Shropshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire Electric Power Company

The Shropshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire Electric Power Company was an electricity generating and supply organisation that operated in the West Midlands and South Wales. It was established in 1903 and was dissolved as a consequence of the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948.
History.
The Shropshire and Worcestershire Electric Power Company was established in 1903 under the terms of the "Shropshire and Worcestershire Electric Power Act 1903". Further Acts were obtained in 1905, 1906, 1914, 1916, 1918 and 1923. The name was changed to include Staffordshire in 1905. The company's aim was to supply electrical energy to authorised undertakings and to others requiring a supply of power. Its area of supply included Shropshire, Worcestershire and part of Staffordshire. This was later extended by acquisitions to include Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.
The company intended to build its own generating stations but initially purchased the existing stations of smaller electricity undertakings. These included the following (with the original owner, construction and purchase dates):
Stourport power station.
During the First World War the two major undertakings in the Midlands, the Shropshire Company and the Birmingham Corporation, proposed to build two large power stations to meet their joint needs. These would be the 30 MW Netchells station and the 45 MW Stourport power station. However, the proposal failed on the question of financing. The Shropshire Company eventually built Stourport power station which was commissioned in 1927. This enabled the smaller, less efficient, stations at Dudley, Kidderminster and Redditch to be closed.
Developments in the 1930s.
The Shropshire Company became part of the Edmundsons Electricity Corporation Limited which by 1931 was itself part of the Greater London and Counties Trust.
The Shropshire Company continued to purchase, or obtain a controlling interest in, further electricity undertakings and closed the power stations as a bulk supply was available from its network. These included the smaller power stations at:
In addition to the above towns the company supplied electricity to Bewdley, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Evesham, Halesowen and Oldbury.
In 1937 the Company purchased a majority shareholding in the South Wales Electric Power Company.
Nationalisation.
The Shropshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire Electric Power Company was abolished on 31 March 1948 under the terms of the Electricity Act 1947 which nationalised the British electricity supply industry. The company's power stations and electricity transmission systems were vested in the British Electricity Authority. The local distribution systems and the electricity sales functions were vested in the Midlands Electricity Board (MEB).
Key people.
The Chairmen of the company included:
The directors of the company in 1921 were:
The registered office was at 88 Kingsway, London.
Generating plant.
Technical details of the Shropshire Company's power stations, and later constituent power stations, were as follows:
By 1946 the Shropshire Company operated only Stourport A power station. The details for 1946 were:
Following nationalisation the British Electricity Authority built Stourport B station (1950–54).This had a generating capacity of 120 MW.
Operations.
The growth of the Shropshire Company's business is shown in the general trend of an increase in the amount of electricity sold and the connected load.
The combined electricity output from Dudley, Kidderminster and Smethwick power stations was used for the following purposes:
The amount of electricity generated and the revenue from sales in 1923 were as shown:
See also.
List of pre-nationalisation UK electric power companies
Timeline of the UK electricity supply industry
List of power stations in England


Penicillium islandicum

Penicillium islandicum is an anamorph species of the genus of "Penicillium" which produces luteoskyrin, simatoxin, cyclochlorotine, rugulosin, islanditoxin and chitosanase.


Hestia longifolia

Hestia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, formally described in 2010. It contains only one known species, Hestia longifolia, native to Perak in Peninsular Malaysia and to Brunei and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.


Ibalonius bimaculatus

Ibalonius bimaculatus is a species of harvestmen from the family Podoctidae. The species is endemic to Mahe Island and Silhouette Island of Seychelles.


Retiniphyllum chloranthum

Retiniphyllum chloranthum is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae.
It occurs from Colombia to Guyana and northern Brazil.
It was described by Adolpho Ducke in 1943.


Crassicheles concentricus

Crassicheles concentricus is a species of mite in the family Eviphididae. It is found in Europe.


Lilium distichum

Lilium distichum is an Asian species herbaceous plant of the lily family which is native to northeastern China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning), Korea, and eastern Russia (Primorye, Amur Krai, Khabarovsk).
"Lilium distichum" flourishes among shrubs and in forests. It grows from tall. The stem is cylindrical and slender with a single whorl of leaves mid–way up the stem. It also has much smaller oval leaves sparsely, alternately on the upper stem.
The flowers are yellow–orange or orange–vermillion with the petals spotted in purple, somewhat ‘flatfaced’ in appearance with irregular distribution of petals around the face of the flower forming a fanshape. The tips of the petals are reflexed. 2–10 flowers are carried on an inflorescence in July and August.
The name "distichum" refers to the two types of leaves the plant carries.


Sieur de Monts National Monument


Centrolepis cephaloformis

Centrolepis cephaloformis is a species of plant in the Restionaceae family and is found in southern Australia.
The annual herb typically grows to a height of . It blooms between August and October.
It is found on salt flats and in wet areas among mosses in the Mid West, Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy-clay soils over granite.


Whitehall State Park

Whitehall State Park is a Massachusetts state park located in the town of Hopkinton and managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The park was created in 1947 when the Whitehall Reservoir was removed from service as a water source for the Greater Boston area.
Activities and amenities.
The park features fishing, boating, hiking trails, and ice fishing.


Wild Bill Hickok Memorial

Wild Bill Hickok Memorial is a state historic site operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. It is located in a small park at the intersection of Main and Ottawa Streets in Troy Grove, Illinois. The memorial marks the site of the birthplace of “Wild Bill” Hickok and features a plaque on the granite monument that honors Hickok's services as a scout and spy in the western states during the American Civil War, and as a frontier express messenger. The monument was dedicated on August 29, 1930.
External links.
Wild Bill Hickok Memorial


Petrophile shirleyae

Petrophile shirleyae is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a shrub with pinnate, needle-shaped, sharply-pointed leaves, and narrow oval heads of silky-hairy white to pale cream-coloured flowers.
Description.
"Petrophile shirleyae" is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has more or less glabrous leaves and branchlets. The leaves are bipinnate or tripinnate, long on a petiole long, with pinnae long. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branchlets in narrow oval heads long, sometimes in pairs, with a few broadly egg-shaped involucral bracts at the base. The flowers are up to about long, silky-hairy and white to pale cream-coloured. Flowering occurs from October to February and the fruit is a nut, fused with others in a oval head up to about long.
Taxonomy.
"Petrophile shirleyae" was first formally described in 1891 by Frederick Manson Bailey in the "Botany Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, Queensland" from material collected by John Francis Shirley on Moreton Island. The specific epithet ("shirleyae") honours the wife of the collector of the type material.
Distribution and habitat.
"Petrophile shirleyae" grows in sandy heath and forest in near-coastal areas of south-eastern Queensland.
Conservation status.
This petrophile is classified as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government "Nature Conservation Act 1992".


Cunninghamella echinulata

Cunninghamella echinulata is a fungal species in the genus "Cunninghamella." It is an asexually reproducing fungus and a mesophile, preferring intermediate temperature ranges. "C. echinulata" is a common air contaminant, and is currently of interest to the biotechnology industry due to its ability to synthesize γ-linolenic acid as well as its capacity to bioconcentrate metals. This species is a soil saprotroph that forms rhizoids, preferring soils enriched in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. It has been reported occasionally an agent of mucormycosis following the inhalation of fungal spores. Czapek's agar is a suitable growth medium for the propagation of "C. echinulata."
Taxonomy, growth and morphology.
"Cunninghamella echinulata" is a member of the family, Cunninghamellaceae (phylum Mucoromycota). This species is closely related to "C. elegans", and both species share highly similar characteristics of growth and morphology. Colonies tend to be rapidly growing on most growth media producing a dense, white or greyish aerial mycelium. "Cunninghamella echinulata" reproduces asexually and solely via yellow-brown, spiny, single-spored sporangioles that, due to the nature of the sporangiospore being retained within the sporangium, appear to have a two-layered outer wall. This fungus grows by means of filaments that lack septa. This is a common feature of members if the Mucoromycota where the hyphal compartments are either fully divided by septa or are completely continuous (coenocytic) and multinucleate. Zygospores of this fungus are only produced following the fusion of gametangia of compatible mating strains, exemplifying a heterothallic mating system. Sporangiophores of this species are irregularly branched and do not resemble the sporangiospores typical of most other members of the Mucoromycota encountered in similar habitats. The sporangioles produced by this fungus are larger in size (10–20 μm) than those of the closely related species, "C. elegans."
Physiology.
"Cunninghamella echinulata" and other species of Cunninghamellaceae can be selectively grown on Czapek's solution agar, a property unique to this family of the Mucorales. However, depending on the nutrients the agar is supplemented with, different media can alter the oxidative metabolism profile of this fungus. This species grows better on acetate than d-glucose. Additionally, if grown in liquid, cultures of this fungus can be externally stimulated to increase oxygen consumption by adding 2% montmorillonite or kaolinite.
While this fungus is a mesophilic (preferring intermediate growth temperatures), it is able to grow between and although the rate of growth near the extremes of temperature tolerance is minimal. The optimal temperature for the development of zygospores is between and . This species exhibits different growth characteristic depending on environmental influences. At a pH of 5.5, the fungus grows in small dense pellets; but a more typical, radiating growth pattern is achieved at a pH of 8.0, The presence of indole-3-acetic acid in the growth medium stimulates linear growth.
When grown on medium containing hydrolysed tomato residue, this fungus utilizes glucose to synthesize triacylglycerols (TAG) rich in GLA. This fungus has been investigated for use in the production of single cell oils (SCO) and storage lipids (like GLA). "C. echinulata" is also able to selectively take up and sequester metal contaminants from polluted waters, suggesting a potential use in bioremediation of polluted water. However, its role as an agent of opportunistic disease may limit its use in environmental remediation. "Cunninghamella echinulata" is able to grow on orange rind and assimilate carbohydrates into necessary biomolecules, where the fermented peel does not exhibit appreciable discolouration or odour. Growth of this fungus on organic nitrogen leads yields lipids rich in γ-linolenic acid (GLA). The presence of an active monooxygenase system allows this species to perform oxidative demethylation and hydroxylation. The fungus possesses a p450 cytochrome system similar to that in humans, making it a potentially useful model for the study liver-mediated drug metabolism.
This species is also able to stereoselectively biotransform rac-mexiletine into hydroxymethyl mexiletine (HMM) and p-hydroxymexiletine (PHM), two metabolites also produced in humans. "Cunninghamella echinulata" grown in yeast extract broth, trypticase soy medium or peptone broth at a pH of 8 yielded 0 μg/ml of breakdown products from the metabolism of rac-mexiletine. The production of maximal HMM is achieved in yeast extract broth at a pH of 7.0. Metabolic activity diminishes with increasing pH up to a maximum pH of 8.0. At increased pH, "C. echinulata" shows preferential production of S-HMM over R-HMM, the two stereoisomers, specifically enantiomers, of HMM. In order to achieve the highest quantity of GLA, "Cunninghamella echinulata" grows preferentially on nitrogen-depleted media with a C/N (carbon:nitrogen) molar ratio of 169.
The species has been reported to exhibit antibacterial effects against "Staphylococcus aureus" and "Salmonella typhus," common agents of skin infections and food poisoning respectively. It is also known to inhibit root growth in various grass species in vitro. The fungus is not known to produce mycotoxins.
Habitat and ecology.
"Cunninghamella echinulata" is a saprotrophic resident of the soils in warmer regions of the world, particularly those enriched with NPK fertilizers (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium). It has been reported from both cultivated and uncultivated soils, including soils from greenhouses and forests in the mediterranean and subtropical zones but is thought to be comparatively rare in temperate zones. Soil depth and pH are not considered to be strongly influential on the growth properties of this fungus in vivo. This species is able to cause rot in foods such as Kola nuts and is a common air contaminant. It can be parasitized by other fungi including species of "Piptocephalis," and "Trichoderma viride." Additionally, its growth is inhibited in vitro by the fungus, "Memnoniella echinata."
Human disease.
Disease caused by this fungus and other species of Mucorales is referred to as mucormycosis characterized by a rapidly progressive and destructively invasive disease with relatively low survival. Literature reporting this agent in healthy people is lacking. As a consequence, this species is thought to be exclusively an opportunistic pathogen, affecting individuals with pre-existing health conditions. People with underlying health conditions such as HIV infection and diabetes are at heightened risk for mucormycosis. Infections by "C. echinulata" are thought to arise from inhalation of fungal spores and are not communicable. Relatively few case reports implicating "C. echinulata" are available. Of those that are, one prototypical case from 2005 reported a fatal rhinocerebral infection in a 15-year-old boy suffering from acute leukaemia. Biopsy of the infected nasal tissue showed signs of necrosis and vascular invasion.
"Cunninghamella echinulata", like other members of the genus, exhibit strong resistance to the antifungal polyene, amphotericin B with a MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) ranging from 4-16μg/mL that varies according to strain. Strains of "C. echinulata" also display greater tolerance to itraconazole and posaconazole than other members of the Mucorales. The antifungal agent terbinafine, typically restricted to the treatment of nail and skin infections, shows a relatively low MIC ranging from 0.06 to 0.125 μg/mL.
Biotechnology.
It is commonly cultivated for its ability to produce GLA, preferentially synthesizing R-PHM and S-HMM. The fungus is able to synthesize γ-linolenic acid. It also possesses the ability to bioabsorb metals, with the highest levels of bioabsorpotion reported 5 to 15 minutes after contact with the metals. Adding NaOH to this fungus before it bioabsorbs metals enhances the uptake of Pb, Cu and Zn. These uptake rates also seem to be influenced by pH where at a pH of 7.1, Zn was the most highly absorbed metal, at a pH of 4, Pb was the most highly absorbed metal and at a pH of 5, Cu was the most highly absorbed metal. "Cunninghamella echinulata" has been used to transform cortexolone to hydrocortisone. Hydroxylation of biphenyl oxide has been studied in "C. echinulata".


Leiobunum townsendi

Leiobunum townsendi is a species of harvestman in the family Sclerosomatidae. It is found in North America.


Red Rocks Park

Red Rocks Park is a mountain park in Jefferson County, Colorado, owned and maintained by the city of Denver as part of the Denver Mountain Parks system. The park is known for its very large red sandstone outcrops. Many of these rock formations within the park have names, from the mushroom-shaped Seat of Pluto to the inclined Cave of the Seven Ladders. The most visited rocks, around Red Rocks Amphitheatre, are Creation Rock to the north, Ship Rock to the south, and Stage Rock to the east.
The red sandstone found throughout Red Rocks Park is geologically identified as belonging to the Fountain Formation. Other Colorado examples of Fountain Formation geology include nearby Roxborough State Park, Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, and the Flatirons near Boulder. The rocks were formed about 290-296 million years ago when the Ancestral Rocky Mountains were eroded during the Pennsylvanian epoch. Later, uplift during the Laramide orogeny tilted the rocks to the angle at which they sit today.
An Army expedition led by Stephen Long discovered present-day Red Rocks in 1820. The park was in times far past a favored campsite of the Ute tribe for it provided natural cover from the elements. Its earliest known name was the Garden of the Angels, reputedly given to it on July 4, 1870, by Martin Van Buren Luther, a pioneer Colorado judge. In 1872 Marion Burts became the first recorded owner of Red Rocks. He sold it to Leonard H. Eicholtz, a civil engineer who helped build the Union Pacific Railway and who developed the property into a park in 1878. Eicholtz added roads, trails, picnic grounds, steps, and ladders so visitors could explore the park. In 1906, Eicholtz sold Red Rocks to famed editor John Brisben Walker which he purchased with proceeds from his sale of "Cosmopolitan Magazine"; Walker organized concerts on a temporary platform at the Garden of the Titans. Known however by the folk name of "Red Rocks" since the area was settled, it was formally given that name when Denver acquired it in 1928 from John Brisben Walker.
Within the park boundaries is the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, a world-famous venue used since 1941, which hosts many concerts and other events. The amphitheater is a venue for concerts. The Amphitheater was designed by Burnam Hoyt within the area between two massive slabs of Red stone (Ship Rock and Creation Rock). After being awarded "Pollstar" magazine's Best Small Outdoor Venue for the 11th time, the popular magazine named the award after the venue taking it out of the running.
Park construction.
Denver Mayor Ben Stapleton resisted developing the already beautiful Red Rocks but the city used Depression-era New Deal funding and resources to build out the park, as part of the development of the Denver Mountain Parks system. City planner George Cranmer oversaw the development, securing federal funding and the establishment of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp at Mount Morrison to facilitate construction of the park's features. CCC crews were responsible for building out the early roads and the amphitheatre, as well as a Pueblo-style concession stand. The park along with surviving CCC camp (which is one of the best preserved of such camps) were designated a National Historic Landmark in 2015.
Red Rocks Park was also the site of the Start and Finish line of "The Amazing Race 9" which aired in the spring of 2006.
Trails.
There are several short, pedestrian-only trails in the park: Funicular Trail, Geologic Overlook Trail, Mt. Vernon Creek Trail, Red Rocks Trail, and the Trading Post Trail. Some of the trails are short and pedestrian-only, while others are multi-use to accommodate mountain bikes, horses, and leashed dogs.


Acianthera beyrodtiana

Acianthera beyrodtiana is a species of orchid plant.


Prostanthera suborbicularis

Prostanthera suborbicularis is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Queensland. It is a shrub with broadly elliptical to round leaves.
Description.
"Prostanthera suborbicularis" is a shrub or undershrub that has its branches and leaves covered with short, matted hairs. The leaves leathery, broadly elliptic to more or less round, in diameter on a petiole up to long. The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils on pedicels up to long, with bracteoles at the base of the sepals. The sepals are almost long with two lobes, the upper lobe about long, the lower about long. The petals are long forming a tube almost long.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Prostanthera suborbicularis" was first formally described in 1926 by Cyril Tenison White and William Douglas Francis in the "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland" from specimens collected near Adavale.
Distribution.
This mint bush grows in Queensland.
Conservation status.
This mintbush is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government "Nature Conservation Act 1992".


Erigeron alpicola

Erigeron alpicola is an Asian species of flowering plants in the daisy family. It is native to Japan, to Jilin Province in China, and to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.
"Erigeron alpicola" is a perennial, clump-forming herb up to 28 cm (11.2 inches) tall. Its flower heads have lilac ray florets and yellow disc florets.


Placospermum coriaceum


Leptospermum fastigiatum

Leptospermum fastigiatum is a shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Australia. It has narrow egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base and a small point on the tip, white flowers arranged singly or in pairs on short side shoots and small fruit that fall off when mature.
Description.
"Leptospermum fastigiatum" is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has thin rough bark on the older branches, and young stems that are silky at first, later glabrous. The leaves are narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide tapering to a short petiole and with a small point on the tip. The flowers are arranged singly or in pairs on short side branches and are in diameter. There are a few broad, reddish brown bracts at the base of the flower bud that usually fall off as the flower opens. The floral cup is sessile, silky hairy and long. The sepals are triangular, about long, the petals about long and the stamens about long. Flowering occurs from September to December and the fruit is a capsule about wide and silky hairy with the remains of the sepals attached, but which falls off soon after releasing the seeds.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Leptospermum fastigiatum" was first formally described in 1920 by the botanist Spencer Moore in the "Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany". The specific epithet ("fastigiatum") is a Latin word meaning "fastigiate", (erect and parallel).
Distribution and habitat.
This tea-tree is found on sand plains and among rocky outcrops in the Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia extending into the Great Victoria Desert in western South Australia, growing in sandy soils.
Uses.
This plant contains essential oils, including 82.8% α-pinene.


Apheloria montana

Apheloria montana is a species of flat-backed millipede in the family Xystodesmidae. It is found in North America.


Billbergia stenopetala

Billbergia stenopetala is a species in the genus "Billbergia". This species is native to Ecuador and Peru.


Stackhousia dielsii

Stackhousia dielsii, commonly known as yellow stackhousia, is a species of plant in the family Celastraceae.
The dense perennial herb typically grows to a height of and has a sedge-like habit. It blooms between July and November and produces yellow-green flowers.
The species is found on sandy soils in coastal areas of the Mid West region of Western Australia.


Dendrobium chameleon

Dendrobium chameleon (chameleleon dendrobium) is a species of orchid of the genus Dendrobium. It is native to the Philippines and Taiwan. The size of the flowers varies from 2.5 to 3.75 cm.


Hedeoma patens

Hedeoma patens (Spanish common name, , 'small oregano') is a small herb in the genus "Hedeoma", family Lamiaceae. It is native to the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila. It is not very closely related to true oregano.
Uses.
The plant is highly aromatic. It is used by natives of northwestern Mexico to flavor various food items, especially beans.


Cyperus nudiceps

Cyperus nudiceps is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae, native to the Central American Pacific Islands (Cocos Island). It was first described as " Kyllinga nudiceps" in 1929 and transferred to "Cyperus" in 1944.


Hakea recurva subsp. arida

Hakea recurva" subsp. "arida is a plant in the family Proteaceae endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.
Description.
An erect dense shrub high with smooth to rough grey bark.
Terete dark green leaves are thick and rigid long and wide ending with a very sharp point long. They may be straight or have an upward curve. Profuse white-cream fragrant flowers appear in dense clusters in the leaf axils. The fruit are wide, egg-shaped with a smooth to slightly rough surface ending with a small pointed beak.
Taxonomy and naming.
This hakea was first formally described in 1904 by Ludwig Diels who gave it the name "Hakea arida" and published the description in "Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie". In 1999, William Barker and Robyn Barker changed the name to "Hakea recurva" subsp. "arida". Named from the Latin "aridus" - dry, referring to the semi-arid area where it grows.
Distribution and habitat.
Grows inland from Mount Augustus south to Wubin on sandstone slopes, river banks, flats in sand, loam and stony soils with quartzite and laterite. An ornamental frost tolerant species requiring full sun and good drainage. A good habitat plant for wildlife due to its dense prickly growth habit.
Conservation status.
"Hakea recurva subsp. arida" is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.


Billbergia tessmannii

Billbergia tessmannii is a species in the genus "Billbergia". It is endemic to Peru.


Kapuni

Kapuni is an onshore natural gas-condensate field located in the Taranaki Basin, a ~100,000 km2 partially-inverted rift basin on the Taranaki Peninsula in the North Island, New Zealand. Discovered in 1959 and brought into production in 1970, Kapuni remained New Zealand's only producing gas-condensate field until the offshore Maui gas field began production in 1979.
Geology.
Geologic history.
During the Lower Cretaceous (~150-100 Ma) Rangitata Orogeny, an accretionary wedge accumulated and was uplifted on the margin of Gondwana in present-day New Zealand. The resulting topography was eroded throughout the Cretaceous. After the Rangitata Orogeny, seafloor spreading commenced during the Middle Cretaceous. This resulted in the formation of the Tasman Sea as New Zealand separated from Australia. Normal faults, including the Manaia Fault, formed as the Taranaki Basin developed during seafloor spreading. Rifting continued until the Eocene (~56 Ma), when the Taranaki Basin underwent passive subsidence. Kapuni collected abundant organic material under coastal plain and fluvio-estuarine environments during much of the Eocene. A broad marine transgression occurred in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene (~28-20 Ma), and mudstones were deposited on top of the Eocene organic-rich shales and sandstones.
Cretaceous to Paleocene rift-related normal faults were reactivated in the Late Eocene (~40-34 Ma) and experienced substantial basin inversion in the Late Miocene (~12-5 Ma). During this time, north-plunging inversion structures, including the Kapuni Anticline, developed along the Manaia Fault and other rift-structures in the Taranaki Basin's Eastern Mobile Belt. Further west, in the Taranaki Basin's Western Stable Platform, Cretaceous rift-related faults experienced little strain. Cenozoic compression in the Taranaki Basin has generally been attributed to a change in stress regime caused by the development of the Hikurangi Subduction System between the Pacific and Australian Plates off the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. Late Eocene compressional structures in the Taranaki Basin correspond with a period of elevated uplift rates along the Alpine Fault on New Zealand's South Island that has also been attributed to the nearby subduction zone. Kapuni is located on the Australian Plate, west of the plate boundary zone and above the subducting Pacific Plate.
Current geothermal gradients in the Taranaki Basin vary from 33-35 °C/km offshore near the Maui Field and in northern portions of the Taranaki Peninsula to 25 °C/km in Kapuni and other southeast portions of the Taranaki Peninsula.
Source Rocks.
Kapuni's source rocks are a series of type III kerogen-rich coal sequences in the Eocene (~56-34 Ma) Mangahewa Formation of the Kapuni Group. These coals were deposited under coastal plain and fluo-estuarine environments and reach up to 10 m in thickness.
Reservoirs.
Like its source rocks, Kapuni's reservoir layers are located in the Eocene Mangahewa Formation and were deposited as part of a general transgressive sequence. The reservoirs are predominantly sandstones, shales, and coals deposited in shore, fluvial, and estuarine environments. Kapuni's reservoirs are located below a depth of 3000 m. They range in average thickness from 20 m to 130 m, average natural-gas fraction from 0.06 to 0.95, and average porosity from 12.2% to 16.8% by volume.
Kapuni Anticline.
Hydrocarbons of the Kapuni Field are trapped by the Kapuni Anticline, in the hanging wall of the east-dipping Manaia Fault, a reverse fault in the Eastern Mobile Belt. The Kapuni Anticline is asymmetric, doubly-plunging, and approximately 18 km long and 8 km wide. The Manaia Fault initially developed as a normal fault bounding the Manaia Graben during Cretaceous to Early Eocene rifting associated with the opening of the Tasman Sea. Dextral transpression associated with the Hikurangi Subduction System caused fault reactivation and basin inversion during the Eocene and Miocene, resulting in the development of the Kapuni Anticline. Maximum throw on the Manaia Fault is 900 m.
Seal.
Middle Oligocene (~30-25 Ma) mudstones of the Otaraoa Formation overly the Mangahewa Formation, sealing Kapuni's reservoirs. These mudstones were deposited under a continental shelf environment as part of the same broad transgressive sequence under which the Mangahewa Formation was deposited.
Faulting.
Faulting is pervasive in the Kapuni Group and predominantly consists of southwest-northeast right-lateral and northwest-southeast left-lateral strike-slip faults. These faults were formed under transpressional and compressional stress regimes during the Late Eocene to Late Miocene and are indicative of an east-west direction of maximum compressive stress. In the northern portion of the Kapuni Anticline, these two dominant fault trends become nearly orthogonal to one another. This is a result of fault block rotation that produced necessary extension along the anticline's younger units during fold growth.
Secondary porosity.
Kapuni's gas is CO2-rich, containing approximately 40-45 mol% CO2. This has facilitated significant diagenesis and the development of secondary porosity, especially in the K3E reservoir, one of the field's main producing reservoirs. Beginning approximately 5 Ma, thermal maturation of source rocks expelled CO2, which dissolved into groundwater. The acidic groundwater migrated updip towards the crest of the Kapuni anticline, dissolving feldspar and carbonates along its route. Intervals of coarser clasts experienced net dissolution, while finer-grained intervals experienced precipitation of authigenic clays, carbonates, and quartz. Precipitation of quartz and carbonate cements began approximately 4 Ma at temperatures exceeding 100 °C. The carbon isotope signature of carbonate cements in the K3E reservoir suggests an intraformational origin. As a result of diagenesis, the K3E reservoir contains areas exhibiting significant secondary porosity and enhanced reservoir quality along with tight, cemented regions of poor reservoir quality.
Production history.
New Zealand's first natural gas field, Kapuni was discovered in 1959 by a team consisting of Royal Dutch/Shell, British Petroleum, and Todd Energy. Production of oil (mainly condensate and natural gas liquids) began in 1970, and production of natural gas began in 1971. Production peaked in 1977 at over 64 PJ/year of gas and nearly 31 PJ/year of oil. Kapuni's production declined precipitously after the more productive, offshore Maui gas field began producing in 1979. British Petroleum sold its ownership of Kapuni to Royal Dutch/Shell and Todd Energy in 1991, and Todd Energy became the field's sole owner in 2017. As of 2011 Kapuni produces nearly 18 PJ/year of natural gas and 2.25 PJ/year of oil. This accounts for 9.9% of New Zealand's natural gas production and 2.3% of New Zealand's oil production.
As production has naturally decreased over time, Kapuni's ownership has implemented hydraulic fracturing, water shutoffs, gas re-injections and other supplemental production techniques since the 1980s.
With four wells having been established by the end of field appraisal in 1963, Kapuni has grown to presently consist of twenty wells across nine wellsites. Natural gas and liquids are separated, processed, and treated for CO2 onsite.


Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, originally Harpers Ferry National Monument, is located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers in and around Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. It is the most visited historic site in the state of West Virginia.
The park includes land in the Shenandoah Valley in Jefferson County, West Virginia; Washington County, Maryland and Loudoun County, Virginia. The park is managed by the National Park Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Originally designated Harpers Ferry National Monument in 1944, the park was declared a National Historical Park by the U.S. Congress in 1963. The park includes the historic town of Harpers Ferry, notable as a center of 19th-century industry and as the scene of John Brown's failed abolitionist uprising. Consisting of almost , it includes the site of which Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "The passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature" after visiting the area in 1783. Due to a mixture of historical events and ample recreational opportunities, all within 50 miles (80 km) of Washington, D.C., the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. In 2017, the Park's Superintendent was Tyrone Brandyburg.
The park was originally planned as a memorial to John Brown, responsible for what is by far the most famous incident in Harpers Ferry's history, his 1859 raid and capture of the federal armory. NPS officials in the 1930s focused on John Brown's raid and the Civil War to justify acquiring parts of Harpers Ferry for a historical and military park. Like the figure of John Brown himself, this proved enormously controversial, with opposition from the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. In 2021, there was no mention of John Brown on the Park's home page (http://www.nps.gov/hafe). While there are pages on him, they are not easy to find.
Early history.
Native American history in the region dates back to at least 8,000 years ago. The Tuscarora people were the last of the native peoples known to inhabit the area in large numbers, essentially vanishing in the early 18th century. One of these European immigrants, Robert Harper, obtained a patent for the land from the Virginia legislature in 1751. Note that prior to 1863, West Virginia was still a part of Virginia. The town was originally known as Shenandoah Falls at Mr. Harper's Ferry (1763) due to the ferry business Robert Harper managed and operated.
Today, the original house built by Robert Harper is the oldest remaining structure in the lower part of the park. George Washington visited the area during his trip to the rivers' confluence in 1785, searching for a waterway to ship goods westward. Later, Washington began the construction of the federal Harpers Ferry Armory on the site, utilizing waterpower from the rivers for manufacturing purposes.
Meriwether Lewis, under government contract, procured most of the weaponry and associated hardware that would be needed for the Lewis and Clark Expedition at the armory in Harpers Ferry. Blacksmiths also built a collapsible iron boat frame for the expedition. Between the years 1820 to 1840, John H. Hall worked to perfect the manufacturing of interchangeable parts at the armory. Utilizing precision molds and jigs, this was one of the birthplaces of precision manufacturing so that armaments and related mechanical equipment could be standardized and parts would be interchangeable. Subsequently, the development of the modern bullet to replace the round lead slug was achieved by James H. Burton and this improvement was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1855. Employing at times up to 400 workers, the armory produced over half a million muskets and rifles between 1801 and 1860.
John Brown's raid and the American Civil War.
Abolitionist John Brown led an armed group in the capture of the armory in 1859. Brown had hoped he would be able to arm the slaves and lead them against U.S. forces in a rebellion to overthrow slavery. After his capture in the armory by a group of Marines (led by U.S. Army Colonel Robert E. Lee), Brown was hanged, predicting in his last words that civil war was looming on the horizon, a prediction that came true less than two years later. The most important building remaining from John Brown's raid is the firehouse, now called John Brown's Fort, where he resisted the Marines.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) found Harpers Ferry right on the boundary between the Union and Confederate forces. The strategic position along this border and the valuable manufacturing base was a coveted strategic goal for both sides, but particularly the South due to its lack of manufacturing centers. Consequently, the town exchanged hands no less than eight times during the course of the war. Union forces abandoned the town immediately after the state of Virginia seceded from the Union, burning the armory and seizing 15,000 rifles. Colonel Thomas J. Jackson, who would later become known as "Stonewall", secured the region for the Confederates a week later and shipped most of the manufacturing implements south. Jackson spent the next two months preparing his troops and building fortifications, but was ordered to withdraw south and east to assist P.G.T. Beauregard at the First Battle of Bull Run. Union troops returned in force, occupying the town and began to rebuild parts of the armory. Stonewall Jackson, now a major general, returned in September 1862 under orders from Robert E. Lee to retake the arsenal and then to join Lee's army north in Maryland. Jackson's assault on the Federal forces there, during the Battle of Harpers Ferry led to the capitulation of 12,500 Union troops, which was the largest number of Union prisoners taken at one time during the war. The town exchanged hands several more times over the next two years.
Storer College.
Storer College was built in Harpers Ferry as one of the first integrated schools in the U.S. Frederick Douglass served as a trustee of the college, and delivered a memorable oration on the subject of John Brown there in 1881. Subsequent rulings known as Jim Crow Laws led other African American leaders such as Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois to hold the second Niagara Movement (an early form of the NAACP) conference at the school in 1906 to discuss ways to peacefully combat legalized discrimination and segregation. After the end of school segregation in 1954, Storer College closed the following year. What remains of the Storer College campus is now administered by the National Park Service, as part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry Center, and the Stephen T. Mather Training Center.
The park today.
Several historical museums now occupy restored 19th century buildings in the Lower Town Historic District of Harpers Ferry. Nearly half a million people visit the park each year. (In comparison, 15 million people visit Washington, DC, each year.) North of the park and across the Potomac from Harpers Ferry is the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The canal, which operated from 1828 to 1924, provided a vital waterway link with areas up and downstream prior to and during the early years after the arrival of the railroad. Today, the canal towpath and park, which provide access to the Maryland Heights section of the Harpers Ferry N.H.P., can be accessed by foot from Harpers Ferry via a footbridge constructed by the National Park Service alongside tracks on the railroad bridge over the Potomac, or via car by traveling east from Harpers Ferry on U.S. Route 340 to access points near Sandy Hook, Maryland. Aside from the extensive historical interests of the park, recreational opportunities include fishing, boating, and whitewater rafting as well as hiking, with the Appalachian Trail passing right through the park. The park adjoins the Harpers Ferry Historic District, as well as two other National Register of Historic Places locations: St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church and the B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing.
On June 6, 2016, the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park was featured on the third 2016 release of the America the Beautiful Quarters series. In the middle of the quarter is a depiction of John Brown's Fort, while the outside has the year (2016), location (Harpers Ferry), and the state (West Virginia). This specific coin is the 33rd park quarter to be released in the America the Beautiful Park Quarter series.
The Civil War Trust (a division of the American Battlefield Trust) and its partners have acquired and preserved of the battlefield in nine acquisitions. Most of that land has been sold or conveyed to the National Park Service and incorporated into the park.
Lower town sites.
The Lower Town points of interest are clustered where the Shenandoah River meets the Potomac River, and run along Shenandoah Street, Potomac Street and High Street.


Odontura rhaphidospora


Ocimum centraliafricanum

Ocimum centraliafricanum, the copper flower or copper plant, is a perennial herb found in central Africa (DRC, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe). It is well known for its tolerance of high levels of copper in the soil, and is even used by geologists prospecting for precious metals.
Description.
It is able to tolerate soils with copper concentrations of up to 15,000 ppm, and soils with nickel concentrations of almost 5000 ppm.


Ophiocordyceps nutans

Ophiocordyceps nutans is an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the order Hypocreales (Ascomycota) in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. "O. nutans" only parasitizes Hemipterans, namely stinkbugs. In Korea, "O. nutans" is one of the most common species of "Cordyceps". "O. nutans", as well as other "Cordyceps" species, are mainly classified morphologically by their colour, fruit body shape, and host insect species. Stinkbugs cause considerable damage to agriculture and forestry, and the anamorph of "O. nutans", "Hymenostilbe nutans", is a potential selective biological control agent against the stinkbugs.
Distribution.
"Ophiocordyceps nutans" is found in the tropical forest regions of: Japan, Taiwan, China, New Guinea, and Korea, as well as other places.


Mahonia bodinieri

Mahonia bodinieri is a shrub in the Berberidaceae described as a species in 1908. It is endemic to China, found in the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Zhejiang.


Nymphon signatum

Nymphon signatum, the scarlet sea spider, is a species of sea spider.
Distribution.
This species is endemic to the South African coast and is found only from Cape Point to Port Alfred.
Description.
The scarlet sea spider is 40-50mm across and has a bright red body with long legs. Both sexes have a pair of legs for holding the egg mass.
Ecology.
This species is usually found associated with hydroids.


Georgian Bay Islands National Park

Georgian Bay Islands National Park (established 1929) consists of 63 small islands or parts of islands in Georgian Bay, near Port Severn, Ontario. The total park area is approximately . Prior to the creation of Fathom Five National Marine Park, Flowerpot Island was also a part of the park.
The islands blend the exposed rocks and pines of the Canadian Shield with the hardwood forests found further south. The park can only be reached by boat; there are limited camping facilities on the largest island, Beausoleil Island.
It is part of the Georgian Bay Littoral Biosphere Reserve.
Wildlife.
It is home to mammalian species such as woodland caribou, white-tailed deer, moose, black bear, coyote, timber wolf, lynx, bobcat, porcupine, raccoon, beaver, red and gray fox species, chipmunk, and red squirrel. This park also provides habitat for 33 species of reptiles and amphibians, including the hognose snake, the eastern fox snake, and the threatened eastern Massasauga rattlesnake. Some of the more isolated islands provide nesting areas for colonies of gulls and terns.
Beausoleil Island.
Beausoleil Island is the largest island in the park and it offers island tent camping, overnight and day docking, heritage education programs, and hiking trails. Wheelchair accessible sites and reserved campsites are also available at the Cedar Spring campground on Beausoleil Island.


Aspergillus rugulosus

Aspergillus rugulosus is a species of fungus in the genus "Aspergillus". It is from the "Nidulantes" section. The species was first described in 1939. It has been isolated from soil in New Jersey, United States. It has been reported to produce sterigmatocystin, arugosin A, arugosin B, arugosin C, asperthecin, aspertetronin A, aspertetronin B, cyclo-L-isoleucyl-L-proline, cyclo-L-leucyl-L-proline, cyclo-L- valyl-L-proline, desferritriacetylfusigen, 3,30-Dihydroxy-5,50-dimethyldiphenyl ether, 2,4-dihydroxy-6- (hydroxymethyl)-benzaldehyde, 2,4-dihydroxy-6- methylbenzaldehyde, 2,4-dihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)-benzaldehyde, echinocandin B, echinocandin C, echinocandin D, epishamixanthone, shamixanthone, 14-Hydroxytajixanthone 25-O-acetate, 14- Methoxytajixanthone 25-O-acetate, 14-Methoxytajixanthone, orsellinaldehyde, penicillin G, and ruguloxanthone.


Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge

Monomoy Island National Wildlife Refuge is a federal wildlife refuge located on Monomoy Island in Massachusetts.
The island was taken over by the US government just before World War II and established as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1944. The island was also home to the Monomoy Island Gunnery Range from 1944 until 1951. The refuge's goal is to provide habitat for migratory birds. The size of the refuge is 7,604 acres (31 km²) with varied habitats of oceans, salt and freshwater marshes, dunes, freshwater ponds, and some historic manmade structures, such as the Monomoy Point Light and keeper's quarters (decommissioned but open to the public). Part of the refuge is the Monomoy Wilderness.


Pterostylis alpina

Pterostylis alpina, commonly known as the mountain greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a rosette of fleshy leaves at the base and usually only one white flower with green markings and back-swept lateral sepals.
Description.
"Pterostylis alpina" is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a rosette of three to five leaves surrounding the base of the flowering stem. Each leaf is egg-shaped to elliptic, 30–60 mm long and 15–30 mm wide. A single white flower with dark green marks and 25–30 mm long and 9–12 mm wide is borne on a spike 120–300 mm high. The dorsal sepal and petals are fused, forming a hood or "galea" over the column. The dorsal sepal curves forward with a pointed tip. There is a wide gap between the galea and the lateral sepals. The lateral sepals are swept back, have thread-like tips 13–18 mm long and a bulging sinus between them. The labellum is 12–14 mm long, about 3 mm wide, dark green to brown, blunt, and curved and protrudes above the sinus. Flowering occurs from August to October.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Pterostylis alpina" was first formally described in 1915 by Richard Rogers and the description was published in "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria". The specific epithet ("alpina") is a Latin word meaning "of high mountains".
Distribution and habitat.
The mountain greenhood is widespread in northern and eastern Victoria but is restricted to the Batlow region in New South Wales. It grows in high rainfall forests on the ranges, often on south-facing slopes.
Conservation.
"Pterostylis alpina" is classed as "Vulnerable" in New South Wales under the "Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995".


Livistona benthamii

Livistona benthamii is a species of palm. This species is natural distribution is from Cape York to the Archer River in Queensland, the Northern Territory and New Guinea. It is a solitary palm found in open forest near areas that are annually inundated. An example may be seen on the Freshwater lake Walk at the Cairns aka. Flecker Botanical Garden.


Panellus pusillus

Panellus pusillus is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. A widely distributed species, it has been recorded in Australia, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.


Pritchardia munroi

Pritchardia munroi, the Kamalo pritchardia, is a species of fan palm that is endemic to Hawaii in the United States. It is found in dry forests on the eastern (leeward) side of the island of Molokai. The specific epithet, refers to James Monro, the manager of the Molokai Ranch at the time of its discovery (1920). Only two individuals exist in the wild, and both are at an elevation of . It reaches a height of and a trunk diameter of .


Penicillium levitum

Penicillium levitum is an anamorph species of the genus of "Penicillium".


Arnica dealbata

Arnica dealbata is a species of Californian plants in the tarweed tribe within the aster family
The species is known by the common name mock leopardbane.
Distribution.
It is endemic to California, where it is known from the Sierra Nevada and the southernmost slopes of the Cascade Range. It occurs in forest and meadow habitat in the mountains and foothills.
This plant is uncommon throughout its limited distribution and is listed as a sensitive species of Yosemite National Park, where it occurs in two locations.
Description.
It is a hairy, glandular, rhizomatous perennial herb producing an erect stem up to about 35 centimeters tall. The leaves have lance-shaped or pointed oval blades up to 10 centimeters long which are borne on petioles. They are arranged in opposite pairs, mostly near the base of the stem. The blades are coated densely in short curly hairs, some glandular. The inflorescence is a solitary flower head or cluster of a few heads. The head contains up to 12 yellow ray florets up to 2.5 centimeters long with many yellow disc florets at the center.


Hauya heydeana

Hauya heydeana is a species of "Hauya" that is native to Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala.


Phaius fragilis

Phaius fragilis is a species of orchid in the genus "Phaius" endemic to the Philippines.


Leptospermum whitei

Leptospermum whitei is a species of shrub that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has fibrous, flaky bark, elliptical leaves, white flowers arranged in small groups on the ends of short side branches, and fruit that falls from the plant when mature.
Description.
"Leptospermum whitei" is a shrub that typically grows to a height of or more with reddish brown, fibrous or flaky bark, the younger stems covered with soft hairs. The leaves are elliptical, up to long and wide with a blunt point and tapering to a very short petiole. The flowers are white with several together on short side shoots, each flower about wide. The floral cup is densely covered with short, silky hairs, and about long. The sepals are hairy, oblong to hemispherical, about long, the petals long and the stamens about long. Flowering mainly occurs from October to January and the fruit is a capsule about with the remains of the sepals attached, but which fall from the plant when mature.
Taxonomy and naming.
This tea-tree was formally described in 1920 by Cyril Tenison White and William D. Francis who gave it the name "Agonis elliptica" and published the description in the "Botany Bulletin" of the "Department of Agriculture, Queensland" from specimens collected by Francis near Beerwah. In 1932, Edwin Cheel transferred the species to the genus ""Leptospermum", but since there was already a species "L. ellipticum" (now known as "Pericalymma ellipticum"), Cheel changed the name to "L. whitei", honouring C.T.White.
Distribution and habitat.
"Leptospermum whitei" grows in swampy, coastal heath between Wide Bay in Queensland and Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.


Cryptantha incana

Cryptantha incana is a rare species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name Tulare cryptantha. It is endemic to California in the United States, where it occurs in the forests and woodlands of the southern Sierra Nevada. It is a poorly known species with three occurrences based on three historical collections. It was collected in Tulare County in 1904 and 1941 and once in Inyo County in 1989.
The plant is an annual herb up to 50 centimeters tall with a hairy, branching stem. The lance-shaped or oblong leaves are up to 3.5centimeters long and have bristly undersides. The inflorescence is a coiled cyme of flowers that uncoils as the fruits develop. The flowers have corollas less than half a centimeter wide and hairy, bristly sepals.


Haworthia herbacea

Haworthia herbacea is a species of succulent plant in the genus Haworthia native to the Cape Province of South Africa. Closely related to Haworthia reticulata, it has greenish yellow leaves with small spines. As it matures the leaves get darker green and the white spots raise. Flowers by way of a shoot and produces a large off-white flower.


Gastropila fumosa

Gastropila fumosa is a species of puffball in the family Agaricaceae. It was first described as "Calvatia fumosa" by American mycologist Sanford Myron Zeller in 1947, and later transferred to "Gastropila" in 1976. Some authors place it instead in the genus "Handkea", circumscribed by Hanns Kreisel in 1989.
Description.
The fruit body is anywhere from golf ball size to baseball size, round to oval, broad, thick, at first smooth and white, soon becoming grayish to brownish. The spores are firm and white at first, then yellowish or olive, and then dark brown and powdery. The species has an unpleasant smell. The edibility is unknown.
Distribution and habitat.
The species fruits singly, in groups, or in small clusters on soil in spruce-fir forests in the Rocky Mountains and westward in the summer and fall.


Excoecaria bantamensis

Excoecaria bantamensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It was described in 1863. It is native to southwest Thailand, Jawa, Borneo (in western Kalimantan), and the Philippines.


Hazardia orcuttii

Hazardia orcuttii is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Orcutt's bristleweed and Orcutt's goldenbush. It is native to California in the United States and Baja California in Mexico. It can be found in one location in California, in the city of Encinitas. There, it is located in and near a protected zone known as the Manchester Conservation Area. In Baja California it can be found at 11 to 17 locations.
"Hazardia orcuttii" is a resinous shrub growing up to tall. The leathery, pointed leaves are up to 5 by in size. The flower head is turbin-shaped and has several ray florets and disc florets surrounded by 40 to 60 resinous phyllaries. The fruit is a few millimeters long and is tipped with a brown pappus about half a centimeter long.
"Hazardia orcuttii" grows in coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitat on sandstone substrates. It lives approximately 2 miles from the ocean at its California locality. "The California population contains about 600 plants." Another rare plant, "Acanthomintha ilicifolia", the San Diego thornmint, can be found nearby. In Baja California it can be found along a coastal strip extending south of the border from Tijuana to Colonet. In 1979 it was described as "locally common" in this region. More recently, the area has undergone development and cattle grazing and there are now fewer populations.
"Hazardia orcuttii" is a rare species faces a number of threats to its survival. Though the California population is within a protected area, it is not necessarily safe from habitat degradation. There are trails used by hikers and bicyclists, and off-leash dogs have been noted to disturb the habitat. Efforts are underway to prevent damage to the habitat. Plants have been noted to suffer damage from an insect or a fungus, as well; little is known about this factor. Also, the California population is quite vulnerable to wildfire, being located in a fire-adapted ecosystem which has not burned recently. In Mexico, rapid coastal development has altered the local habitat. None of the species' Baja occurrences are protected.


Stipa turkestanica

Stipa turkestanica is a species of grass that grows in India and Russian central and western Asia. Its culms are 30–70 cm long, and panicles 8–14 cm long, bearing few spikelets.


Eballistra oryzae

Eballistra oryzae is a plant pathogen of rice also known as leaf smut.
Resistant hosts.
Some rice cultivars are resistant against leaf smut.


Elaeocarpus johnsonii

Elaeocarpus johnsonii, commonly known as Kuranda quandong or Johnson's quandong, is species of flowering plant in the family Elaeocarpaceae and is endemic to north-east Queensland. It is a small to medium-sized tree, often with several main stems, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, racemes of up to seven flowers, the petals with fringed lobes, and dark blue fruit.
Description.
"Elaeocarpus johnsonii" is a small to medium-sized tree typically growing to a height of , often with several buttressed trunks. Young branchlets are densely covered with woolly-brownish or velvety hairs. The leaves are mostly clustered at the ends of branchlets, hairy, elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, mostly long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged in racemes long with up to seven flowers on robust pedicels long. The flowers have five narrow triangular sepals about and wide, densely hairy on the back. The five petals are about long and wide, the tips divided into two or three fringed lobes. There are between thirty and thirty-five stamens. Flowering occurs in September and the fruit is an dark blue drupe with a waxy bloom and long.
Taxonomy.
"Elaeocarpus johnsonii" was first formally described in 1893 by Ferdinand von Mueller in the "Journal of Botany, British and Foreign".
The authorship of "E. johnson" is attributed to "F.Muell. ex C.T.White" by Plants of the World Online because White noted that he had been unable to find the place of publication.
Distribution and habitat.
Kuranda quandong grows in rainforest at altitudes from and is restricted to Thornton Peak, Mount Pieter Botte and Mount Bartle Frere, and adjacent areas in north-east Queensland.
Ecology.
Cassowaries eat fallen fruit of "E. johnsonii" and native rats eats the seeds.
Conservation status.
This quandong is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government "Nature Conservation Act 1992".


Ileodictyon cibarium

Ileodictyon cibarium is a saprobic species of fungus in the family Phallaceae. It is found in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where it commonly known as the basket fungus or the white basket fungus, alluding to the fruit bodies that are shaped somewhat like a round or oval ball with interlaced or latticed branches. While the immature volvae are edible, the mature fruit body is foul-smelling and covered with a slime layer containing spores on the inner surfaces.
Description.
Prior to the opening of the volva, the fruit body is egg-shaped and white to grayish in color. After opening, it is a whitish ball of meshes.
Habitat.
This fungus grows alone or clustered together near woody debris, in lawns, gardens, and cultivated soil.
Edibility.
The immature volvae are edible however unappealing.


Metajapyx codinai

Metajapyx codinai is a species of forcepstail in the family Japygidae.


Mahonia leptodonta

Mahonia leptodonta is a shrub in the family Berberidaceae, first described in 1938. It is endemic to China, found in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces.


Iris winogradowii

Iris winogradowii is a species of flowering plant in the genus "Iris", classified in the subgenus "Hermodactyloides" and section "Reticulatae". It is a bulbous perennial, from the Caucasus mountains of Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Description.
It has pale primrose yellow flowers, with green spots on the falls, the scented flowers are up 5 cm tall and emerge between April and May. With stem and flower the plant reaches a height of 10–15 cm. The leaves emerge after flowering and grow up to 30–40 cm. It has between 2-4 leaves each growing season.
Taxonomy.
It is sometimes known from the common name of "Wingradoff's iris".
It was named after P.Z. Winogradow-Nitikin who first described it.
It was first found in 1914 and then published and described by Aleksandr Vasiljevich Fomin in 'Schedule Herb Flora Caucasus'. Vol.4 on page 88 in 1914.
An illustration was seen in 1961 in the 'Collins Guide to Bulbs'. It was grown in Australia from seed provided by the Komarov Botanical Institute in St. Petersburg in 1972.
It was verified by United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service on 4 April 2003, then updated on 1 December 2004.
"Iris winogradowii" is an accepted name by the RHS. The iris later gained the RHS's Award of Garden Merit.
Distribution and habitat.
It is native to temperate Asia.
Range.
It is found in Azerbaijan and Georgia.
In 1972, Dr Rodionenko noted that several hundred iris plants were on Mount Lomtismta near Bakuriani, (in Georgia).
Habitat.
In 1914, it was originally found in the gravelly soils of the alpine meadows of Mount Lomtismta. Part of the Caucasus regions of Adzharo-Imeretinskiy Range.
Conservation.
The plant is now on the 'endangered' list. Now only found in the republics of Georgia and Abkhazia. Only a couple of hundred plants existed in 1978.
In the Caucasus mountains, it is at risk of extinction due to the over-collection of the flowers and bulbs.
Cultivation.
It was first grown in the UK in 1923.
Due to its alpine origins, it prefers to grow in semi-shade in cool peat enriched soils.
It is normally grown in a rock garden, alpine house or bulb frame.
In gardens it prefers humus-rich, porous soil in cool shade and does best if replanted each year after a fairly dry summer.
It has been remarked that this species is difficult to grow in a pot.
Cultivars.
In 1960, E.B. Anderson created the hybrid of "Iris histrioides" and "Iris winogradowii". He then named the plant after the wife of a fellow enthusiast, Eliot Hodgkin (mother of Sir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin). Iris "Katharine Hodgkin" has light blue standards and pale yellow falls.
Iris 'Sheila Ann Germaney' is another hybrid between "Iris histrioides" and "Iris winogradowii". It is similar to 'Katherine Hodgkin', with a paler blue tone and less yellow colouring.
Iris 'Frank Elder' is a white form hybrid.


Maxmuelleria lankesteri

Maxmuelleria lankesteri is a species of spoon worm in the family Bonelliidae. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean. It burrows into soft sediment on the seabed, mostly in deep water.
Description.
The female "Maxmuelleria lankesteri" is broadly cylindrical and grows to a length of about , and a width of . It has a proboscis which is nearly as long as the body. The proboscis is scoop-shaped with a truncated tip, but does not divide in two parts. There are a pair of large chaetae (bristles) on the under side of the body just posterior to the proboscis and the genital groove is obscure. Both body and proboscis are green. The morphology of the male is not known.
Distribution and habitat.
"M. lankesteri" is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Its range includes the Kattegat, the Skagerrak, the western coast of Scotland and the Irish Sea. It is mainly a deep sea species, burrowing in soft sediment.
Ecology.
This species makes a large semi-permanent burrow in sandy or muddy sediment. There is often a mound of sediment up to high by the single, funnel-shaped entrance to the burrow, and there is some evidence that a second entrance exists. Immediately below the entrance is a circular constriction with smooth walls, but beyond this the tunnel becomes wider and gradually becomes more horizontal. It may descend as deep as below the surface. Other animals are often found living symbiotically in the burrow, including polychaete worms and bivalve molluscs. Several species of goby may also live near the entrance and made their own modifications to the burrow, as also does the crustacean "Jaxea nocturna".


Campodea suensoni

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


Rubus depavitus

Rubus depavitus is a North American species of dewberry, known as the Aberdeen dewberry. Like other dewberries, it is a species of flowering plant in the rose family, related to the blackberry. It is native to the east-central United States (Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, and West Virginia).


Aa schickendanzii

Aa schickendanzii is a species of orchid in the genus "Aa".
It is native to Argentina.


Penicillium griseum

Penicillium griseum is an anamorph species of the genus of "Penicillium".


Myriogenospora aciculispora

Myriogenospora aciculispora is a fungal plant pathogen.


Berberis aemulans

Berberis aemulans is a shrub endemic to the region of Sichuan in southern China. It grows there in thickets and on slopes at elevations of 2900–3200 m.
"Berberis aemulans" is a deciduous shrub up to 2 m tall, with spines along the branches. Leaves are simple, elliptical to ovate, up to 4 cm long, lighter in color on the underside because of a waxy layer. Flowers are in simple racemes of only a few flowers. Berries egg-shaped, orange, up to 16 mm long.


Pultenaea blakelyi

Pultenaea blakelyi is a shrub that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. Found growing up to four metres tall in dry and wet forest coastal areas, south of Seal Rocks, New South Wales. It is a member of the genus "Pultenaea" and the family Fabaceae. The specific epithet "blakelyi" is named for William Blakely.


Uroplectes lineatus

Uroplectes lineatus is a scorpion, endemic to the Western Cape of South Africa. "U. lineatus" is noted for is a clinically important venom.


Myriopteris aemula

Myriopteris aemula, the Texas lip fern or rival lip fern, is a moderately-sized fern of Texas and Mexico, a member of the family Pteridaceae. Unlike many members of its genus, its leaves have a few hairs on upper and lower surfaces, or lack them entirely. One of the cheilanthoid ferns, it was usually classified in the genus "Cheilanthes" as Cheilanthes aemula until 2013, when the genus "Myriopteris" was again recognized as separate from "Cheilanthes". It typically grows on limestone rock.
Description.
Leaf bases are closely spaced along the rhizome, variously described as or in diameter. The rhizome bears persistent scales, which are linear to narrowly lance-shaped, straight or slightly twisted, and loosely pressed against the surface of the rhizome. Their margins are untoothed. They may be uniformly brown or tan to orange-brown in color, or be darker at their base, particularly in the center.
The fronds spring up in clusters; they do not unfold as fiddleheads like typical ferns (noncircinate vernation). When mature, they are long and wide. The stipe (the stalk of the leaf, below the blade) is long, representing one-third to one-half of the total length of the leaf. The upper surface of the stipe is rounded, and it is black to dark brown in color, or black to very dark purple. It may be hairless, or bear a few hairs (long ones of 1 mm and short ones less than 0.1 mm) on the upper surface.
The leaf blades range in shape from deltate (triangular, broadest at the base) to ovate (egg-shaped, widest near the base). The blade is usually tripinnate (cut into pinnae, pinnules, and pinnulets) to tripinnate-pinnatifid (with deeply lobed pinnulets) at the base, or even quadripinnate. The rachis (leaf axis) is rounded on the upper side. It bears twisted hairs tightly pressed to it on the upper side, and scattered, spreading, straight hairs on the lower side; no scales are present. The pinnae are not jointed at the base, and the dark pigmentation of the rachis enters the edge of the pinnae. The pinnae at the base of the leaf are slightly larger than the pinnae immediately above them and the pinnae are somewhat asymmetric about the costa (pinna axis). The basiscopic pinnules (pointing at the leaf base) are slightly larger and more deeply dissected than the acroscopic pinnules (pointing at the leaf tip). The lowest pair of basiscopic pinnules closest to the stem are noticeably larger than adjacent pinnules and thin in texture. The upper and lower surfaces of the pinnae have a few soft hairs, 0.5–0.8 mm in length or none at all. The costae are black on the upper side for most of their length and lack scales beneath. The pinnulets are elliptical to long-triangular, and not bead-shaped as in some other species of "Myriopteris". They are cordate at the base and acute at the tip. The largest pinnulets are long, and have sparse white hairs on upper and lower surfaces, or lack hairs entirely.
On fertile fronds, the sori are protected by false indusia formed by the edge of the leaf curling back over the underside. The false indusia are slightly differentiated from the rest of the leaf tissue, and are 0.05–0.3 mm wide. The edges of the indusia are not toothed or lobed. Beneath them, the sori are usually not continuous around the edge of the leaf, and are often concentrated on lateral lobes of the fertile pinnulets, particularly at the ends of veins. Each sporangium in a sorus carries 64 tan spores. Individual sporophytes are sexual diploids, with a diploid chromosome number of 2"n" = 58.
Taxonomy.
"Myriopteris aemula" was first described by William Ralph Maxon in 1908, as "Cheilanthes aemula", based on material collected by Edward Palmer in 1907 from Ciudad Victoria. He distinguished it from "Cheilanthes microphylla", found growing with it, by its greater degree of cutting and the triangular shape of the leaf blade. The specific epithet "aemula" means "rivalling" or "emulating", and is believed to refer to its "emulation" of the "C. microphylla" found growing with it.
The development of molecular phylogenetic methods showed that the traditional circumscription of "Cheilanthes", including that used by Maxon, is polyphyletic. Convergent evolution in arid environments is thought to be responsible for widespread homoplasy in the morphological characters traditionally used to classify it and the segregate genera that have sometimes been recognized. On the basis of molecular evidence, Amanda Grusz and Michael D. Windham revived the genus "Myriopteris" in 2013 for a group of species formerly placed in "Cheilanthes". One of these was "C. aemula", which thus became "Myriopteris aemula".
In 2018, Maarten J. M. Christenhusz transferred the species to "Hemionitis" as "H. aemula", as part of a program to consolidate the cheilanthoid ferns into that genus.
The common name "lip fern" comes from the position of the sporangia at the edge or lip of the leaf, typical of the genus. This species is referred to as "rival lip fern", a translation of the specific epithet "aemula", or "Texas lip fern".
Further molecular studies in "Myriopteris" demonstrated the existence of three well-supported clades within the genus. "M. allosuroides" belongs to what Grusz "et al." informally named the "alabamensis" clade, and is sister to a group consisting of "M. microphylla", "M. moritziana", "M. scabra", and "M. fimbriata".
Distribution and habitat.
"Myriopteris aemula" is found in scattered locations in southern Texas, including the Trans-Pecos. Its range extends throughout the length of Mexico, particularly in the eastern and central states, as far south as Chiapas.
The species grows on limestone bedrock, on rocky slopes and ledges, and in cracks and openings in the rock. It occurs at an altitude from .
Ecology and conservation.
While globally secure (G4), "M. aemula" is considered by NatureServe to be vulnerable in Texas.


Trombidium poriceps

Trombidium poriceps is a species of mite in the genus "Trombidium" in the family Trombidiidae. It is found in Europe.
Name.
The species name is derived from Latin "porus" "pore" and "caput" "head".


Tombigbee State Park

Tombigbee State Park is a public recreation area located off Mississippi Highway 6 approximately east of Tupelo, Mississippi. The state park surrounds Lake Lee and is named for the nearby Tombigbee River.
History.
The state park was among the first state parks built in Mississippi in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The CCC began work on June 1, 1934; the park was opened to the public in 1938. The Tombigbee State Park Historic District was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Activities and amenities.
The park features lake fishing, primitive and developed campsites, cabins and cottage, picnicking area, and two disc golf courses.


Macrometrula

Macrometrula is a fungal genus in the family Psathyrellaceae. The genus is monotypic, containing the single species Macrometrula rubriceps, found growing in a greenhouse in the Kew Gardens, England. This species was originally named "Agaricus rubriceps" in 1887.


Myre-Big Island State Park

Myre-Big Island State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, just outside the city of Albert Lea. It has an area of . The park protects of shoreline on Albert Lea Lake. The nucleus of the park is Big Island, a island attached to the mainland by a causeway. In turn a causeway connects Big Island to Little Island. The park was formerly named Helmer Myre State Park after former Minnesota State Senator Helmer Myre.
Natural history.
The park is situated on the Bemis Moraine, which marks the southern extent of a glacial lobe during the Wisconsin glaciation 10,000 years ago. As the glacier retreated, the moraine caused the meltwater to back up behind it. Albert Lea Lake was created as a moraine-dammed lake and today covers . The park also contains an esker, a sinuous ridge of sand and gravel dropped by a stream running under the glacier.
The mainland is primarily vegetated in oak savanna with several wetlands. Restoration ecology projects, including controlled burning and water retention strategies, are ongoing to maintain and improve these habitats. Big Island, protected from the wildfires that suppressed tree growth in the savannas and prairie of southern Minnesota, bears a closed forest savanna which looks like an old growth hardwood forest. It comprises maple, basswood, elm, green ash, ironwood, and red oak, with willows along the lakeshore. Albert Lea Lake is highly eutrophic. Moraine dammed lakes typically fill in, but this process has been exacerbated by agricultural runoff.
Wildlife.
This park is home to white-tailed deer, red and gray foxes, raccoons, muskrats, opossums, squirrels, and several species of bats.
It is also known for its birdwatching opportunities, especially during the spring and fall migration. One particularly notable species is the American white pelican which congregates on Albert Lea Lake.
Cultural history.
Artifacts, many of them collected by a local amateur archaeologist named Owen Johnson in the mid-1940s, reveal that humans have been living around the area's lakes for 9,000 years. Johnson became an advocate for protecting Big Island as a state park, as did state Senator Helmer Myre, another resident of Albert Lea. At the time Big Island was divided into seventeen privately owned lots, and some of the owners were considering logging their trees. In 1947 a bill backed by Myre easily passed through the Minnesota Legislature which authorized the Department of Conservation to acquire the island. An organization of local supporters raised additional funds to buy out the current owners and develop a picnic ground and trails. While referred to as Big Island State Park, the park did not receive an official name until 1953, when it was formally dubbed Myre State Park to honor the senator, who had died two years previously.
In the early 1960s a campground was added, but Big Island was too small to support much visitation. When it was announced that Interstates 90 and 35 would intersect near Albert Lea, a new local organization began pushing for more land to be added to the park. An additional area of on the mainland was authorized in 1963. In 1974 a real estate company acquired for development a tract northeast of the park, which included lakeshore and the esker. Again strong local support was the driving force in adding this land to the park, overcoming legal and financial constraints over a two-year advocacy.
Owen Johnson donated his collection of Native American surface artifacts to the park in 1972. They are housed in the Owen Johnson Interpretive Center at the park entrance, where they are available for research but are not currently on public display. In 1990 the park's previous names were combined into the new official moniker, Myre-Big Island State Park.


Guzmania marantoidea

Guzmania marantoidea is a plant species in the genus "Guzmania". This species is native to Peru and Bolivia, and is found in the elevation range of 900–2700 metres above sea level. It is similar to "Guzmania paniculata", but with more branches in its inflorescence and "longer, more laxly flowered ultimate branches." "G. marantoidea" is a herbaceous plant.


Kenton Park

Kenton Park is a public park in north Portland, Oregon's Kenton neighborhood, in the United States. The park was acquired in 1941. A new playground opened in 2018.


Dendrocnide peltata

Dendrocnide peltata, commonly known simply as the stinging tree or jelaton, is a large tree in the nettle family Urticaceae. With the other species of the genus "Dendrocnide", it is known for the stinging hairs which cover the whole plant and cause severe pain when touched. The specific epithet comes from the Latin "pelta" (a shield), referring to the peltate leaves.
Description.
"Dendrocnide peltata" is a dioecious rainforest tree. Although often encountered as a small, subcanopy tree, it may grow to be a large canopy tree up to 30 m high. The trunk grows to a diameter of 650 mm, and is usually crooked and lacking buttresses, while the bark is green or grey in colour, and rough, scaly or flaky in texture. The large leaves, which are broadly ovate, usually peltate, rounded at the base, crenate, acute to acuminate, dark green above and pale green beneath, are clustered at the ends of the branches. The small flowers grow as axillary inflorescences. The fruits are about 20 mm long, green or brown, with the seeds about 2 mm in diameter.
Distribution and habitat.
The two botanic varieties of the tree are:


Meliola mangiferae

Meliola mangiferae, also described as black mildew, is a plant pathogen.


Dypsis canaliculata

Dypsis canaliculata is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Madagascar, and has not been seen since 1951. It therefore may be extinct. At the times when specimens were collected, they were found far apart geographically (once in Manongarivo, and once in Ampasimanolotra), but both were growing on sandstone in lowland forest regions. To date no flowers from "D. canaliculata" have ever been collected for science.


Ortholasma pictipes

Ortholasma pictipes is a species of harvestman in the family Nemastomatidae. It is found in North America.


Pseudomonas fragi

Pseudomonas fragi is a psychrophilic, Gram-negative bacterium that is responsible for dairy spoilage. Unlike many other members of the genus "Pseudomonas", "P. fragi" does not produce siderophores. Optimal temperature for growth is 30 °C, however it can grow between 0 and 35 °C. Based on 16S rRNA analysis, "P. fragi" has been placed in the "P. chlororaphis" group.


West Sister Island

West Sister Island is an island of the U.S. state of Ohio located in the Western Basin of Lake Erie. The island, jointly owned by the United States Coast Guard and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is Ohio's only designated Wilderness Area, the West Sister Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Most of the island is covered with trees. Tall hackberry trees make up most of the canopy, with poison ivy on the ground. Polygonatum and a great variety of ferns, wildflowers, mushrooms, and other plant life can also be found.
The island is part of the Pelee Archipelago which also includes East Sister Island and Middle Sister Island (both in Ontario, Canada). West Sister Island is roughly 13 miles west of Rattlesnake Island, 14.5 miles east of Turtle Island, and 8.75 miles due north of the Ohio mainland.
Lighthouse.
A lighthouse was established on the westernmost point of West Sister Island in 1848 to mark the west end of the South Passage through Lake Erie's Bass Islands. Standing on a stone foundation, the limestone and brick tower rises to a height of . The West Sister Island Lighthouse is still an active aid to navigation, and is one of the oldest lighthouses to survive on the Great Lakes.
History.
Ironically, after being established as a wildlife refuge in 1937, the island was used by the United States Army for artillery practice during World War II. Although the wildlife population and the lighthouse were not significantly damaged, the keeper's house was destroyed. It is also reported that fuel tanks jettisoned by dive bombers can still be found on the island.
West Sister Island was a popular stop for bootleggers during Prohibition. The island provided a certain level of visual cover from the authorities for rum runners crossing the lake. When approached by these authorities, bootleggers would often dump their illegal stash overboard. Legend has it that bottles of prohibition-era alcohol can still be found on the bottom of the lake around the island.
West Sister Island was once rumored to be the final resting place of missing Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. It was speculated that after his abduction in Detroit, he was brought by boat to the island and buried. The island's jungle-like environment would have made discovery of his remains difficult; however these conditions would also have made the deposit of his remains difficult, therefore the island is not one of the more widely considered possibilities in the case.
Wildlife Refuge.
The West Sister Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife...," specifically designated to protect the largest wading bird nesting colony on the U.S. Great Lakes. The refuge is managed by the staff of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge as a wilderness area, as provided under the Federal Wilderness Act. To protect it, public access is permitted for research only.
The refuge, which has a surface area of 80.13 acres (0.3243 km² or 32.43 ha), was recognized in 2000 as part of a globally Important Bird Area.
West Sister Island provides nesting habitat for 40% of all the nesting herons and egrets in the U.S. Great Lakes.
In popular culture.
The wildlife refuge was featured in a 2007 episode of the Discovery Channel TV series "Dirty Jobs" with Mike Rowe. Due to the large number of birds vomiting and defecating from high in the trees the island is referred to as "Vomit Island" in the program.
In the animated television series "Transformers Animated", the Dinobots reside in refuge on an island called "North Sister Island", located in Lake Erie, a fictional reference to West Sister Island.


Strophanthus thollonii

Strophanthus thollonii, or Thollon's strophanthus, is a plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae.
Description.
"Strophanthus thollonii" grows as an evergreen liana up to long, with a stem diameter up to . Its fragrant flowers feature a white turning yellow, pink and purple corolla, white and red or purple-streaked on the inside. The plant has been used as arrow poison.
Distribution and habitat.
"Strophanthus thollonii" is native to Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon. Its habitat is forest riverbanks from sea level to altitude.


Cercospora kikuchii

Cercospora kikuchii is a fungal plant pathogen that affects soybeans. It results in both the Cercospora leaf blight and purple seed stain diseases on soybean and is found almost worldwide. "C. kikuchii" produces the toxin cercosporin, as do a number of other "Cercospora" species.
Symptoms.
Seed: The disease on the host soybean itself can be determined by a light activated red perlene quinon, cercosporin, with a molecular weight of 534. Purple seed stain by Cercospora can be determined by a variety of factors. First, infected seeds have spots that are usually pink or purple. The size can be from miniscule to covering the whole seed (Li 2019). The coloration will be from the hilum area. Germination and seedling size may be delayed after 50% of the seed is covered. They may also have lower oil and higher protein.
Cotyledons: Cotyledons will shrivel and fall off.
Stems: Stems will have red deep lesions about ¼ inch in size.
Leaves: Young leaves on top and bottom will have reddish purple lesions from minuscule to ½ inch in size. The leaf itself will become purple, described as a dark bronzing. Severely infected upper leaves will fall off (Giesler).
Environment.
The disease thrives in conditions of high temperature and humidity. “Sporulation increases as temperature rises above 80 degrees Fahrenheit” (Jeschke 2020). More wind and water (rain, river, ground water) will result in further and more spore distribution on plant tissue. It usually occurs later in the season around August. The disease survives on crop residue from four months to four years (Ward, 2015). This means it thrives on no till tilled repeat planted fields (Schapaugh 2014).
Management.
Extended crop rotation and residue incorporation reduces inoculum.
Seed treatment foliar fungicides applied during R3- R5 can reduce blight incidence and severity.
The farmers can blend infected beans with clean and still sell them (Successful Farming Staff 2018). Dr. Anne Dorrance in 2019 also suggested planting varieties with resistance to Cercospora, plant disease free seeds, proper plant spacing to prevent spore spreading, and harvest during dry times.
References.
2. Groenewald JZ, Nakashima C, Nishikawa J, Shin HD, Park JH, Jama AN, Groenewald M, Braun U, Crous PW (2013) Species concepts in Cercospora: spotting the weeds among the roses. Stud Mycol. 2013 Jun 30; 75(1): 115–170. Published online 2012 Oct 1. doi: 10.3114/sim0012
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222673
https://www.pioneer.com/us/agronomy/cercospora_leaf_blight.html
https://cropwatch.unl.edu/plantdisease/soybean/purple-seed-
stain#:~:text=Purple%20Seed%20Stain%20(Cercospora%20blight,purple%20spot%20or%20lavender%20spot.&text=The%20inoculum%20source%20for%20this,debris%20from%20previous%20soybean%20crops.
https://www.agriculture.com/crops/some-soybean-fields-have-a-big-purple-problem
https://www.ilsoyadvisor.com/on-farm/ilsoyadvisor/disease-management-purple-seed-stain-soybeans
https://u.osu.edu/capstone/2019/04/03/cercospora-leaf-blight-and-purple-seed-stain/


Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge situated along the banks of the Rio Grande, south of Alamo in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, in Hidalgo County, South Texas.
The wildlife refuge was established for the protection of migratory birds in 1943. Its unique location is at the meeting of different climates and habitats: subtropical wetlands, Chihuahuan Desert, Gulf Coast, and Great Plains. Its riparian location has developed a reputation for diverse birding.
Due to its location near the Mexico–United States border, this wildlife refuge is threatened by the Trump wall.
Fauna.
Notable species among the fauna in the refuge include the Texas ocelot ("Leopardus pardalis albescens") and Gulf Coast jaguarundi ("Puma yagouaroundi cacomitli") feline species.
Both species are listed as endangered in the "Endangered Species Act of 1973, as Amended". The Texas ocelot is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix I and the Gulf Coast jaguarundi "(seen at left)" is listed in the CITES Appendix II.
While not considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), these species are acknowledged as rare for the area.
Birds.
397 bird species have been documented within the park's borders. Many of those are migratory species on their way to and from Central and South America.
A few species to be found there are black-bellied whistling-duck,
fulvous whistling-duck, mottled duck, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, cinnamon teal, least grebe, anhinga, tricolored heron, white ibis, lesser yellowlegs, long-billed dowitcher, and least tern.
Osprey, broad-winged hawk, northern harrier, and peregrine falcon are among the migratory birds of prey found in the refuge. Hook-billed kite and gray hawk, seen occasionally in the refuge, attract birders from around the world.
More than 35 species of New World warblers have been seen, including the golden-winged warbler, magnolia warbler, Northern parula, tropical parula, American redstart, palm warbler, and yellow-breasted chat.
Butterflies.
Santa Ana is home to almost half of all butterfly species found in the United States. More than 300 species of butterflies have been observed at the refuge, with as many as 65 having been seen on a single day.


Nerine bowdenii

Nerine bowdenii is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. It is an herbaceous bulbous perennial, growing to tall by , with strap-shaped leaves and large umbels of lily-like pink flowers in late summer and autumn. The common names of the species are Cornish lily, Cape flower, Guernsey lily, and Bowden lily. However, it is neither a true lily nor from Cornwall or Guernsey, but originates from South Africa (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal, Free State, Drakensberg Mountains). Confusingly the name “Guernsey lily” is also applied to a related species, "Nerine sarniensis".
The species was named in 1904 after Athelstan Cornish-Bowden who had sent bulbs of the plant to England from South Africa.
Description.
"N. bowdenii" bulbs are in circumference. The bulbs are "shaped like old-fashioned Chianti bottles". The plant has eight or more faintly-scented bright pink flowers with frilly tips, resembling finely-cut lilies. Because the leaves do not appear until spring, the species can tolerate lower temperatures than most species in the genus "Nerine".
Cultivation.
"Nerine bowdenii" is widely cultivated in temperate regions, where it requires warmth and shelter in colder areas, but is quite hardy, being able to withstand temperatures of . It needs to be planted where it cannot be disturbed for several years, and blooms best when the bulbs are crowded. The species grows best in heat and well-drained soil. However, it will not tolerate tropical or very humid weather. It is suggested that colchicums and cyclamens are good choices of companion plants to grow with this species.
Cultivars.
The following cultivars have won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-
Biochemistry.
The bulbs of "Nerine bowdenii" contain ungeremine, a betaine-type alkaloid, and a number of other alkaloids. Ungeremine is an inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, and as such may be of interest in research into treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Ungeremine also has been isolated from a number of related plant species, such as "Ungernia minor", "Ungernia spiralis", "Zephyranthes flava", "Crinum asiaticum", "Crinum augustum", "Pancratium maritimum" and "Hippeastrum solandriflorum".
Diseases.
The plant virus, vallota mosaic virus, has been found to infect "Nerine bowdenii" and other members of the genus "Nerine" in the UK.


Helianthus bolanderi

Helianthus bolanderi is a species of sunflower known by the common names Bolander's sunflower and serpentine sunflower. It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows mainly in mountainous areas, often in serpentine soils. It has been found from southwestern Oregon as well as in northern and central California as far south as Santa Cruz County, with reports of a few isolated populations in southern California (some of them from urban areas and very likely cultivated or escaped specimens).
This wild sunflower is an erect annual reaching heights over a meter (40 inches). It has a hairy, rough stem with leaves lance- or oval-shaped, usually pointed, sometimes serrated along the edges, and 3 to 15 centimeters (1.2-6.0 inches) long. The inflorescence holds one or more flower heads, and each plant may have many inflorescences growing along the full length of the stem. The flower head has a cup of long, pointed phyllaries holding an array of bright yellow ray florets each one to two centimeters (0.4-0.8 inches) long around a center of yellow to dark purple or reddish disc florets. The achene is 3 to 5 millimeters (0.12-0.20 inches) long.


Arctostaphylos stanfordiana

Arctostaphylos stanfordiana, with the common name Stanford's manzanita, is a species of manzanita that is endemic to northern California. It is known from the outer North Coast Ranges north of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Description.
"Arctostaphylos stanfordiana" is a bushy shrub growing in height. Leaves are oblong to widely lance-shaped, shiny green, and up to 5 centimeters long.
The inflorescence is a loose cluster of urn-shaped manzanita flowers which are pink, with some so pale that they are nearly white. The fruit is an oblong drupe about 7 millimeters wide.
There are three subspecies:


Allium sikkimense

Allium sikkimense is a plant species native to Sikkim, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, India and parts of China (Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan). It grows in meadows and on the edges of forests at elevations of 2400–5000 m. The species is cultivated as an ornamental in other regions because of its strikingly beautiful blue flowers. It is used medicinally in the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas.
"Allium sikkimense" has a cluster of narrow bulbs generally less than 5 mm in diameter. Scape is up to 40 cm tall. Leaves are flat, narrow, shorter than the scape, up to 5 mm wide. Umbel is a densely crowded hemisphere of blue flowers.


Brassia aurantiaca

Brassia aurantiaca is a species of orchid. It is native to Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.


Eucalyptus torquata

Eucalyptus torquata, commonly known as coral gum or Coolgardie gum, is an endemic tree of Western Australia. The species is cultivated for use in gardens and as a street tree.
Description.
A tree, small and stout in form, with beautiful flowers. It reaches between in height in its native habitat which has a spreading habit. It produces clusters of orange barrel-shaped buds with horned caps, which are followed by prolific red or pink flowers between August and December. The bark is rough and is persistent on the trunk and branches. The bark is fibrous-flaky box type grey-black, grey or black colour bark with whitish patches. The leaves are greyish green in colour, the blade has a lanceolate shape and is in length and wide. The leaves are basally tapered, the petioles are quadrangular or narrowly flattened or channelled. The conflorescences have a diameter that are with flowers that are normally coral-pink in colour but white, cream and red flowered plants are known. They are simple and axillary with three to seven flowered umbellasters with terete peduncles. The buds have a rostrate or urceolate shape and are not pruinose, the calyx calyptrate sheds early. The fruits that form later have a cylindrical shape with a depressed disc and enclosed valves.
Taxonomy.
The species was first formally described by the botanist Johann George Luehmann in 1897 in "Victorian Naturalist". The type specimen was collected by W.A. Macpherson from near Coolgardie.
The species name "torquata" is taken from the latin word "torquatus" meaning having a twisted ring or collar. This refers to the corrugated structure found at the base of the buds and fruit.
Amongst the common names of the species is the use of Christmas tree, given for flowers that appear in December, and Goldfields red flowering gum for the region's mining operations.
Distribution.
It is found on hillsides around Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie, and south to about Widgiemooltha in the Goldfields region of Western Australia where it grows in stony loam or clay and red sandy soils.
Uses.
Coral gum is commonly cultivated for small gardens and for use as an ornamental or as a street tree, especially in arid areas. Flowering often occurs in 2 years from seed. It can be grown in large containers in well-drained soils.


Flinders Group National Park

Flinders Group is a national park in Queensland (Australia), 1,745 km northwest of Brisbane.