Isabelia

Isabelia is an orchid genus formed by three tiny species and one natural hybrid, spread from the Northeast of Brazil to Argentina, which are closely related to the genus "Constantia". During more than a century "Isabelia" was a genus formed by just one species, however, around 1968, it was merged with genus "Neolauchea", also unispecific. In 2001, a third genus was added to it, "Sophronitella".
Distribution.
"Isabelia" are epiphytic or rarely rupicolous species that are just occasionally found but usually grow into large colonies, spread in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil from north Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul, both in the humid slopes of Serra do Mar and in the drier forests of the Brazilian Plateau, from sea level to fifteen hundred meters of altitude. "I. virginalis" is also found in Paraguay and north of Argentina.
"Isabelia pulchella" exists from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul, where it is more common growing epiphytically along the coastal montane areas. "Isabelia" is the species exposed to the higher amount of constant humidity.
"Isabelia violacea" is the species that can be found farther north, from Bahia State to Rio Grande do Sul, where grows epiphytically and is also common inhabiting the streams, banks, and open jungles of "campos rupestres" of Minas Gerais and Bahia States at around eleven hundred meters of altitude occasionally as a rupicolous under full sunlight.
"Isabelia virginalis" is often found epiphytically in semi-deciduous forest in São Paulo and Paraná from two to five hundred meters of altitude but can reach fifteen hundred in Minas Gerais mountains, not rarely living as a lithophyte at these elevations. It grows both on main stems and mid-height and high branches of trees, where it is exposed to plenty of luminosity, humidity and ventilation.
"Isabelia × pabstii", a natural hybrid of "Isabelia pulchella" and "I. violacea", previously known as "Isanitella × pabstii", is known from a collection only, in Paraná State, South of Brazil, growing in the crevices and debris pockets of eroded sandstone outcroppings in Vila Velha, near Ponta Grossa. It has lavender pink flowers with a whiter labellum.
Description.
"Isabelia" have unifoliated ovoid to fusiform pseudobulbs, linear or acicular leaves, and erect apical inflorescence bearing one of few flowers. The flowers have petals, sepals and labellum of the same color, which can be white, pale pink or magenta. Their sepals are widely elliptical to ovate; the petals can be narrower and oblong or wider elliptic. The labellum is entire and oblong. The labellum may be entirely free or partially fused to the column forming a nectary. The column is stout and darker than the rest of the flower and may have four or eight pollinia.
All "Isabelia" species bloom from early autumn to early winter and their flowers last for about a week. Nothing is known about their pollinators. They have no known uses other than horticultural. "Isabelia" species are not very easy to cultivate. All species can be grown mounted on vegetable plaques and need plenty of humidity and ventilation and moderate to high luminosity. As these species suffer from frequent repotting it is good to leave room enough for five years of development. Their roots should not be kept humid during the night so morning waterings are preferred.
Taxonomic notes.
The first species of "Isabelia" to be discovered was "I. virginalis". It was collected in Serra dos Órgãos, Rio de Janeiro and sent to Europe by George Gardner, in 1837. At that time it was regarded as possibly a "Maxillaria" species. Despite having been known for long time, for some unknown reason, "Isabelia virginalis" remained without a formal description and scientific name until 1877, when João Barbosa Rodrigues found several specimens of it in Caldas, Minas Gerais on the trees around jungle clearances. The name of this genus is an homage to Isabel, the Princess of Brazil, the daughter of D. Pedro II, Emperor at the time Barbosa Rodrigues published his book.
The first "Isabelia" species to be formally described was "Sophronitis violacea", by John Lindley in 1840. It is a very short description where he mentions it does not have red flowers like the other "Sophronitis" species. In 1891, the botanist Carl Kuntze proposed it should be better identified as "Sophronia violacea". In 1925, Rudolf Schlechter suggested the new genus "Sophronitella" to classify this species. The names was a reference to the tiny size of the plant and flowers that resembled a smaller "Sophronitis".
The last "Isabelia" species to be described was originally published by Friedrich Kraenzlin, in 1897, as "Neolauchea pulchella" in homage to Director Lauche of Liechtenstein Botanic Gardens. In 1905 Andre Porsch, probably not aware of the previous description by Kraenzlin, described this species again as "Meiracyllium wettsteinii". In 1968, Karheinz Senghas and H. Teuscher suggested the combination of "Neulauchea" with "Isabelia", however, because they did not mention the publication information of the basionym, as required by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, their combination is considered invalid.
According to Cássio van den Berg, who studied their phylogeny, "Isabelia" is closely related to "Pseudolaelia" and "Constantia" and all three form a sister clade to another small clade that includes "Leptotes" and "Loefgrenianthus". The two clades constitute the "Isabelia" alliance, formed by plants that share stout columns, sometimes partially adnate to the labellum forming round nectaries, and is one of the eight clades of subtribus Laeliinae. Therefore, in 2001, Cássio van den Berg and Mark W. Chase suggested the combination of "Neolauchea" and "Sopronitella" within "Isabelia".
Species.
Although the three species of "Isabelia" share several morphological characteristics, they are highly different from each other and very easy to identify, both through vegetative qualities and from particularities on their flowers. Although all species today are subordinated to the same genus, many orchid collectors and some taxonomists prefer the former names. The reason to unify the genera was to make clear their close relationship and to reduce the number of accepted genera, however, the use of former genera names does not imply any inconvenience of phylogenetic classification and does not create polyphyletic genera.
The former genus "Neolauchea", whose only species is now "Isabelia pulchella", is the only one with an elongated rhizome, therefore, very spaced pseudobulbs, topped by a highly narrow and long concave leaf that almost seems to be terete at first sight. Their ovaries become visibly swallowed at their junction to the column foot where the base of the labellum is partially fused forming a nectary. It has four pollinia.
Former "Sophronitella" species, now "Isabelia violacea", is the largest species of "Isabelia"; with a short rhizome, more robust and erect pseudobulbs, with an almost flat leathery leaf. This species is the only to show more than one flower per inflorescence, up to three. It has the most opened flowers with sepals and petals of similar shape. The flower color and shape are remarkably constant in this species and just a few alba form specimens have been collected since it was discovered. It has a free labellum and eight pollinia.
The core "Isabelia" species, "Isabelia virginalis", presents a short reptant rhizome with pseudobulbs of terete leaves, completely covered by dried stealths formed by a loose tissue of fibers interlaced as a rustic network. Their labelli are partially fused to the column forming a nectary. Their flowers always are pale pink, almost white, and have eight pollinia.


Taxodioideae

Taxodioideae is a subfamily in Cupressaceae.


Echinocereus coccineus

Echinocereus coccineus (scarlet hedgehog cactus) is a species of hedgehog cactus. Its native to Northern and Central America. It grows on full sun, in sandy and well-drained soil. It can survive in hardiness zones 8-11. When mature, it reaches heights of 60 cm (24 in). The flowers are usually red, yellow, pink, purple or white. It blooms in late spring to early summer. After blooms, it has red, edible fruit.
References.
https://www.gardenia.net/plant/echinocereus-coccineus


Cheiridopsis pillansii

Cheiridopsis pillansii is a species of plant native to South Africa, around Cape Town. It is a member of the family Aizoaceae. It is a low-growing leaf succulent. It has small cushion-like leaves, and a short stem.


Chenopodium littoreum

Chenopodium littoreum is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is endemic to California, known only from sections of the coastline of central California, in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.
Taxonomy.
Several characteristics separate this plant from any other "Chenopodium". Specimens of the plant have been long mistaken for introductions of "Chenopodium carnosulum", a South American species. Studies indicate it is different in a number of characteristics and it was described as a new species in 2010.
Description.
"Chenopodium littoreum" is an annual herb forming prostrate mats on coastal dunes.
The leaves are lance-shaped or elliptic in shape and borne on short petioles. They are rarely lobed. They are light green in color and coated with powdery exudate.
The flowers are only about a millimetre in diameter and consistently have five yellow stamens.


Topophysis

Topophysis occurs when scions (young shoots and twigs), buddings, or root cuttings continue to grow in the same way after grafting as they had while growing on the ortet.
When the scion or propagule grows in the same branchlike way, it is called plagiotropic growth. Orthotropic growth is when the scion begins to grow in the same upward manner as the ortet. The duration of plagiotropic growth habit depends on the tree species and developmental stage (whether bud or scion) when cut, before the ramet changes to orthotropic growth and matures. This maturation is dependent on the position of the scion growth in relation to the axillary buds. The rate of maturation is decreased in lateral shoots for every order they are removed from the apical meristem and the total distance grown from the apical meristem.
Hans Molisch first introduced the term topohysis in 1915 in response to Hermann Vöchting’s 1904 "Araucaria excelsa" cutting propagation experiment. Vöchting recorded that cuttings from the terminal shoots immediately developed into normal plants with orthotropic growth. Cuttings from the first order lateral branches first developed into plants resembling side branches (plagiotropic growth) before growing orthotropically. Cuttings from the second order lateral branches grew into horizontal shoots with no side branches for the longest time before growing orthotropically. He concluded that the onset of axillary bud growth is mainly affected by the position relative to the ortets axillary bud.
William J. Robbins addressed the nature of topophysis in a 1964 paper in which he considered it to be a matter of somatic inheritance. See "Topophysis, a problem in somatic inheritance". Proc. Am. Philos. Soc. 108: 395-403.


Cistanthe guadalupensis

Cistanthe guadalupensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae. The plant is native to Guadalupe Island.


Utricularia floridana

Utricularia floridana, the Florida yellow bladderwort, is a large affixed aquatic carnivorous plant in the "bladderwort genus" within the bladderwort family). It is a perennial plant that is endemic to southeastern United States (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas).


Doryanthaceae


Ardisia panamensis

Ardisia panamensis is a species of plant in the family Primulaceae. It is endemic to Panama. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Tecticornia arbuscula

Tecticornia arbuscula, the shrubby glasswort or scrubby samphire, is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae, native to Australia. It is a shrub that grows to 2 metres in height, with a spreading habit. It has succulent swollen branchlets with small leaf lobes.
The species occurs on shorelines in coastal or estuarine areas or in salt marshes, especially marshes subject to occasional inundation by the ocean. It has a patchy distribution across south coastal Australia, occurring in southern Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.
Seeds of the species are enclosed in a hard, vaguely pyramid-shaped pericarp which reveal 1.5 mm long, narrow seeds. these seeds appear as golden brown, transparent and unornamented.
Originally published by Robert Brown under the name "Salicornia arbuscula", it was transferred into "Sclerostegia" by Paul G. Wilson in 1980, before being merged into "Tecticornia" in 2007.


Austrostipa elegantissima

Austrostipa elegantissima, commonly known as tall feather-grass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is native to southern Australia, from Western Australia to New South Wales. It grows as a decumbent perennial in a rhizomatous tussock with widespread leaves. It lacks basal leaves. It is found in areas that are not grazed by introduced livestock, which feed on this plant.
The species was first described by Jacques Labillardière as "Stipa elegantissima" in 1805 and assigned to the genus "Austrostipa" in 1996.
The plant is used by red-eared firetail ("Stagonopleura oculata") in the construction of its nests.


Hesperochiron

Hesperochiron is a small genus of plants in the waterleaf family containing two species native to western North America. These are thick-rooted perennial herbs growing in squat patches at ground level and producing bluish-white flowers with yellow throats. They grow in wet areas such as seepy meadows.
The species are generally similar in appearance, with oblong green leaves up to 7 or 8 centimeters long and 2 to 3 wide, often coated with tiny hairs. "Hesperochiron californicus", the California hesperochiron, produces slightly larger flowers than the dwarf hesperochiron, "Hesperochiron pumilus".


Fuchsia steyermarkii

Fuchsia steyermarkii is a species of plant in the family Onagraceae. It is endemic to Ecuador.


Epilobium oregonense

Epilobium oregonense is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name Oregon willowherb. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Arizona, where it generally grows in moist places in several types of habitat. It is a perennial herb growing spindly erect stems approaching 40 centimeters high or sometimes forming mats spreading via stolons. The small leaves are rounded near the base of the plant and linear in shape farther up the stem. The inflorescence bears flowers with four white to pink petals each a few millimeters long. The fruit is an elongated capsule up to 5 centimeters in length which is borne on a long pedicel which may be longer than the capsule itself.


Yellow-cedar decline

Yellow-cedar decline is the accelerated decline and mortality of yellow cedar ("Chamaecyparis nootkatensis") occurring in the Pacific Northwest Temperate Rainforest of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia in North America. This phenomenon has been observed on over 200,000 hectares of forest and is believed to be due to reduced winter snowpacks and increased soil freezing.
Setting.
Yellow cedar ranges from the Klamath Mountains of California to Prince William Sound in Alaska. Limited to higher elevations throughout most of its natural range The climate in Southeast Alaska and western British Columbia is hyper-maritime, with frequent low-intensity precipitation. Snow levels in this area are highly variable due to near freezing temperatures in the winter time. Forests here are dominated by Sitka spruce ("Picea stichensis"), western hemlock ("Tsuga heterophylla"), mountain hemlock ("Tsuga mertensiana"), shore pine ("Pinus contorta"), western redcedar ("Thuja plicata"), and yellow cedar. Decline of this species has affected over 200,000 hectares of forest in Alaska and 50,000 hectares in British Columbia
Causes.
It is currently generally accepted that increased regional temperature and associated reduction in snow-pack depth and duration are some of the drivers behind yellow-cedar decline. However, other causes of decline are being investigated by researchers. Current evidence suggests that yellow-cedar decline is not biologically driven or caused by direct anthropogenic pollution or atmospheric pollution. Researchers have investigated the effects of soil saturation and soil chemistry on yellow-cedar decline and have yet to reveal any conclusive data, other than the fact that these parameters may indirectly influence cedar mortality. Elevation also seems to play a role in cedar decline, as it was found in one study that yellow cedar trees growing above 130 meters were more cold hardy than those growing below 130 meters.
Freezing injury.
Yellow-cedar decline began in about 1880 which coincides with a warming of the climate after the Little Ice Age. The mechanics of this process are still hypothetical, but evidence suggests that soil exposure to cold temperatures due to lack of canopy cover or wetness of soils can lead to freezing injury of yellow cedar. Open canopy conditions in the forest expose soils to freezing temperatures. As regional temperatures warm, precipitation falls as rain more often than snow in the winter. Snow packs in the winter offer some insulation to root systems from freezing, the absence of this snow pack allows for soil freezing. As soils freeze, root tissues, especially those in wet soils, suffer damage and can lead to tree mortality. Yellow cedar is found to be significantly less cold hardy than tree species surrounding it, such as the western hemlock, which was found to deharden at almost 13 °C less than the yellow cedar in comparable conditions.
Management and conservation.
Management and conservation of yellow cedar in light of its declining state could be divided into three management areas: the maladapted, the persistent, and migration. Maladapted being those areas in which yellow cedar will lose in competition with resident and exotic species. Persistent being those ecosystems in which yellow cedar has managed to compete with resident species that will require special attention for maintenance. And migration being those areas which are suitable, but do not presently contain yellow-cedar populations.
Maladapted.
It is very important to recognize that conservation and restoration in areas that are maladapted for yellow cedar are futile. Areas that have already been maladapted for yellow cedar are important as sources of economic value. Dead regions of yellow cedar are still available for harvest even 80 years after death. Harvest of these areas represent a large opportunity for wood resources, shifting from logging of healthy yellow cedar in suitable habitat to those in maladapted regions could be beneficial to the conservation of this species.
It seems that, following the decay of yellow cedar, western red cedar will succeed the dead forest. The red cedar offers many of the very same economic and ecological values as yellow cedar. Areas of lower elevation in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia that have seen yellow-cedar decay have been succeeded by red cedar. However, more research will need to take place as this problem persists to evaluate the economic and ecological value of subsidizing red cedar in these areas.
Persistent.
Areas that are predicted with future climate change models to be suitable for sustained yellow-cedar habitation could be considered persistent from a management standpoint. It is important to accurately model these areas in order to develop effective management strategies.
At a landscape level, areas with well-drained soils are most likely to host yellow cedar into the future. These are the areas that see the highest rates of production among trees in the Pacific Northwest temperate rainforest, and are thusly the areas that are targeted for timber harvest. For this reason, these areas are hotspots for active management of yellow cedar into the future, as they represent the main areas that are able to achieve conservation goals.
Migration.
Some conservationists propose that assisted migration into areas uninhabited by yellow cedar will be an effective management strategy. Assisted migration is the introduction of species and genotypes into areas that are projected to be suitable for those species/genotypes. This can be controversial, mainly because it is seen as introducing invasive species into ecosystems, which could bring undesirable results. Researchers have attempted the introduction of yellow cedar in areas that it does not grow, but are within its range. A trial planting in Yakutat, Alaska, yielded first-year survival rates of over 90%, meaning that targeted migration can be used as an effective management strategy.


Nepenthes rafflesiana

Nepenthes rafflesiana (; after Stamford Raffles), or Raffles' pitcher-plant, is a species of tropical pitcher plant. It has a very wide distribution covering Borneo, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and Singapore. "Nepenthes rafflesiana" is extremely variable, with numerous forms and varieties described. In Borneo alone, there are at least three distinct varieties. The giant form of this species produces enormous pitchers rivalling those of "N. rajah" in size.
Distribution and habitat.
"Nepenthes rafflesiana" is a widespread lowland species. It is common in Borneo and parts of the Riau Archipelago, but has a restricted distribution in both Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. It is only widespread in the southeastern region of the Malay Peninsula, particularly in the state of Johor, where it is relatively abundant. "Nepenthes rafflesiana" has only been recorded from the west coast of Sumatra, between Indrapura and Barus. It is also found in Singapore and on a number of smaller islands, including Bangka, Labuan, Natuna, and the Lingga Islands.
"Nepenthes rafflesiana" generally occurs in open, sandy, wet areas. It has been recorded from "kerangas" forest, secondary formations, margins of peat swamp forest, heath forest, and seaside cliffs. It grows at elevations ranging from sea-level to 1200 m or even 1500 m.
Description.
"Nepenthes rafflesiana" is a scrambling vine. The stem may climb to a height of 15 m and is up to 10 mm thick. Internodes are up to 20 cm long. Tendrils may be over 110 cm long.
The lower pitchers of "N. rafflesiana" are bulbous and possess well-developed fringed wings. These terrestrial traps rarely exceed 20 cm in height, although the giant form of "N. rafflesiana" is known produce pitchers up to 35 cm long and 15 cm wide. Upper pitchers are funnel-shaped and often bear a distinctive raised section at the front of the peristome. Both types of pitchers have a characteristically elongated peristome neck that may be 3 cm or more in length.
Pitcher colouration varies greatly from dark purple to almost completely white. The typical form of "N. rafflesiana" is light green throughout with heavy purple blotches on the lower pitchers and cream-coloured aerial pitchers.
The inflorescence is a raceme and grows between 16 and 70 cm tall. The red or purple flowers usually occur singly, or sometimes in pairs, on each flower-stalk.
Young plants are wholly covered with long, caducous, brown or white hairs. Mature plants often have a sparse indumentum of short, brown hairs, though they may be completely glabrous.
Biology.
"Nepenthes rafflesiana" is found in tropical lowlands. It produces two distinct types of pitchers (heavily modified leaves), which are used to capture and kill insect prey for nutrients. The lower pitchers are generally round, squat and 'winged', while the upper pitchers are more narrow at their base. The species is widely variable and comes in a variety of shapes and colors – most contain varying amounts of green, white, and maroon streaks.
All "Nepenthes" are passive carnivores with no moving parts, unlike their distant cousins the Venus flytrap. "Nepenthes rafflesiana" kills by luring its prey into its pitchers, whose peristomes secrete a sweet-tasting nectar. Once the insect is inside, it quickly finds the walls of the pitcher too slippery to scale and drowns. Digestive enzymes released by the plant into the liquid break down the prey and release soluble nutrients, which are absorbed by the plant through the walls of the pitcher. The carnivorous nature of "Nepenthes" is supposedly a consequence of living in nutrient-poor soils; since the main method of nutrient absorption in most plants (the root) is insufficient in these soils, the plants have evolved other ways to gain nutrients. As a result, the roots of "Nepenthes" and most other carnivorous plants are slight and fragile; hence care must be taken when repotting. All "Nepenthes" are dioecious, meaning that each individual plant has only male or female characteristics.
For "Nepenthes" pitchers being used as daytime roosting sleeping bags by small bats, see Nepenthes hemsleyana#Relationship with bats.
Discovery and early history.
"Nepenthes rafflesiana" was discovered by Dr. William Jack in 1819. In a letter from Singapore published in "Curtis's Botanical Magazine", Jack wrote the following account:
It is impossible to conceive anything more beautiful than the approach to Singapore, through the Archipelago of islands that lie at the extremity of the Straits of Malacca. Seas of glass wind among innumerable islets, clothed in all the luxuriance of tropical vegetation and basking in the full brilliance of a tropical sky... I have just arrived in time to explore the woods before they yield to the axe, and have made many interesting discoveries, particularly of two new and splendid species of pitcher-plant ["Nepenthes rafflesiana" and "Nepenthes ampullaria"], far surpassing any yet known in Europe. I have completed two perfect drawings of them with ample descriptions. Sir S. Raffles is anxious that we should give publicity to our researches in one way or other and has planned bringing out something at Bencoolen. He proposes sending home these pitcher-plants that such splendid things may appear under all the advantages of elegant execution, by way of attracting attention to the subject of Sumatran botany.
At the time the largest known species in the genus, "N. rafflesiana" was described in the "Gardener's and Farmer's Journal" for 1850 as follows:
Whoever has seen this plant in a living state must undoubted be constrained to consider it as one of the most astonishing productions of the whole vegetable kingdom. The resemblance that a portion of it bears to our more familiar domestic utensils leaves a lasting impression on the minds of spectators that is not easily eradicated; it is the largest and most magnificent of the genus, far surpassing any hitherto known in Europe.
Cultivation.
"Nepenthes rafflesiana" is very popular in cultivation; it is a lowland "Nepenthes" (enjoying hot, humid conditions most of the time, as found in tropical jungle lowlands) but can be grown as an intermediate, with cooler nights and less humidity. It is a comparatively hardy "Nepenthes" that is commonly recommended as a "first plant" to new "Nepenthes" growers. The plant should be grown in shaded conditions, diffuse sunlight, or in a large grow chamber under artificial lights. Watering and misting should be performed frequently, and preferably with distilled water, to avoid mineral build-up that is not only unsightly but that may damage the delicate roots of "Nepenthes" (and most other carnivorous plants). Standing water is inadvisable. A wet, well-draining potting medium is a necessity. Methods of feeding are varied – some growers feed freeze-dried bloodworms or Koi pellets (both available in the fish section of most pet stores); others prefer orchid mixes. No carnivorous plant should ever be fed mammalian meat – this will result not only in an unpleasant smell but also the probable rotting of the pitcher and potential death of the plant. The digestive enzymes present have not evolved to handle large prey items, and the rotting material gives opportunistic bacteria and fungi a chance to take hold.
Infraspecific taxa.
Across its expansive range, "N. rafflesiana" exhibits great variability in both pitcher morphology and colour. The following infraspecific taxa of "N. rafflesiana" have appeared in the literature. Most of these are not considered valid today, and a number represent different taxa altogether. The elongate plant often referred to informally as "N. rafflesiana" var. "elongata", and described as "N. baramensis", is now known under the name "N. hemsleyana".
Giant form.
Giant plants of "N. rafflesiana" have been recorded from a number of isolated localities on the northwestern coast of Borneo and one population has been found near the seaside town of Sematan, around 110 km west of Kuching. The typical habitat of this form is dense heath forest, especially around vegetation boundaries.
The giant form is a much larger plant than the typical form in all respects. The stem may climb to a height of 15 m. Leaf blades are around two and a half times as long as usual. Lower pitchers reach 35 cm in height by 15 cm in width and sometimes exceed 1 litre in volume, making them some of the largest in the genus. They vary widely in pigmentation, from white with red blotches to dark purple. Upper pitchers may be spotted or green throughout. The inflorescence is also massive, reaching over 1 m in length. The individual flowers measure up to 1.5 cm in diameter and have dark red tepals.
In addition to its size, the giant form is distinguished by the colour of its developing leaves, which have a bronze sheen. Both this characteristic and the plant's exceptional size are exhibited by cultivated specimens and thus they cannot be due to unusual environmental factors.
Natural hybrids.
The following natural hybrids involving "N. rafflesiana" have been recorded.
Conservation.
Most wild populations of "Nepenthes", including "N. rafflesiana", are endangered due to habitat destruction and (to a lesser extent) poaching. "N. rafflesiana" is currently listed as a CITES Appendix II plant, so it does have some international trade restrictions (though not an outright ban). Today, most "N. rafflesiana" plants on the market are propagated by plant tissue culture or other forms of vegetative propagation. When purchasing any plant, especially those protected by CITES, it is important to ask the vendor about the plant's provenance.


Kokoona leucoclada

Kokoona leucoclada is a species of plant in the family Celastraceae. It is a tree endemic to Borneo where it is confined to Sabah. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Acrochaetium efflorescens

Acrochaetium efflorescens is a small marine red alga. It is a small alga with erect filaments and spiral shaped plastids. The base is multicellular. The species shows an alternation of generations with both tetrasporic and gametophytic stages. It is found in the North Atlantic and has been recorded as an epiphyte on "Cystoclonium purpureum".


Irenella chrysotricha

Irenella chrysotricha is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Pityrogramma

Pityrogramma, the silverback ferns, or goldback ferns, is a fern genus in the subfamily Pteridoideae of the family Pteridaceae.
Species.
, "Plants of the World Online" recognized the following species and hybrids:


Ripogonum brevifolium

Ripogonum brevifolium, commonly known as small–leaved supplejack, is a vine, or sometimes a shrub, native to Australia.
The species occurs in the states of Queensland and New South Wales.


Grangeria

Grangeria is a genus of plant in the family Chrysobalanaceae described as a genus in 1789.
"Grangeria" is native to certain islands in the Indian Ocean: Madagascar, Mauritius, and Réunion.
"Grangeria brasiliensis" - "Hirtella ciliata" - South America


Hackelia amethystina

Hackelia amethystina is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name amethyst stickseed.
Distribution.
The plant is endemic to northern California.
It is found in meadows and openings of Yellow pine forest habitats from in elevation, in the Northern California Coast Ranges and in the northern Sierra Nevada primarily within Plumas County. In the Sierra it is often mistaken in flower for "Hackelia nervosa".
Description.
"Hackelia amethystina" is a densely hairy perennial herb 40 to 80 centimeters tall. The leaves around the base of the stem may be up to 30 centimeters long and there are generally several smaller leaves along the stem.
The inflorescence is an array of coils of flowers. Each flower is just over a centimeter wide with blue to pinkish lobes with white appendages at the bases. The fruit is a cluster of prickly nutlets.


Collinsia rattanii

Collinsia rattanii is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name sticky blue-eyed Mary. It is native to the coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest of the United States from Washington to northern California. It is an annual herb growing up to 40 centimeters tall with linear leaves rolled under along the edges. The leaves are hairy on the upper surface and hairless and purple-tinted underneath. The inflorescence is coated in sticky glandular hairs. It has a series of nodes from which arise one to five flowers each on pedicels. The flower is only 4 to 8 millimeters long, with two mostly white upper lobes and three mostly purple lower lobes.


Ceratozamia becerrae

Ceratozamia becerrae is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae.
It is endemic to Mexico, where it is known only from the states of Chiapas and Tabasco. There are only two known populations. The plants grow in rainforest habitat on karst substrates.
This species was described to science in 2004.


Anguloa

Anguloa, commonly known as tulip orchids, is a small orchid genus closely related to "Lycaste". Its abbreviation in horticulture is Ang. This genus was described by José Antonio Pavón and Hipólito Ruiz López in 1798. They named it in honor of Francisco de Angulo, Director-General of Mines of Peru.
This genus is found on the forest floor at high elevations from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.
Description.
Tulip orchids are rather large terrestrial and sometimes epiphytic plants with fleshy pseudobulbs longer than 20 cm. The long, lanceolate and plicate leaves of a full-grown "Anguloa" can be more than 1 m long. Two to four leaves grow from the base of each pseudobulb. The leaves are deciduous, and are shed at the start of each new growth.
The flowers of these orchids have a strong scent of cinnamon. They are of waxy appearance and are (in wild species) either of two colors, depending on the species – greenish white, or yellow to red. A single flower per inflorescence arises from the base of each new pseudobulb. The white tulip orchids have six inflorescences per pseudobulb, the other can produce up to twelve inflorescences. The sepals have a bulbous shape, resembling a tulip; hence the common name. The lip is three-lobed. The column has four pollinia.
Species.
There are 13 species of tulip orchids, including 4 apparently of hybrid origin though established in the wild. Other hybrid tulip orchids are bred by horticulturalists, but do not occur in the wild. The following are currently accepted as of May 2014:


Saltbush scrub

Saltbush scrub is a Mojave Desert plant community and vegetation type, found above and beyond the alkali sink Shadscale scrub type.
Halophyte plants must deal with salt in the soil, but in less high concentrations than are found in the alkali sink shadscale scrub zone. Alkali sink vegetation grades into saltbrush scrub.
Flora.
Common species include members of the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae), such as:
The shadscale scrub community vegetation also has these family Chenopodiaceae species, but is found at higher elevations.


Jamesoniella

Jamesoniella is a genus of liverwort in family Jamesoniellaceae. It contains the following species, among others:


Cunninghamia konishii

Cunninghamia konishii is a species of tree in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. It is native to southeast China, Taiwan, Laos and Vietnam.
Although "C. konishii" is treated as a distinct species by many sources, it has also been suggested that it is conspecific with "C. lanceolata".


Garrya fremontii

Garrya fremontii is a species of flowering shrub known by several common names, including California fever bush, bearbrush, and Frémont's silktassel. Both the latter name, and the plant's specific epithet are derived from John C. Frémont.
Distribution.
The plant is native to the West coast of the United States, from Washington to California. It can be found in a number of habitats, from mountain forest to woodlands and chaparral canyons and slopes.
Description.
"Garrya fremontii" is a shrub reaching a maximum height of three to four meters. The leaves are oval-shaped, 2 to 12 centimeters long and about half as wide, and smooth green, rarely with hairs on the undersides.
The plant is dioecious, with male and female plants producing long, hanging clusters of yellowish to pinkish flowers.
The fruit is a spherical berry, starting green and turning pink and then purple. The fruit is eaten by birds and mammals, who disperse the seeds.
The plant can also sprout from its root crown. Like many other chaparral species, it is quick to recover from wildfire.


Cyclosorus elegans

Cyclosorus elegans is a species of ferns in the Thelypteridaceae. It is found in China.


Lechenaultia

Lechenaultia is a genus of plants in the family Goodeniaceae. Some species of this genus are used as ornamental plants, in particular "L. biloba", "L. formosa" and "L. macrantha". "Lechenaultia" species are diverse in form: they may be woody or herbaceous, upright or prostrate with leaves flat, needle-like or virtually absent in mature plants. The genus differs from other Goodeniaceae in the structure of the stigma and the fertilization mechanism. They are found in Australia (mostly in the SW corner) and New Guinea (one species).
They are named for the botanist attached to the Baudin expedition to Australia, Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour. Robert Brown had met Leschenault and assumed to spell his name the French way without the 's'. However, Bentham introduced the German spelling with the 's' and subsequent writers followed suit as the name was written "Leschenaultia", but reverted to Robert Brown's spelling in the 1950s. The common names of the species maintains the correction, as with the section name.
The type species is "Lechenaultia formosa".
The following is a list of the taxa contained by the genus "Lechenaultia";
In addition to these species, there are two descriptions of specimens held at the Western Australian Herbarium:


Maytenus cunninghamii

Maytenus cunninghamii is a species of shrub endemic to Australia. The natural range extends from The Kimberley and throughout The Northern Territory and Queensland. The plant grows to 6 metres in height, though it commonly flowers as a much smaller shrub. It is most commonly found in savanna and open forests, though it occasionally extends into monsoon forest.


Dioscorea rimbachii

Dioscorea rimbachii is a species in the family Dioscoreaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador, in which it grows from altitudes of 2,000 to 4,000 meters.


Tropaeolaceae


Calochortaceae


Bottegoa

Bottegoa is a genus of plant in family Rutaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete):


Gleichenia

Gleichenia is a genus of ferns. Its closest relative is the genus "Stromatopteris", restricted to New Caledonia.
Species include:


Nepenthes alzapan

Nepenthes alzapan is a tropical pitcher plant native to the Philippine island of Luzon. It is known from only a handful of herbarium specimens collected in 1925 from submontane mossy forest at an elevation of 1800 m above sea level. It is closely allied to "N. bellii" and has similarly diminutive pitchers.
The specific epithet "alzapan" refers to Mount Alzapan in the Sierra Madre mountains, from which the type material was collected.


Desmoncus polyacanthos

Desmoncus polyacanthos, the jacitara palm, is a spiny, climbing palm native to the southern Caribbean and tropical South America. Stems grow clustered together, and are 2–12 m long and 0.5–2 cm in diameter. Petioles, rachis, cirrus and peduncular bracts are covered with short, curved spines. Two varieties are recognised: "D. polyacanthos" var. "polyacanthos" and "D. polyacanthos" var. "prunifer" (Poepp. ex Mart.) A.J.Hend.
"Desmoncus polyacanthos" is found in Colombia, Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. The stems are used for baskets and sieves.


Fuchsia harlingii

Fuchsia harlingii is a species of plant in the family Onagraceae. It is endemic to Ecuador.


Ilma Grace Stone

Ilma Grace Stone (1913 – 2001), née Balfe, was an Australian botanist who specialised in bryology. She was an author, collector, and researcher of Australian mosses, a subject on which she lectured and wrote.
Scientific career.
Stone studied at the Department of Botany in University of Melbourne from 1930 - 1934, graduating with an MSc involving a thesis on sclerotia-forming fungi that cause disease in ornamental plants. However, she did not begin her career studying bryophytes until 1957 when she was appointed as a demonstrator in the Department of Botany at University of Melbourne, at first part-time and then full-time. Her PhD was awarded in 1963 for "A morphogenetic study of stage in the life-cycle of some Victorial cryptograms". She was awarded a D.Sc by the University of Melbourne where she was an Honorary Research Fellow when she was 76. She officially retired from the university in 1978 but continued to research and publish until her death in 2001.
She was initially interested in ferns but from 1969 specialised in mosses. In 1983 she published a description of a new species, "Fissidens gymnocarpus", and continued to contribute to moss taxonomy. She is noted for keen observation and attention to often small and overlooked moss species, and for her contributions to their taxonomy. She was also an impressive field bryologist. Stone is credited with significantly increasing knowledge of mosses in Australia, especially those in Queensland.
She was particularly expert in the genera "Acaulon", "Pleuridium", "Eccremidium", "Astomum" and "Nanobryum" as well as the moss floras of Victoria and Queensland, the tropical mosses of Australia and those with permanent protonema. In addition, her work on the Australian "Fissidens" in collaboration with David Catcheside made significant improvements to its taxonomy.
Publications.
Stone published more than 70 papers during her career, the first when aged 48 and eleven after the age of 80.
Over 70 research papers, including:<br>
She described 25 species, several genera and one new moss family.
Her collection of around 25,000 specimens is now held in the herbarium of the University of Melbourne. It is particularly comprehensive for bryophytes of tropical areas of Australia.
Awards.
In 1989 she was awarded a D.Sc by the University of Melbourne where she was an Honorary Research Fellow.
She was elected an Honorary Member of the British Bryological Society in 1982.
Several species of moss have been named in her honour. This includes two genera ("Stonea" and "Stoneobryum") and two species:
Early education and personal life.
She was born in Brunswick, Victoria in Australia in 1913 and was educated at Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School, financed by a scholarship. She excelled in English and Botany. After gaining her MSc degree from University of Melbourne, rather than continue her studies at University of Cambridge in the UK, she chose to marry. She was married to Alan Stone and they had three children. For the first 20 years of her marriage her family took precedence over her career


Trillium nivale

Trillium nivale, the snow trillium or dwarf white trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to parts of the east and midwest United States, primarily the Great Lakes States, the Ohio Valley, and the Upper Mississippi Valley, as far north as central Minnesota.
"Trillium nivale" is a perennial herbaceous plant that flowers late winter or early spring, occasionally while snow is still on the ground. Along the Ohio River valley, flowers may be seen in early March. At its northern limit in Minnesota, it blooms in early April. Along with the eastern skunk cabbage ("Symplocarpus foetidus"), "T. nivale" is one of the earliest flowering spring ephemerals. Given its winter hardiness, one would expect the range of "T. nivale" to extend farther north, but curiously this is not the case.
Soon after pollination the pedicel turns downward, so that by the time the fruit is mature, it is hanging below the leaves. In June, the seeds are shed and the entire portion of the plant above ground suddenly disappears. The seeds are dispersed by ants, which may account for the low genetic diversity reported in some plant populations.
"Trillium nivale" is smaller than many of the other species in the genus, seldom reaching a height of more than . Unlike most trilliums, it does not grow in leaf mold, preferring limy sandy gravel, crevices in limestone, or calcareous mineral soil.
Like other "Trillium" species, "T. nivale" has a one-leaf vegetative stage followed by a three-leaf vegetative (juvenile) stage. After twelve or more years of vegetative growth, the plant finally reaches its three-leaf reproductive (flowering) stage. In some populations, there may be ten or more one-leaf plants to each flowering plant. The latter has an indefinite life span of many years, often living for decades.


Ceratozamia latifolia

Ceratozamia latifolia is a species of cycad in the family Zamiaceae that is endemic to Querétaro, Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí in Mexico. It inhabits cloud zone oak forests in the Sierra Madre Oriental.


Solanoideae

Solanoideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Solanaceae, and is sister to the subfamily Nicotianoideae. Within Solanaceae, Solanoideae contains some of the most economically important genera and species, such as the tomato ("Solanum lycopersicum"), potato ("Solanum tuberosum"), eggplant or aubergine ("Solanum melongena"), chili and bell peppers ("Capsicum" spp.), mandrakes ("Mandragora" spp.), and jimson weed ("Datura stramonium").
This subfamily consists of several well-established tribes: Capsiceae, Datureae, Hyoscyameae, Juanulloeae, Lycieae, Nicandreae, Nolaneae, Physaleae, Solandreae, and Solaneae. The subfamily also contains the contended tribes Mandragoreae and Jaboroseae.
Tribal relationships.
The relationship between the tribes has recently been well described. Nicandreae is the most basal tribe of the family, placing sister to the other 9 (or by some counts 11) tribes. Datureae lies sister to Nicandreae, Physaleae, Capsiceae, and Solaneae. Solaneae + (Physaleae + Capsiceae) form a well-supported monophyletic group, but the exact branching within the clade remains unclear.


Saxifraga callosa

Saxifraga callosa, the limestone saxifrage, is a species of flowering plant in the family Saxifragaceae, that is native to maritime alpine habitats in Western Europe (Italy, France and Spain). Growing to tall by broad, it is a clump-forming evergreen perennial with rosettes of narrow grey-green leaves that are coated in lime. The starry, pure white flowers are borne in long panicles in spring.
The Latin specific epithet "callosa" means “thick-skinned, with calluses”.
Lower taxa.
"Saxifraga callosa" is a variable species depending on location, Two subspecies and at least two varieties are recognised:-
Cultivation.
"Saxifraga callosa" is cultivated as an ornamental garden plant. As it requires well-drained alkaline soil in full sun, it is often grown in an alpine house, where specialist conditions can be provided. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.


Caylusea

The plant genus Caylusea is a small group of plants found in parts of Africa and India.
"Caylusea abyssinica" is eaten as a vegetable.


Tylophora barbata

Tylophora barbata, the Bearded Tylophora, is a small vine in the dogbane family. A common plant found south of Bulahdelah, New South Wales. The habitat is rainforest and moist eucalyptus forests in south eastern Australia. Not often seen in flower, but flowers are dark red, around 7 mm long on thin stalks. Broken branches produce watery or milky sap.
Taxonomy.
In 1810, this species first appeared in scientific literature, in the "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae", authored by the prolific Scottish botanist, Robert Brown, who gave it its current binomial name.
The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek "tylos"/τυλος "knot", and "phoros"/φορος "bearing", from the swollen staminal coronal lobes. "Barbata" means "bearded" from Latin, presumably referring to the bearded seeds.
Description.
A twining or climbing vine, "Tylophora barbata" can reach 2–3 m in length, often climbing trees or twining around its own branches. The stems and leaves are smooth and exude a clear sap when broken. The light green oval to spear-shaped leaves sit on 1–2 cm long petioles and measure 2.5–6 cm long by 2–4 cm wide. Flowering occurs from November to May, the small flowers are shades of maroon, purple or brown and measure 0.5–0.8 cm in diameter. It fruits two to three months after flowering.
Distribution and habitat.
"Tylophora barbata" is found from Bulahdelah, New South Wales southwards into northeastern Victoria. The only member of the genus in the Sydney basin, it is found in the Royal National Park and around Mount Tomah in the Blue Mountains. Its habitat is rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest, where it prefers wet areas such as gullies.
Cultivation.
Readily adapting to cultivation, "Tylophora barbata" prefers a well-drained soil and is propagated from seed or cutting. It is useful as a groundcover.


Luisia

Luisia, commonly known as velvet orchids or 钗子股属 (chai zi gu shu), is a genus of epiphytic or lithophytic orchids in family Orchidaceae. Plants in this genus have flattened roots, long leafy stems, narrow, thick, leathery leaves and short-lived flowers that open sporadically. There are about forty species found from tropical and subtropical Asia to the Western Pacific.
Description.
Orchids in the genus "Luisia" are epiphytic or lithophytic, monopodial herbs with long, fibrous stems and thick, more or less flattened roots. A large number of cylinder-shaped, narrow leathery leaves are arranged along the stems. Up to ten resupinate, usually small, fleshy flowers are arranged on a short, thickened flowering stem and open sporadically. Each flower has a short, curved stalk and petals that are longer than the sepals. The labellum is large and fleshy with an upper epichile separated by a groove from the lower concave hypochile. The labellum has a rigid connection to the column.
Taxonomy and naming.
The genus "Luisia" was first formally described in 1829 by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré and the description was published in "Voyage autour du monde fait par ordre du Roi sur les corvettes de S. M. l'Uranie et la Physicienne". The name "Luisia" honours Don Luis de Torres who assisted the French expedition at Guam.
Distribution.
Orchids in the genus "Luisia" occur in Bhutan, China, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Guinea the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Micronesia and Melanesia.
Species list.
The following is a list of species of "Luisia" accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as at December 2018:


Setchellanthaceae


Eriogonum ochrocephalum

Eriogonum ochrocephalum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name whitewoolly buckwheat. It is native to the Great Basin of the United States, where it grows in local habitat such as sagebrush. It is a perennial herb forming a thick clump or mat covered in clusters of woolly lance-shaped to oval leaves. The inflorescences arise on erect scapes and bear many tiny yellow flowers in a rounded cluster.


Limnobium laevigatum

Limnobium laevigatum is a floating aquatic plant, and is a member of the family Hydrocharitaceae. Common names include West Indian spongeplant, South American spongeplant and Amazon or smooth frogbit. This plant was introduced to North American waterways through use in aquariums and aquascapes.
Plant origin and distribution.
Spongeplant originates from fresh water habitats of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. In California it has been introduced as an ornamental pond plant, and has escaped into greater waterways including areas surrounding Redding and Arcata, the Sacramento river delta and the San Joaquin River, and ponds and irrigation canals.
Description.
"Limnobium laevigatum" is a floating aquatic plant, which can be mistaken for water hyacinth ("Eichornia crassipes") due to their superficial similarity. Juvenile plants grow in rosettes of floating leaves that lie prostrate upon the water surface, a distinguishing character of the juvenile plant is the presence of spongy aerenchyma tissue upon the abaxial surface (underside) of the leaf. Mature plants grow up to 50 cm tall, and have emergent leaves borne on petioles that are not swollen or inflated like the spongy leaf stalks of water hyacinth, which aid in buoyancy. Spongeplant produces stolons which bear gametes. Flowers are small, white, and unisexual. Female flowers have an inferior ovary, the fruit is a fleshy capsule 4–13 mm long and 2–5 mm in diameter, and seeds are 1 mm long, ellipsoid, and hairy. "Limnobium laevigatum", or Smooth Frogbit can be distinguished from "Limnobium spongia", American frogbit, by flower and leaf characteristics as well as range; American frogbit is not known to occur in western states unlike smooth frogbit.
Plant reproduction.
"Limnobium laevigatum" can reproduce and distribute sexually through flower pollination and seed production, and also vegetatively through fragmentation of stolon segments. The juvenile plants have a great capacity for distribution in that they are small, they float and can be easily and quickly carried along by water currents.
Aquascape use.
Amazon Frogbit in captivity has two hazards to its health which aquarium owners can avoid: (1) water droplets on the tops of the leaves can rot the plant (they must be kept dry), and (2) some species of aquatic snail appear to like to eat the spongy material on the bottoms of the plant leaves (keep them near the center of the tank, not against the glass on the edges.)
Limnobium Management.
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) crews which already manage other invasive aquatic plants including "Hydrilla verticillata" and "Eichhornia crassipes" have focused efforts upon "Limnobium laevigatum". The CDFA has carried out detection and mapping of spongeplant throughout California, with a focus upon irrigation canals in the San Joaquin valley. Treatments have included mechanical and hand removal and application of appropriate aquatic herbicides including diquat and glyphosate upon remaining plants.


Cinna latifolia

Cinna latifolia is a species of grass known by the common name drooping woodreed. It is a native bunchgrass to the Northern Hemisphere, where it has a circumboreal distribution. It grows in moist habitat, such as forest understory and riverbanks. It reaches nearly two meters in maximum height. The inflorescence is an open array of spikelets generally green to purple-tinted in color. It flowers in late summer and fall.


Lone Cypress

The Lone Cypress is a Monterey cypress tree in Pebble Beach, California. Standing on a granite hillside off the 17-Mile Drive, the tree is a Western icon, and has been called one of the most photographed trees in North America. It is located between Cypress Point Club and the Pebble Beach Golf Links, two of world's best-known golf courses. Possibly as old as 250 years, the cypress has been scarred by fire and has been held in place with cables for 65 years. The look of the tree changed significantly when it lost its leftmost branch during a storm in 2019.
The Monterey cypress grows naturally only in Pebble Beach and Point Lobos.
A drawing of the tree was registered as Pebble Beach Company's trademark in 1919. The company said the trademark protected not only the logo but also the tree itself.


Ipomoea triloba

Ipomoea triloba is a species of "Ipomoea" morning glory known by several common names, including littlebell and Aiea morning glory. It is native to the tropical Americas, but it is widespread in warm areas of the world, where it is an introduced species and often a noxious weed. This is a fast-growing, vining, annual herb producing long, thin stems with ivy-like, petioled, heart-shaped leaves long. The leaves sometimes, but not always, have three lobes. The vines produce tubular bell-shaped flowers, each about two centimeters long. They are quite variable in color, in shades of pink, red or lavender, with or without white markings.


Scutellonema brachyurum

Scutellonema brachyurum (British spiral nematode, Carolina spiral nematode) is a plant pathogenic nematode Infecting African violets.


Nepenthes jamban

Nepenthes jamban ( [not ]) is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to northern Sumatra. The specific epithet "jamban" is the Indonesian word for "toilet" and refers to the shape of the pitchers.
Botanical history.
"Nepenthes jamban" was discovered during a series of field trips to Sumatra between 2004 and 2005.The species was first collected on April 22, 2005, south of Padang Sidempuan in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra.
The formal description of "N. jamban" was published in 2006 in the botanical journal "Blumea". The herbarium specimen "Lee, Hernawati, Akhriadi NP 433" was designated as the holotype. It is deposited at the Herbarium of Andalas University (ANDA).
Description.
"Nepenthes jamban" is a climbing plant. The stem, which is usually less than 5 mm thick, grows to 4 m in length and is cylindrical-angular in cross section. Internodes are up to 5 cm long.
Leaves are sessile and coriaceous in texture. The lamina may be narrowly obovate to elliptic or slightly spathulate, and grows to 11 cm in length and 3.3 cm in width. One or two longitudinal veins are present on either side of the midrib together with numerous pinnate veins. Tendrils are up to 24 cm long.
Rosette and lower pitchers are cylindrical to narrowly infundibular in the lower
third, becoming widely infundibular above. They are relatively small, rarely exceeding 5.8 cm in height and 4.4 cm in width. Fringed wings (≤2 mm wide) are usually present in terrestrial pitchers. The pitcher mouth is almost horizontal. The inner surface of the pitchers is glandular throughout. The flattened peristome may be up to 8 mm wide and is lined with a series of teeth (≤0.5 mm long) on its inner margin. The lid or operculum is narrowly obovate, and up to 3.8 cm long and 1.3 cm wide. The undersurface of the lid bears scattered small red glands that are concentrated around the midrib. Around 20 to 30 very large crater-like glands (≤0.5 mm wide) are present in the apical quarter. These glands are so large that they are visible as swellings on the upper surface of the lid. The spur (≤4 mm long) is inserted at the base of the lid. It is generally unbranched but may be forked.
Upper pitchers are circular in cross section and widely infundibular in their upper half. They are much larger than lower pitchers, reaching 12 cm in height and 5.2 cm in width. The pitcher mouth is horizontal and orbicular. As in lower pitchers, the inner surface of the pitchers is wholly glandular. Wings are reduced to ribs that run down the front of the pitcher. In aerial pitchers, the flattened peristome is up 6 mm wide and bears more prominent teeth (≤1 mm long). The spur is usually simple and grows to 3.5 mm in length. Compared to lower pitchers, the lid in upper pitchers is similar in shape but longer, reaching 4.8 cm in length and 0.9 cm in width. It is held over the pitcher mouth at an angle of approximately 45 degrees.
"Nepenthes jamban" has a racemose inflorescence. In male plants, the inflorescence may be up to 18 cm long. The female inflorescence has not been described. The rachis is up to 11.5 cm long, while the peduncle is up to 6.5 cm long. Pedicels are up to 1.4 cm long and bear a single flower. Sepals are elliptical and around 3.5 mm long. Mature fruits are up to 3 cm long and 6 mm wide. Seeds are filiform and around 2 cm long.
Most parts of the plant are glabrous. Developing pitchers, tendrils, and inflorescences are densely covered with short brownish-grey hairs.
The stem is characteristically purplish red. The leaves and inflorescence are light green to pale green. Lower pitchers range in colour from yellowish orange to bright red throughout. Upper pitchers are generally bright yellow with a yellow to orange peristome, and may be occasionally speckled on their inner surfaces.
Ecology.
"Nepenthes jamban" is endemic to the Barisan Mountains that line the western side of Sumatra. It is known only from the type locality, south of Padang Sidempuan in North Sumatra. The species has an altitudinal distribution of 1800–2100 m above sea level.
"Nepenthes jamban" grows in upper montane mossy forest amongst summit scrub vegetation. Unlike the closely related "N. jacquelineae", it only occurs terrestrially.
In the wild, "N. jamban" occurs sympatrically with "N. bongso", "N. dubia", "N. gymnamphora", and "N. lingulata". A natural hybrid with "N. lingulata" has been recorded.
Carnivory.
The upper pitchers of "N. jamban" have been noted for trapping many large prey items, such as wasps and crickets, and relatively few small animals. The traps of this species also support large populations of pitcher infauna, particularly mosquito larvae.
"Nepenthes jamban" produces thick, mucilaginous pitcher liquid similar to that found in related species such as "N. inermis". The pitchers of "N. inermis" function not only as pitfall traps but also as flypaper traps, with the sticky inner walls trapping flying insects above the surface of the fluid. A similar trapping method may be employed by "N. jamban".
Related species.
"Nepenthes jamban" belongs to a group of related Sumatran species that includes "N. dubia", "N. inermis", "N. jacquelineae", and "N. tenuis". It shares with these species features such as infundibulate pitchers which are wholly glandular on their inner surfaces, bracteate inflorescences, and sessile leaves. All of these "Nepenthes" produce very viscous pitcher fluid.
"Nepenthes jamban" is thought to be most closely related to "N. jacquelineae". Both taxa have a narrow lid and massive nectar glands, a trait unique to these two species. However, the glands of "N. jacquelineae" may be even larger (≤1.5 mm wide). In addition, the two species can be easily distinguished on the basis of peristome morphology and floral characteristics. "N. jamban" is not as robust as "N. jacquelineae" and lacks the greatly expanded peristome that is so characteristic of that species. Furthermore, "N. jamban" differs in having longer and one-flowered partial peduncles, and a narrower lid.
Natural hybrids.
A natural hybrid involving "N. jamban" and "N. lingulata" has been recorded. In 2009, Adrian Y. Wartono observed a putative cross between "N. dubia" and "N. jamban" in an area where these two species grew with "N. lingulata" and "N. rhombicaulis".
Notes.
"N. jacquelineae" simile sed peristomii operculo valde porcato neque lato expanso, ascidii super valde abrupte infundibuliformibun et pedicellis in toto uniflorius differt. — Typus: "Lee, Hernawati, Akhriadi NP 433" (ANDA), Indonesia, Sumatera Utara, Bukit Barisan, south of Padang Sidempuan, 22 April 2005.


Sobreiro Monumental

The Sobreiro Monumental ("Monumental Cork Oak"), also known has 'The Whistler Tree', is a 236 year old cork oak from Águas de Moura, Palmela, Portugal. It was voted European Tree of the Year in 2018, it has been classified as "Tree of Public Interest" since 1988 and is registered in the Guinness Book of Records as "the largest cork oak in the world".
It is around tall with a diameter at breast height of .
It was planted in 1783–1784, at that time the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves reigned by Queen Maria I and, since 1820, it has been harvested over 20 times. 1991 was a particularly prolific year, as it yielded over of cork, producing more than 100.000 cork stoppers, more than what an average cork tree would produce in its lifetime.
The name 'Whistler Tree' comes from the whistling sound of the birds that land on its branches.
The tree was almost taken down with other 411 cork oaks in 2000, as an illegal urban expansion took place. By 2001 the law was reformed to better protect the oaks.


Leontopodium

Leontopodium is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae (which also includes daisies and sunflowers). The genus is native to Europe and Asia. The fuzzy and somewhat stocky "petals" (technically, bracts) could be thought of as somewhat resembling lions' paws—hence the genus name combining "léōn" (lion) and "pódion" (foot).
The genus includes the edelweiss ("L. nivale"), a well-known plant from the mountains of Europe. The term edelweiss can, more rarely, refer to other members of the genus.
Taxonomy.
The following species are currently recognized:
In popular culture.
"Leontopodium nivale", the edelweiss, has been regarded as a national symbol of Austria, worn as a cap emblem by Austrian troops and displayed on Austrian coins. A song about the plant, written by Oscar Hammerstein, was featured in the musical production "The Sound of Music".


Navarretia capillaris

Navarretia capillaris (formerly "Gilia capillaris") is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name miniature gilia. It is native to the western United States where it grows in wet, gravel-lined habitat especially in mountains, such as snowmelt runs.
It produces glandular stems coated thinly in hairs and lined with small lance-shaped or linear leaves only one or two millimeters wide. The tiny stem is topped with an inflorescence of one or more flowers each roughly a centimeter long. The calyx is an elongated pocket of fused sepals with lobes separating at the top. The fuzzy, glandular corolla is white to light blue with a yellowish throat.


Cryptogrammoideae

Cryptogrammoideae is a subfamily of ferns in the family Pteridaceae. The subfamily contains three genera and about 23 species.
Taxonomy.
In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), Cryptogrammoideae is one of the five subfamilies of the family Pteridaceae. Although the subfamily Cryptogrammoideae is similar to the family Cryptogrammaceae proposed by Pichi Sermolli in 1963, that group contained the morphologically similar genus "Onychium" (now in the subfamily Pteridoideae) instead of the less morphologically similar genus "Coniogramme". In 2006, Smith "et al." included Cryptogrammaceae as part of the family Pteridaceae, and in 2011, Christenhusz "et al." listed its three genera in Cryptogrammoideae, one of five subfamilies of Pteridaceae, a placement used in PPG I.
The following diagram shows a likely phylogenic relationship between the three Cryptogrammoideae genera and the other Pteridaceae subfamilies.


Diospyros lateralis

Diospyros lateralis is a tree in the family Ebenaceae. It grows up to tall. Inflorescences bear up to three flowers. The fruits are round to ovoid, up to in diameter. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin meaning "lateral", referring to the position of the inflorescences on the stem. Habitat is lowland mixed dipterocarp forests. "D. lateralis" is found in Thailand, Sumatra and Borneo.


Cochleanthes

The genus Cochleanthes is made up of 4 species of orchids native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and South America. The name "Cochleanthes" refers to the shape of the flower (in Greek, "cochlos" means "shell" and "anthos" means "flower").
Description.
This genus as a rule lacks pseudobulbs and consequently produces tufted fan-like growths of fairly erect narrow leaves, and conforms to the sympodial method of growth. Plants of this genus produce single-flowered inflorescences, with the flowers often being quite large for the size of the plant, and occurring at any time of the year, though slightly more concentrated during summer in cultivation. All members of this genus have their flowers dominated by the large labellum (lip) which often has longitudinal markings upon it which serve as a nectar guide for pollinating insects. The flowers have four pollinia.
"Cochleanthes" is best kept under intermediate conditions with fairly high humidity, and should never be allowed to dry out. Plants are epiphytes and grow at elevations of up to 1500 metres in cloud forests.


Glottiphyllum suave

Glottiphyllum suave is a species of succulent plant, of the family Aizoaceae. It is indigenous to arid areas of the western Little Karoo, in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Description.
Each growth point bears a small number of compact, fleshy leaves, in two parallel, opposite rows (distichous leaf arrangement).
The leaves of this species are thick, oval or rounded-elliptical, and ending in a slightly hunched "chin". The leaves also have clear margins and a pale waxy covering that can easily be rubbed off. This layer of white wax gives the leaves a slightly blue-grey hue. It is likely an adaptation to this plant's habitat preference for exposed positions in full sunlight.
The seed capsule disintegrates and falls from the plant soon after it has released its seeds. The seeds have long, equally-sized papillae.
Distribution.
"G. suave" is indigenous to the western Little Karoo, west of Ladismith, in the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Its range extends from the Anysberg area in the west to as far east as near Vanwyksdorp. In this region, it usually grows exposed, in full sun. In much of its range, it co-occurs with its common relative "Glottiphyllum depressum" (which usually grows in the shelter of bushes). In the south of its range, it overlaps with the range of "Glottiphyllum fergusoniae", and in the east of its range, with "Glottiphyllum surrectum".


Cecil Joslin Brooks

Cecil Joslin Brooks (1875–1953) was a British metallurgical chemist who also collected insects, plants (especially ferns), animals and butterflies. Educated privately and at King's College, London, he was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry (1922) and Member of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Brooks was born in Cambridge on 7 May 1875 and educated at a private boarding school in Hastings before going on to King's College, London. In 1906 he married Alida Johanna de Jongh in Hilversum. Their children included Mercy Brookes (born Sarawak 1908) and Cecil Jocelyn Talida Brooks (born 1913, educated at Monkton Combe School).
From 1896 to 1897 Brooks worked as an Assistant at Stanger and Blount's Laboratories and Testing Works in Westminster, London. He became Chemist to the Sussex Portland Cement Co., Newhaven, East Sussex and then from 1897 to 1900 he was Metallurgical Chemist to Quirk Barton and Co., London. In 1900 he became Cyanide Manager, Borneo Company, at their gold mine at Bidi, Sarawak, prospecting for gold ore in new districts and research on the treatment of arsenical antimonial gold ore. From 1904 to 1906 he worked as a Metallurgist to Quirk, Barton and Co undertaking research in treatment of Cobalt silver ore and bismuth ores, ultimately erecting a bismuth plant and becoming Departmental Manager at the plant. Between 1907 and 1910 he returned to Sarawak as Cyanide Manager at Bidi and then later at Bau undertaking research on the Pahang Consolidated Co.'s tin ores, soils and agricultural matters. From 1912 to 1921 he was Chief Chemist and Metallurgist to the Simau Gold Mining Co., near Bencoolen in Sumatra.
In 1911 he and his family were living in Thetford where he owned property.
In 1915 he sent a plant specimen of Amorphophallus titanum from Sumatra to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
He returned to England with his Dutch wife Alida in 1924. He remarried in 1927, to Ada Lilian Beatrice Greenbank, née Harbord, who was born in Cork in June 1875.
He studied his collections, including butterflies held in the British Museum of Natural History, where he was made an associate. His collection of East Anglian moths is in the Norwich Castle Museum.
Many species of fern are named for him (mainly by Edwin Copeland); also Brooks' dayak fruit bat, "Dyacopterus brooksi"; Brooks' wolf gecko, "Luperosaurus brooksii"; and Brooks' nose-horned lizard, "Thaumatorhynchus brooksi".
A species of Sumatran snake, "Calamaria alidae", is named in honour of his wife, Alida Brooks.
He died in Hampstead in 1953.


Dryopteris inaequalis

Dryopteris inaequalis is an Afrotropical fern species that ranges from tropical and southern Africa to Madagascar. It has been recorded in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa, where it is present in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. It is found on forest floors and along forest margins, from middle to high altitudes.
Description.
It has a creeping rhizome of up to 3.5 cm in diameter, that bears attenuate pale-brown rhizome-scales of up to 2 cm long. The stipe is up to 80 cm long and is only densely scaled towards its base. The lamina is up to 90 x 33 cm, broadly to narrowly ovate with an acuminate apex with the basal pinnae not reduced, or barely so. The pinnae are up to 33 x 16 cm and form an angle of more than 50° to the rachis. The pinnules are oblong to very narrowly oblong in outline. The rachis becomes glabrous with maturity.


Ormosia amazonica

Ormosia amazonica is a tree of the Fabaceae family native to the Amazon rainforest. It is naturally distributed in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru, in the Amazon Forest in Igarapó Forests. The species was first described by the Brazilian botanist of Austro-Hungarian origin Adolpho Ducke in 1922.


Amblyodon

Amblyodon is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Meesiaceae.
The genus was first described by Palisot de Beauvois.
The species of this genus are found in Europe and Northern America.
Species:


Bonnetia celiae

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


Clematis versicolor

Clematis versicolor (pale leatherflower) is a species of flowering plant in the Buttercup family. It is a twining vine native to the Southeastern United States and Ozark Mountains. In this range it is found in scattered calcareous regions, where it is found on limestone outcrops, in thickets, and dry woods. It flowers in the summer.
It is separated from similar-looking species by its white-waxy, generally hairless, leathery leaves, and its lavender to cream colored flowers.


Achetaria

Achetaria is a genus in the family Plantaginaceae. It contains ten species and is found in South America.


Lithops pseudotruncatella

Lithops pseudotruncatella is a species of succulent in the family Aizoaceae. It is often confused with "Conophytum truncatum," but with attention to detail, it can be distinguished. This confusion associated with "L. pseudotruncatella" is also where it derives its name, literally meaning "fake-"truncatum" (" referring to "C. trunctatum"). It also received The Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The plant is found throughout much of Southern Africa.
Description.
Leaves are thick, and similar to that of the rest of the genus "Lithops". The leaves are paired in twos, and the plant as a whole does not grow larger than 5 cm in height. They are grey to green in color with branched marbling on the top. Its flowers are yellow in color and not more than 4 cm in diameter.


Orobanche pinorum

Orobanche pinorum is a species of broomrape known by the common name conifer broomrape. It is native to the forests of western North America, where it is a parasite growing attached to the roots of other plants, usually "Holodiscus" species. This plant has an erect stem with a wide, thickened base and slender top growing tall. As a parasite taking its nutrients from a host plant, it lacks leaves and chlorophyll and is brownish or yellowish in color. The inflorescence is a dense, spreading array of purple-tinged yellowish flowers long.
Reproduction.
"Orobanche pinorum" is predominantly autogamous. It produces about 700 seeds per capsule and over 70,000 seeds per plant. There are some evidence of xenogamy, but potential pollinators were rarely observed.


Alsophila batjanensis

Alsophila batjanensis, synonym Cyathea batjanensis, is a species of tree fern native to the Maluku Islands and western New Guinea, where it grows in rain forest at an altitude of approximately 600 m. The trunk is erect and 2–3 m tall. Fronds are bi- or tripinnate and 1–2 m long. The stipe is spiny, warty and covered with scattered scales that are dark brown and have fragile edges. Sori are round and occur near the fertile pinnule midvein. They are covered by small, narrow indusia that resemble small saucers in appearance.
The specific epithet "batjanensis" refers to Batjan, known as Bacan in English, one of the larger of the Maluku Islands.


Phragmanthera

Phragmanthera is a genus of plants in the family Loranthaceae, the showy mistletoes. It is native to Africa and temperate Asia. The genus contains 35 species.


Connarus

Connarus is a genus of plants in the family Connaraceae.
Description.
"Connarus" species are usually woody climbers, occasionally shrubs or trees. The flowers are bisexual and fragrant. The fruits are pod-like.
Distribution and habitat.
"Connarus" species are distributed widely throughout the tropics, including Borneo.
Species.
 "The Plant List" recognises 110 accepted taxa (of species and infraspecific names):


Physocarpus opulifolius

Physocarpus opulifolius, known as common ninebark, Eastern ninebark, Atlantic ninebark, or simply ninebark, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae, native to eastern North America.
Description.
It is a mound-shaped deciduous shrub with alternate, simple leaves, on arching stems. It has a height from and a spread of . The leaves vary from in length, with palmately veined lobes. It is fast-growing, insect- and disease-resistant, and drought-tolerant. The species is adaptable to a very wide range of soil and site conditions, from moist to dry, acid to alkaline, and gravelly to heavy clay; and can grow in partial shade to full sun. The 5-petaled, diameter flowers form in corymbs. The flowers are white to pinkish, blooming from May to June in North America. In Missouri the fruits ripen from August to early October and are small, dry pods hanging in drooping, papery clusters. The bark peels off in thin papery strips, resembling the number nine in shape, exposing brown inner bark which is the origin of the common name.
Range.
"Physocarpus opulifolius" is found in eastern North America on rocky hillsides and banks of streams as well as in moist thickets, especially in counties south of the Missouri River. There is also a scarcely distinguishable form in the Rocky Mountain region and the Pacific Northwest. Its native range is from New York to Minnesota and South Dakota, south to Florida, Arkansas and Kansas. But it can be found from Quebec west to Minnesota, South Dakota and Colorado, south to Oklahoma to Georgia and north to New York. The shrub is an escape, or a wild plant formerly cultivated, northeastward.
Uses.
The ability of "P. opulifolius" to grow in harsh conditions makes it especially suitable for erosion control on banks. But it is also grown for its ornamental foliage. Numerous cultivars have been developed, of which 'Dart's Gold', 'Diabolo', and = ‘Tuilad’ have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Newer cultivars offer different foliage color as well as smaller overall plant size.
Ecology.
It is a larval host for the dimorphic eulithis, for "Macaria abruptata", the white spring moth, "Ancylis spiraeifoliana", "blinded sphinx moth", and possibly the bluish spring moth. The larvae have been recorded on the raspberry leafroller.


Actinastrum

Actinastrum is a genus of mostly freshwater single-celled Eukaryotes, first described by Gustaf Lagerheim in 1882.
Studies since 2002 have placed Actinastrum as either sister to or a subgrouping within Chlorella, a Charophyte green alga genus in the family Chlorellaceae.


Eucalyptus mannensis

Eucalyptus mannensis, commonly known as Mann Range mallee, is a species of mallee that is native to Western Australia, South Australian and the Northern Territory. It has rough bark at the base of the trunk, smooth bark above, narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and eleven, creamy white flowers and hemispherical fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus mannensis" is a mallee, rarely a straggly tree, that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has rough, flaky or fibrous bark on the lower part of the trunk, smooth greyish bark above. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull, greyish green, lance-shaped leaves that are long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, narrow lance-shaped to narrow elliptical, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven, nine or eleven on an unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels long. Mature buds are oval, long and wide with a conical or rounded operculum. Flowering occurs from April to October and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody, hemispherical capsule long and wide.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus mannensis" was first formally described in 1964 by Cliff Boomsma from a specimen collected on Angas Downs Head Station. The description was published in "Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia". The specific epithet ("mannensis") refers to the Mann Ranges in South Australia.
In 1992, Lawrie Johnson and Ken Hill described two subspecies and the names have been accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
Distribution and habitat.
Mann Range mallee grows on plains and dunes in open shrubland and has a wide distribution in the central ranges of Australia, including in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. There are also disjunct populations in the Great Victoria Desert, near Wiluna and near Shark Bay. Subspecies "vespertina" is restricted to near-coastal areas between the Murchison River and Shark Bay.
Conservation status.
Both subspecies of "E. mannensis" are classified as "not threatened" in Western Australia by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.


Fagonia cretica

Fagonia cretica (, Virgin's Mantle) is a species of plant in the Zygophyllaceae, the Caltrop family, specifically the "fagonbushes". It is found in Alicante province, Spain, the Balearic Islands, Crete, Malta, Cyprus and North Africa, from Morocco to Egypt.
The Manto de la Virgen is a plant of rocky coastlines, especially on Cabrera, Formentera, Ibiza, and Majorca of the islands. It is a creeping plant and has star-shaped, 5-narrow petal, violet to light violet flowers.
Properties.
Plant has sweet, bitter, sharp and sour taste according to different stages of growth and parts. The color of flowers is purple. Plant has large number of small fruits near thorns.


Cordia dichotoma

Cordia dichotoma is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to the Indomalayan realm, northern Australia, and western Melanesia.
Common names include fragrant manjack, snotty gobbles, cummingcordia, glue berry, anonang, pink pearl, bird lime tree, and Indian cherry in English; booch, लसोड़ा ("lasoda"), टेंटी ("tenti"), डेला ("dela"), or gunda in Hindi; ਨਸੂੜੇ ("lasoore") in Punjabi lasura in Nepali; गुंदा ("gunda") in Gujarati; भोकर ("bhokar") in Marathi; and 破布子 ("phoà-pò·-chí"), 樹子仔, or 樹子 in Amoy.
Description.
"Cordia dichotoma" is a small to moderate-sized deciduous tree with a short bole and spreading crown. The stem bark is greyish brown, smooth or longitudinally wrinkled. Flowers are short-stalked, bisexual, white in colour which open only at night. The fruit is a yellow or pinkish-yellow shining globose which turns black on ripening and the pulp gets viscid.
Habitat and range.
"Cordia dichotoma" is native to China (Fujian, Guangdong Guangxi, Guizhou, southeast Xizang, and Yunnan) the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Australia (Northern Territory and Queensland) and New Caledonia. It is a tree of tropical and subtropical regions. It is found in a variety of forests ranging from the dry deciduous forests of Rajasthan to the moist deciduous forests of Western Ghats and tidal forests in Myanmar.
Ecology.
The larvae of the butterfly "Arhopala micale" feed on leaves of "C. dichotoma".
Uses.
The immature fruits are pickled and are also used as a vegetable fodder. The leaves also yield good fodder. The seed kernel has medicinal properties. It is often cultivated for its fruits throughout the range of its natural distribution.
Symbolism.
It is the symbol of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province in Thailand.


Halochlorococcum

Halochlorococcum is a genus of green algae, in the family Oltmannsiellopsidaceae.


Parnassia glauca

Parnassia glauca, also known as fen grass of Parnassus, is a flowering herb of the genus "Parnassia".
Distribution and habitat.
The native distribution of "P. glauca" includes the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Natural habitats for this plant include fens, wetland edges, and the shores and floodplains of rivers and lakes. It is typically found in basic soils (soils that have a high pH).
Description.
The flower of "P. glauca" is 5-merous, with five petals and five sepals. Five sterile stamens are also present, with each divided into three prongs near its base, giving the flower the appearance of having 15 sterile stamens. A small yellow spherical structure, mimicking a drop of nectar, tops each sterile stamen branch. Each of the five white petals features green veins that may serve as guides for pollinators. Leaves are simple, with entire margins, and are found only at the base of the plant. The fruit is a dry capsule that splits open upon ripening.


Cestrum chimborazinum

Cestrum chimborazinum is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador.


National Grove of State Trees

The National Grove of State Trees is an attraction at the United States National Arboretum. The groves are planted on 30 acres (120,000 m²) of rolling terrain celebrate the diversity and importance of trees to all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The National Grove of State Trees (often just called the Grove) is a display of trees representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Fifty-one state plots are arrayed over 30 acres, each plot home to a grouping of a state’s official tree species, or in a few cases, another species indigenous to the state but better suited to growing in our climate.
Each state is represented by a loosely arranged grove of several trees that are spaced widely enough to accommodate their mature dimensions.
Bald cypress that might be found in a Louisiana swamp grow just a short walk from pines and birches that grow in New England forests; young redwoods from California grow near cottonwoods that might grow in riverside forests in the otherwise treeless Great Plains States.
Most states adopted their state trees in the period following unprecedented industrial and agricultural expansion in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Entire forests were stripped during this period for building materials, fuel wood, and to clear land for crops and livestock. Along with grassroots concerns about preservation of forests and trees came a natural pride in a part of the local flora, and the concept of a state tree was born.
Although the mid Atlantic region of the United States has mild weather which allows the USDA to grow most of the species designated by the various states as their arboreal emblems, it cannot successfully grow a few of the state trees such as the cabbage palmetto, which is the state tree of both Florida and South Carolina, or the kukui, which is Hawaii's state tree.
Substitutes have been made for these species so the arboretum could have a tree that is important in each of the states. Planting was undertaken in 1989 with the National Association of State Foresters, the American Forest Foundation, the USDA Forest Service, and the U.S. National Arboretum joining forces to create the Grove of State Trees.
The centerpiece of the collection is the portal adjacent to the M Street Parking Lot in Washington, D.C. A wooden entrance arbor is dedicated to the memory of Jeanne Yeutter, wife of former Secretary of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter, whose sponsorship of the project helped the concept of a Grove of State Trees to be realized. The inscription on the arbor reads "In Celebration of Jeanne Yeutter's Love of Trees". The arbor leads to a large plaza with a flagstone star and a wall adorned with pottery tiles designed and fabricated by Liza Bach, a Tennessee crafter. Each tile is individually cast with the name of each state and a raised image of the foliage of the state tree.
Although a complete trail system is planned to link all the individual plantings of state trees, as of 2004, only a small portion of the trail is complete, and most of the collection is not accessible to the handicapped.


Cnestrum (plant)

Cnestrum is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Dicranaceae.
The species of this genus are found in Northern Hemisphere.
Species:


Encephalartos humilis

Encephalartos humilis is a species of cycad in the former Transvaal Province, South Africa.
Description.
It is an acaule cycad, with stem, mostly underground, which does not exceed 50 cm in height and with a diameter of 15-20 cm, sometimes with secondary stems originating from basal shoots.
The leaves, pinnate, from 5 to 8, arranged in a crown at the apex of the stem, are 30–50 cm long, supported by a petiole about 10 cm long, and composed of numerous pairs of lanceolate, leathery leaflets, up to 13 long cm, with entire margin and about 9 parallel veins on the lower face, inserted on a greenish-yellow rachis.
It is a dioecious species, with male specimens that have fusiform cones, sessile, 15–20 cm long and 4–5 cm broad, of brownish-gray color, and female specimens with a coarsely cylindrical solitary cone, about 25 cm long and 8 cm wide –10 cm, of the same color as the masculine ones.
The seeds are roughly ovoid, 2.5-3.5 cm long, covered with a light yellow to orange flesh.


Castanopsis concinna

Castanopsis concinna is a species of plant in the family Fagaceae. It is a tree found in broad-leaved evergreen forests of southern Guangdong and Guangxi in China and in Hong Kong. It is under second-class national protection in China. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Alangium griffithii

Alangium griffithii is a species of plant in the Cornaceae family. It is a tree found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.


Viburnum arboreum

Viburnum arboreum is a species of plant in the Adoxaceae family. It is endemic to Jamaica.


Chionanthus plurifloroides

Chionanthus plurifloroides grows as a tree up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is yellowish grey or dark brown. The flowers are yellow green. Fruit is blue green, round, up to in diameter. Habitat is mixed dipterocarp forest, from sea-level to altitude. "C. plurifloroides" is endemic to Borneo.


Zostera marina

Zostera marina is a flowering vascular plant species as one of many kinds of seagrass, with this species known primarily by the English name of eelgrass with seawrack much less used, and refers to the plant after breaking loose from the submerged wetland soil, and drifting free with ocean current and waves to a coast seashore. It is a saline soft-sediment submerged plant native to marine environments on the coastlines of northern latitudes from subtropical to subpolar regions of North America and Eurasia.
Distribution.
This species is the most wide-ranging marine flowering plant in the Northern Hemisphere. It lives in cooler ocean waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, and in the warmer southern parts of its range it dies off during warmer seasons. It grows in the Arctic region and endures several months of ice cover per year. It is the only seagrass known from Iceland. It can be found in bays, lagoons, estuaries, on beaches, and in other coastal habitat. The several ecotypes each have specific habitat requirements. It occurs in calmer waters in the sublittoral zone, where it is rarely exposed to air. It anchors via rhizomes in sandy or muddy substrates and its leaves catch particulate debris in the water which then collects around the bases of the plants, building up the top layer of the seabed.
Description and reproduction.
This flowering plant is a rhizomatous herb which produces a long stem with hairlike green leaves that measure up to 1.2 cm wide and may reach over 1.0 m long. It is a perennial plant, but it may grow as an annual. The rhizome grows horizontally through the substrate, anchoring via clusters of roots at nodes. The plant is monoecious, with an individual bearing both male and female flowers in separate alternating clusters. The inflorescence is about 10 cm long. The fruit is a nutlet with a transparent coat containing the seed. The plant can also undergo vegetative reproduction, sprouting repeatedly from its rhizome and spreading into a meadow-like colony on the seabed known as a genet. One meadow of cloned eelgrass was determined to be 3000 years old, genetically. When undergoing sexual reproduction, the plant produces large quantities of seeds, at times numbering several thousand seeds per square meter of plants. The plant disperses large distances when its stems break away and carry the fertile seeds to new areas, eventually dropping to the seabed. The seagrass is a favorite food of several species of waterfowl, which may also distribute the seeds.
Ecology.
This Zostera grows in muddy and sandy shores only at and below spring tides. This plant is an important member of the coastal ecosystem in many areas because it helps to physically form the habitat and it plays a crucial role for many other species. For example, it provides a sheltered spawning ground for the Pacific herring ("Clupea pallasii"). Juvenile Atlantic cod ("Gadus morhua") hide in eelgrass beds as they grow. The blue mussel ("Mytilus edulis") attaches to its leaves. The green alga "Entocladia perforans", an endophyte, depends on this eelgrass. A great many animals use the plant for food, including the isopod "Idotea chelipes" and the purple sea urchin "Paracentrotus lividus". The Atlantic brant ("Branta bernicula hrota") subsists almost entirely on the plant. When the eelgrass dies, detaches, and washes up on the beach, a whole new ecosystem is founded; many species of insects and other invertebrates begin to inhabit the dead plant, including the amphipod "Talitrus saltator", the fly "Fucellia tergina", and the beetles "Stenus biguttatus", "Paederus littoralis", and "Coccinella septempunctata".
The bacterial species "Granulosicoccus coccoides" was first isolated from the leaves of the plant.
Threats.
Populations of the plant have been damaged by a number of processes, especially increased turbidity in the water; like most other plants, eelgrass requires sunlight to grow. One plant may adapt to light level by growing longer leaves to reach the sun in low-light areas; individuals in clear or shallow water may have leaves a few centimeters long, while individuals in deeper spots may have leaves over a meter long. Human activities such as dredging and trawling damage eelgrass meadows; practices used in scallop and mussel harvesting in the Wadden Sea have cleared much eelgrass from the sea bottom there. Aquaculture operations and coastal development destroy colonies. Pollution from many sources, including riverside farms, sewage lines, fish processing plants, and oil spills, damage eelgrass meadows. Conservation and restoration efforts of "Zostera marina" habitats have been plenty since their rapid decline started several decades ago.
Invasive species have been shown to have a negative effect on eelgrass and associated ecosystems. In Nova Scotia, the invasive exotic green crab ("Carcinus maenas") destroys eelgrass when it digs in the substrate for prey items, or by directly eating eelgrass seeds. The decline of eelgrass in Antigonish Harbour has resulted in fewer Canada geese, which feed on the rhizome, and fewer common goldeneye, which eat invertebrates that live in eelgrass meadows.
The slime mold "Labyrinthula zosterae" caused a "wasting disease" of eelgrass resulting in large-scale losses in the 1930s; localized populations are still affected by the slime mold today. During this time, populations of the eelgrass-eating Atlantic brant dropped. Remaining geese ate less-preferred food plants and algae, and hunters subsequently noticed that brant meat began to taste different. Even today, brants no longer migrate over the Nova Scotia area.
Genomics and evolutionary adaptations.
The "Zostera marina" genome has been sequenced and analyzed by Olsen "et al." in 2016 and the resulting article has been published in Nature. The approximate genome sequence of "Z. marina" is 202.3 Mb and encodes approximately 20450 protein-coding genes (of which 86,6% are supported by transcriptome data). The assembled genome was found to consist of large numbers of repeat elements accounting for 63% of the assembled genome. The researchers revealed key adaptations at the molecular biological level that have occurred during evolution of "Z. marina", an angiosperm that has adopted a marine lifestyle. Genome analysis revealed that "Z. marina" lost the entire repertoire of stomatal genes, genes involved in volatile compound biosynthesis and signaling (such as ethylene and terpenoids) as well as genes for ultraviolet protection and phytochromes used for far-red sensing. Besides these gene losses, also gene gain events have been described, mostly involving the adjustment to full salinity and ion homeostasis. Also macro-algae like cell wall components (low-methylated polyanionic pectins and sulfated galatans) have been described, unique for "Z. marina" compared to other angiosperms.
Human uses.
People have long used this plant species as roof thatching in some areas. It has been used as fertilizer and cattle fodder in Norway for centuries. It has also been dried and used as stuffing for mattresses and furniture. The Seri hunter gatherers of Mexico eat eelgrass grains after toasting them and grinding into a paste.
Ángel León, a Spanish chef, has planted meadows of "Z. marina" (described as "sea rice") in the Bay of Cádiz in order to harvest the grains. The texture is described as between rice and quinoa, but with a more saline flavour. It is gluten-free and high in fibre.


Pennisetum glaucum


Beaked sedge

Beaked sedge may refer to: