Microtis oblonga

Microtis oblonga, commonly known as the sweet onion orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a single hollow, onion-like leaf and up to fifty scented, bright green flowers. It is considered by some Australian authorities to be synonymous with "Microtis rara".
Description.
"Microtis oblonga" is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single erect, smooth, tubular leaf long and wide. Between ten and fifty bright green, sweetly scented flowers are arranged along a flowering stem tall. The flowers are long and wide. The dorsal sepal is more or less erect, about long and wide. The lateral sepals are long, about wide with their tips rolled under. The petals are long, about wide and usually curve forwards. The labellum is oblong, long, wide with irregular edges and turns downward towards the ovary. There is a raised, dark green callus in the centre of the labellum. Flowering occurs from October to February.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Microtis oblonga" was first formally described in 1923 by Richard Sanders Rogers and the description was published in "Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia". It is regarded by many Australian authorities as being a synonym of "Microtis rara". The specific epithet ("oblonga") is a Latin word meaning "longer than broad".
Distribution and habitat.
The sweet onion orchid grows between grasses and shrubs in open forest from Gympie in Queensland south through New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania and west to south-eastern South Australia.


Bethpage State Park

Bethpage State Park is a New York state park on the border of Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island. The park contains tennis courts, picnic and recreational areas and a polo field, but is best known for its five golf courses, including the Bethpage Black Course, which hosted the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open Golf Championships and the 2019 PGA Championship.
History.
In 1912, Benjamin Franklin Yoakum, a wealthy railroad executive, acquired of land
in what is now known as Old Bethpage, NY, a hamlet adjacent to the Village of Farmingdale. Yoakum hired Devereux Emmet to design and build an 18-hole golf course on the land, which opened for play in 1923, and which Yoakum leased to the private Lenox Hills Country Club.
At this time part of Youkum's estate was subdivided for residential use. This is the Old Lenox Hills neighborhood of Farmingdale Village.
When Yoakum died in 1929, there was conflict over usage of the leased lands. The State of New York, under the auspices of the Long Island State Park Commission, expressed interest in obtaining the lands, and purchased an option on the property in 1931. New York was able to assume management of the Lenox Hills Country Club through a lease agreement with the private owners in 1932, however Bethpage State Park was not officially purchased by the state until May 1934. Jesse Merritt of Farmingdale, Nassau County Historian, had convinced Robert Moses to name the park "Bethpage State Park" after the tract of land purchased by his ancestor Thomas Powell in 1695 from three Native American tribes.
The original golf course became the Green Course; by 1936, three more courses opened, designed by A. W. Tillinghast under contract to the Park Commission; a fifth (the Yellow Course) was designed by Alfred Tull (formerly a business partner of Emmet), and opened in 1958. The park has picnic facilities, bridle paths, playing fields, a polo field, tennis courts, cross-country skiing trails, and hiking and biking trails including one leading south to Massapequa, but it is best known for its golf facilities.
Bethpage State Park also has a four kilometer and five kilometer cross country course.
Geography.
The park is not located in Bethpage as its name suggests, but actually located almost entirely within the hamlet of Old Bethpage. However, since at the time there was no Old Bethpage post office, it used a Farmingdale address instead, and continues to use one to this day. The clubhouse is located next to Lenox Hills and is within the Farmingdale School District.
The Green course is adjacent to the Lenox Hills area, while the Yellow Course is adjacent to the part of Lenox Hills within Farmingdale Village and the part of Lenox Hills, unincorporated Farmingdale, just west of it along Merritts Road toward Bethpage. The Black Course is adjacent to the exclusive Melville Court development in East Farmingdale and the Old Bethpage industrial area. The Red Course is adjacent to Old Bethpage residential neighborhoods, while the Blue Course is closer to the community of Bethpage (formerly Central Park, pre-1936).
Bethpage State Park's name reflects the locality names that existed at the time of its creation. Old Bethpage was known as Bethpage prior to 1936, when the adjacent hamlet of Central Park changed its name to Bethpage. Following this name change, the hamlet originally called Bethpage resisted suggestions that it merge with the new Bethpage, and got approval from the post office to change its name to Old Bethpage, though it did not have its own post office until 1965. The parcel of the Quaker Bethpage Friends Meeting House, across from the Park entrance, is within Old Bethpage hamlet boundaries, but abuts residences within the Lenox Hills area of Farmingdale Village. These specific border circumstances clarify that the park has close ties to Farmingdale.
Golf at Bethpage State Park.
The park has five eighteen-hole golf courses, named (in increasing order of difficulty) the Yellow, Green, Blue, Red, and Black Courses. In 2002 the Black Course became the first publicly owned and operated course to host the U.S. Open. The tournament was won by Tiger Woods, being the only golfer to score under par for the tournament. The Tournament was seen as one of the most difficult and exciting U.S. Opens in history, breaking attendance records and creating a boisterous atmosphere for the U.S. Open. Bethpage Black also hosted the 2009 U.S. Open, which was won by Lucas Glover.
Prior to 2002, all U.S. Opens had been staged at private golf or country clubs or at privately owned resorts that, while open to the public, were very expensive for the public to play, with greens fees of several hundred dollars per round. The USGA's choice of Bethpage was seen as an egalitarian move; as of 2010, Bethpage Black's weekend price for 18 holes was $75 for New York State residents, and $150 for non-residents. There are a number of ways for golfers to secure a round on the always popular Black Course. To register for a tee time, guests must have their driver's license on file with the park's reservation system. Note that New York residents can reserve a tee time seven days in advance, while out-of-state residents can only reserve tee times starting at 7:00 pm Eastern Time two days before the intended date of play. Walk-ups are also accepted. Commonly, golfers wait in line in the parking lot overnight to secure walk-up tee times.
The logo for the entire golf complex is a profile of a boy caddie carrying a golf bag with two golf clubs sticking up from it. It is based on the images carved into the black exterior window shutters on its clubhouse.
Rankings.
In its July 2008 list of America's greatest golf courses, "Golf Digest" ranked Bethpage Black #26 overall, #6 in the state of New York, #6 of America's 50 toughest courses, and #5 in its list of America's greatest public golf courses. It is also the top-ranked course in the "Golf Digest" list that is operated by a governmental entity. The PGA lists Bethpage Black as one of the "World's Most Beautiful Courses".
Future events.
!Year
!Tournament
!Type
!Times hosted
Polo.
The Polo Grounds at Bethpage State Park offers a field with bleacher seating. The field was built in 1934 and has seen both high and medium goal polo. "Polo at the Park" is hosted by Country Farms Polo Club every Sunday from June through September. The 1994 U.S. Open Polo Championship was hosted by the Meadowbrook Polo Club and the finals were played at Bethpage State Park.


Kesennuma Prefectural Natural Park

 is a Prefectural Natural Park in northeast Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. First designated for protection in 1948, the park is within the municipality of Kesennuma. It includes the highlands of the as well as some 12 km of coastline, and encompasses , celebrated for its rhododendrons, and , for its camellias.


Eucalyptus burdettiana

Eucalyptus burdettiana, commonly known as Burdett gum or Burdett's mallee, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a mallee or shrub with smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds with an elongated horn-shaped operculum, greenish-yellow flowers and cup-shaped or bell-shaped fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus burdettiana" is a mallee or shrub that typically grows to a height of , forms a lignotuber and has smooth, brownish and dark orange bark. Young plants and coppice regrowth have triangular to egg-shaped leaves arranged alternately along the branches, long and wide and always have a petiole. Adult leaves are lance-shaped, long, wide on a petiole long and are the same glossy green on both sides. The flower buds are arranged in groups of seven, nine or eleven on a flattened, often downturned peduncle long. The individual buds are sessile. The mature buds are cylindrical, long and wide with the operculum three to four times as long as the floral cup. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped to bell-shaped capsule long and wide on a spreading or downturned peduncle.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus burdettiana" was first formally described by William Blakely and Henry Steedman in 1939 and the description was published in "Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium" from specimens collected by Steedman on stony outcrops of Mount Barren near Hopetoun in 1938. The specific epithet ("burdettiana") honours William Burdett (1871-1940) who was a friend of Henry Steedman.
Distribution and habitat.
Burdett gum is found on quartzite ridges and rocky areas of the Barren Range in the Fitzgerald River National Park where it grows in sandy soils. The only remaining population is composed of 140 plants split into five sub-populations.
Conservation.
This eucalypt is classified as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia). The main threat to the species is inappropriate fire regimes.


Chaetosphaeria elegans

Chaetosphaeria elegans is a fungus species in the genus "Chaetosphaeria".


Buddleja sphaerocalyx

Buddleja sphaerocalyx is a species of flowering plant endemic to Madagascar. It grows in moist forests, principally along river banks, at altitudes of 300 – 2,200 m. The species was named and described in 1887 by Baker.
Description.
"Buddleja sphaerocalyx" is a sarmentose shrub 2 – 3 m in height, the branchlets obscurely quadrangular, bearing opposite, connate-perfoliate leaves, 10 – 21 cm long by 3.0 – 11 cm wide, narrowly ovate, acuminate at the apex, and narrowing abruptly at the base; the margins irregularly crenate - dentate. The white inflorescences comprise solitary axillary flowers 4 – 10 cm long by 1.5 – 6 cm wide; the corollas 8.5 – 20 mm long.
"Buddleja sphaerocalyx" is closely allied to "B. axillaris" and "B. cuspidata".
Cultivation.
"Buddleja sphaerocalyx" is not known to be in cultivation.


Parmotrema abnuens

Parmotrema abnuens is a species of corticolous lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was first introduced to science in 1885 as a species of "Parmelia" by William Nylander in 1885, who described the lichen from samples collected in Uruguay. Mason Hale transferred it to the genus "Parmotrema" in 1974. The species has also been recorded from Brazil and India.


Proteroiulus broelemanni

Proteroiulus broelemanni is a species of millipede in the genus Proteroiulus.


Acacia benthamii

Acacia benthamii is a shrub of the genus "Acacia" and the subgenus "Plurinerves". It is native to an area along the west coast in the Perth metropolitan region and Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.
Description.
The shrub typically grows to a height of . It has ribbed glabrous branchlets with new shoots that are minutely woolly and with caducous stipules with a length of . The pungent linear green phyllodes are attenuate at both ends and commonly inequilateral and have a length of and a width of with two or three main nerves per face. It blooms from August to September and produces yellow flowers. The spherical flower-heads have a diameter of and contain 27 to 35 golden flowers that are sharply inflexed.
Taxonomy.
The species was first formally described by the botanist Carl Meissner in 1844 in the Johann Georg Christian Lehmann work "Plantae Preissianae". It was reclassified as "Racosperma benthamii" by Leslie Pedley in 2003, but returned to the genus "Acacia" in 2006.
It is closely related to "Acacia sessilis" and closely resembles "Acacia cochlearis".
Etymology.
The specific epithet, "benthamii", honours George Bentham.
Distribution.
It is endemic to the west of Western Australia from around Dandaragan in the north to around Subiaco in the south and is commonly found on limestone breakaways.


Hydnellum peckii

Hydnellum peckii is a technically edible, but unpalatable fungus, and a member of the genus "Hydnellum" of the family Bankeraceae. It is a hydnoid species, producing spores on the surface of vertical spines or tooth-like projections that hang from the undersurface of the fruit bodies. It is found in North America, Europe, and was recently discovered in Iran (2008) and Korea (2010) and Fraser Island, Australia (2019). "Hydnellum peckii" is a mycorrhizal species, and forms mutually beneficial relationships with a variety of coniferous trees, growing on the ground singly, scattered, or in fused masses.
The fruit bodies typically have a funnel-shaped cap with a white edge, although the shape can be highly variable. Young, moist fruit bodies can "bleed" bright red guttation droplets that contain a pigment known to have anticoagulant properties similar to heparin. The unusual appearance of the young fruit bodies has earned the species several descriptive common names, including strawberries and cream, the bleeding Hydnellum, the bleeding tooth fungus, the red-juice tooth, and the Devil's tooth. Although "Hydnellum peckii" fruit bodies are readily identifiable when young, they become brown and nondescript when they age.
Taxonomy, phylogeny, and naming.
The species was first described scientifically by American mycologist Howard James Banker in 1913. Italian Pier Andrea Saccardo placed the species in the genus "Hydnum" in 1925, while Walter Henry Snell and Esther Amelia Dick placed it in "Calodon" in 1956; "Hydnum peckii" (Banker) Sacc. and "Calodon peckii" Snell & E.A. Dick are synonyms of "Hydnellum peckii".
The fungus is classified in the stirps (species thought to be descendants of a common ancestor) "Diabolum" of the genus "Hydnellum", a grouping of similar species with the following shared characteristics: flesh that is marked with concentric lines that form alternating pale and darker zones (zonate); an extremely peppery taste; a sweetish odor; spores that are ellipsoid, and not amyloid (that is, not absorbing iodine when stained with Melzer's reagent), acyanophilous (not staining with the reagent Cotton Blue), and covered with tubercules; the presence of clamp connections in the hyphae. Molecular analysis based on the sequences of the internal transcribed spacer DNA of several "Hydnellum" species placed "H. peckii" as most closely related to "H. ferrugineum" and "H. spongiosipes". It has a brown spore print.
The specific eponym honors mycologist Charles Horton Peck. The fungus is known in the vernacular by several names, including "strawberries and cream", the "bleeding Hydnellum", the "red-juice tooth", "Peck's hydnum", the "bleeding tooth fungus", and the "devil's tooth".
Description.
As in all mushroom-producing fungi, the fruit bodies (sporocarps) are the reproductive structures that are produced from fungal mycelium when the appropriate environmental conditions of temperature, humidity and nutrient availability are met. "Hydnellum peckii" is a stipitate hydnoid fungus, meaning that it has a cap atop a stipe (stem), and a form resembling a "Hydnum"—characterized by a teeth-like hymenium, rather than gills or pores on the underside of the cap. Fruit bodies growing closely together often appear to fuse together (this is called "confluence"). They can reach a height of up to . Fresh fruit bodies exude a striking, thick red fluid when they are moist.
The cap's surface is convex to flattened, more or less uneven and sometimes slightly depressed in the center. It is usually densely covered with "hairs" that give it a texture similar to felt or velvet; these hairs are sloughed off in age, leaving the caps of mature specimens smooth. Its shape varies from somewhat round to irregular, , or even as much as wide as a result of confluence. The cap is initially whitish, but later turns slightly brownish, with irregular dark-brown to nearly black blotches where it is bruised. In maturity, the surface is fibrous and tough, scaly and jagged, grayish brown in the upper part of the cap, and somewhat woody. The flesh is a pale pinkish brown.
The spines are slender, cylindrical and tapering (terete), less than long, and become shorter closer to the cap edge. They are crowded together, with typically between three and five teeth per square millimeter. Pinkish white initially, they age to a grayish brown. The stem is thick, very short, and often deformed. It becomes bulbous where it penetrates the ground, and may root into the soil for several centimeters. Although it may reach up to in total length, and is wide, only about appear above ground. The upper part is covered with the same teeth found on the underside of the cap, whereas the lower part is hairy and often encases debris from the forest floor. The odor of the fruit body has been described as "mild to disagreeable", or, as Banker suggested in his original description, similar to hickory nuts.
Microscopic features.
In deposit, the spores appear brown. Viewing them with a light microscope reveals finer details of their structure: they are roughly spherical but end abruptly in a small point, their surfaces are covered with small, wart-like nodules, and their size is between 5.0–5.3 by 4.0–4.7 µm. The spores are inamyloid, meaning they do not absorb iodine when stained with Melzer's reagent.
"Hydnellum peckii"'s cells (the hyphae) also present various characters useful for its characterization. The hyphae that form the cap are hyaline (translucent), smooth, thin-walled, and 3–4 µm thick. They collapse when dry, but may be readily revived with a weak (2%) solution of potassium hydroxide. Those in the cap form an intricate tangle with a tendency to run longitudinally. They are divided into cellular compartments (septa) and have clamp connections—short branches connecting one cell to the previous cell to allow passage of the products of nuclear division. The basidia, the spore-bearing cells in the hymenium, are club-shaped, four-spored, and measure 35–40 by 4.7–6 µm.
Similar species.
"Hydnellum diabolus" (the species epithet is given the neuter "diabolum" in some publications) has a very similar appearance, so much so that some consider it and "H. peckii" to be synonymous; "H. diabolus" is said to have a sweetish pungent odor that is lacking in "H. peckii". The differences between the two species are amplified in mature specimens: "H. diabolus" has an irregularly thickened stem, while the stem of "H. peckii" is thickened by a "definite spongy layer". Additionally, old specimens of "H. peckii" have a smooth cap, while "H. diabolus" is tomentose. The related species "H. pineticola" also exudes pink droplets of liquid when young and moist. Commonly found growing under conifers in northeastern North America, "H. pineticola" tastes "unpleasant", but not acrid. Fruit bodies tend to grow singly, rather than in fused clusters, and, unlike "H. peckii", they do not have bulbous stems.
Ecology.
"Hydnellum peckii" is a mycorrhizal fungus, and as such establishes a mutualistic relationship with the roots of certain trees (referred to as "hosts"), in which the fungus exchanges minerals and amino acids extracted from the soil for fixed carbon from the host. The subterranean hyphae of the fungus grow a sheath of tissue around the rootlets of a broad range of tree species, in an intimate association that is especially beneficial to the host (termed ectomycorrhizal), as the fungus produces enzymes that mineralize organic compounds and facilitate the transfer of nutrients to the tree.
The ectomycorrhizal structures of "H. peckii" are among a few in the Bankeraceae that have been studied in detail. They are characterized by a plectenchymatous mantle—a layer of tissue made of hyphae tightly arranged in a parallel orientation, or palisade, and which rarely branch or overlap each other. These hyphae, along with adhering mineral soil particles, are embedded in a gelatinous matrix. The hyphae of the ectomycorrhizae can become chlamydospores, an adaptation that helps the fungus tolerate unfavorable conditions. Chlamydospores of "H. peckii" have a peculiar structure—markedly distinct from those of other Bankeraceae—with thick, smooth inner walls and an outer wall that is split radially into warts. The most striking characteristic of the ectomycorrhizae as a whole is the way the black outer layers of older sections are shed, giving a "carbonized appearance". The majority of the underground biomass of the fungus is concentrated near the surface, most likely as "mycelial mats"—dense clusters of ectomycorrhizae and mycelium. The mycelium is also known to extend far beyond the site of the fruit bodies, as far as away.
Molecular techniques have been developed to help with conservation efforts of stipitate hydnoid fungi, including "H. peckii". While the distribution of the fungus has traditionally been determined by counting the fruit bodies, this method has a major drawback in that fruit bodies are not produced consistently every year, and the absence of fruit bodies is not an indication of the absence of its mycelium in the soil. More modern techniques using the polymerase chain reaction to assess the presence of the fungal DNA in the soil have helped alleviate the issues in monitoring the presence and distribution of fungi mycelia.
Habitat and distribution.
The fruit bodies of "Hydnellum peckii" are found growing solitary, scattered, or clustered together on the ground under conifers, often among mosses and pine needle litter. "H. peckii" is a "late-stage" fungus that, in boreal forests dominated by jack pine, typically begins associating with more mature hosts once the canopy has closed. A preference for mountainous or subalpine ecosystems has been noted.
The fungus has a wide distribution in North America, and is particularly common in the Pacific Northwest; its range extends north to Alaska and east to North Carolina. In the Puget Sound area of the U.S. state of Washington, it is found in association with Douglas-fir, fir, and hemlock. Along the Oregon Coast it has been collected under lodgepole pine. In addition to North America, the mushroom is widespread in Europe, and its presence has been documented in Italy, Germany, and Scotland. The species is common in the latter location, but becoming increasingly rare in several European countries, such as Norway, The Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. Increased pollution in central Europe has been suggested as one possible factor in the mushroom's decline there. Reports from Iran in 2008 and Korea in 2010 were the first outside Europe and North America.
Uses.
Although the fruit bodies of "H. peckii" have been described as resembling "Danish pastry topped with strawberry jam", and "Hydnellum" species in general are not known to be poisonous, they are not particularly edible due to their extremely bitter taste. This acridity persists even in dried specimens.
The fruit bodies of this and other "Hydnellum" species are prized by mushroom dyers. The colors may range from beige when no mordant is used, to various shades of blue or green depending on the mordant added.
Chemistry.
Screening of an extract of "Hydnellum peckii" revealed the presence of an effective anticoagulant, named atromentin (2,5-dihydroxy-3,6-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,4-benzoquinone), and similar in biological activity to the well-known anticoagulant heparin. Atromentin also possesses antibacterial activity, inhibiting the enzyme enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (essential for the biosynthesis of fatty acids) in the bacteria "Streptococcus pneumoniae".
"Hydnellum peckii" can bioaccumulate the metal caesium. In one Swedish field study, as much as 9% of the total caesium of the topmost of soil was found in the fungal mycelium. In general, ectomycorrhizal fungi, which grow most prolifically in the upper organic horizons of the soil or at the interface between the organic and mineral layers, are involved in the retention and cycling of caesium-137 in organic-rich forest soils.


Tongariro National Park

Tongariro National Park (; ) is the oldest national park in New Zealand, located in the central North Island. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site of mixed cultural and natural values.
Tongariro National Park was the sixth national park established in the world. The active volcanic mountains Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro are located in the centre of the park.
There are a number of Māori religious sites within the park, and many of the park's summits, including Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, are "tapu", or sacred. The park includes many towns around its boundary including Ohakune, Waiouru, Horopito, Pokaka, Erua, National Park Village, Whakapapa skifield and Turangi.
The Tongariro National Park is home to the famed Tongariro Alpine Crossing, widely regarded as one of the world's best one-day hikes.
Geography.
Location.
Tongariro National Park covers 786 km2 stretching between 175° 22' and 175° 48' East and 38° 58' and 39° 25' South in the heart of the North Island of New Zealand. It is just a few kilometres west-southwest of Lake Taupo. It is 330 km south of Auckland by road, and 320 km north of Wellington. It contains a considerable part of the North Island Volcanic Plateau. Directly to the east stand the hills of the Kaimanawa range. The Whanganui River rises within the park and flows through Whanganui National Park to the west.
Most of the park is located in the Ruapehu District (Manawatū-Whanganui region), although the northeast is in the Taupo District (Waikato Region, or Hawke's Bay Region to the north).
Dimension.
Tongariro National Park stretches around the massif of the three active volcanoes Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Tongariro. The Pihanga Scenic Reserve, containing Lake Rotopounamu, Mount Pihanga and the Kakaramea-Tihia Massif, though separate from the main park area, is still part of the national park.
On the park borders are the towns of Turangi, National Park Village and Ohakune. Further away are Waiouru and Raetihi. Within the park borders, the only settlements are the tourism-based village at Whakapapa Village which consists solely of ski accommodation. Two Maori kainga (settlements) Papakai and Otukou are not part of the park but lie on the shores of Lake Rotoaira between the Pihanga Scenic Reserve and the main park area.
The bulk of Tongariro National Park is surrounded by well-maintained roads that roughly follow the park borders and provide easy access. In the west, State Highway 4 passes National Park village, and in the east, State Highway 1, known for this stretch as the Desert Road, runs parallel to the Tongariro River. State Highway 47 joins these two highways to the north of much of the park, although it bisects the Pihanga Scenic Reserve. The southern link is State Highway 49. The North Island Main Trunk railway from Auckland to Wellington passes National Park village.
Climate.
Like the whole of New Zealand, Tongariro National Park is situated in a temperate zone. The prevailing westerly winds gather water over the Tasman Sea. As the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park are the first significant elevations that these winds encounter on the North Island, besides Mount Taranaki, rain falls almost daily. The east–west rainfall differences are not as great as in the Southern Alps, because the three volcanoes do not belong to a greater mountain range, but there is still a noticeable rain shadow effect with the Rangipo desert on the Eastern leeward side receiving 1,000 mm of annual rainfall. At Whakapapa Village (1119 m) the average annual rainfall is about 2200 mm, in Ohakune (610 m) about 1250 mm and in higher altitudes, such as Iwikau Village (1770 m), about 4900 mm. In winter there is snow to about 1500 m. Temperatures vary dramatically, even within one day. In Whakapapa, they can fall below the freezing point all year round. The average temperature is 13 °C, with a maximum of 25 °C in summer and a minimum of -10 °C in winter. In some summers the summits of the three volcanoes are covered with snow; on top of Mount Ruapehu, snow fields can be found every summer and the summit is glaciated.
History.
The mountain summits are of great significance to the local Māori.
In 1886 in order to prevent the selling of the mountains to European settlers, the local Ngati Tuwharetoa iwi had the mountains surveyed in the Native Land Court and then set aside ("whakatapua") as a reserve in the names of certain chiefs one of whom was Te Heuheu Tukino IV (Horonuku), the most significant chief of the Māori Ngati Tuwharetoa iwi.
Later the peaks of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe, and parts of Mount Ruapehu, were conveyed to The Crown on 23 September 1887, on condition that a protected area was established there.
This 26.4 km2 area was generally considered to be too small to establish a national park after the model of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States, and so further areas were acquired. When the New Zealand Parliament passed the Tongariro National Park Act in October 1894, the park covered an area of about 252.13 km2, but it took until 1907 to acquire the land. When the Act was renewed in 1922, the park area was extended to 586.8 km2. Further extensions, especially Pihanga Scenic Reserve in 1975, enlarged the park to its current size of 786.23 km2. The last modification to the Act was passed in 1980. Tongariro National Park has been under the control of the New Zealand Department of Conservation since the creation of the department in 1987.
The first activities in the young Tongariro National Park were the construction of tourist huts at the beginning of the 20th century. But it was not before opening of the railway in 1908 and the building of roads in the 1930s that a significant number of people visited the park. The second Tongariro National Park Act, in 1922, started some active conservation efforts, but it was not until 1931 that the first permanent park ranger began work. Road construction into Whakapapa valley had already begun in the 1920s. The first ski hut was built in 1923 at an elevation of 1770 m, thereafter a road, and, in 1938, a ski lift in the area. This early tourist development explains the rather uncommon existence of a permanently inhabited village and fully developed ski area within a national park. The hotel "Chateau Tongariro", which is still the centre of Whakapapa today, was established in 1929.
In the early 20th century, park administrators introduced heather to the park, for grouse hunting. Grouse were never actually introduced, but the heather is sprawling, threatening the ecological system and endemic plants of the park. Efforts are being made to control the plant's spread, however complete eradication seems unlikely.
Tongariro Power Scheme.
The Tongariro Power Scheme was designed to preserve and protect the natural surroundings as much as possible. It gathers water from the mountains of the central volcanic plateau, passes it through Rangipo (120MW) and Tokaanu (240MW) power stations, and releases it into Lake Taupo. The scheme taps a catchment area of more than 2600 km2 and uses a series of lakes, canals and tunnels to take water to the two stations which typically generate 1400 GWh pa. about four percent of the country's total electricity generation. The extra catchment increases the volume of water going into Lake Taupo and down the Waikato River by 20%.
The western diversion takes water from six rivers and streams from the Whakapapa River to the Whanganui River, into Lake Rotoaira via Lake Otamangakau. The Tokaanu power station is connected to Lake Rotoaira via a six kilometre tunnel through Mount Tihia. It also draws water from the Tongariro River via the Poutu tunnel and canal.
On the eastern side of Mount Ruapehu, water is diverted from the Kaimanawa Ranges and headwaters of the Wahianoa River through a 20 km tunnel into the Rangipo dam. The 120MW Rangipo power station is 230 m below ground. Its turbines are located in a cavern cut from solid rock and lined with concrete. Genesis Energy has developed mitigation measures with stakeholders that aim to lessen the environmental effects of the Tongariro Power Scheme.
Some of these measures include lake level management, ecological monitoring programmes, and agreements with local iwi to establish a process for iwi involvement in environmental monitoring and access to information. The electricity generated at the Tongariro Power Scheme goes into the national grid. Then it is distributed to residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout New Zealand.
Geology.
The park's volcanoes are the southern end of a 2500 km long range of volcanoes, below which the Australian Plate meets the Pacific Plate. These volcanoes have resulted from internal tectonic processes. The Pacific Plate subducts under the Australian plate, and subsequently melts due to the high temperatures of the aesthenosphere. This magma being less dense, rises to the surface and goes through the weak parts of the Earth's crust (the faults) resulting in volcanic processes in the area.
Volcanic processes have been building the mountains of Tongariro National Park for over two million years. Three volcanoes (Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu) remain active, while the park's two northernmost volcanoes (Pihanga and the Kakaramea-Tihia Massif) last erupted over 20,000 years ago. They have however produced significant historic mudflows.
Erosion and deposition by mountain glaciers has also played an important role in shaping Tongariro and Ruapehu volcanoes. Small glaciers are present on the summit of Mt. Ruapehu today, however there is abundant geomorphological evidence for more extensive glaciation in the recent geological past. Glaciers were last present on Tongariro during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Biology.
Flora.
The Tongariro National Park is a rough and partly unstable environment. To the north and west of the park, a podocarp-broadleaf rain forest near Lake Taupo stretches over an area of 30 km2, and up to an elevation of 1000 m. In this rain forest live Hall's totara ("Podocarpus laetus"), kahikatea ("Dacrycarpus dacrydioides"), kamahi ("Weinmannia racemosa"), pahautea ("Libocedrus bidwillii"), and numerous epiphytic ferns, orchids, and fungi. Pahautea trees can be found further on up to a height of 1530 m, where they cover 127.3 km2. On this level, one can also find a 50 km2 beech forest, containing red ("Nothofagus fusca"), silver ("Nothofagus menziesii") and mountain beech ("Nothofagus solandri var cliffortioides"). Understory species within the forests include ferns such as crown fern ("Blechnum discolor") as well as shrub species. There is also a 95 km2 area of scrubland, containing kanuka ("Leptospermum ericoides"), manuka ("Leptospermum scoparium"), celery-top pine ("Phyllocladus aspleniifolius"), inaka ("Dracophyllum longifolium"), woolly fringe moss ("Rhacomitrium lanuginosum"), small beeches and introduced heather.
To the northwest, and around Mount Ruapehu, between an altitude of 1200 and 1500 m, tussock shrubland and tussock grass covers large areas (around 150 km2), consisting mainly of New Zealand red tussock grass ("Chionochloa rubra"), inaka, curled leaved neinei ("Dracophyllum recurvum"), wire rush ("Empodisma minus"), and bog rush ("Schoenus pauciflorus"), as well as heather and grasses like hard tussock ("Festuca novaezelandiae") and bluegrass ("Poa colensoi"). Above 1500 m, the terrain consists of gravel and stone fields and is accordingly unstable. Nevertheless, some plants occasionally settle there, such as curled leaved neinei, snow totara ("Podocarpus nivalis"), mountain snowberry ("Gaultheria colensoi"), bristle tussock ("Rytidosperma setifolium"), bluegrass and "Raoulia albosericea", which cover an area of 165 km2. Between 1700 and 2020 m there are some isolated "Parahebe" species, "Gentiana bellidifolia" and buttercups. Above 2200 m live only crustose lichens.
Fauna.
There are 56 significant species of birds, such as rare endemic species like the North Island brown kiwi, kākā, blue duck, North Island fernbird ("Bowdleria punctata vealeae"), double-banded plover and New Zealand falcon/kārearea. Other bird species common to the park are tui, New Zealand bellbird, morepork/ruru, grey warbler/riroriro, fantail, whitehead/pōpokotea and silvereye.
The park also features the only two native mammals of New Zealand, the short and long tailed bat ("Mystacina tuberculata" and "Chalinolobus tuberculatus"). The Tongariro National Park also teems with insects like moths and wētā. Also present in the park, as well as the whole of New Zealand, are animals introduced by Europeans, such as black rats, stoats, cats, rabbits, hare, possums and red deer.
Activities.
The main activities are hiking and climbing in summer, and skiing and snowboarding in winter. There is also opportunity for hunting, game fishing, mountain biking, horse riding, rafting and scenic flights.
Mount Tongariro and its surroundings are one of the several locations where Peter Jackson shot "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy; tours to view these places are commonly arranged by the tour's operators and lodges.
The most popular track in Tongariro National Park is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Most of the track is also part of the Tongariro Northern Circuit, a two- to four-day tour, which is one of New Zealand's nine "Great Walks". Side trips to the summits of Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe are possible on these tracks. Another route is the three- to six-day Round the Mountain Track around Mount Ruapehu. Besides these, there are numerous shorter tracks appropriate for day tramps. With this track net, three camp sites, two emergency shelters, nine public and four private huts and the facilities in Whakapapa, the park is well developed for tourism. These tracks also serve as winter routes, as well as the track to the summit of Mount Ruapehu. Rock-climbing is also an option.
Snow season is from late June to early November. The biggest ski area, also called Whakapapa, is on the north-western slopes of Mount Ruapehu. It has 15 lifts, covering an area of 5.5 km2. Directly next to the ski field are 47 ski club huts; most of them also accommodate non-club members. The next settlement is on the bottom, in Whakapapa. A slightly smaller ski field called Turoa is on the south-western slope. Though it has only nine lifts, the skiing area, of 5 km2, is almost as large as Whakapapa's. There is no accommodation at the ski field; the nearest town is Ohakune. These two ski fields came under common management in 2000. Ski passes can be used on both fields, and a lift or run from one field to the other is planned. Beside these major ski fields, there are also the Tukino ski area, a club ski field open to the public run by Tukino Mountain Clubs Association which is made up of "Desert Alpine Ski Club", "Tukino Alpine Sports Club" and the "Aorangi Ski Club" on the south-eastern slope. The ski clubs each have a 32 guest club on the field accessed by a 4WD road from State Highway 1. It has two nutcracker rope tows, and covers 1.9 km2.


Tetracoccus ilicifolius

Tetracoccus ilicifolius is a rare species of flowering shrub in the family Picrodendraceae known by the common names hollybush and holly-leaved tetracoccus.
It was described by botanists Frederick Vernon Coville and Marshall French Gilman in 1936. They had participated with other eminent biologists in the 1891 Death Valley Expedition funded by Congress.
Distribution.
The plant is endemic to California, found in only several Mojave Desert mountain ranges within Death Valley National Park, in eastern Inyo County.
It grows on dry, rocky slopes at in elevation, in the Panamint Range, Grapevine Mountains, and Cottonwood Mountains surrounding Death Valley.
There are fewer than ten occurrences, and it is a NatureServe listed Critically endangered species.
Description.
"Tetracoccus ilicifolius" is a branching shrub, hairless in texture except for the new twigs, which have woolly brownish hairs. The shiny, leathery leaves are oppositely arranged or borne in whorls along the branches. Each leaf is oval with a toothed margin and measures 1.5 to 3 centimeters long.
The plant is dioecious, with male and female individuals producing different types of flowers. The staminate flowers occur in dense clusters, each flower with 7 to 9 lance-shaped sepals and 7 to 9 stamens. The pistillate flower occurs singly. The bloom period is May and June.
It produces a rounded, woolly brown fruit with usually four chambers. The fruit is around a centimeter long when mature and contains one or two seeds per chamber.


Leptospermum minutifolium

Leptospermum minutifolium, commonly known as the small-leaved tea-tree, is a species of shrub that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has relatively small egg-shaped leaves, white flowers borne singly on the ends of branches and fruit that remains on the plant.
Description.
"Leptospermum minutifolium" is a shrub that typically grows to a height of . It has variable bark, sometimes thin and rough, otherwise smooth and flaking. The leaves are egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and about wide. The flowers are white, about wide and arranged singly on the ends of short side shoots. The floral cup is glabrous, long, the sepals long, the petals long and the stamens long. Flowering mainly occurs from October to November and the fruit is a capsule wide that remains on the plant at maturity.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Leptospermum minutifolium" was first formally described in 1946 by Cyril Tenison White in the "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland" from specimens collected by "Mrs. M.S. Clemens" near Wallangarra.
Distribution and habitat.
The small-leaved tea-tree grows in swamps and on rocky creek banks on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales and the Granite Belt of south-east Queensland.


Melaleuca sheathiana

Melaleuca sheathiana, commonly known as boree is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, and is endemic to central and south-western Western Australia. It is similar to "Melaleuca pauperiflora" except that it has small, spoon-shaped leaves.
Description.
"Melaleuca sheathiana" is a shrub or small tree growing to a height of with papery bark. The leaves are arranged alternately, long, wide, narrow spoon shaped, almost circular in cross section and with a rounded or blunt point on the end.
The flowers are cream or white, arranged in heads or short spikes with 4 to 11 individual flowers, the spike up to in diameter. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower and there are 9 to 14 stamens per bundle. The main flowering season is spring and is followed by fruit which are woody capsules long in clusters along the stem.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Melaleuca sheathiana" was first formally described in 1902 by William Fitzgerald in "Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia". The specific epithet ("sheathiana") is to honour Jeremiah Sheath, an early Superintendent of King's Park in Perth. The common name, boree or booree, is taken from the Noongar name for the plant.
Distribution and habitat.
Boree occurs in and between the Lake Barlee, Lake Cronin and Rawlinna districts in the Coolgardie, Mallee and Murchison biogeographic regions where it grows in sandy, clayey or loamy soils on stony hillsides and dunes.
Conservation.
"Melaleuca sheathiana" is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Uses.
Horticulture.
Boree is a useful shrub for hedges and windbreaks in temperate climates. It grows well in most well-drained soils and it is frost hardy.
Essential oils.
The leaves of this species contain a number of essential oils, the most abundant being alpha-Pinene and 1,8-cineole (Eucalyptol).


Campodea gestroi

Campodea gestroi is a species of two-pronged bristletail in the family Campodeidae.


Reticulitermes speratus

Reticulitermes speratus, the Japanese termite, is a species of subterranean termite found in Japan, North Korea, and South Korea. It eats decayed wood. It is adapted to withstand the cold temperatures of the temperate regions it inhabits.
The mitochondrial genome of the subspecies "Reticulitermes speratus kyushuensis" has been determined.
Behavior.
New colonies are typically founded by a male-female pair, but alternatively sometimes by a same-sex female pair, in which case reproduction is parthenogenetic. New incipient colonies may also be founded by same-sex male pairs. These male pairs of termites cannot reproduce, but by cooperating they are able to survive long enough that one or both has the potential to later replace a male in another colony. This male can then reproduce by mating with the female there
The queen is succeeded by asexual reproduction, in which an aged queen lays eggs with no openings for sperm to enter through, effectively making a clone of herself. All individuals have part of their eyes developed, but the size increases if the individual is on a reproductive tract.
Individuals have been shown to cannibalize injured nestmates.


Mound City Group National Monument


Ampelocissus elegans

Ampelocissus elegans is a species in the genus "Ampelocissus". It is a herbaceous climber with trifoliate leaves.
Uses.
The trifoliate leaves of "A. elegans" are used in cooking and herbs. It used as a spice in cooking. The fruit of "A. elegans" can be used in Chinese herbs.


Casearia bartlettii

Casearia bartlettii is a species of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae found in Mesoamerica (Belize-Guatemala).


Hechtia texensis

Hechtia texensis, commonly known as Texas false agave, is a species of bromeliad that is native to the Trans-Pecos of Texas in the United States and northeastern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas).


Acacia aestivalis

Acacia aestivalis is a shrub belonging to the genus "Acacia" and the subgenus "Phyllodineae" that is native to Western Australia.
Description.
The erect and bushy shrub typically grows to a height of . The evergreen phyllodes are straight and have a linear to narrowly oblanceolate shape and a length of and a width of . It blooms from November to December and produces yellow flowers.
Taxonomy.
The species was first formally described in 1904 by the botanist Ernst Georg Pritzel as part of the work between Pritzel and Ludwig Diels "Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae occidentalis. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Pflanzen Westaustraliens, ihrer Verbreitung und ihrer Lebensverhaltnisse" as published in "Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie". It was reclassified as "Racosperma aestivale" in 2003 by Leslie Pedley then transferred back to the genus "Acacia" in 2006.
The specific epithet, "aestivalis", is derived from Latin and means "pertaining to the summer".
Distribution.
It is endemic to an area in the Mid West and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia where it is frequently found along roadsides and on low-lying flats growing in clay, loamy or sandy soils. It is commonly a part of mid-storey of "Eucalyptus salmonophloia" woodland communities but will also form dense stands in disturbed areas.


Wells State Park (Michigan)

J.W. Wells State Park (also known as Wells State Park) is a state park in the U.S. state of Michigan. The park is located in Menominee County on the shore of Lake Michigan's Green Bay, just south of Cedar River. It is on M-35, roughly midway between Menominee and Escanaba. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
History.
In 1898, Sam Crawford purchased fifty-three thousand acres of stumpland around Menominee and began logging operations on the hemlock growing among the pine stumps. Five hundred of these acres was still virgin timber, and Crawford intentionally preserved it. John Walter Wells, part owner of the Bird-Wells Lumber Company, later purchase this land. Wells died in 1921, and in 1925 his children donated 335 acres of virgin timber, including 2.5 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, to the state of Michigan to establish a park. An additional 131 acres which had been purchased by the Menominee County Road Commission was added to create the park.
Development of the park began in 1927–28. Trees were planted and stoves, toilets, a well, and play equipment were installed. In 1929 a log bathhouse was constructed. Much of the development in the park was done by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). In 1933, a two-hundred man camp was established, and over the next 10 years, the CCC developed five distinct areas within the park: the day-use (or picnic) area, the residence area, the group camp area, the campground area, and the trails and trailside shelters area. The CCC undertook a major reforestation project in the park, constructed three miles of foot trails, a parking lot, recreational fields, and sanitary facilities.
Description.
The J.W. Wells State Park contains 678 acres, of which the 335 acres of the original donation contains virgin timber. The park can be separated into five distinct sections: the day-use area, the residence area, the group camp area, the campground area, and the trails area. The day-use area contains directional and entrance signs, an informational kiosk, the parking lot, baseball and softball diamonds, combination picnic shelter/toilet building, and pump house. The residence area contains the park superintendent's residence and an icehouse. The group camp area contains the CCC era rustic cabins, the play area, kiosk, and fire ring. The campground area contains entry posts, combination toilet/shower/laundry building, pump house, kiosk, drainage ditch, and pit toilets. The trails area contains the Bayshore Trail (now known as the Cedar Rives Trail) with two shelters, and the Ridgewood Trail with a third shelter.
Many of the buildings and structures in these areas were constructed by the CCC using a combination of local materials: limestone, granite, and native timber. Many of the buildings have similar designs aspects, including asymmetrical designs, the use of stone for foundations and walls, multi-pane wood sash windows, exposed log trusses, and wood shingle exteriors and roofs.
Activities and amenities.
The state park offers swimming, picnicking, fishing, a 150-site campground and cabins, and seven miles of hiking trails.


Rhododendron prinophyllum

Rhododendron prinophyllum, the early azalea, is a rhododendron species native to the eastern and southern United States. It is a deciduous shrub that grows 4 to 8 feet in height. Flowers are pink.


Acacia strongylophylla

Acacia strongylophylla, commonly known as round-leaf wattle, is a shrub of the genus "Acacia" and the subgenus "Phyllodineae" endemic to central Australia.
Description.
The erect, glabrous, spinescent and straggly shrub typically grows to a height of . The yellowish-green to reddish-brown branchlets are slightly flattened and have smooth thin brown coloured bark. The evergreen flat dull phyllodes have a rhomboid-orbicular shape and are up to in length and width and have one prominent major vein. It blooms between June and October forming yellow flowers. The simple axillary flower-spikes are usually solitary or occur in pairs and have large spherical deep golden-yellow flower-heads. Following flowering brown seed pods form that have an oblong shape and are around in length and wide. The pods are flat but raised over each seed. The hard shiny black-brown seeds have an ovoid shape and are about with a width of around .
Taxonomy.
The species was first formally described by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1874 in the work "Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae". It was reclassified as "Racosperma strongylophyllum" by Leslie Pedley in 1987 but was transferred back to the genus "Acacia" in 2001.
The species name is taken from the Greek words "strongylos" meaning "round" and "phyllon" meaning a "leaf" referring to the shape of the leaves on the plant.
"A. strongylophylla" is a part of the "Acacia pyrifolia" group but can be distinguished by the non-racemose inflorescences.
Distribution.
It is native to arid desert areas in the north western South Australia, southern Northern Territory and the north eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. It is found along watercourses, on rocky hillsides and valley floors and walls growing in shallow red sandy soils. It is usually a part of tall shrubland communities with other "Acacia" and "Eucalyptus" species.


Look Park

The Frank Newhall Look Memorial Park, commonly referred to as Look Park, is a municipal park in the village of Florence in Northampton, Massachusetts in Hampshire County. The park is open year-round.
History.
Look Park, consisting of about , was given to the City of Northampton from Mrs. Fannie Burr Look, wife of Frank Newhall Look. She provided the land, funds for its development and a trust fund for its upkeep. The park was opened to the public in 1930. Operation and maintenance are dependent upon the trust fund, visitor fees, grants, and gifts. Owned by the city but operated as a non-profit organization, Look Park receives no funding from the city or state.
Amenities.
The park features walking paths around its perimeter. A section of the Northampton bike path extends into the park. The Mill River runs through the park and small tributaries to it serve as a duck pond. A gauge miniature railway operates on a track within the park, complete with a tunnel and boarding station. Attractions include a water park, tennis courts, several play structures, paddle boats, a miniature golf course, as well as covered picnic areas and pavilions. Historic covered bridges cross the small streams that run through the park. The center of the park contains a playing field with several baseball and softball diamonds.
The Look Park Steamer Train is a miniature train that runs on a 1-mile loop through the park. Rides last approximately 10 minutes. Every Christmas, the Look Park Steamer Train is transformed into Santa's Train and offers rides around the park to view lighted holiday decorations.
The Northampton Recreation Department offers a camp for youth ages 5–12 during the summer, facilitated at Look Park. The Garden House, a banquet hall within the park allows for formal events, weddings, and the popular holiday event known as Santa's Trains at Look Park.
Christenson Natural Wildlife Center.
The Christenson Natural Wildlife Center is on the grounds of Look Park. Its animals include fallow deer, peacocks, chickens, pygmy goats, and barred owls.
Pines Theater.
The Pines Theater is an outdoor amphitheater located within the park. The stage is built out of Goshen stone, along with the entryway and sound towers. The theater holds the annual "Transperformance" concert, a music festival hosted by The Northampton Arts Council and the Parent Teacher Organizations of the Northampton Public Schools. Famous artists who have performed at the venue include Bob Dylan and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Concerts at the theater were in past years managed by the Iron Horse Entertainment Group, prior to their opening of their own Mountain Park concert venue in 2009.


Peristylus banfieldii

Peristylus banfieldii, commonly known as the yellow ogre orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to Tropical North Queensland. It has between four and six leaves near its base and up to fifty cup-shaped, cream-coloured to yellow flowers on a hairy flowering stem.
Description.
"Peristylus banfieldii" is a tuberous, perennial herb with between four and six leaves with wavy margins at its base. The leaves are long and wide, the largest leaves uppermost. Between fifteen and fifty cream-coloured to yellow, cup-shaped flowers about long and wide are borne on a hairy flowering stem tall. The dorsal sepal is about long and wide, partly forming a hood over the column. The lateral sepals are a similar size to the dorsal sepal and spread widely apart from each other. The petals are long and about wide and are projected forwards. The labellum is long, wide with its tip divided into three. Flowering occurs from January to March.
Taxonomy and naming.
The yellow ogre orchid was first formally described in 1906 by Frederick Manson Bailey from a specimen collected on Dunk Island by Edmund James Banfield and given the name "Habenaria banfieldii". The description was published in the "Queensland Agricultural Journal". In 1981 Bill Lavarack changed the name to "Peristylus banfieldii". The specific epithet ("banfieldii") honours the collector of the type specimen.
Distribution and habitat.
"Peristylus banfieldii" grows in moist places in open forest and on rainforest margins. It is found on Dunk Island, and near Mareeba and Cardwell.


Fremont Peak State Park

Fremont Peak State Park is a California State Park located in Monterey County and San Benito County, California. The park encompasses the summit of Fremont Peak in the Gabilan Range.
The park features expansive views of Monterey Bay and Pacific Ocean from its hiking trails. Other vistas include the San Benito Valley, Salinas Valley, and the Santa Lucia Mountains east of Big Sur. The park was established in 1934.
Natural history.
Pine and California oak woodlands, of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, cover much of the park and are home to many birds and mammals.
Recreation.
Fremont Peak State Park has hiking trails, picnic facilities and 22 campsites (both tent and RV). Fremont Peak Day is held every April, and features a picnic and other activities.
The Fremont Peak Observatory opened in 1986, and has operated every summer since, despite having battled the frequently brutal mountaintop weather. The astronomical observatory has a telescope.
Proposed for closure.
Fremont Peak State Park was one of the 48 California state parks proposed for closure in January 2008 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as part of a deficit reduction program. The closures were ultimately avoided by cutting hours and maintenance system-wide.


Yucca rostrata

Yucca rostrata also called beaked yucca, is a tree-like plant belonging to the genus "Yucca". The species is native to Texas, Chihuahua and Coahuila.
"Yucca rostrata" has a trunk up to 4.5 meters tall, with a crown of leaves at the top. Leaves are thin, stiff, up to 60 cm long but rarely more than 15 mm wide, tapering to a sharp point at the tip. The inflorescence is a large panicle 100 cm tall, with white flowers.
Cultivation.
As one of the hardiest trunk-forming yuccas, "Yucca rostrata" can be grown successfully outdoors down to USDA hardiness zone 5 and is popular in the Southwestern United States. The tree-like plant is commonly cultivated in El Paso, Texas, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Denver, Colorado.


Coprosma rugosa

Coprosma rugosa, also known as the needle-leaved mountain coprosma, is a shrub in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, that is native to New Zealand. It is found in grasslands and forest margins up to the subalpine zone. "C. rugosa" bears small purple-white berries in autumn, the seed of which is widely dispersed by birds. It is considered a very hardy shrub and is suitable for hedging.


Superior National Forest

Superior National Forest, part of the United States National Forest system, is located in the Arrowhead Region of the state of Minnesota between the Canada–United States border and the north shore of Lake Superior. The area is part of the greater Boundary Waters region along the border of Minnesota and the Canadian province of Ontario, a historic and important thoroughfare in the fur trading and exploring days of New France and British North America.
Under the administration of the United States Forest Service, the Superior National Forest comprises over 3,900,000 acres (6,100 mi2 or 16,000 km2) of woods and waters. The majority of the forest is multiple-use, including both logging and recreational activities such as camping, boating, and fishing. Slightly over a quarter of the forest is set aside as a wilderness reserve known as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA), where canoers can travel along interconnected fresh waters near land as well as over historic portages once used by Native American tribes and First Nations people, but later by European explorers and traders.
Location.
The forest is located in Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis counties in northeastern Minnesota. Forest headquarters are located in Duluth, Minnesota, outside the boundaries of the forest. There are local ranger district offices in Aurora, Cook, Ely, Grand Marais, and Tofte.
Landforms.
The forest covers 3.9 million acres (6,100 mi2 or 16,000 km2), and has over 445,000 acres (1,800 km2) of water. Its waters include some 2,000 lakes and rivers, more than 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of cold water streams, and 950 miles (1,530 km) of warm water streams. Many of the lakes are located in depressions formed by the differential erosion of tilted layers of bedded rock; these depressions were given their final form by glacial scouring during recent ice ages.
The forest is located on part of the Canadian Shield. The area is on a low plateau which is part of the Superior Upland. High points include the Sawtooth Mountains, a range of hills along the shore of Lake Superior, the Misquah Hills including Eagle Mountain, the state's highest point, and other uplands along the Laurentian Divide separating the watershed of the Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean from that of Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean. Despite the presence of dramatic cliffs and other local differences in elevation, the area is essentially flat, as it is part of an old peneplain eroded by weathering, water, and especially glaciers.
The principal surficial result of recent glaciation is not the deposition of glacial drift (unlike most of the rest of Minnesota), but the remodeling of the landscape by the scraping away of softer surfaces down to bare hard rock. The land therefore is raw, with many outcroppings of ancient bedrock, overlain in places by thin layers of gravelly soil and, in the west, silts deposited by Glacial Lake Agassiz.
Life forms.
Flora.
The forest contains a small slice of true boreal forest (taiga), and a mixed conifer-hardwood forest known as the North Woods, a transition province between the northern boreal forest and deciduous forests to the south. Conifers include several varieties of pine, fir, and spruce trees, principal deciduous species are mountain ash, maple, aspen, oak, and paper birch are also common. Characteristic aquatic plants include water lilies and wild rice.
Fauna.
Fish species such as walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, lake trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout can be found in abundance in the forest's waters. Larger wildlife species include northern woodlands white-tailed deer, western moose, Canadian lynx, eastern black bear, and eastern wolf packs. Northern Minnesota has the largest population of gray wolves in the lower 48 states, with approximately 300-400 wolves within the boundaries of this forest. Ely's International Wolf Center protects all North American gray wolves from extinction. Located at the northern edge of the range of the hummingbird and near the southern edge of the range of the Canada jay, this forest has 163 nesting species of birds, the largest number of any national forest. Species include the bald eagle and other raptors, the ubiquitous common loon, and northern waterfowl.
Recreation.
The Superior National Forest maintains developed fee campgrounds with amenities like drinking water and garbage disposal, rustic campgrounds without drinking water or fees, and backcountry campsites with only a pit latrine and a fire grate, and no permits or fees. Additionally, dispersed camping is permitted anywhere on undeveloped public land without permit or fee. An exception is made for the designated wilderness of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, which requires special permits for entrance.
Fee Campgrounds.
Tofte Ranger District
External links.
"Parts of this article were taken from the Forest Service website. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the text is in the public domain."


Ducrosia

Ducrosia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Apiaceae.
Its native range is Southern Egypt to Pakistan.
Species:


Johnson Creek Park

Johnson Creek Park is a city park of about in southeast Portland, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located at Southeast 21st Avenue and Clatsop Street, the park takes its name from Johnson Creek, which flows through the park. The creek is named for William Johnson, who settled upstream from the park in what is now Portland's Lents neighborhood, where he operated a sawmill in the mid-19th century. Crystal Springs Creek also flows through the park and meets Johnson Creek near the park's southern boundary. Amenities include a playground, paved paths, picnic tables, and a natural area.


Haines Memorial State Park

Haines Memorial State Park is public recreation area in the town of Barrington on the northeastern side of Narragansett Bay, south of East Providence, Rhode Island. The state park offers picnicking, play fields, fishing and boating facilities, and is a stop on the East Bay Bike Path.
History.
The site of Haines Memorial State Park was donated by the estate of Dr. George B. Haines (1843-1910), a doctor who practiced medicine in Valley Falls, in Cumberland, and was a public health officer there. Haines suffered from asthma, and was a proponent of the healthy benefits of fresh air.
Haines purchased the Humphrey Farm in 1909, a "wooded retreat" of 83 acres, and lived there until his sudden death the following year. Haines' sister Ida then sold the property to the Rhode Island Metropolitan Park Commission for one dollar, in accordance with the doctor's wish that the land be used for "parks, parkway, or boulevard uses only."
Initially, the park featured picnic groves and ball fields, and was accessible by train or trolley from Bristol. The train tracks later became the East Bay Bicycle Path, which runs through the park.
Between 1911 and 1915, the Park Commission increased the size of the park to 101.7 acres. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps sculpted the beach for the enhanced enjoyment of bathers, built fireplaces and a boat ramp, and created a pedestrian bridge that connected the park with Crescent Park until it was destroyed in the 1938 New England Hurricane. A bath house was added in 1940, and a seasonal farmers market began in 2002.
Activities and amenities.
The park's boat ramp provides access to Bullock Cove, from which boaters can reach the lower Providence River and the headwaters of Narragansett Bay.


Guardiola diehlii

Guardiola diehlii is a very rare (quite possibly extinct) North American species of plants in the sunflower family, found only in the state of New Mexico in the southwestern United States.
"Guardiola diehlii" is (was) an annual herb up to tall. Leaves are long and narrow, up to long. One plant will produce several flower heads in a flat-topped array. Each head contains only one white ray flower and 4 disc flowers.


Kinglake National Park

The Kinglake National Park is a national park in Central Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated northeast of Melbourne and includes tracks (some with wheelchair access), and camping facilities.
The national park includes Masons Falls, a picnic area with falls and natural flora. Layered sediment forms the valley, containing fossils from when the area was once covered by the sea. Natural fauna includes wallaby, kangaroo, wombat, possum and echidna. It also includes varieties of birds including cockatoos (sulphur-crested, black and red-headed), king parrots, the rosella and the lyrebird.
Prior to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, the park was renowned for being home to the tallest tree in Victoria. The specimen of "Eucalyptus regnans" (mountain ash) stood tall in 2002 and was suspected to have originated after the 1851 Black Thursday bushfires. It was located in the Wallaby Creek closed catchment area in the north-west regions of the park.
History.
The area was logged in the early part of the 20th century, and some remnants of logging remain (such as scars on some trees and a sawdust dump).
In January 2006, parts of the park to the north of the township were devastated by a bushfire started by lightning during a severe thunderstorm. The blaze threatened to engulf the town, advancing to within a few hundred metres of the northern fringe. The town was saved by further thunderstorms, along with Country Fire Authority volunteers. In 2009 98% of the national park was severely burnt by the devastating Black Saturday bushfires. Much of the town of Kinglake was destroyed and nearly a hundred lives were lost. As of 2010, rehabilitation work is continuing and sections of the park are gradually being reopened.
Books on Kinglake National Park.
Stewart, Kath and Hawkins, Deidre "Living with Fire: A brief history of fires in the Kinglake Ranges", Kinglake, Vic. Kinglake Historical Society


Quercus rysophylla

Quercus rysophylla, the loquat leaf oak, is a Mexican species of oak in the red oak section ("Quercus" section "Lobatae"). It is native to the Sierra Madre Oriental in the States of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, and Hidalgo in northeastern Mexico.
Description.
"Quercus rysophylla" is a large tree, up to 25 m tall. It has smooth pale grey bark, which ages and becomes rough, deeply cracked and dark grey. The leaves are lanceolate (lance shaped), up to 21 cm long. It has acorns that are biennial, ripening the year after flowering.
Taxonomy.
It was originally published and described by Charles Alfred Weatherby in 'Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, MA ' (Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts) Vol.45 on page 423 in 1910.
When Weatherby published his new tree, he made an error, he spelled 'rysophylla', the specific epithet refers to the Greek term ῥυσός (rhysos) meaning wrinkled and φύλλον (phyllon) for leaf. He should have used the correct spelling rhysophylla. Some botanists and publications change the epithet to rhysophylla. Although, the Melbourne Code, states it should be uncorrected, therefore the original spelling, rysophylla, is deemed correct. Other incorrect spellings 'risophylla', 'rhizophylla' and 'rizophylla' can be found.
It gained the common name 'Loquat oak' or 'loquat-leaf oak', from the superficial resemblance of the leaves in shape and texture to those of the
loquat (Eriobotrya japonica).
Habitat.
It is normally found growing in humid canyons and on north facing slopes, in oak or oak-pine woods. It is normally found at an altitude of above sea level.


Nickerson State Park

Nickerson State Park is a state-owned, public recreation area of more than located on Cape Cod in Brewster, Massachusetts. The park's sandy soil and scrub pines surround many kettle ponds which are dependent on groundwater and precipitation. The largest of these are Cliff Pond (the largest at across), Flax Pond, Little Cliff Pond, and Higgins Pond. Ruth Pond, Keeler's Pond, Eel Pond, and Triangle Pond provide additional water habitats.
History.
The land composing the park was once part of the estate of Samuel Mayo Nickerson (1830–1914), a native of the area and a Chicago liquor distiller who made a fortune as one of the founding officers of the First National Bank of Chicago. In 1890, Nickerson built Fieldstone Hall on land overlooking Cape Cod Bay a mile west of the park to be the home of his son Roland C. Nickerson, Roland's wife Addie, and their three children. Fieldstone Hall was lost to fire in 1906, and a larger mansion was built on the same site. That building subsequently became a seminary and is now a major feature of the Ocean Edge resort.
Roland Nickerson died at age 51 shortly after Fieldstone Hall burned down, his death at the time being ascribed to his heartache at the loss of his home and personal possessions. His son Roland Jr. was a naval lieutenant who died in the 1918 influenza epidemic. In 1934, Addie Nickerson donated the portion of the estate on the south side of Route 6a for use as a "state forest park." It became the Commonwealth's first state park and was named in honor of her late husband and late son.


Bud Dajo

Bud Dajo (; ), is the second highest point (+600m) in the province of Sulu, Philippines. it is one of the cinder cones that make up the island of Jolo and part of the Jolo Volcanic Group in the Republic of the Philippines. The extinct volcano is located southeast from the town of Jolo in Sulu province. The mountain and adjacent lands were declared as Mount Dajo National Park in 1938.
Physical features.
The cinder cone has an elevation of with a base diameter of . On the summit of the mountain is crater that is breached to the southwest. The other volcanic edifices adjacent to Bud Dajo are: Matanding, located northeast of the Bud Dajo with an elevation of asl; Guimba, east and elevation of asl; and Sungal, southeast which is asl., dangerous volcano.
Geology.
The basaltic volcanic cone is part of Zamboanga-Sulu volcanic arc.
Eruptions falsely attributed to the mountain.
1641.
Two volcanoes falsely attributed to the eruption on January 4, 1641 which engulfed southern Philippines in darkness. Further studies later found the eruption to have come from Parker Volcano in Cotabato province.
1897.
The earthquake and subsequent tsunami on September 21, 1897 that devastated the Southern Philippines was believed to be from a submarine eruption therefore excludes Bud Dajo.
PHIVOLCS monitoring activity.
A short-term monitoring (seismic and visuals) surveys were conducted by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in 1993 and in 1997 on the mountain. No unusual activities were observed within the vicinity of the volcano.
Mount Dajo National Park.
The mountain and surrounding areas were declared as a national park by Proclamation No. 261 on February 28, 1938 encompassing of land. Recent reports have shown that the mountain is very deforested with few remaining forest cover usually on the steep ridges. The game refuge is not currently listed as a protected area under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Fauna.
Some vulnerable and endangered species, not necessarily endemic to the area, but can be found within the Mount Dajo National Park are (from BirdLife International):
Historical relevance.
The mountain was the site of the First Battle of Bud Dajo during the Moro Rebellion of the Philippine–American War in 1906, which culminated in the Moro Crater Massacre, the killing of over 600 villagers (mostly civilians) hiding on the crater of Bud Dajo. The five-day Second Battle of Bud Dajo in 1911 ended with fewer casualties through negotiations, persuading the majority to return home.


Tillamook National Forest

Tillamook National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon on March 2, 1907 with . On July 1, 1908, Executive Order 860 assigned a portion to Umpqua National Forest to establish Siuslaw National Forest and the remainder was returned to the public domain. The name was discontinued.


Ribes echinellum

Ribes echinellum, the Miccosukee gooseberry, is a very rare North American shrub in the currant family, native to the southeastern United States. It has only a few known populations. The Florida populations was discovered first, in 1924 at Lake Miccosukee. The South Carolina populations were found in 1957 and 1981, and the first is protected at Steven's Creek Heritage Preserve.
"Ribes echinellum" is a shrub up to 150 cm (5 feet) tall with spines at the nodes (places where the leaves are attached to the stem). Leaves are round or egg-shaped with three lobes. It has whitish or pale yellow flowers and purple spine-covered berries.
Cultivation.
"Ribes echinellum" is cultivated in a few places outside its native areas, as far south as Hudson, Florida, but does not reproduce there.
It is most abundant in the shade of deciduous trees on moist but well-drained soils with pH of 6.7 to 7.4.


Phreatogammarus propinquus


Eucomis pallidiflora

Eucomis pallidiflora, the giant pineapple lily, is a bulbous species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, native to southern Africa (South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland). The white to green flowers appear in summer and are arranged in a spike (raceme), topped by a "head" of green leaflike bracts. Some forms reach almost when in flower. The species is cultivated as an ornamental plant, although it is not hardy in areas where severe frosts occur.
Description.
"Eucomis pallidiflora" is a perennial growing from a large bulb with a diameter of up to . It has a basal rosette of strap-shaped leaves, about long and wide, with minutely serrated margins. The inflorescence, produced in late summer (August in the UK), is a dense raceme, reaching an overall height of , almost in some forms. The individual flowers have white, greenish yellow or green tepals and a green ovary. The inflorescence is topped by a head (coma) of up to 30 bracts, sometimes quite small. The plant lacks the purple coloration found other large species of "Eucomis", such as "Eucomis comosa".
Taxonomy.
"Eucomis pallidiflora" was first described by John Gilbert Baker in 1887. The Latin specific epithet "pallidiflora" means "pale flowered". It is one of a group of larger tetraploid species of "Eucomis", with 2"n" = 4"x" = 60.
Two subspecies are recognized by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families:
"E. pallidiflora" subsp. "pallidiflora" has a relatively densely packed raceme of flowers on a stem (peduncule) up to high from the base to the first flower, whereas "E. pallidiflora" subsp. "pole-evansii" has a loose raceme on a stem long before the first flower. Some sources regard "E. pallidiflora" subsp. "pole-evansii" as hardly distinguishable from the typical form.
Distribution and habitat.
"Eucomis pallidiflora" is native to southern Africa – the Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the Northern Provinces in South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. It is found at a range of altitudes, from to .
Cultivation.
The plant is not frost-hardy, and requires a winter mulch in those areas subject to freezing temperatures. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It flowers in summer (August in cultivation in Britain), remaining upright for two months while the seeds ripen. It can be cultivated in containers where severe frosts occur, kept inside and dry in winter.


Schefflera taiwaniana

Schefflera taiwaniana (台湾鹅掌柴) is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, native to Taiwan, where it is scattered throughout coniferous forests at . Growing to tall by broad, it is an evergreen shrub or small tree. Large leaves up to long are composed of up to 11 ovate leaflets arranged radially around a central stalk (palmately compound). Young leaves are covered in silver hairs, while mature leaves have a smooth surface. Sprays of flowers in late summer are followed by dark berries in winter - a valued food source for insects and birds.
Related to the ivies ("Hedera"), "Schefflera taiwaniana" is one of several species in the hugely varied genus "Schefflera" (umbrella plants) that are grown ornamentally for their handsome foliage. Once mature it is hardy down to , though young plants may require some frost protection. It benefits from being planted in a sheltered spot with other plants to provide enough humidity. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.


Ormosia jamaicensis

Ormosia jamaicensis is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae.
It is found only in Jamaica.


Aa fiebrigii

Aa fiebrigii is a species of orchid in the genus "Aa". It is found in Bolivia and northwest Argentina.


Orconectes wrighti


Carex albonigra

Carex albonigra is a species of sedge known by the common name black and white sedge. It is native to western North America from Alaska and most of western Canada to California to New Mexico, where it grows in mainly dry, rocky high mountain habitat such as talus. This sedge forms a dense clump 10 to 30 centimeters in height with narrow gray-green leaves. The inflorescence is a headlike cluster of overlapping spikes. The fruit is coated in a sac called a perigynium which is dark purple to chestnut brown and often tipped with white.


Fort Wilkins Historic State Park

Fort Wilkins Historic State Park is a historical park operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources at Copper Harbor, Michigan. The park preserves the restored 1844 army military outpost, Fort Wilkins, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. The state park's include camping and day-use facilities as well as the Copper Harbor Lighthouse, built in 1866. The park is a "Cooperating Site" of the Keweenaw National Historical Park.
History.
Copper Harbor is located at the northern tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula, bordering Lake Superior. It is one of the best natural harbors in Keweenaw County and was a quick focus of attention after copper was discovered on the peninsula in the 1830s. In the early 1840s, a copper rush took place that saw a flood of fortune-seekers moving to the peninsula. The U.S. government was concerned about possible disorder and violence, and lake shipping interests asked the government to build an aid to navigation so that essential supplies could be shipped in and the copper moved out. In 1844, Fort Wilkins was established at the direction of Secretary of War William Wilkins.
Fort Wilkins.
The U.S. Army occupied Fort Wilkins, located east of Copper Harbor, Michigan on the strait of land between Copper Harbor and northern shore of Lake Fanny Hooe, in 1844. The troops stationed there were intended to help with local law enforcement and to keep the peace between miners and the local Ojibwas; some Chippewa opposed the Treaty of La Pointe that had ceded the area to the United States in 1842–1843.
However, the fort proved to be unnecessary. The Chippewa largely accepted the influx, and the miners were law-abiding. The Army built 27 structures, including a guardhouse, powder magazine, 7 officer's quarters, two barracks, two mess halls, hospital, storehouse, sutler's store, quartermaster's store, bakery, blacksmith's shop, carpenter's shop, icehouse, four quarters for married enlisted men, stables, and a slaughter house, to house the operations of two full-strength infantry companies. Several of these structures still survive. Others have been rebuilt following archaeological excavations.
When it was first garrisoned in 1844, two companies (A and B of the 5th infantry) were stationed there. When war was declared with Mexico, Companies A and B were sent to Texas and were replaced by Company K. When Company K was also sent to the Mexican front in 1846, the fort was left in the hands of a single caretaker, Sgt. William Wright, the only man to remain behind.
With the passing of Wright in 1855, the fort was leased to Dr. John S. Livermore, who hoped to open a health resort "for invalids and others during the hot months." This plan fell through after his death in 1861.
After the American Civil War, the U.S. army reoccupied Fort Wilkins for three years in 1867–1870. The U.S. Army needed a place for men to serve out the rest of their enlistments from the war. Company E, Forty-third Infantry, was stationed there from 1867 until May 1869, when they were replaced by Company K, First Infantry. The army permanently abandoned the facility at the end of August 1870.
State park.
In 1848, the Copper Harbor Lighthouse complex was begun on the tip of the eastern point of land, also sometimes called Hays Point, that sits at the entrance of the harbor. In 1923, the fort and adjacent lighthouse became a Michigan state park. The facility is open to the public in summer months, when it is staffed by costumed personnel who portray Army life during the fort's final summer as an active post.


Tricholoma fracticum

Tricholoma fracticum is a mushroom of the agaric genus "Tricholoma". First described as "Agaricus fracticus" by German mycologist Max Britzelmayr in 1893, it was transferred to the genus "Tricholoma" in 1984 by Hanns Kreisel.


Umatilla National Forest

The Umatilla National Forest, in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon and southeast Washington, covers an area of 1.4 million acres (5,700 km2). In descending order of land area the forest is located in parts of Umatilla, Grant, Columbia, Morrow, Wallowa, Union, Garfield, Asotin, Wheeler, and Walla Walla counties. (Columbia, Garfield, Asotin, and Walla Walla counties are in Washington, while the rest are in Oregon.) More than three-quarters of the forest lies in the state of Oregon. Forest headquarters are located in Pendleton, Oregon. There are local ranger district offices in Heppner and Ukiah in Oregon, and in Pomeroy and Walla Walla in Washington.
Human history.
The Umatilla National Forest takes its name from the Umatilla Indian word meaning "water rippling over sand." Explorers Lewis and Clark passed through the area in 1805 on the Columbia River, and Marcus and Narcissa Whitman passed through in 1836 to establish a mission at Wailatpu near Walla Walla, Washington. Thousands of emigrants later followed the Oregon Trail west, and many remained in the Blue Mountain region. Discovery of gold in Oregon in 1851 led to the settlement of the North Fork John Day River area. More than $10 million in gold and silver were mined, and remnants of the era are still visible in the National Forest. Some claims are still being mined.
Umatilla was established on July 1, 1908 from part of Blue Mountains National Forest and all of Heppner National Forest. Wenaha National Forest was added on November 5, 1920.
The forest was the site of the School Fire, the largest fire in the contiguous United States of 2005.
Wildlife.
Common wildlife in the Umatilla National Forest include moose, elk, bighorn sheep, black bear, mountain goat, mule deer, white-tailed deer, timber wolf, cougar, coyote, badger, Merriam's turkeys, transplanted Rio Grande wild turkeys, blue and ruffed grouse, Franklin's grouse, chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, rainbow trout, brook trout, and lake trout.
Wilderness.
More than 20 percent of the Umatilla National Forest is classified as wilderness:
Vegetation.
A 1993 Forest Service study estimated that the extent of old growth in the forest was .
Recreation.
Common recreational activities in the Umatilla National Forest include OHV riding, camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, wildlife watching, skiing, and rafting.
Spout Springs Ski Area in Oregon and Bluewood Ski Area in Washington operate under special use permit within the forest. Jubilee Lake has the most popular campground in the forest.


Heliopsis parviceps

Heliopsis parviceps is a Mexican species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. It is native western Mexico in the states of Sinaloa, Michoacán, Guerrero, and México.


Goodenia dimorpha

Goodenia dimorpha is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the Sydney region. It is an erect herb with adventitious roots, linear to egg-shaped leaves, mostly at the base of the plant, and panicles of yellow flowers.
Description.
"Goodenis dimorpha" is an erect, glabrous herb that typically grows to a height of and has adventitious roots. The leaves are mostly at the base of the plant, linear to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide, sometimes with a few small teeth on the edges. The flowers are arranged in thyrse-like panicles up to long on a peduncle up to long with linear bracts at the base, each flower on a pedicel about long. The sepals are long, the corolla yellow, long. The lower lobes of the corolla are about long with wings about wide. The fruit is a narrow cylindrical to oval capsule long.
Taxonomy.
"Goodenia dimorpha" was first formally described in 1904 by Joseph Maiden and Ernst Betche in the "Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales". In 1990, Roger Charles Carolin selected the lectotype as material collected by Betche near Woodford in 1899.
In the same journal, Maiden and Betche described two varieties, and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
Distribution and habitat.
This goodenia in swampy ground on sandstone plateaus. Variety "angustifolia" occurs from the Gosford district to Waterfall and var. "dimorpha" mainly near Blackheath in the Blue Mountains.


Montevideo Waterworks Company

The Montevideo Waterworks Company, Ltd. was a British company, operating in Montevideo, Uruguay. Organized in 1879, its offices were at 61 Moorgate, London, England. The company was founded to take over a concession granted by the government of Uruguay for the construction of the necessary works for supplying the city with water derived from the Santa Lucía River. The point on that river at which the water was taken was from the city, and after being treated with aluminoferric salt, the water was filtered and pumped through a steel main to the service reservoirs, , on a rocky eminence at Las Piedras, at an elevation of about above the city. The company served nearly 35,000 houses, with the daily consumption averaging per capita. There were six settling reservoirs, nine sand filters, two reservoirs, and five distributing reservoirs. The total extent of water mains was about . The company assets were sold to the Uruguayan government in 1948.


Salvia bowleyana

Salvia bowleyana (in Chinese: nan dan shen, nan-dan-shen) is a perennial plant native to China, south of the Yangtze River, growing on hillsides, beside streams, in forests, and in valleys between elevation. It is used medicinally in China in the same way as "Salvia miltiorrhiza" and is often confused with it. "Salvia miltiorrhiza's" common name is "dan shen", while "S. bowleyana's" is "nan dan shen", which means "southern dan shen".
"Salvia bowleyana" grows up to tall, with flowers that are purple to purple-blue.


Acacia shuttleworthii

Acacia shuttleworthii is a shrub of the genus "Acacia" and the subgenus "Phyllodineae" that is endemic to western Australia.
Description.
The low compact shrub typically grows to a height of . It has finely ribbed, green coloured branchlets that are quite hairy with persistent stipules that have a linear-triangular shape and are in length. Like most species of "Acacia" it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The oblique, ovate to elliptic or circular shaped phyllodes have a length of and a width of and are also covered in hairs and sometimes have two or three imperfect nerves on each face. It blooms from October to December and produces cream-white flowers.
Taxonomy.
The species was first formally described by the botanist Carl Meissner in 1844 as a part of Johann Georg Christian Lehmanns wotk "Plantae Preissianae". It was reclassified as "Racosperma shuttleworthii" in 2003 by Leslie Pedley then transferred back to genus "Acacia" in 2006.
Distribution.
It is native to an area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia where it is found on hills and breakaways growing in lateritic soils. It has a disjunct distribution from around Dandaragan in the north to around Gnowangerup in the south growing in gravelly clay and sandy soils as a part of "Eucalyptus wandoo" woodland communities.


Erigeron reductus

Erigeron reductus is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name lesser California rayless fleabane. It is endemic to California, from Trinity County south as far as Alameda County and El Dorado County.
"Erigeron reductus" grows in rocky habitats in several mountain ranges in the northern part of the state. It is a perennial herb producing several spreading to erect stems up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) long from a woody caudex and root system. Each stem is lined evenly with small, thready leaves and topped with an inflorescence of one or more flower heads. Each glandular flower head is up to a centimeter (0.4 inches) wide and contains many yellow disc florets but no ray florets. The fruit is an achene with a pappus of bristles.
The two varieties do intergrade in their region of overlap (Trinity County).


Acacia websteri

Acacia websteri is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus "Acacia" and the subgenus "Juliflorae" that is endemic to western Australia.
Description.
The shrub or tree typically grows to a height of and produces yellow flowers. The branchlets flattened near the tips and are sparsely haired to glabrous and occasionally white-resinous. Like most species of "Acacia" it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The thinly coriaceous evergreen phyllodes are erect with a linear shape and length of and a width of . They taper to a point with a gently curved apex and have three nerves per face. When the plant blooms it produces simple inflorescences with obloid to sub-spherical flowerheads that have a length of and a diameter of containing 30 to 36 golden coloured flowers. The narrowly linear seed pods that form after flowering have longitudinal ridges and are straight and biconvex with a length of up to and a width of containing longitudinally arranged seeds. The light brown seeds have an oblong shape with a length of around and a terminal aril.
Distribution.
It is native to an area in the Wheatbelt and Goldfields regions of Western Australia. It has a disjunct distribution from around Bencubbin and around the towns of Coolgardie and Kambalda where it is often situated in drainage depressions growing in red loam, sand and clay soils as a part of shrubland and scrub communities.