was chairman of the "Vereins für Naturkunde in Kassel". His herbarium is now located at the Naturkundemuseum Ottoneum in Kassel.


Exellodendron

Exellodendron is a genus of plant in the family Chrysobalanaceae described as a genus in 1972.
The entire genus "Exellodendron" is endemic to South America.


List of palms native to the Caribbean

The palm family, Arecaceae, is widespread in the Caribbean. Globally there are about 191 genera and 2339 species as reported in 2004 by Carlo Morici. Their distribution is biased toward islands – 36% of genera and 52% of species are found only on islands, while 32% of genera and 6% of species are found only on continents. Sixty-two percent of monotypic genera are found only on islands.
Phytogeographically, the Caribbean region is often considered to include the coastal plains of the United States (including south Florida), Mexico (especially the Yucatan), Belize, Colombia and Venezuela. Most species either have a wide distribution which includes part of the Caribbean, or are endemic to the Greater Antilles. Of the islands in the Caribbean, Cuba has the most species of palm, followed by Hispaniola. The Windward and Leeward Islands have the fewest. The palm flora of Trinidad and Tobago consists primarily of species with a South American distribution. Three genera of palm are endemic to the Greater Antilles: "Calyptronoma", "Hemithrinax" and "Zombia". Although nearly ubiquitous in the region, the coconut ("Cocos nucifera") is not native to the Caribbean. The Caribbean species in the genus "Copernicia" are all Greater Antillean endemics; two species are restricted to Hispaniola, while the others are restricted to Cuba.
Genera.
Nomenclature follows the Arecaceae section of the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.
"Acoelorrhaphe".
"Acoelorrhaphe" is a monotypic genus which is distributed around the margins of the Caribbean Sea, from Florida to San Andrés and Providencia, Colombian islands in the western Caribbean. The tree is a slender fan palm growing up to 7 metres (23 ft) tall, usually with many stems clustered together. "Acoelorrhaphe" is a sister genus to "Serenoa" (Saw Palmetto), which is endemic to the southeastern United States. The species usually grows in low-lying areas near sea level, often in flooded woodlands or thickets in savannas.
"Acrocomia".
"Acrocomia" is a genus of spiny palms found throughout the Neotropics, from Mexico to Argentina and throughout the Caribbean. Since it covers such a large range and is highly variable, as many as 40 species have been described in this genus. Most authors recognise only three species, "A. aculeata", "A. crispa" and "A. hassleri", but others considers "A. media" to be distinct from "A. aculeata". Caribbean species have single, spiny stems 4–18 metres (13–59 ft) tall.
"Aiphanes".
"Aiphanes" is a genus of small to medium-sized spiny palms. Caribbean species have solitary stems and are 3 to 18 metres (10 to 59 ft) tall. Most of the 23 species of "Aiphanes" are found in the Andes; two species occur in the Caribbean, including "A. minima", which is endemic to the region. Although many sources ("e.g.", Henderson "et al." 1995) consider the name "A. aculeata" to have precedence over "A. horrida", in keeping with the nomenclature of the World checklist, the latter name is used.
"Astrocaryum".
"Astrocaryum" is a genus of spiny palms native to Mexico, Trinidad, Central and South America; the sharp, flattened spines that cover the trunk can be up to 30 cm (12 inches) long. The Caribbean species has solitary stems, 8 to 20 metres (26 to 66 ft) tall. There are about 36 species in the genus. One of them, "A. aculeatum", occurs in the insular Caribbean, while four others are found in the wider Caribbean: "Astrocaryum alatum" on the Caribbean coast from Panama to Nicaragua, "A. confertum" on the Caribbean coast of Panama and Costa Rica, "A. mexicanum" along the Caribbean coast from Mexico to Nicaragua, and "A. standleyanum" on the Caribbean coast of Panama.
"Attalea".
"Attalea" is a large genus which includes some of the largest Neotropical palms. Three of the 67 species are present in the insular Caribbean, but two of these are restricted to Trinidad and Tobago which is on the continental shelf. The third species, "A. crassispantha", is endemic to southwest Haiti; due to its very small population size, it is classified as a critically endangered species Three other species occur in the wider Caribbean: "Attalea allenii" along the Caribbean coast of Panama and Colombia, "A. cohune" on the Caribbean coast from Mexico to Nicaragua and "A. iguadummat" on the Caribbean coast of Panama.
"Bactris".
"Bactris" is a genus of palms which is found from southern Mexico to northern Paraguay. It is one of the largest and most diverse palm genera in the neotropics. Most species are medium-sized spiny palms with clustered stems. Most of the species present in the Caribbean are spiny trees 1 to 10 metres (3 to 33 ft) tall with clustered stems and pinnate leaves; "B simplicifrons" is smaller (0.5–2 m) and often has simple leaves and no spines.
Seven of the 75 species in the genus "Bactris" occur in the insular Caribbean. Three species - "B. cubensis", "B. jamaicana" and "B. plumeriana" are Greater Antillean endemics, while the other four are South American species which extend north into Trinidad and Tobago. Salzman and Judd consider the three Greater Antillean species of "Bactris" to form a clade with "B. plumeriana" and "B. jamaicana" as sister species. Fifteen other species occur in the wider Caribbean: "Bactris barronis" on the Caribbean coast of Panama and Colombia, "B. caudata" on the Caribbean coast from Nicaragua to Panama, "B. charnleyae" on the Caribbean coast of Panama, "B. coloniata" on the Caribbean coast of Panama, "B. coloradonis" on the Caribbean coast from Costa Rica to Colombia, "B. gasipaes" on the Caribbean coast from Mexico to Venezuela, "B. glandulosa" on the Caribbean coast from Costa Rica, to Colombia, "B. gracilor" on the Caribbean coast from Nicaragua, to Panama, "B. grayumi" on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, "B. guineensis" on the Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela, "B. hondurensis" along the Caribbean coast from Honduras to Colombia, "B. maraja" along the Caribbean coast from Costa Rica to Colombia, "B. mexicana" along the Caribbean coast from Belize to Nicaragua, "B. militaris" along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and "B. panamensis" along the Caribbean coast of Panama.
"Calyptronoma".
Palms in the genus "Calyptronoma" have pinnately compound leaves and large, solitary stems 4 to 15 metres (13 to 49 ft) tall. The genus is endemic to the Greater Antilles, inhabiting wet areas near streams. "Calyptronoma" is closely related to the Central American genus "Calyptrogyne".
"Coccothrinax".
"Coccothrinax" is a genus of fan palms found throughout the Caribbean and in adjacent parts of southern Florida and Mexico. Most species are small to medium-sized, with maximum heights between 5 and 15 metres (17 and 49 ft). Only one of the 55 species, "C. readii", is absent from the insular Caribbean. Two species, "C. argentata" and "C. barbadensis", are widespread, while most of the others are restricted to Cuba and Hispaniola.
"Colpothrinax".
"Colpothrinax" is a genus of solitary-stemmed pinnate-leaved palms native to Central America and the Caribbean. There are three species of "Colpothrinax": "C. aphanopetala" and "C. cookii" which are restricted to Central America, and "C. wrightii" which is a Cuban endemic.
"Copernicia".
"Copernicia" is a moderately large genus of spiny, fan palms found in the Caribbean and South America. The Caribbean species are all Greater Antillean endemics; two species are restricted to Hispaniola, while the others are restricted to Cuba. Three species are absent from the insular Caribbean: "C. alba" and "C. prunifera", which are found in South America away from the Caribbean, and "C. tectorum" which is found in northern Venezuela and along the Caribbean coast of Colombia.
"Desmoncus".
"Desmoncus" is a genus of spiny, scrambling, pinnate-leaved palms which range from Mexico in the north to Bolivia and Brazil in the south. Ten of the twelve species in have solely continental distributions. Two species are found on both the mainland and in the insular Caribbean.
"Euterpe".
"Euterpe" consists of seven slender-stemmed, pinnate-leaved palms native to the Caribbean, Central and South America. The genus has been described as containing "the most beautiful American palms". Four of the seven species are restricted to South America away from the Caribbean, two are found in Central and South America and the insular Caribbean, and "E. broadwayi" is endemic to the eastern Caribbean.
"Gaussia".
"Gaussia" is a genus of solitary, pinnate palms found in the Caribbean, northern Central America and southern Mexico. There are five species in the genus - three are endemic to the Greater Antilles, while "G. gomez-pompae" and "G. maya" are found in the Caribbean coastal region of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala.
"Geonoma".
"Geonoma" is a genus of small to medium-sized palms which grow in the forest understorey. The genus is one of the largest in the neotropics. The genus consists of 64 species, two of which are found in the insular Caribbean. Ten other species are found in the wider Caribbean: "G. chococola", "G. concinna", "G. divisia" and "G. triandra" are found on the Caribbean coast of Panama, "G. congesta" is found along the Caribbean coast from Honduras to Colombia, "G. cuneata" is found along the Caribbean coast from Nicaragua to Colombia, "G. deversa" is found along the Caribbean coast from Belize to Colombia, "G. epetiolaris" and "G. longevaginata" are found along the Caribbean coast from Costa Rica to Panama and "G. triandra" is found along the Caribbean coast of Panama and Colombia.
"Hemithrinax".
"Hemithrinax" is a genus of fan palms which are endemic to Cuba. Many authors include these species in the genus "Thrinax".
"Leucothrinax".
"Leucothrinax" is a monotypic genus of fan palms which is native to the northern Caribbean. The species was split from the genus "Thrinax" after phylogenetic studies showed that its inclusion in "Thrinax" would render that genus paraphyletic.
"Manicaria".
"Manicaria" is a genus of pinnate-leaved palms. One species, "M. saccifera" is found from Belize to Brazil and Peru, while the other "M. martiana" is found in southeastern Colombia and northern Brazil.
"Mauritia".
"Mauritia" is a genus of fan palms which is native to northern South America. One species has a wide distribution which extends into the insular Caribbean, while the other "M. carana" is restricted to the Amazon region.
"Oenocarpus".
"Oenocarpus" is a genus of pinnate-leaved palms found in Central and South America. "Oenocarpus bataua" is found in Trinidad and along the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, while "O. mapora" is found on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Panama.
"Prestoea".
"Prestoea" is a genus of pinnate-leaved palms found in Central and South America and the Caribbean. It is closely related to the genus "Euterpe". Two species are found in the Caribbean - "P. pubigera" is found in Trinidad, and "P. acuminata" is found throughout most of the Caribbean. Four other species, "P. decurrens", "P. ensiformis", "P. longipetiolata" and "P. pubens" are found along the Caribbean coast of Central America.
"Pseudophoenix".
"Pseudophoenix" is a genus of pinnate-leaved palms found throughout the Caribbean. Three species are endemic to the Greater Antilles, while the fourth, "P. sargentii", is widely distributed in the northern Caribbean and adjacent portions of the Central and North American mainland.
"Reinhardtia".
"Reinhardtia" is a genus of simple or palmate-leaved palms found in the wider Caribbean, between Mexico and Colombia, with a single disjunct species which is endemic to Hispaniola. All species are small (1 to 6 metres [3 to 20  ft] tall) and inhabit the forest understorey.
"Roystonea".
"Roystonea" is a genus of pinnate-leaved palms which range from south Florida and Mexico south to Venezuela. Seven species are endemic to the Greater Antilles and the Virgin Islands - four of these are Cuban endemics. The only species which is absent from the insular Caribbean, "R. dunlapiana", is found on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua.
"Sabal".
"Sabal" is a genus of fan palms. Six of the sixteen species are native to the insular Caribbean - three of which are endemic to the Greater Antilles and the Virgin Islands. A seventh species, "S. bermudana", is endemic to Bermuda. "Sabal etonia" and "S. miamiensis" are found along the Atlantic coast of Florida, "S. gretheriae" is found on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan, "S. mexicana" is found along the Caribbean coast of Mexico into south Texas, "S. minor" is found along the Gulf Coast of the United States.
"Syagrus".
"Syagrus" is a genus of primarily South American palms. Thirty of the thirty-one species are South American; the other, "S. amara", is endemic to the Lesser Antilles. One species, "S. orinocensis" is found on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela.
"Thrinax".
"Thrinax" is a genus of fan palms. Three of the four species of are endemic to the insular Caribbean, while the fourth occurs in the insular Caribbean and in Florida, Mexico and Central America. Three species are single-island endemics - two to Jamaica and one to Cuba.
"Zombia".
"Zombia" is a monotypic genus of fan palms which is endemic to Hispaniola. Individuals are up to 3 m (10 ft) tall and grow in dry, hilly regions. It is restricted to serpentine soils, at least in the Dominican Republic.


British NVC community W7

NVC community W7 (Alder-Ash-Yellow Pimpernell woodland) is one of the woodland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system; it is one of seven woodland communities in the NVC classed as "wet woodlands".
Community composition.
Alder is often not as abundant as in the previous types. Ash and/or silver birch are frequent with mixtures of common sallow, hazel and hawthorn in the shrub layer. Ground flora includes meadow sweet, yellow pimpernell, lady fern, rough stalked meadow grass, creeping soft grass, creeping buttercup and/or golden saxifrage. These are found on base rich flushes with gleyed mineral soils.
Distribution.
It is the commonest alder type in upland woods; it does occur in the lowlands but often in a rather fragmentary fashion along streams.


Syringa

Syringa (lilac) is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering woody plants in the olive family (Oleaceae), native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly cultivated in temperate areas elsewhere.
The genus is most closely related to "Ligustrum" (privet), classified with it in Oleaceae tribus Oleeae subtribus Ligustrinae.
Lilacs are used as food plants by the larvae of some moth species, including copper underwing, scalloped oak and Svensson's copper underwing.
Description.
They are small trees, ranging in size from tall, with stems up to diameter. The leaves are opposite (occasionally in whorls of three) in arrangement, and their shape is simple and heart-shaped to broad lanceolate in most species, but pinnate in a few species (e.g. "S. protolaciniata, S. pinnatifolia"). The flowers are produced in spring, each flower being in diameter with a four-lobed corolla, the corolla tube narrow, long; they are monoecious, with fertile stamens and stigma in each flower. The usual flower colour is a shade of purple (often a light purple or lilac), but white, pale yellow and pink, and even a dark burgundy color are also found. The flowers grow in large panicles, and in several species have a strong fragrance. Flowering varies between mid spring to early summer, depending on the species. The fruit is a dry, brown capsule, splitting in two at maturity to release the two winged seeds.
Taxonomy and etymology.
The genus "Syringa" was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus and the description was published in "Species Plantarum". The genus name "Syringa" is derived from Ancient Greek word "syrinx" meaning "pipe" or "tube" and refers to the hollow branches of "S. vulgaris".
The English common name "lilac" is from the French "lilac" via the Arabic ليلك ("lilak") from Persian نیلک ("nilak") meaning "bluish".
Cultivation and uses.
Lilacs are popular shrubs in parks and gardens throughout the temperate zone, and several hybrids and numerous cultivars have been developed. The term French lilac is often used to refer to modern double-flowered cultivars, thanks to the work of prolific breeder Victor Lemoine. Lilacs grow most successfully in well-drained soils, particularly those based on chalk. They flower on old wood, and produce more flowers if unpruned. If pruned, the plant responds by producing fast-growing young vegetative growth with no flowers, in an attempt to restore the removed branches. Lilac bushes can be prone to powdery mildew disease.
The wood of lilac is close-grained, diffuse-porous, extremely hard and one of the densest in Europe. The sapwood is typically cream-coloured and the heartwood has various shades of brown and purple. Lilac wood has traditionally been used for engraving, musical instruments, knife handles etc. When drying, the wood has a tendency to be encurved as a twisted material, and to split into narrow sticks.
Symbolism.
Lilacs are often considered to symbolize love (see language of flowers). In Greece, Lebanon, and Cyprus, the lilac is strongly associated with Easter time because it flowers around that time; it is consequently called "paschalia".
In the poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", by Walt Whitman, lilacs are a reference to Abraham Lincoln.
"Syringa vulgaris" is the state flower of New Hampshire, because it "is symbolic of that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State."
Festivals.
Several locations in North America hold annual Lilac Festivals, including:
Species.
Species and subspecies currently accepted as of July 2016:


Xanthophyllum resupinatum

Xanthophyllum resupinatum is a tree in the family Polygalaceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin meaning "upside-down appearance", referring to the leaves.
Description.
"Xanthophyllum resupinatum" grows up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The smooth bark is grey or brown. The flowers are white, drying dark brownish. The round fruits are blackish and measure up to in diameter.
Distribution and habitat.
"Xanthophyllum resupinatum" is endemic to Borneo. Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp forest from sea-level to altitude.


Conocarpus erectus

Conocarpus erectus, commonly called buttonwood or button mangrove, is a mangrove shrub in the family Combretaceae. This species grows on shorelines in tropical and subtropical regions around the world.
Range.
Locations it is known from include Florida, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Central and South America from Mexico to Brazil on the Atlantic Coast and Mexico to Ecuador on the Pacific Coast, western Africa and in Melanesia and Polynesia. It was introduced in Kuwait because it can thrive in high temperatures and absorbs brackish water.
Description.
"Conocarpus erectus" is usually a dense multiple-trunked shrub, tall, but can grow into a tree up to or more tall, with a trunk up to in diameter. The United States National Champion green buttonwood is tall, has a spread of , and a circumference of . The bark is thick and has broad plates of thin scales which are gray to brown. The twigs are brittle, and angled or narrowly winged in cross-section. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple and oblong, long (rarely to long) and broad, with a tapering tip and an entire margin. They are dark green and shiny on top, and paler with fine silky hairs underneath, and have two salt glands at the base of each leaf. The fruits are button-like (from which the common names derive), diameter, with no petals; they are produced in stalked panicles of 35-56 flowers. The fruit is a cluster of red to brown, small scaly, two-winged cone-like seeds, long. The seed heads burst when ripe, and the seeds are dispersed by water.
It is generally found growing in brackish water in tidal lagoons and bays, but can grow in inland habitats, with records at up to altitude in Costa Rica.
Taxonomy.
These two varieties are not accepted as distinct by all authorities:
Uses.
The tree is used as an ornamental plant and in bonsai. The variety "sericeus", with silvery leaves, is especially prized for landscaping. It is an important host plant for epiphytes. As a result of ornamental planting, it has become naturalized in Hawaii. It has been used extensively in landscaping in Kuwait and became the most abundant tree/shrub. Conocarpus is widely believed to be fodder for the African buffalo, and it is understood that this is the source of their acidic urine.
The wood is sometimes used in cabinets; it is difficult to work but takes a smooth finish. It is also used as firewood, and is reported to be good for smoking meat and fish, as it burns very hot and slowly; it also makes high quality charcoal. The bark is high in tannin, for which it has been harvested commercially.
Gallery.
Silver buttonwood growing along sand dunes in Miami Beach (South Beach)


Begonia tetrandra

Begonia tetrandra is a species of plant in the family Begoniaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Brahea

Brahea is a genus of palms in the family Arecaceae. They are commonly referred to as hesper palms and are endemic to Mexico and Central America. All Hesper Palms have large, fan-shaped leaves.
The generic name honours Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601).


Gentiana catesbaei

Gentiana catesbaei, commonly called Elliot's gentian, American gentian, or bottle gentian, is a wildflower native to the eastern North America. It grows in the swampy areas from Virginia to Florida and has showy, pale blue flowers which appear in the late fall from September to December.
It shares the common name "bottle gentian" with several other species.
Uses.
The Catawba American Indians were known to use the Elliott's gentian for medicinal purposes. They would steep the roots in hot water and then use the produced liquid to soothe sore backs. This is not surprising as the European gentian, "G. lutea", has been used as a digestive tonic and was listed in the United States Pharmacopeia from 1820 to 1995 as a gastric stimulant. In fact, the very name of the genus is derived from Gentius, a king of Illyria who recognized the tonic properties of the plant.


Crassulaceae

The Crassulaceae, also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering plants characterized by succulent leaves and a unique form of photosynthesis, known as Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Flowers generally have five floral parts. Crassulaceae are usually herbaceous but there are some subshrubs, and relatively few treelike or aquatic plants. Crassulaceae are a medium size monophyletic family in the core eudicots, among the order Saxifragales, whose diversity has made infrafamilial classification very difficult. The family includes approximately 1,400 species and 34–35 genera, depending on the circumscription of the genus "Sedum", and distributed over three subfamilies. Members of the Crassulaceae are found worldwide, but mostly in the Northern Hemisphere and southern Africa, typically in dry and/or cold areas where water may be scarce, although a few are aquatic.
Crassulaceae are mainly perennial and have economic importance as garden plants. Many members have a bizarre, intriguing appearance, and are quite hardy, typically needing only minimal care. Familiar species include "Crassula ovata" (jade plant or friendship tree), "Kalanchoe blossfeldiana" (florists' kalanchoe), "Sempervivum" (houseleek or hen and chicks), "Monanthes", "Umbilicus" (pennywort), "Bryophyllum", "Echeveria" and "Cotyledon".
Description.
General: Crassulaceae is a family of morphologically diverse terrestrial perennial, rarely annual or hapaxanthic (flowering once in a lifetime), flowering plants that demonstrate xerophytic adaptations, with thick succulent leaves, a thick waxy cuticle and Crassulacean acid metabolism. Crassulaceae are generally herbaceous but there are some subshrubs, and relatively few treelike, epiphytic (growing on surface of plants), scandent (vine like) or aquatic plants. Most species are herbaceous leaf succulents, with regular 5 part (pentamerous or fivemerous) flowers, isomerous free carpels and one or two whorls of stamens.
Vegetative: Stems are sometimes succulent, as may also be the underground caudices (rootstock), and may form rhizomes or corms. Bulbils may form along the stem or leaf margins. The leaf arrangement is opposite and decussate or alternate and spiral, and they are frequently aggregated into rosettes. The leaf shape is simple (rarely pinnate) and usually entire, or crenate to broadly lobed, sometimes dentate or more deeply incised, glabrous (smooth) or tomentose. In cross section the leaf blades are flat or round. They may be sessile or petiolate. Stipules are absent. New plants often form easily from vegetative parts that fall off the parent plant.
Reproductive: The inflorescence is usually terminal to lateral with many-flowered thyrses of cymes, less commonly spikes, racemes or panicles, rarely few to single flowered and axillary. The inflorescence is often many-branched and bracteate. The flower clusters are red, yellow, or white.
The flowers are often apopetalous (separate corolla segments), pentamerous (five-parted), actinomorphic (radially symmetrical), except for the zygomorphic "Tylecodon grandiflorus", with one to two whorls of 4–20 sepals that are usually as many as or twice as many as the number of petals and two whorls of stamens, five in each whorl (i.e. as many as or twice the number of petals), with their filaments either free or fused to the petals at the base and sometimes unequal. Anthers are basifixed and open lengthwise. The flowers are bisexual, less commonly unisexual (more or less dioecious). Ovaries superior to partially inferior, with carpels equal to the number of petals, each forming a single locule, superior, free or almost so, basally with a small to conspicuous basal nectary scale, gradually tapering to a short to long style with few to many ovules. The fruit is usually capsular with dehiscent follicles, opening along the carpal suture and many seeded. The seeds are small (1.5–3 mm), smooth, elongate, papillate to longitudinally ridged, and generally brownish.
However, a number of genera (e.g. Sempervivum, Aeonium) are polymerous (3-32), have basally fused or partially fused corolla segments, where the petals may form a corolla tube of varying length (e.g. "Kalanchoe", "Cotyledon"), or have only a single whorl of 5 stamens (e.g. "Crassula", "Tillaea"), while "Sedum" includes much of the morphological diversity within the family as a whole. Although the typical number of floral plants is four or five, a number of genera, such as "Sempervivum" and "Jovibarba", demonstrate polymery (at least ten or greater parts).
Genome.
Chromosome numbers are highly variable. The original base chromosome number is x=8, decreasing to 7 in Crassula. In Sedoideae, the base number increases to 9 in the Kalanchoe clade, but "Kalanchoe" have x=17 or 18 (or a multiple),and is probably of polyploid origin, derived from a tetraploid "Cotyledon" like taxon. In the Telephium "sensu" Hart clade the base number has increased to 12 and higher. Of the subclades within Telephium, the first (Hylotelephium "sensu" Thiede & Eggli: "Hylotelphium", "Orostachys" and "Sinocrassula") has x=12, and of the Rhodiola clade "Phedimus" has x=16 and "Umbilcus" x=24, representing another episode of polyploidy. Within Sempervivum, "Sedum" series "Rupestre" ("Petrosedum") has x=28. Within the Leucosedum, most taxa are diploid, with 2x=12, 14 but includes two subclades, one with x=6 or 7, the other x=6, but a few have 14 or 16. Acre includes a wide variety of chromosome numbers from x=6 to 270, and occasionally larger and displays widespread polyploidy. Aeonium includes some "Sedum" species with x=8, while the remaining taxa are x=18. The core of this clade is probably polyploid from an ancestor with x=8.
Phytochemistry.
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM photosynthesis) is named after the family, because the pathway was first discovered in crassulacean plants. It is one of the few families that still has CAM as an active, photosynthetic pathway, and is unique in which all its members are known to possess CAM.
Taxonomy.
Originally described by Saint-Hilaire (1805) as Crassuleae, and therefore has his name as the botanical authority. Authority has also, at times, been given to De Candolle (DC), who first used the term "Crassulaceae" in 1815. He later placed the family among the Dicotyledons.
One of the most complete treatments was Alwin Berger's revision in 1930. At that time the family comprised about 1,500 species, distributed over six subfamilies and 33 genera. Circumscription of the family has remained relatively stable, with the exception of the placement of the genus Penthorum, which has at times been placed either in its own monogeneric family, Penthoraceae, or in the Saxifragaceae. When Penthorum was separated from Crassulaceae, the latter became a natural monophyletic group. Some later authors, such as Cronquist, included only 900 species. Thiede and Eggli (2007), in their treatment of the family, describe 34 genera with about 1,410 species. The size of the genera varies considerably, from "Sedum", the largest with 300–500 species, to the smallest, which are monotypic. Estimates of the number of species has varied between 1500 (Berger 1930) and 900 (Cronquist 1981).
Molecular phylogenetics has shown that morphological characters and chromosome numbers are so labile in the family, with rampant polyploidy and aneuploidy, that they cannot be used reliably to infer evolution, even at low taxonomic levels, with few exceptions. For instance "Prometheum" and "Rosularia" have been segregated from "Sedum" by their basic chromosome numbers.
Crassulaceae is a medium size monophyletic grouping within the core eudicots. Originally considered a primitive member of the Rosidae, in the order Saxifragales, it is now placed, with that order as a superrosid under the classification system of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. There, the Saxifragales are a sister group to the rosids. Classification within the family is difficult and complex because many of the species hybridize readily, both in the wild and in cultivation, and the family is morphologically, cytologically and geographically diverse. As a result, generic boundaries have been considered unclear with frequent intergradation of characteristics between taxa, which may represent recurrent adaptation to xeric habitats.
Phylogeny.
Crassulaceae has been considered a part of the order Saxifragales by most modern authors, including Cronquist (1981), Takhtajan (1987), and Thorne (1992), based on phenotypic features, but subsequently confirmed by molecular methods. The place of Crassulaceae within Saxifragales has varied over time, as molecular data accumulates. The number of families within Saxifragales varies depending on the delimitation of individual families. Here, 14 families are shown in a cladogram, according to the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, situating Crassulaceae as sister to the Haloragaceae "sensu lato", and thus forming one of two subclades of the core Saxifragales.
Biogeography and evolution.
Crassulaceae evolved approximately 100–60 million years ago in southern Africa with the two most basal phylogenetic branches (Crassula, Kalanchoe) representing the predominantly southern African members. Other sources suggest that Crassulaceae evolved approximately 70 million years ago together with Haloragaceae "sensu lato" (Penthoraceae, Haloragaceae). The family is considered to have had a gradual evolution, with a basal split between Crassuloideae and the rest of the family (Kalanchoideae, Sempervivoideae). The Sempervivoideae subsequently dispersed north to the Mediterranean region, and from there to Eastern Europe and Asia (Sempervivum and Leucosedum clades), with multiple groups spreading over the three continents of the Northern Hemisphere. Two lineages from the European Crassulaceae eventually dispersed to North America and underwent subsequent diversification. The Aeonium clade dispersed from northern Africa to adjacent Macaronesia.
Distinct centers of speciation developed in Macaronesia (Aeonium clade), Mexico ("Sedum" and Echeverioideae in clade 7), and southeastern Asia ("Sedum sarmentosum", and "S. morissonensis" in Acre clade). On arrival in the Northern hemisphere the Sempervivoideae reached its greatest diversity. Conversely, few representatives of the Crassulaceae occur in South America and Australia. "Sedum" species are found in most of these regions, generally grouped with genera endemic to that region. For instance the North African "S. jaccardianum" and "S. modestum" (Aeonium) are a sister group to the endemic Macaronesian species in that clade.
The Macaronesian archipelago appears to have been reached by Crassulaceae at least three times. Once by the ancestor
of "Aeonium" and "Monanthes", most likely from the Western Mediterranean region, with the closest extant relatives of these two genera ("Sedum caeruleum", "S. pubescens"), coming from this region (Aeonium clade). The second migration was by an ancestor of a clade of three "Sedum" species ("S. nudum", "S. lancerotense" and "S. fusiforme" (Acre clade)), which appear yo have originated in Mexico. The third occurrence likely involved the ancestor of a lineage within the genus "Umbilicus" (Rhodiola clade). The Macronesian flora include three genera from the Sepervivoideae, "Aeonium", "Aichryson" and "Monanthes" (Aeonium clade), together with several "Sedum" spp. and one species of "Umbilicus" (Rhodiola). North America was reached at least twice, once by an ancestor of "Parvisedum" and "Dudleya", and once by a subclade of Acre. For a mapping of morphological features and biogeography on the phylogenetic tree, see Fig. 3.
Chromosome numbers have played a limited role in elucidating evolution, but suggest a core of x=8, with subsequent polyploidy. For a mapping of chromosome numbers on the phylogenetic tree, see Fig. 4.
Subdivision.
History.
When Carl Linnaeus published his "Species Plantarum" in 1753 only a few genera, included in the modern circumscription of Crassulaceae were described; the type genus "Crassula" (10 species), "Tillaea" (3), "Cotyledon" (6), "Sempervivum" (6), "Rhodiola" (1) and "Sedum" (15). By 1777, "Rhodiola" had been submerged into "Sedum", only to be separated again in the twentieth century.
While the family can fairly easily be recognised, identifying its constituent genera has been far more problematic. For an extensive history of subfamily Sedoideae, see . Saint-Hilaire's original description in 1805 included seven genera, as did De Candolle (1815). In a much more extensive treatment in 1828, he divided the Crassulaceae into the two groups, Isostemonae and Diplostemonae (i.e. haplostemony vs. obdiplostemony) on the basis of the number of staminal whorls. The former corresponded to the modern Crassuloideae.
Two lineages, six subfamilies, and 33 genera of Crassulaceae were described by Berger in 1930:<br>
Lineages, subfamilies, biogeography, No. genera, "type genus" (No. species in genus)
Each of these contained one of the largest genera. Though various revisions since have proposed simpler schemes, such as Borisova (1939, revised 1969). Berger's classification has proven practical and been the most widely used, although some of the subfamilies are polyphyletic. Berger's classification depended on biogeography and a number of morphological characteristics (primarily the number and arrangement of floral parts (haplostemonous androecia, polymery), the degree of sympetaly, and phyllotaxis) which are now recognized as being of limited value due to extensive homoplasy, having evolved independently many times, and hence provides little useful information, only two of the subfamilies proving monophyletic. Berger used sympetaly to define the group of Kalanchiodeae, Cotyledonoideae and Echeveroideae, but it also occurs in taxa within Crassuloideae and Sedoideae. Berger also placed all species with polymery into his Sempervivoideae, but it occurs in two different clades, Sempervivum and Aeonium. Although five of his six subfamilies appeared to be morphologically and geographically defined, the Sedoideae were problematic, being an artificial construction containing all taxa which could not be fitted into the other subfamilies (catch-all).
Sedoideae contained three centres of diversity, East Asia, the Mediterranean region and North America, with the greatest in E. Asia. Only a few taxa, such as "Rhodiola" and "Hylotelephium", occurring in all three regions. About 120 species were found in Europe and adjacent parts of North Africa and West Asia, and 400 in Eastern and central Asia.
Within Sedoideae, the large cosmopolitan typical genus "Sedum" (ca. 500 species), accounts for much of these issues, together with several smaller genera. "Sedum" refers to herbaceous, predominantly perennial species with alternate and entire leaves, a single subaxial hydathode and pentamerous obdiplostemous flowers with free petals. Most systematic treatments of the genus have resulted in conflicting classifications and evolutionary relationships within the Sedoideae. Attempts to resolve this have followed two opposing positions, lumping and splitting. Either accepting one artificial large catch-all polyphyletic genus, "sensu lato" ("Sedum s.l."), or splitting it into many smaller genera, "sensu stricto" ("Sedum s.l."). In the 1930s, Berger represented the splitting school of thought segregating genera such as "Orostachys", "Rosularia", "Pseudosedum" and "Sempervivella". In contrast, Fröderströmm favoured retaining a broader construct of "Sedum", recognising only "Pseudosedum". In more recent times Ohba (1978) proposed the narrower view, segregating "Rhodiola", "Hylotelephium" and "Prometheum", among other genera. Ohba then subdivided the old world taxa of his now reduced "Sedum" into five subgenera:
Grulich (1984) continued this process, proposing "Aizopsis" (subgenus "Aizoon"), "Asterosedum" (subgenus "Spathulata"), "Petrosedum" (subgenus "Sedum" series "Rupestria") and "Oreosedum" (subgenus "Sedum" series "Alba") as separate genera. As many as 32 segregate genera have been published, and most Eurasian crassulacean species were originally included in "Sedum", but subsequently segregated ("see" Sempervivoideae).
Subsequently, various revisions have proposed fewer subfamilies. Takhtajan (1987) initially submerged Sempervivoideae in Sedoideae and Cotyledonoideae in Kalanchiodeae to produce four, but later (1997) only three, Crassuloideae, Kalanchoideae and Sedoideae. Thorne (1992) also proposed three (Sedoidea, Cotyledonoidea, Crassuloidea), and then two (2000), Crassuloideae and Sempervivoideae.
Molecular phylogenetics.
Prior to the use of molecular methods of classification, attempts to replace Berger's system were largely unsuccessful. Subsequently, Hart and colleagues (1995) proposed two subfamilies, based on molecular phylogenetic data with chloroplast DNA, based on 49 species in 26 genera, which identified seven clades, named for constituent genera or species. Hart utilized a hierarchical system of subfamilies, tribes and subtribes, based on molecular, geographical and morphological criteria, including embryology, pollen morphology and phytochemistry.
The basal split at subfamily level, separates the haplostemonous (single series of stamens, equal in number to petals) African Crassuloideae with opposite leaves, from the Sedeae without these characteristics (obdiplostemonous, two whorls of stamens, twice as many as petals).
These clades were (1–7):
The last subtribe, the Sedinae, represents the last four clades (4–7) and contained half of the genera and species of Crassulaceae, including "Sedum", which is represented in all four clades, and the bulk of clades 5 and 7. In addition to "Sedum", 16 other genera are recognised. Aeonium is basal divergence, followed by Sempervivum, with Leucosedum and Acre as sister groups. The Sedinae were very diverse, making phenotypic circumscription impossible. A similar problem exists for each of its subclades. Given the realisation that "Sedum" "s.l." was a highly artificial construction, there was support for reducing it by describing a number of segregate genera. Ohba (1995) proposed that "Sedum" "s.s." should be restricted to clade 7, or at most clades 5–7, continuing some of the premolecular work in this direction, newly describing a number of Asian genera in addition to this reduced "Sedum".:
The general phylogenetic topology described by 't Hart et al. (1995) was confirmed in a larger study of 112 species of Crassulaceae sampled from 33 genera, and all six recognized subfamilies, using the chloroplast gene "matK". The Telephium clade, which had only been weakly supported, was seen as probably containing several subclades. A similar conclusion was seen in a further but more focussed study of East Asian Sedoideae that examined the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomes of 74 taxa. This region includes about 300 species of Sedoideae, and most genera segregated from "Sedum". However the Telephium clade of Ham was recognised as actually consisting of four separate clades, of which the two largest were named Hylotelephium and Rhodiola. The former are distinguished by being autumn flowering, while the remaining Sedeae bloom in spring and early summer. This analysis also confirmed the separate identity of most of the genera previously segregated from "Sedum". A second ITS study of 69 taxa in ten Asian genera resolved Telephium into just these two larger clades.
Hart's taxonomic classification was revised by Thiede and Eggli (2007) to define three molecularly defined subfamilies, corresponding to the major clades, Crassuloideae, Kalanchoöideae and Sempervivoideae, and 34 genera. Although some authors prefer the older term Sedoideae for Sempervivoideae, Sempervivoideae has taxonomic priority. The earliest branching subfamily is the Crassuloideae (2 genera), followed by the Kalanchoöideae (4 genera). Both of these represent the genera of southern Africa. The remaining six clades are segregated into the five tribes of the large temperate climate subfamily Sempervivoideae, with about thirty genera. These are Telephiae, Umbilicicae, Semperviveae, Aeonieae and Sedeae. Sedeae is the largest of these and contains two sister clades, Leucosedum and Acre The Sempervivoideae contain many familiar horticultural plants, such as "Sedum". The phylogenetic relationships between the subfamilies are shown in the cladogram.
Subfamilies.
Crassuloideae.
Crassuloideae is the smallest subfamily, representing a single monophyletic clade (Crassula), defined by haplostemonous androecia (characterized by a single whorl of stamens, the number of which equals the number of sepals, petals and carpels, and alternating with the petals). Although cosmopolitan in distribution, the center of diversity is southern Africa, with only the aquatic species being found more widely. It consists of two genera and about 250–300 species (Berger's other four genera ("Dinacria", "Pagella", "Rochea", "Vauanthes") having been subsumed into a larger "Crassula" "s.l."). Crassula is morphologically diverse and up to 20 sections based on phenotypic features have been described. One of these, "Tillaea", has at times been considered a separate genus. "Hypagophytum" is a monotypic genus, alternatively considered under Sempervivoideae.
Kalanchoöideae.
Kalanchoöideae is the next smallest subfamily, characterised by flower parts in fours. It represents Berger's Kalanchiodeae and Cotyledonoideae, in part. It is distributed in Madagascar and tropical Africa, with four genera and about between 130–240 species. It is characterised by fused corollas, chromosome number x=9 and mostly southern African distribution. The boundaries between "Kalanchoe", "Bryophyllum" and "Kitchingia" have remained unclear, and the latter two genera are more commonly treated as sections of "Kalanchoe":
Sempervivoideae.
Sempervivoideae is the largest and taxonomically most complex subfamily, distributed in temperate climates, with about 20–30 genera, and divided into five tribes, of which Sedeae contains two distinct clades, Leucosedum and Acre:
Distribution and habitat.
The family Crassulaceae has a cosmopolitan distribution, particularly "Crassula", though rare in South America and Australia, predominantly in the temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern hemisphere and Africa. The main centers of diversity being Mexico and south-western USA (about 300 species), Southern Africa (about 250 species), the Mediterranean region (about 177 species) and adjacent Macaronesia archipelago (200 species), and south-eastern Asia (about 200 species), especially the Himalayas. The Mediterranean region includes 12 genera. The greatest diversity is in southern Africa and Madagascar where the Crassula and Kalanchoe clades are confined.
Habitat.
Crassulaceae are found predominanly in semi-arid rocky habitats with monsoonal patterns of precipitation and high humidity, while some genera (e.g. "Sempervivum") occur primarily in arid mountainous habitats and higher altitudes. Although their succulent leaves and Crassulacean acid metabolism allow them to adapt to a variable water supply, they are not found in true desert areas. Some lineages have adapted to semi-aquatic and seasonally aquatic areas ("Crassula" ("Tillaea"), "Sedella") while Echeveria and Aichryson are found in moist, cool forest areas.
Ecology.
While most Crassulaceae are perennial, "Tillaea" are annuals, and annual species are also found among "Aichryson", "Crassula", "Sedum" and "Monanthes".
Cultivation.
Many Crassulaceae species are cultivated as pot plants or in rock gardens and borders.
Toxicity.
Some species are toxic to animals, such as those of "Cotyledon" and "Tylecodon", e.g. "Tylecodon wallichii". All species of "Kalanchoe" are toxic, particularly to livestock in Australia and South Africa, where alternative forage is scarce, with the flowers containing the highest concentration of cardiotoxins, the active ingredient being bufadienolides (named for their digoxin-like effect on "Bufo" toads). Illness in domestic pets has also been reported, "Kalanchoe blossfeldiana" being a popular Christmastime decorative household plant.
Uses.
Although no species have a role as crops, they are popular horticultural commodities as ornamental plants e.g. "Kalanchoe", while others (e.g. "Crassula helmsii") may also have a nuisance role as weeds.


Bittercress

Bittercress or Bitter-cress may refer to:


Moreton Bay fig (Balboa Park)

The Moreton Bay fig tree in San Diego's Balboa Park is one of the largest trees in California.
History.
It began its life when it was planted in 1914. During the Panama–California Exposition it was part of the San Diego County garden exhibit; as of 2017 it is the last remaining plant from the exhibit. The area underneath it was fenced off to the public in 1989 due to damage to the fig caused by foot traffic.