Savage River State Forest

Savage River State Forest is located in the north and northeastern part of Garrett County, in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state forest has many waterways, including Savage River Reservoir, which was built in 1952 by the U.S. Army. The dam was built as an emergency water supply for Washington, D.C. Savage River State Forest is known for its hunting, fishing, camping, and hiking trails.
Savage River State Forest is mostly located on the eastern side of the Eastern Continental Divide, which means that most of its waterways will eventually lead to the Potomac River and thus the Chesapeake Bay. But some of its waterways flow into the Youghiogheny River.
History.
In 1800, there were roughly 1000 settlers who lived in Garrett County. But cheap land, improved transportation and growth along the eastern seaboard led to a settlement boom. The national road was completed in 1818 and the rail road arrived in 1852. The transportation system better connected the resource rich Garrett County to the growth needs of the east. Increased quantities of lumber, coal and wheat were shipped east.
By the early 1900s, narrow gauge railroads were used to facilitate logging on steeper slopes as the demand for wood products continued to increase. The result was that Garrett County was heavily cut-over, essentially clear cut, within a 20-year period. The train engines frequently caused forest fires in the tops and slash that were left from the clear-cutting. As a result of the fires, a new forest was created. This legacy we can see today as most of our older forests are the same age and are approximately 100 years old.
In part, as a reaction to the rapid cutting of trees and the burning that was taking place, the Garrett Brothers, in 1906 gave 2000 acres to the state with the proviso that an agency would be created to manage the property and to institute scientific forestry- this led to the birth of the Maryland Forest Service. The rapid exploitation of the forests came to an end by the 1930s and logging companies moved west or converted to coal mining. The early efforts of the MD Forest Service were primarily fire suppression.
On January 8, 1929, the state purchased 9,352 acres of cut-over forest land from the N.U. Bond Company. This was the beginning of Savage River State Forest. Since that time there has been a number of acquisitions both big and small. Now Savage River State Forest consists of 54,324 acres.
In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps assisted the forest service with fire suppression efforts, tree planting, and constructing facilities for recreational activities. The CCC boys helped with the early snow skiing activities on the forest – later to become New Germany State Park. They helped build many trails where hiking, biking, horseback riding, and ORV riding are still taking place.
The forest.
The Savage River State Forest covers approximately 54,324 acres of land in Garrett County (40 acres are in Allegany County). Mature mixed oak and northern hardwood forests comprise a large proportion of the Savage River State Forest. In general, sixty-six percent of the area is composed of older, more mature forests, while thirty-four percent are younger and smaller.
Old growth.
Old growth forests have generally been defined as forests in existence since pre-settlement times and lacking any significant Euro-American disturbance. The definition can differ according to climatic and eco-regional perspectives and the growth characteristics of specific native forest systems. In Maryland, an old growth forest is defined as a minimum of five acres in size with a preponderance of old trees, of which the oldest trees exceed at least half of the projected maximum attainable age for that species, and that exhibits most of the following characteristics:
It is also important to recognize that old-growth forests are not static and may not be a permanent fixture on the landscape. The forests and trees within and around them change continuously. This would be true even if human influence could be eliminated. All forests, including old-growth, succumb to natural, destructive disturbances and regenerate over time. A functional old-growth ecosystem includes the loss of old trees due to natural disturbances and the death of old trees. An old-growth system is not static, nor is it always dominated by old trees. Natural processes dictate the age composition at any time. The important factor in this process is that the trees have the opportunity to reach old age if natural disturbances do not intercede.
Forest production.
"Savage River State Forest has been managed for industrial forest production for decades, and has been a major contributor to the region’s forest products industry. Numerous sawmills and New Page paper mill operations provide outlets for timber from local forests. Savage River State Forest makes up about 19.0% of the productive forests in the Garrett County area. However Potomac-Garrett State Forest is managed in a similar manner as Savage River State Forest and these two state properties comprise almost 25.4% of forest in the county."
Watershed.
"The Savage River State Forest is located within six (6) of Maryland’s 8-digit watersheds. Those watersheds are Savage River, Upper North Branch of the Potomac and George’s Creek in the Chesapeake Bay Drainage and Casselman River, Youghiogheny River and Deep Creek Lake in the Ohio River. The majority of Savage River State Forest is located within the Savage River watershed (57.8%) with smaller amounts in George’s Creek (12.7%), Casselman River (17.9%) and Youghiogheny River (10.7%) watersheds. Very small amounts of the State Forest are located in Deep Creek Lake (0.4%) and Upper North Branch of the Potomac (0.6%) watersheds."
Wildlife.
"Maryland first began licensing hunters in 1916, with hunting license sales peaking at 180,000 in the early 1970s. Sales have since declined to about 135,000 now and today a smaller fraction (3-4%) of Maryland residents hunt. Maryland hunters are mostly males, who live in urban settings, between the ages of 30-49 years of age. Residents of Baltimore County bought 11.9% of licenses sold statewide. Residents from the five lower shore counties accounted for 9.7% of hunting licenses sold statewide."
"The majority of the Savage River State Forest acreage is open for public hunting, with the exception of safety zones and other similar areas. Hunting opportunities are primarily for white-tailed deer, but other species, depending upon the site, include bear, turkey and upland birds."
"There are more than 40 species of game animals that occur in Garrett County. Hunting has been a time honored tradition that continues to provide recreation, food, and quality of life in Garrett County. The large amounts of public land in the county makes it a popular destination for non-resident hunters and those from more urban areas where there is little hunting opportunity. The most popular species of game animals continue to provide for most hunter recreation days in Garrett County."
White-tailed deer.
"During the 2009-10 hunting season, Garrett County had the seventh highest reported deer harvest in the state. This is significant considering that most counties have a much more liberal bag limit and therefore, higher harvest potential. The reported harvest for Garrett County during the 2009-10 hunting season was a total of 4,922 deer."
Black bear.
"In October 2004, DNR implemented Maryland’s first bear-hunting season in 51 years. Subsequent hunts have been held each year since. DNR established a harvest quota targeting an approximate 8 to 12% harvest mortality. This was based on the objective of achieving 20 to 25% overall mortality (seasonal + non-seasonal mortality). Harvest quotas have ranged from 30 to 85 bears between 2004 and 2009. The harvest range for the 2010 season has been set at 65 – 90 bears."
In May and June 2005, DNR conducted western Maryland’s most recent black bear population survey. A DNA-based mark-recapture study was conducted across Garrett and Allegany counties. A similar study had been conducted in 2000. The results of the DNA analysis were entered into Program MARK which yielded a population estimate of 362 adult and subadult bears across the study area. The 95% CI ranged between 242 and 482 animals.
Wild turkey.
"In Garrett County the turkey season is split with both a spring and a fall season. It is estimated that over 10,000 hunters pursue turkeys during the spring season statewide. Garrett County ranked number one in harvested turkeys in 2010 with 345 birds reported (about 12% of the total statewide harvest)."
Migratory birds.
Waterfowl associated with wetlands
"Important waterfowl areas occur throughout Garrett County. Bottomland hardwood floodplains, beaver impoundments, lakes, farm ponds, and wooded wetlands serve as wood duck, mallard, teal and black duck habitat."
American woodcock.
"Spring 'singing ground' surveys coordinated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service suggest that American woodcock numbers have been declining by an average of 1.9 percent per year since these surveys were started in 1968. However, population estimates are stable over the most recent 10-year period. Most woodcock biologists suspect that alterations of habitat, losses to development and changes due to maturation of abandoned farmland are the cause of the population decline. Woodcock use areas of State River State Forest as breeding and wintering habitat. Woodcock prefer moist soil areas with dense seedling/sapling cover and rich humus layers because earthworms, their primary food, are most plentiful in these habitats. State Forest lands are important to woodcock as breeding and nesting areas."
Fish.
Brook trout.
"Brook trout are Maryland’s only native freshwater trout species. Brook trout in Maryland are valuable for aesthetic, recreational, economic, and biological reasons. Because of their habitat and life history requirements, brook trout are typically found in the pristine, aesthetically pleasant areas of Maryland. While there is no commercial fishery for brook trout, recreational angling has been occurring for centuries, and there is increasing local and national recognition of the uniqueness and quality of fishing for native brook trout. Anthropogenic alterations to Maryland’s environment over the last several centuries, including clear cutting of forests, establishment of large agricultural areas, and urbanization have resulted in the extirpation of brook trout from 62% of their historic habitat in Maryland. Of the remaining 151 populations, more than half are found in Garrett County, the westernmost, mountainous, and least developed area of Maryland. The vast majority (82%) of the remaining populations are classified as 'greatly reduced,' meaning that within the sub-watersheds where they occur they occupy only 1% to 10% of the area that was historically inhabited. A major difficulty in managing the brook trout resource is that only 11% of all brook trout streams and stream miles are fully within state lands, the vast majority of habitat is on private land and a mix of private/public lands. Of the immediate threats to brook trout populations in Maryland, urbanization is the most serious. In watersheds where human land use exceeds 18%, brook trout populations cannot survive and if impervious su rface area is greater than 0.5% in a watershed, brook trout will typically be extirpated. There are also long-term threats, of which global warming is the most serious. Current predictions indicate that warming water temperatures over the next 100 years could eliminate brook trout populations statewide except for western Maryland (Garrett County) by the year 2100."
Geography.
Savage River State Forest is located on the East-central edge of the Allegheny Mountain region of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains. To the West is Deep Creek Lake State Park, Swallow Falls State Park, and Garrett State Forest; to the North is New Germany State Park and Casselman River Bridge State Park; to the East is Dan’s Mountain State Park; to the South is Potomac State Forest; and Big Run State Park is located within the forest’s grounds. Nearby notable mountains include Backbone Mountain, Big Savage Mountain, Conway Hill, Elder Hill, George Mountain, Lewis Knob, Little Mountain, Little Savage Mountain, Marsh Hill, Meadow Mountain, Negro Mountain, Rich Hill, Roman Nose Mountain, Snaggy Hill, Whites Knob, and Zehner Hill.
Soil.
Despite the streams and valleys that run through much of the forest, most of the soils are acidic and naturally low in plant nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. The soil is often steep and stony and is ideally suited for woodlands, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Water drainage is often stunted; locally called “glades” (poorly drained areas) are abundant throughout the forest and surrounding region. Peat covers most of the ground, reaching up to 9 feet deep at some points.
Biodiversity.
The many streams that run through Savage River State Forest serves as habitat for many types of rare and/or endangered species, such as: Johnny darter, striped shiner, mottled sculpin, stonecat, brook trout and hellbender. The brook trout population in Savage River State Forest is among the healthiest in Maryland and stonecats have only been found in the Casselman River that runs to Pennsylvania. Non-native species have also been found in the watersheds of the grounds, such as the fathead minnow, brown trout, rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, rock bass, pumpkinseed, and bluegill.
Larger wildlife includes white-tailed deer, black bears, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, and various small furbearing mammals such as canids, opossums, rodents, and skunks. Additionally, birds that populate the area include wood ducks, bald and golden eagles, mallards, black ducks, woodcocks, and neo-tropical migratory birds.
Recreation.
Savage River State Forest has over 54,000 acres for many recreational activities. There are biking trails, boat launches, cross country skiing, campsites, fishing, flat water canoeing, hiking trails, hunting, picnics, snowmobiling, and white water canoeing.
Trails.
There are ten trails at Savage River State Forest totaling 78 miles. It is recommended that trail users should wear blaze orange during hunting season.
Hunting, trapping and fishing.
Savage River State Forest is one of the most used public lands for hunting. White-tailed deer is the most common species hunted in the forest and throughout the state. "A recent survey sponsored by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies found that deer hunting in 2006 generated over $113 million in retail sales, with a total multiplier effect of over $190 million contributed to Maryland’s economy. Deer hunting in Maryland supports nearly 2,300 jobs and generates $71 million in salaries, wages, and business owner’s income, $15 million in state and local tax revenue, and $16 million in federal tax revenue."
"Hunting with rifles, handguns, shotguns, bows and muzzleloaders are permitted in all designated areas in accordance with state and federal laws. Possession or use of weapons is prohibited in State Forests outside of regular hunting seasons. Target shooting is prohibited except at the rifle range. All game birds and game mammals with open seasons may be hunted. Tree stands or blinds are limited to those of a temporary nature, which must be removed or dismantled at the end of each day. The hunting season in State Forests conforms to standard hunting seasons adopted by state and federal regulations."
A rifle range, located on New Germany Road, provides opportunity to target practice and for sighting in firearms prior to the hunting season.
Trapping on portions of the Savage River State Forest for furbearers is permitted through the issuance of a trapping permit.
Savage River State Forest offers many fishing areas in the Savage River Reservoir, and the tail waters that follow. The river is stocked 5-6 times per year and is usually stocked with trout. Some of the species of fish you can catch at Savage River include, large and small mouth bass, trout, yellow perch, blue gill, pickerel, musky and many more.
Hiking, biking, horseback riding, nature observation and off road vehicles.
Savage River State Forest offers an extensive forest road system for hiking, biking, horseback rising, and observing nature.
Canoeing and kayaking.
Savage River offers white water rafting, flat-water boating, and canoeing. No gasoline motors are allowed on the reservoir.
Camping.
Savage River State Forest currently has 72 campsites. Designated camping areas include Big Run Road, Savage River Road, Westernport Road (Elk Lick), Blue Lick Road, Poplar Lick Trail, and Whitewater sites. If you do not want to stay at one of the camping sites you are allowed to backcountry backpack, with a pass, throughout the entire forest.


Phellinus pini

Phellinus pini (current name: "Porodaedalea pini" (Brot.) Murrill 1905) is a fungal plant pathogen that causes tree disease commonly known as "red ring rot" or "white speck". This disease, extremely common in the conifers of North America, decays tree trunks, rendering them useless for lumber. It is a rot of the heartwood. Signs of the fungus include shelf-shaped conks protruding from the trunks of trees. Spores produced on these conks are blown by the wind and go on to infect other trees. Formal management of this disease is limited, and the disease is controlled primarily by cultural practices. Red ring rot is an important forest disturbance agent and plays a key role in habitat formation for several forest animals.
Hosts and symptoms.
Red ring rot is common in North America. The pathogen "Phellinus pini" is widely spread in the temperate zone in the Northern Hemisphere. It infects a wide range of coniferous trees, including jack pine, lodgepole pine, Sitka and white spruce, Douglas-fir, balsam and true fir, western hemlock, and tamarack. It attacks both heartwood and sapwood and causes white pocket trunk rot.
The basidiocarps (fruiting body), conks, are the most apparent signs on infected trees. The conks are perennial, usually gregarious, imbricate, and shelve-shaped, about 3 inches wide. The tops of conks are reddish brown to blackish with concentric furrows; the underside is yellow-brown, while for growing conks, the undersurface and margin of growing conks is a bright yellowish-brown with large irregular pores. White pockets usually develop where the conks develop, but the decay may extend 4 ft above and 5 ft below a conk. Decay tends to occur at the base of stem, but may also develop into large roots. In the early stage of decay, the affected wood becomes reddish to purplish in color. A cross section of the affected wood shows a well-defined ring. In advanced stages of decay, small, spindle-shaped white pockets are formed due to the degradation of lignin by "P. pini". The white pockets are mostly hollow and delignified and contain white residual cellulose.
"On Engelmann spruce"
"P. pini" is the most common pathogen to Engelmann spruce ("Picea engelmannii") and causes the largest decay columns. There is red staining in the early stages and tends to develop along the annual rings. The decay can be identified with white pockets and punk knots (a slight swollen, resinous knot) and conks. Decay usually occurs mostly in the basal stem and may extend to roots.
Disease cycle.
As other Polypores, basidiospores are produced on the underside of the conks and are spread by wind. These wind-blown spores are the initial inoculums of the red ring rot. Once they land on a suitable small wound or twig stub, the spores may germinate and the mycelia grow into the inner wood and cause infection. "P. pini" produces only one type of spores, basidiospores, which is also a type of sexual spores and the fungus overwinters as mycelium in diseased trees or dead trees. When decay is sufficient to provide enough resources, a new conk may be produced. Time from infection to conk production may be 10–20 years or more. These conks are perennial and the disease cycle can be repeated with spores produced by the new conks.
Environment.
There are several conditions that favor disease development and spread. Heart rot fungi, including "P. pini", enter trees as mycelium or basidiospores through branch stubs, tree stumps, damaged roots, dead branches, and wounds in general and go on to infect the heartwood of the tree. Fire and cutting operations cause the most common points of entry for the fungus. Moist environments also facilitate fungal growth. Spores blown by the wind land and germinate on wounds, so in managed forests, care should be taken to prevent any injury to trees during harvest or other activities. This disease is most common in the Pacific Northwest, where cool wet weather greatly facilitates the pathogen.
Management.
In most cases, complete elimination of red ring rot is not an objective, and some control is achieved by cultural practices. Since red ring rot is generally only a significant loss factor in very old stands, damage can be limited by managing stands to younger ages. Younger trees, if infected, are usually able to add new growth at a faster rate than that of decay. If a marketable tree is infected, it should be salvaged before disease progression significantly influences its value. Infected trees in public areas should be checked and removed if red ring rot disease has rendered them potentially dangerous (trees weakened due to heart rot are more likely to fall). Where timber management is the focus, infected trees should be removed. A reduction in rotation age should be considered if decay is frequent to minimize losses. Injuries to healthy trees should be avoided during logging to prevent new infections.
During harvest, treating tree wounds and stumps with antagonistic fungi has led to considerable success in controlling decays and rot. After tree harvest, further discoloration and decay is controlled by treating wood with a chlorophenate fungicide or organic mercuric, in addition to drying the wood. Wood that may later be in contact with soil or other moist surfaces must be treated with a wood preservative.
Importance.
Red ring rot is one of the most common and destructive heart rot pathogens in the Western United States. In Engelmann spruce it is the most common type of fungal decay and causes the largest decay columns of all the fungal heart rots, rendering the tree useless for harvesting. It is a particularly important disease in lodgepole pine and subalpine fir as well. Studies have shown that 64% of all defects in these three species were caused by "Phellinus pini". It has been estimated that over three-fourths of the total 17% of decayed, overmature Douglas-fir is the Pacific Northwest were in decline due to red ring rot. Apart from the economic impacts of this disease, red ring rot decay may lead to mechanical failure of live trees, which may cause a potential hazard in recreational or public areas.
It is also important to note the potentially positive ramifications of this fungus. "P. pini" and other trunk rot fungi serve an important role in forest ecosystems as disturbance agents, and play a key role in accelerating stand development. "P. pini" and other forest pathogens have been shown to be instrumental in facilitating Douglas-fir growth in the western US. Additionally, decayed trees, rotting from the inside-out, serve as important habitat to cavity-nesting birds and mammals. In the southeastern United States, this fungus is important for the nesting of the red-cockaded woodpecker.
The species is not edible.


Menegazzia stirtonii

Menegazzia stirtonii is a species of foliose lichen found in New Zealand, and Tasmania, Australia.
It was first described as "Parmelia stirtonii" in 1929 by Alexander Zahlbruckner. In 2004 Gintaras Kantvilas and Simone Louwhoff transferred it to the genus "Menegazzia".
References.
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Sebastiania obtusifolia

Sebastiania obtusifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It was described in 1912. It is native to Peru.


Pitcairnia wendlandii

Pitcairnia wendlandii is a flowering plant in the Bromeliaceae family. It is native to Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala and Chiapas.


Rendezvous Mountain Educational State Forest

Rendezvous Mountain Educational State Forest (RMESF) is a North Carolina State Forest in Purlear, North Carolina.
History.
Rendezvous Mountain is popularly rumored to have been an assembly point for the Overmountain Men during the Revolutionary War. Colonel Benjamin Cleveland is said to have called militiamen from around Wilkes County, by blowing a large ox horn from the mountain's summit. Cleveland was able to summon over 200 Patriots from the surrounding area to join him on a march to the Battle of Kings Mountain. The route they took is now commemorated by the nearby Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.
In 1926, the forest's original tract was donated to the state by Judge T. B. Finley of North Wilkesboro for inclusion in the State Park System; however, the unit was never opened to the public due to its small size, inaccessible location, and questionable historic significance. The land was transferred to the Division of Forestry in 1956. It was later opened to the public in 1984 as an educational state forest. In the early 2000s, the forest was greatly expanded when large tracts along its western boundary became available.


Thryptomene micrantha

Thryptomene micrantha, commonly known as ribbed thryptomene, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a spreading to erect shrub with egg-shaped leaves, the narrower end towards the base, and white flowers with five petals and five stamens.
Description.
"Thryptomene micrantha" is a woody, spreading to erect shrub that typically grows to a height of and has crowded leaves, egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, arranged in opposite pairs, each leaf long and wide on a short petiole. The flowers are arranged in upper leaf axils, singly or in groups of up to three, each flower on a pedicel about long. The floral cup is cylindrical with then longitudinal ridges and the five sepals are egg-shaped, long. The five petals are white, egg-shaped, about long and there are five stamens. Flowering mainly occurs from August to October.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Thryptomene micrantha" was first formally described in 1853 by English botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker in "Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany". His description was based on a collection made by Ronald Campbell Gunn from plants growing on "banks of sand and oyster-shells" on Schouten Island off Tasmania's east coast. The specific epithet ("micrantha") means "small-flowered".
Distribution and habitat.
Ribbed thryptomene occurs in scattered populations in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, growing in heath or woodland, sometimes in shrubland on rocky slopes. In Victoria it occurs in the region of the Gippsland Lakes, while in Tasmania populations are mostly confined to the Freycinet National Park. In South Australia it is found mainly on the Eyre and Yorke peninsulas.
Conservation status.
In Tasmania this species is listed as "vulnerable" under the "Threatened Species Protection Act 1995", and in Victoria as "rare" on the Department of Sustainability and Environment's "Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria".


Carex biltmoreana

Carex biltmoreana, known as Biltmore sedge, is a species of sedge that was first described by Kenneth Mackenzie in 1910. It is endemic to the southeastern United States, where it occurs in southwestern North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina, and northeastern Georgia. Biltmore sedge grows on rock outcrops, often on granite, and in adjacent woodlands.


Pinus latahensis

Pinus latahensis is an extinct species of conifer in the pine family Pinaceae. The species is known from fossil leaves found in the early Eocene deposits of northern Washington state, United States, and southern British Columbia, Canada.
Age.
"Pinus latahensis" was first described by Edward W. Berry in 1929 based on a compression fossil recovered from shale outcrops in the Republic, Washington area. When published the holotype specimen's type locality at Republic was misidentified as being an extension of the younger Latah Formation, located around the Spokane region, which was then considered to be of Late Miocene age. Roland W. Brown identified that the Republic floras is of a older age and not part of the Latah formation in 1937. The Oligocene age was followed by Herman Becker (1961) while discussing the Oligocene Ruby Flora of Montana and Jack Wolfe (1965) in discussing the Miocene Fingerrock Wash Flora of Nevada.
In a written communication circa 1958, Brown again revised the age still older, stating fossils found in the area of Mount Elizabeth, northeast of Republic indicated an Oligocene age. This age was used by R.L. Parker and J. A. Calkins (1964) on their assessment of the Curlew Quadrangle of Ferry County. Since then the fossil-bearing strata of the Klondike Mountain Formation have been radiometrically dated, to give a current estimate of the Ypresian, the mid stage of the early Eocene.
Distribution and paleoenvironment.
In his 1955 review of conifer fossils found in the Princeton coal fields of British Columbia, Chester A. Arnold noted the marked similarities between the Klondike Mountain and Allenby Formations and interpreted the shared taxa of the formations to indicated that the Klondike Mountain Formation was of Oligocene age like the Allenby Formation was thought to be at the time. This similarity was also noted and commented on by Charles Miller (1975) who agreed the Republic and Princeton floras were coeval, and of Eocene age.
Both sites represent upland lake systems that were surrounded by a warm temperate ecosystem with nearby volcanism. The highlands likely had a mesic upper microthermal to lower mesothermal climate, in which winter temperatures rarely dropped low enough for snow, and which were seasonably equitable. The Okanagan highlands paleoforest surrounding the lakes have been described as precursors to the modern temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of Eastern North America and Eastern Asia. Based on the fossil biotas the lakes were higher and cooler then the coeval coastal forests preserved in the Puget Group and Chuckanut Formation of Western Washington, which are described as lowland tropical forest ecosystems. Estimates of the paleoelevation range between higher than the coastal forests. This is consistent with the paleoelevation estimates for the lake systems, which range between , which is similar to the modern elevation , but higher.
Estimates of the mean annual temperature have been derived from climate leaf analysis multivariate program (CLAMP) analysis and leaf margin analysis (LMA) of both the Princeton and Republic paleofloras. The CLAMP results after multiple linear regressions for Republic gave a mean annual temperature of approximately , while the LMA gave . Princetons multiple linear regression CLAMP results gave a slightly lower , and the LMA returned a mean annual temperature of . This is lower then the mean annual temperature estimates given for the coastal Puget Group, which is estimated to have been between . The bioclimactic analysis for Republic and Prionceton suggest mean annual precipitation amounts of and respectively.
In his assessment of the Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park fossils, originating from an unnamed formation in the Ootsa Lake Group and northern most of the Eocene Okanagan highlands lake system, Rolf Ludvigsen identified the compression 5-needle fossils as "P. latahensis". At Driftwood creek, it co-occurs with the permineralized species "Pinus driftwoodensis"
Taxonomy and phylogeny.
The type description given by Berry was brief, with an image of the holotype fossil printed in conjunction with three other pine species, "Pinus macrophylla", "Pinus monticolensis", and the dubious "Pinus tetrafolia". Specimen USNM P38082 of the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History collection is the designated species holotype, though Berry did not list it as such in the type description. Based on the erroneous assumption that the shales of Republic were part of the Latah formation Berry chose the species specific epithet "latahensis".
In 1961, Becker discussed the taxonomy of "P. latahensis" in his monograph on the Oligocene Ruby basin flora of Southwestern Montana. Based on the assumption that the Klondike Mountain Formation was of Oligocene age, he placed several Ruby Basin fossils into a revised definition of "P. monticolensis". Becker noted that the name "P. latahensis" was chosen to honor a formation of different age and location then the type locality, and so he opted to suggest synonymy of "P. latahensis" into "P. monticolensis" as a whole plant species definition. He noted that taxonomic priority would favor the use of the name "P. latahensis" over "P. monticolensis", as it was the first species described in the 1929 publication, but chose to ignore the rule.
Three years later Jack Wolfe (1964) also briefly discussed "P. latahensis" this time in reference to Miocene fossils found of the Fingerrock Wash Flora of Southwestern Nevada. Wolfe took a more conservative approach to the fossils, and suggested that all Oligocene to modern fossils that resemble the living "Pinus monticola" should be considered to belong to that species. As such "P. latahensis", along with four other fossil species were considered by Wolfe as junior synonyms of "P. monticola".
Description.
Needles on the "P. latahensis" type specimen are wide by approximately long, displaying two faces to each of the 5 individual needles. The needle sheath is deciduous, indicating a possible placement within the "hard" pines. The needles found in the Allenby Formation range or more in length growing from dwarf shoots ranging between in diameter by long. In the type description, Berry noted the fossil examined to be very similar to both the living white pine and sugar pines.


Carex mesochorea


Porpoloma umbrosum

Porpoloma umbrosum, commonly known as the amyloid tricholoma, is a species of fungus in the family Tricholomataceae, and the type species of the genus "Porpoloma". It was first described scientifically by mycologists Alexander H. Smith and Maurice B. Walters in 1943 as a species of "Tricholoma". Rolf Singer transferred it to "Porpoloma" (subgenus "Pseudotricholoma") in 1962. The mushroom is found in North America, where it fruits singly or in small groups under conifer trees. Although it resembles "Tricholoma" species, it is distinguished from that genus by its amyloid spores.


Zemongo Faunal Reserve

Zemongo Faunal Reserve is a protected reserve of the Central African Republic. Established in 1925, it was extended and redesignated in 1975, although still open to hunting in 1980. The main rivers are the Vovado River and the Goangoa River, covering an area of , of which is inundated forest. The reserve contains dense Isoberlinia savanna woodland and gallery forests and supports eastern chimpanzees and other primate species. The reserve formerly held a large elephant population and a diverse antelope community.


Dolioletta mirabilis

Dolioletta mirabilis is a species of tunicate in the family Doliolidae. It is small, exists in various forms and is sometimes found in great abundance in the Indo-Pacific waters where it lives.
Description.
The gonozooids are the most often encountered of the forms of this animal. They are solitary hermaphrodites with eight bands of muscle that encircle the body. These gonozooids produce the oozooids, which are usually seen in smaller numbers within the population. Oozooids are distinguished by a conspicuous tail of asexually produced zooids, and have nine circumferential bands of muscle.


Usnea scabrida

Usnea scabrida is a foliose lichen that grows from holdfasts on trees. It occurs in southwest Western Australia. It is a very pale grayish-yellowish green, slender, pendant, branching from the base, unequally branching, and shrubby. The cortex contains usnic acid, and the medulla contains scabrosins. The lichen was described as a new species in 1844 by English botanist Thomas Taylor.
"Usnea scabrida" is endemic to Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, but is also found outside Australia, and in Queensland. A subspecies "Usnea scabrida" subsp. "elegans" is found in eastern Australia.


Pachylaelaps novus

Pachylaelaps novus is a species of mite in the family Pachylaelapidae.


Microcnemum coralloides


Argyrochosma delicatula

Argyrochosma delicatula is a fern known from northeastern Mexico (and from one collection in Arizona). It grows in rocky habitats, either in sun or in shade, and is distinguished from similar species by the presence of pale yellow (rather than white) powder on the underside of its leaves. First described as a species in 1939, it was transferred to the new genus "Argyrochosma" (the "false cloak ferns") in 1987, recognizing their distinctness from the "cloak ferns" ("Notholaena" "sensu stricto").
Description.
"Argyrochosma delicatula" is a medium-sized epipetric fern. The rhizome is compact, and may be horizontal or upright. It bears slender, linear to linear-subulate scales long and wide, of a uniform orange-brown to dark brown color, with entire (toothless) margins and long-acuminate at the tip. From it, the fronds arise in clumps. From base to tip of leaf, they are long, occasionally as short as or as long as . Of this length, nearly half is made up by the stipe (the stalk of the leaf, below the blade), which is shiny and round, hairless, and chestnut-brown to dark purple in color.
The leaf blades are deltate (triangular) in shape, tripinnate (cut into pinnae, pinnules and pinnulets) to almost quadripinnate. The rachis (leaf axis) is round, rather than flattened, and dark in color, as are the axes of the leaf segments. The color stops abruptly at a joint at the base of the leaf segment. Each blade bears 4 to 8 pairs of deltate pinnae. These are divided into pinnules which are rhomboid (diamond-shaped), flabelliform (fan-shaped), oblong or orbicular (circular), and are typically across, occasionally to . The underside of the leaf is coated in pale yellow farina (powder), which is sparsely scattered on the upper surface. The leaf tissue is leafy, rather than leathery, in texture.
The sori lie along the veins, in the half of the veins closest to the edge of the leaf and sometimes extending along almost the whole length of the vein. The leaf edges are not modified into false indusia. Each sporangium bears 64 spores. The plants are diploid, with a chromosome number of 2"n" = 54.
It is most similar to "Argyrochosma incana" and can be somewhat difficult to distinguish from that species. The yellow (rather than white) color of the farina, the brown to purple (rather than black) color of the axes, the narrow segments (typically in "A. incana") and the presence of sparse farina on the upper surface serve to distinguish "A. delicatula".
Taxonomy.
It was first described by William Ralph Maxon and Charles Alfred Weatherby in 1939 as "Notholaena delicatula", based on material collected by Edward Palmer in Coahuila. They placed it within a group of ferns closely related to "Notholaena nivea". The epithet "delicatula" presumably refers to what they described as the "delicate texture" of its leaves. Both Edwin Copeland and Weatherby suggested in the 1940s that this group of ferns might represent a distinct genus of its own. This was finally addressed in 1987 by Michael D. Windham, who was carrying out phylogenetic studies of these genera. He elevated "Notholaena" sect. "Argyrochosma" to become the genus "Argyrochosma", and transferred this species to that genus as "A. delicatula". In 2018, Maarten J. M. Christenhusz transferred the species to "Hemionitis" as "H. delicatula", as part of a program to consolidate the cheilanthoid ferns into that genus.
While the distinctness of "A. delicatula" from "A. incana" has been questioned in the past, phylogenetic studies have upheld the separation of the two taxa. It lies within a subclade of the genus that also contains "A. incana", "A. pallens", "A. peninsularis", "A. palmeri", and "A. pilifera". All members of the clade share pale farina principally composed of terpenoid compounds, unlike the dihydrostilbenoids found in the farina of other members of the genus.
Distribution and habitat.
"Argyrochosma delicatula" is principally known from the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon, in Mexico. One specimen collected in southeastern Arizona by John Gill Lemmon in 1880 has also been identified as this species.
It grows in rocky places in either sun or shade, especially on limestone ledges, and on shady slopes.


Tillandsia arequitae

Tillandsia arequitae is a species of flowering plant in the Bromeliaceae family. It is native to Brazil and Uruguay, its specific epithet referring to Cerro Arequita, Lavalleja Department in Uruguay.


Streptomyces bikiniensis

Streptomyces bikiniensis is a bacterium species from the genus of "Streptomyces" which has isolated from soil from the island Bikini atoll. "Streptomyces bikiniensis" produces streptomycin II and
carboxypeptidase.


Quercus aquifolioides

Quercus aquifolioides is a species of oak native to south-central China and Tibet. It is in the subgenus "Cerris", section "Ilex". It is a shrub or small tree adapted to high elevations.


Roscoea scillifolia

Roscoea scillifolia is a perennial herbaceous plant occurring in Yunnan in China. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but like other species of "Roscoea", "R. scillifolia" grows in much colder mountainous regions. , the species is only known in cultivation and may be extinct in the wild.
Description.
"Roscoea scillifolia" is a perennial herbaceous plant. Like all members of the genus "Roscoea", it grows from a short rhizome, to which the tuberous roots are attached. When growth begins again, "pseudostems" are produced: structures which resemble stems but are actually formed from the tightly wrapped bases (sheaths) of its leaves. "R. scillifolia" varies considerably in height, extreme forms being as short at 6 cm, with some plants up to 37 cm tall; most are between 10 and 27 cm. There are up to three bladeless sheathing leaves and one to five full leaves, again varying considerably in size. The blade of the leaf (the part free from the pseudostem) is typically 11–22 cm long by 1.5–2 cm wide. At the junction of the blade and sheath there are small transparent structures (ligules), 2–3 mm high.
The stem (peduncle) of the flower spike may or may not emerge from the leaf sheaths. A single flower is open at any one time. The flowers may be pale in colour (white, pink or rarely mauve) or dark purple. Green bracts, 2.6–5 cm long subtend the flowers.
Each flower has the typical structure for "Roscoea" (see that article for labelled images). There is a tube-shaped outer calyx, about 1.5–2.3 cm long. Next the three petals (the corolla) form a tube about 1.6–3 cm long, almost entirely hidden within the calyx. The tube terminates in three petal lobes: an upright central lobe and two slightly shorter side lobes. The central lobe is about 1.4–2 cm long by 0.6–1 cm wide; the side lobes are somewhat smaller, 1.1–2 cm long by 0.4–0.7 cm wide. Inside the petals are structures formed from four sterile stamens (staminodes). Two lateral staminodes form what appear to be small petals, about 1–1.4 cm long by 0.3–0.5 cm wide, including a short narrowed "claw" at the base. Two central staminodes are fused at the base to form a lip or labellum, about 1.3–2 cm long by 0.8–2 cm wide. The labellum varies in how far it is split at the end into two lobes. It typically has white lines at the base.
The single functional stamen has a white anther, about 5 mm long, and the typical "Roscoea" "spurs" on the filament. The triangular ovary is 1–1.5 cm long.
There are two named forms of the species. The nominate form, "R. scillifolia" f. "scillifolia" has pale flowers, usually pink or white. "R. scillifolia" f. "atropurpurea" has dark purple flowers, and a significantly longer floral tube and surrounding bract.
Taxonomy.
"R. scillifolia" was first described by François Gagnepain in a 1902 publication as "R. capitata" var. "scillifolia". The description was based on specimens collected in 1887 and 1888 by Père Jean Marie Delavay from Heechanmen, near Dali in Yunnan. The variety was raised to a full species by Jill Cowley in 1982.
For a long time the species was incorrectly known in horticulture as "R. alpina". Cowley (2007) cites articles written in 1938, the 1960s and 1970, all of which use this name for what is actually "R. scillifolia".
Evolution and phylogeny.
The family Zingiberaceae is mainly tropical in distribution. The unusual mountainous distribution of "Roscoea" may have evolved relatively recently and be a response to the uplift taking place in the region in the last 50 million years or so due to the collision of the Indian and Asian tectonic plates.
Species of "Roscoea" divide into two clear groups, a Himalayan clade and a "Chinese" clade (which includes some species from outside China). The two clades correspond to a geographical separation, their main distributions being divided by the Brahmaputra River as it flows south at the end of the Himalayan mountain chain. It has been suggested that the genus may have originated in this area and then spread westwards along the Himalayas and eastwards into the mountains of China and its southern neighbours. "R. scillifolia" falls into the Chinese clade as would be expected from its distribution.
Distribution and habitat.
According to Cowley (2007), "Roscoea scillifolia" may be extinct in the wild, since it has not been seen in its native range since the early 1900s. It was found in a small region of Yunnan, China, particularly the mountains around Lijiang. It is now only known in cultivation.
Cultivation.
As noted above, "R. scillifolia" is only known in cultivation, possibly being extinct in the wild. In England, it flowers in late May and may continue until August. It has the smallest flowers of all roscoeas, and has been described as "not one of the showiest members of the genus". It was not given any awards in a 2009–11 "Roscoea" trial by the Royal Horticultural Society. Recommendations for its culture are similar to those for the genus as a whole (i.e. a moisture-retaining but well-drained soil, with some shade from the full sun), although it is said to withstand more exposure to the sun than some species, provided that the soil is kept moist.


Key West National Wildlife Refuge

The Key West National Wildlife Refuge is a 189,497 acre (766.867 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in Monroe County, Florida, between Key West, Florida and the Dry Tortugas . Only 2,019 acres (8.171 km2) of land are above sea level, on several keys within the refuge. These keys are unpopulated and are also designated as Wilderness within the Florida Keys Wilderness. The refuge was established to provide a preserve and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife as well as to provide habitat and protection for endangered and threatened fish, wildlife, plants and migratory birds.
In addition to the of land owned by the refuge, the refuge maintains 154 acres (.623 km2) for the United States Coast Guard and 206,289 acres (834.822 km2) of marine waters in conjunction with the state of Florida.
The refuge is one of three refuges administered by the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key in Florida. Although Key West NWR is unstaffed, the National Key Deer Refuge has a combined staff of 13 with a fiscal year 2005 budget of $1,041,000.
History.
Key West NWR was established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds and other wildlife to curtail the slaughter of birds whose feathers were highly valued in the hat industry. Wading birds were threatened with extinction before this refuge began providing a safe haven for them and other threatened plant and animal species. This refuge was the first established in the Florida Keys and one of the earliest refuges in the United States. They have over 250 different bird species there.
Topography.
The refuge encompasses more than of open water and of land on the 26 islands of Mule Keys and of Marquesas Keys. The Refuge includes mostly mangrove islands, with a few sandy beaches and dunes that are critical nesting habitat for endangered sea turtles. Other habitat includes salt marsh and coastal berm hammocks, plus sea grass and coral reef communities.
Wildlife and protected species.
The refuge, along with the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, represents the last of the offshore (and raccoon-free) islands in the lower Florida Keys available as critical nesting, roosting, wading and loafing habitat to over 250 avian species — particularly wading birds.
The area managed is overwhelmingly (99 percent) marine environment including large sand flats surrounding the islands that are used extensively by wading birds when they forage.
The refuge protects habitat for a wide variety of birds, including nesting or wintering populations of terns, magnificent frigatebirds, white-crowned pigeons, ospreys, and great white herons. Several federally listed species are monitored, such as piping plovers and bald eagles. Birds in the refuge are doing well as evidenced by stable or increasing populations and nest numbers.
The sandy beaches are nesting areas for the endangered Atlantic green and loggerhead turtles and is the only breeding site in the U.S. for the endangered hawksbill turtle. Sea turtle nests are surveyed each year to track nesting and reproduction of the turtles. There are few beaches in the refuge suitable for sea turtle nesting; thus there are typically less than 50 nests found each year. Green sea turtles nests are increasing, which is a positive sign since green sea turtle activity had not changed in several years. The low number of nests makes it difficult to determine nesting trends, but activity appears to be stable.
Facilities.
There is no visitor center at the refuge. The refuge is accessible only by boat. Two of the islands have portions of their beaches closed to the public. Portions of Woman Key and Boca Grande Key are posted as closed for the sensitive habitat they contain. The remainder of the beaches, including those at the Marquesas Keys, are open during daylight hours for compatible, wildlife-oriented recreational uses such as wildlife observation, nature photography, and environmental education.


Lilium michiganense

Lilium michiganense is a species of true lily commonly referred to as the Michigan lily. It is a wildflower present in prairie habitats in the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi Valley regions of the United States and Canada, from South Dakota through Ontario to New York, south to Georgia and Oklahoma.
The flower is orange with spots. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental. The Michigan lily is often confused with the Turk's cap lily ("Lilium superbum") and with a naturalized Asian "tiger lily" "Lilium lancifolium". The leaf arrangement is typically whorled, but sometimes alternate just below the inflorescence and at the very base of stem.
Endangered status.
The Michigan lily is an endangered species in the state of New York, where it occurs in Monroe and Jefferson counties. It is listed as threatened in Tennessee.


Cavichona elegans

Cavichona elegans is a species of ciliates in the family Spirochonidae.


Aceste weberi

Aceste weberi is a species of sea urchin of the family Schizasteridae. Their armour is covered with spines. It came from the genus Aceste and lives in the sea. Aceste weberi was first scientifically described in 1914 by Koehler.


Prostanthera albohirta

Prostanthera albohirta is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of Queensland. It is a small, erect, densely-foliaged shrub with egg-shaped leaves and hairy, lilac to lavender flowers arranged singly in four to twelve leaf axils near the ends of branchlets.
Description.
"Prostanthera albohirta" is an erect, spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of with densely hairy, cylindrical stems. The leaves are egg-shaped, dull green, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged singly in four to twelve axils near the ends of branchlets, each flower on a pedicel long. The sepals are densely covered with white hairs and form a tube about long with two lobes, the lower lobe long and the upper lobe long. The petals are hairy, lilac to lavender and fused to form a tube about long. The lower lip has three lobes, the centre about long and wide and the side lobes about long and wide. The upper lip has two lobes fused with a small notch at the join. Flowering has been recorded in January.
Taxonomy.
"Prostanthera albohirta" was first formally described in 1936 by Cyril Tenison White in the "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland" from specimens collected on the "summit of Mount Demi, alt. 3,000 ft., on exposed cliff faces" by Leonard John Brass.
Distribution and habitat.
Between 1932 and 2013, this mintbush was only known from Brass's single collection and attempts to collect further specimens failed. Then in 2013, the species was discovered on Mount Emerald near Tolga at elevations above . Only about fifty plants have been found, growing in a dense shrub layer in a protected gully dominated by stunted "Syncarpia glomulifera".
Conservation status.
"Prostanthera albohirta" is classified as "critically endangered" under the Australian Government "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999" and as "endangered" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992. The main threats to the species include inappropriate fire regimes, weed invasion, habitat loss caused by land clearing, and illegal collection.


Chenismus Forest Reserve

The Chenismus Forest Reserve was established in Oregon by the U.S. Forest Service on May 12, 1905 with . On March 1, 1907 it was combined with the first Wallowa National Forest to create Imnaha National Forest and the name was discontinued. Its lands presently exist as a portion of Wallowa–Whitman National Forest.


Centruroides meisei

Centruroides chamulaensis is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae.


Euphorbia halemanui

Euphorbia halemanui (syn. "Chamaesyce halemanui") is a rare species of flowering plant in the euphorb family known by the common name Kauai sandmat. It is endemic to Kauai, Hawaii, where there are no more than 400 plants remaining. There are four populations at last count. It is a federally listed endangered species.
This is a shrub with vining, climbing stems that bleed a milky sap. The inflorescence is a single cyathium or a dense cluster of many. It and other Hawaiian euphorbs perform C4 carbon fixation.
This rare plant grows in moist forested slopes on Kauai. The forests are often dominated by koa ("Acacia koa") and ōhia lehua ("Metrosideros polymorpha"). In other areas it grows alongside kauila ("Alphitonia ponderosa"), hame ("Antidesma platyphyllum"), aalii ("Dodonaea viscosa"), Kauai kokio ("Kokia kauaiensis"), and other native plants.


Goniothalamus latestigma

Goniothalamus latestigma is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Myanmar and Thailand.
 Cecil Ernest Claude Fischer, the botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its broad ( in Latin) stigmas.
Description.
It is a bush reaching 2.4 - 3 meters in height. Its membranous, oblong leaves are 14-27 by 4-8 centimeters, and come to an abrupt point at their tip. The leaves are hairless on their upper surface and lightly hairy on their underside. The leaves have minute translucent speckles and their margins are slightly wavy. Its leaves have 10-13 pairs of veins emanating from midribs. Its 0.7 - 1 centimeter long petioles are covered in minute fine hairs and have a channel in their upper surface. Its solitary flowers are on 6 millimeters long pedicels that grow in axillary positions. The pedicels are covered in fine hairs and have two narrow oblong bracts that are also 6 millimeters long. It has 3 oval sepals that are 1 - 1.5 centimeters long and come to a short tapering point at their tip. The sepals are dotted with glands and are hairless on their inner surface but covered in rust colored hairs on their outer surface. Its flowers have 6 fleshy, yellow-green petals in two rows of three. Its narrow oblong outer petals are 2.5-3.5 centimeters long and come to a point at their tips. The outer petals are wrinkled and covered in dense rust colored hair. Its oval inner petals are 1-1.5 centimeters long and come to a point at their tips. The margins of the inner petals are joined. The base of the inner petals is concave while the apical half is thickened. The outer surface of the inner petals is covered in dense reddish-brown hairs, while the inner surface is covered in fine gray hairs except on the concave base. It has numerous stamen that are 1.5 millimeters long. The anthers are obscured by a hemispherical overgrowth of connective tissue covered in dense dark hairs. It has numerous carpels with 1.5 - 2 millimeter long ovaries covered in sparse reddish-brown hairs. Its carpels have very short styles, with outward curving, funnel-shaped sigmas that as long or longer than the ovaries. The stigmas are split on one side, hairless and lobed at their apex.
Reproductive biology.
The pollen of "G. latestigma" is shed as permanent tetrads.
Habitat and distribution.
It has been observed growing at sea-level altitude.


Roystonea princeps

Roystonea princeps, commonly known as Morass cabbage palm or Morass royal palm, is a species of palm which is endemic to western Jamaica.
Description.
"Roystonea princeps" is a large palm which reaches heights of . Stems are grey-white and range from in diameter. The upper portion of the stem is encircled by leaf sheaths, forming a green portion known as the crownshaft which is normally about long. Individuals have about 15 leaves with rachises. The inflorescences bear creamy yellow male and female flowers; the anthers of the male flowers are purplish. Fruit are long and wide, and are purplish-black when ripe.
Taxonomy.
For most of the 19th century, only two species of royal palms were generally recognised: Greater Antillean royal palms were considered "Oreodoxa regia" (now "Roystonea regia"), while Lesser Antillean ones were considered "O. oleracea" ("R. oleracea"). Several new species were recognised early in the 20th century, among them a Jamaican species that was named "Oreodoxa princeps" by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in 1912. Due to problems with the way that the genus "Oreodoxa" had been applied by taxonomists, American botanist Orator F. Cook had proposed that the name "Roystonea" (in honour of American general Roy Stone) be applied to the royal palms. In 1929 German botanist Max Burret transferred "O. princeps" to the genus "Roystonea".
Common names.
"Roystonea princeps" is known as the "Morass cabbage palm", "Morass royal palm" "swamp cabbage" or simply "royal palm".
Reproduction and growth.
Thirty-four to 36-year-old individuals grown in cultivation at Fairchild Tropical Garden in Florida grew per year.
Distribution.
"Roystonea princeps" is endemic to the western Jamaican parishes of St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland, in wetlands around Black River and Negril.


Carex projecta

Carex projecta, the necklace sedge, is a species of sedge that was first described by Kenneth Mackenzie in 1908.


Juncus covillei

Juncus covillei is a species of rush known by the common name Coville's rush native to North America.
Distribution.
It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Idaho to California, where it grows in moist habitat, often in forested areas.
Description.
This is a perennial herb forming clumps of erect stems up to about 25 centimeters tall from a thick rhizome. The inflorescence is made up of several clusters of brown or green flowers.


Winamac Fish and Wildlife Area

Winamac Fish and Wildlife Area is a protected area dedicated to providing hunting and fishing opportunities while maintaining of oak forest and upland fields. It is located on U.S. Route 35, north of Winamac, Indiana.


Terminalia cambodiana

Terminalia cambodiana is a species of tree in the family Combretaceae, growing some 6–15 m tall with whitish-grey,
exfoliating bark and large greenish branches. It is found in flooded forest communities of Cambodia and southern Vietnam.
There is a report of the trees growing infrequently in seasonally flooded forest along the Se Buy River alongside Na Kae village, Kham Khuean Kaeo District, Yasothon Province, northeast Thailand. These trees, with a dbh of 10 cm, grow mainly at 0 to 3m above the water low level, being flooded from 42 to 83 days a year.
Within the floodplain of the lake Tonle Sap, western Cambodia, "T. cambodiana" occurs rarely, in isolated pockets of forest within the Secondary scrubland (short tree-shrubland association) community, where sprawling shrubs and lianas form a closed canopy some 3-5m tall.
In this area firewood collection was intense in the twentieth century. "T. cambodiana" and "Diospyros cambodiana" were extensively exploited for charcoal making in the beginning of the 20th century, and so became rare in the inundated floodplain. People also reported that availability of this tree decreased in the two years around 2007–2009, though it is still harvested.
The branches of the tree, when flooded at Tonle Sap, were one of the favoured spots for the hairy-nosed otter, "Lutra sumatrana", to place its spraints.
"Tâ' uë", "ta-uah" is its common name in Khmer. The wood of "T. cambodiana" is used in the construction of fishing dams, to make columns for buildings and to make charcoal. Its bark is used in traditional medicine to treat diarrhoea, fever, post-natal haemorrhage and fish-bites.


Penicillium commune

Penicillium commune is an indoor fungus belonging to the genus "Penicillium". It is known as one of the most common fungi spoilage moulds on cheese. It also grows on and spoils other foods such as meat products and fat-containing products like nuts and margarine. Cyclopiazonic acid and regulovasine A and B are the most important mycotoxins produced by "P. commune". The fungus is the only known species to be able to produce both penitrem A and roquefortine. Although this species does not produce penicillin, it has shown to have anti-pathogenic activity. There are no known plant, animal or human diseases caused by "P. commune".
History and taxonomy.
The fungus species was first described by the American mycologist Dr. Charles Thom in 1910. "Penicillium commune" is considered an ancestral wild-type of the fungus species "P. camemberti", a mould commonly used in the production of soft cheese. Both species are similar in their ability to produce cyclopiazonic acid, a metabolite not normally produced by members of the genus "Penicillium". "P. commune", by contrast, is a saprotroph that produces soft, fluffy cotton-like colonies. In their 1949 monograph of the genus, Raper and Thom treated "P. commune" and "P. lanosum" in subsection "Lanata". "P. commune" (Thom) was included in the series along with . Since then, there has been two additional species added: "P. echinosporum" (Nehira) and "P. giganteum" (Roy and Singh). The species is presently treated in "Penicillium" subgenus "Penicillium" section "Viridicata" series "Camemberti".
Growth and morphology.
The asexually produced spores (i.e., conidia) of "P. commune" are smooth and spherical, ranging from 3.5 to 5.0 μm in diameter, borne in disordered chains on conidiophores with rough-walled stipes. The conidium-bearing stalks are either produced singularly or in bundled groups known as fascicles. The stalk lengths are usually 200 to 400 μm. Conidia are dull grey green or grey turquoise in colour. No known sexual reproduction has been described.
"Penicillium commune" can be distinguished by its fast growth on creatine sucrose neutral agar (CSN) while showing a slow growth rate on malt extract agar (MEA) and restricted growth on Czapek medium (CZA) and Czapek yeast extract agar (CYA). The appearance of colonies on MEA ranges from soft, velvety and grown in unison to granular and barely grown together. The underside of colonies produced on MEA are pale-yellow coloured and sun-yellow coloured. Colonies on CZA and CYA range from soft and velvety to slightly fluffy with exudate present that can be clear to brown coloured. In addition, the underside of the colonies grown on CZA and CYA are creamy/ dull yellow to brown-yellow in colour. The production of purple pigment has also been observed.
Physiology.
Like many other "Penicillium" species, "P. commune" is able to grow in temperatures resembling that of the refrigerator. However, the optimum temperature for the species is 25°C while the maximum limit is 37°C. The minimal water activities (aw) for germination and growth for "P. commune" is 0.83aw which is near the lower side for fungal growth as most fungal activity is inhibited at 0.70aw or less. The fungus species shows no sign of growth in environments consisting of 20% CO2 and less than 5% O2. Although, in the presence of 80% CO2 and 20% O2, there are signs of limited growth."P. commune" expresses lipolytic activity.
The main mycotoxins produced by "P. commune" are cyclopiazonic acid and regulovasine A and B. Other secondary metabolites produced include: cyclopenin, cyclopenol, dehydrocyclopeptin, cylcopeptin, viridicatol, viridicatin, cyclopaldic acid, cyclopolic acid. However, the mentioned metabolites above are produced with unknown toxicity and not all isolates of "P. commune" produce them, with cyclopaldic acid being the only exception. Two neurotoxins, penitrem A and roquefortine, are produced by "P. commune" culture obtained from cottonseed. Aside from "P. roqueforti", "P. commune" is the only other "Penicillium" species known to produce roquefortine. The cottonseed study suggested that the neurotoxic effects of this species are minimal. This species does not cause disease in plants, animals or humans.
Habitat and ecology.
"Penicillium commune" is found indoors and most commonly, on food products. The main habitat for the fungus is cheese, including both hard and soft cheese. With cheese being produced in an environment that is characterized by refrigeration temperatures, low oxygen availability, lipid breakdown activity, preservation actions of free fatty acids and reduced water availability, the physiology of "P. commune" allows the fungus to still grow in these conditions. Therefore, as it is known as one of the most successful spoilage moulds of cheese, it is also the main reason for their spoilage. In addition, the fungus is frequently found as a mould growing on dry-cured meat products as well. This species has been isolated from other food products such as nuts, fats, margarine, fermented sausages, yogurt, sour cream, lactose powder, and high fat-filling cakes. It has been known to cause "phenol defect" in foods like ripening Italian ham, apples, pears and flours where the taste and smell of these products are off due to spoilage by the fungus. Aside from colonizing on food products, the fungus of "P. commune" has also been isolated from disposed used oil.
Industrial and medical applications.
"Penicillium commune" has shown promising activity in microbial biodegradation research in relation to environmental pollutants. A 2014 study identified the potential of this species to biodegrade industrial oil waste. Although the rate of bio-removing oil was dependent on volume of oil, pH level of culture and co-culture incubation period, optimal conditions resulted in a 95.4% removal rate of oil waste by "P. commune". The fungus could be a new source in industrial application with respect to biodegradation of oil wastes in the environment using biological means.
Although "P. commune" has no known penicillin activity, an environmental isolate of the fungus has shown to produce statin and to anti-pathogenic products. The fungus species was able to significantly decrease the growth of two pathogenic bacteria, "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" and "Staphylococcus aureus", on biofilms in a laboratory setting. In addition, there has been evidence of the production of lovastatin from the environmental isolate of "P. commune". Along with its ability to improve the antibiotic performance of oxacillin, "P. commune" has shown to be a new promising source in the production of anti-pathogenic products for medical applications.


Streptomyces diastaticus

Streptomyces diastaticus is an alkaliphilic and thermophilic bacterium species from the genus of "Streptomyces". "Streptomyces diastaticus" produces oligomycin A, oligomycin C, rimocidin and the leukotriene-A4 hydrolase-inhibitor 8(S)-amino-2(R)-methyl-7-oxononanoic acid.


Caladenia magniclavata

Caladenia magniclavata, commonly known as the big clubbed spider orchid is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has a single, hairy leaf and up to three pale yellow-green and red flowers with downswept, prominently clubbed sepals and petals.
Description.
"Caladenia magniclavata" is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single erect, hairy leaf, long and about wide. Up to three pale yellow-green and red flowers long and wide are borne on a stalk tall. The sepals and petals have thick, slightly flattened, club-like glandular tips long. The dorsal sepal is erect, is long and wide. The lateral sepals are long, wide and turn down below the horizontal. The petals are long and wide and arranged like the lateral sepals. The labellum is long, wide greenish yellow with a red tip. The tip of the labellum is curled under with teeth up to long, along the edges. There are four crowded rows of deep red calli up to long in the centre of the labellum. Flowering occurs from September to early November.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Caladenia magniclavata" was first described in 1947 by William Nicholls and the description was published in "The Victorian Naturalist". The specific epithet ("magniclavata") is derived from the Latin words "magnus" meaning "large" or "great" and "clava" meaning "club", referring to the large clubs on the sepals and petals.
Distribution and habitat.
The big clubbed spider orchid is found in the area between Perth and Albany in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest and Warren biogeographic regions where it grows in dense jarrah and karri forest.
Conservation.
"Caladenia magniclavata" is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.


Eremophila georgei

Eremophila georgei is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a common, widespread shrub in central areas of the state, often growing on rocky ridges and hillsides and has serrated leaves and mauve, purple or pink flowers.
Description.
"Eremophila georgei" is a shrub growing to between tall with its branches covered with a dense layer of white hairs. Its leaves are arranged alternately and are elliptic to egg-shaped with serrated edges, mostly long and wide. The leaves are also covered on both surfaces with white hairs and raised glands.
The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on a hairy stalk mostly long. There are 5 sepals which are hairy, greenish-brown to purple, mostly long, sticky and often shiny. The petals are long and joined at their lower end to form a tube. The tube is mauve, purple or pink on the outside and white inside. The outside is covered with hairs, the inside surface of the petal lobes is glabrous and the inside of the tube is densely filled with woolly hairs. The 4 stamens are fully enclosed within the tube. Flowering occurs from March to December and is followed by fruits which are hairy, long with a pale yellow-brown papery covering.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eremophila georgei" was first formally described by Ludwig Diels in 1905 and the description was published in "Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie". The specific epithet ("georgei") honours William George, a mine manager on the Mount Margaret goldfields, who collected the type specimen in 1902.
Distribution and habitat.
This eremophila is common in central areas of Western Australia growing in sand, clay and stony soils on flats and rocky ridges in the Avon Wheatbelt, Central Ranges, Coolgardie, Gascoyne, Gibson Desert, Great Victoria Desert, Murchison, Nullarbor and Yalgoo biogeographic regions
Conservation status.
"Eremophila georgei" is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Use in horticulture.
This eremophila is an attractive species due in part to its large, colourful flowers which are often present over a long period. It can be grown from cuttings or by grafting onto "Myoporum" rootstock and the latter method is preferable if the shrub is to be grown in heavy soils or in areas of high humidity. Cuttings may take months to strike, even in warm weather. The plant will grow in full sun or dappled shade, needs little watering and is frost tolerant when mature.


Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary

Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary was set up in 1915 in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, India.
Geography.
Location.
Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary is located at .
It is one of the oldest wildlife sanctuaries of India and covers an area of . The elevation ranges from .
It provides habitat for barking deer, wild boar, Himalayan black bear, Indian leopard, jungle cat, rhesus monkey, Assam macaque, Himalayan flying squirrel. The sanctuary is also rich in bird life. The two Senchal lakes supply drinking water to the town of Darjeeling.


Pleurotus australis

Pleurotus australis, the brown oyster mushroom, is a gilled fungus native to Australia and New Zealand. It is found on dead wood. Although morphologically similar to some other "Pleurotus" fungi, it has been shown to be a distinct species incapable of cross-breeding.


Streptococcus salivarius

Streptococcus salivarius is a species of spherical, gram-positive, facultative anaerobic bacteria that is both catalase and oxidase negative. "S. salivarius" colonizes (usually in chains) the oral cavity and upper respiratory tract of humans just a few hours after birth, making further exposure to the bacteria harmless in most circumstances. The bacteria is considered an opportunistic pathogen, rarely finding its way into the bloodstream, where it has been implicated in cases of sepsis in people with neutropenia, (a deficiency in white blood cells).
"S. salivarius" has distinct characteristics when exposed to different environmental nutrients. For example, in the laboratory, if a growth medium is used that includes sucrose then "S. salivarius" is able to use the sucrose to produce a capsule around itself. However, if sucrose is replaced by glucose as on a GYC (glucose, yeast extract, calcium carbonate) plate, "S. salivarius" is unable to make a capsule from the glucose.
More importantly, in the laboratory, "S. salivarius" can show a distinct clearing on GYC plates. This is because "S. salivarius" can ferment the glucose yielding lactic acid. Next, the lactic acid actually reacts with the calcium carbonate in the GYC plate, resulting in zones of clearings on the plate.
Role as a probiotic.
Some strains of "S. salivarius" are being trialed for their use as a probiotic in the prevention of oral infections. Some strains of "S. salivarius" are found to produce BLIS (Bacteriocin-like Inhibitory Substances) which are antimicrobial peptides. These peptides display interspecies inhibition, and inhibit "Streptococcus pyogenes" (which causes strep throat infections). Lozenges containing S. salivarius are marketed to support immunity against more virulent Streptococcus strains. People with this strain of naturally occurring "S. salivarius" on their tongue have been shown to have fewer Strep throat infections. This is also being investigated for its potential to prevent rheumatic heart disease which is also caused by "S. pyogenes."
Agglutination of "Streptococcus salivarius" is often used in the diagnosis of atypical pneumonia caused by "Haemophilus influenzae"
Subspecies.
"Streptococcus salivarius" subsp. "thermophilus", also known as "Streptococcus thermophilus", is a subspecies of "S. salivarius".


Xanthoparmelia tinctina

Xanthoparmelia tinctina is a species of lichen from the family Parmeliaceae that can be found in Arizona, California, Northern Africa and Europe. The upper surface is yellow–green, while the bottom surface is brown and is plane, in diameter. The apothecia are wide, the thallus is laminal and is in diameter. The disc is either cinnamon-brown or dark brown and is ellipsoided. The pycnidia are immersed, and the conidia are bifusiform, with 8-spored asci which are hyaline and ellipsoid.


Mycosphaerella berkeleyi

Mycosphaerella berkeleyi is a fungal plant pathogen. It is the causal agent of the peanut foliar disease Late Leaf Spot.
Hosts and symptoms.
Hosts that suffer from late leaf spot include groundnut species belonging to the genus "Arachis hypogaea", and peanuts. Late leaf spot of peanut that produces sexual spores is referred to as "Mycosphaerella berkeleyi," whereas the asexual spore is referred to as "Cercosporidium personatum". Late leaf spot of peanut symptoms usually appear between 30–50 days following planting. Symptoms include dark brown to black pin-point spots on the upper and under side of the leaf surface. This contrasts the fewer, lighter brown spots that early leaf spot of peanut presents. Late leaf spot of peanut produces symptoms later in the season. These spores can be seen without magnification and give the spot a velvety appearance as opposed to early leaf spot of peanut, which can be seen with higher magnification. Even though these differences are slight, it is what helps to distinguish between the two pathogens.
Importance.
Late leaf spot of peanut is a serious disease that occurs in places where peanuts are grown worldwide. This foliar disease causes significant yield loss, and can be found wherever peanuts are grown. This includes areas such as Oklahoma, the southern USA, Fiji, Solomon Islands, as well as Tonga. Infection causes early death of the leaves and dramatic yield loss. This is estimated to range from 10% to 80%, and varies according to the environment and availability of control methods. In the USA, where fungicide application is a typical management practice, yield losses are less frequent as opposed to the semi-arid tropics, where fungicides are less available. It is estimated that "Cercosporidium personatum" reduces yields by 50% or more in Pacific island countries. Therefore, early detection is crucial, and successful management efforts must be implemented once the disease has been recognized. To help achieve this, early symptom recognition, as well as the timing of management strategies are valuable.
Management.
Cultural controls help to delay the onset and development of symptoms, and reduce the level of the primary inoculum present. The primary inoculum that causes the onset of symptoms is induced by the production of microscopic spores called conidia in soil residue. Large amounts of peanut residue in fields where peanuts are cropped seasonally usually results in the progression of late leaf spot. Therefore, crop rotation, along with tillage practices are advised. Since longer periods of leaf wetness is required for disease development, frequent irrigation can increase the chances of high humidity and increased leaf wetness. As opposed to irrigation systems, growers are encouraged to apply small amounts of water regularly in order to maintain a drier canopy. When planting new crops, plant as far away as possible, since late leaf spot spores travel far distances through wind dispersal. Try to avoid planting crops downwind from one another due to spore’s ability to travel between neighboring crop fields. Different varieties of peanut differ in their reaction to the pathogen, but none have proven to be resistant, and are able to be used as a control method. Spanish varieties are most susceptible, Virginia varieties are intermediates, and runner varieties are partially resistant. Very specific chemical controls are used to prevent yield loss, and are required in a very narrow, specific time period in order to be most effective. To be most successful, spray chemical controls as soon as the onset of symptom development. Fungicide application is recommended on a 14-day set calendar schedule, or according to weather based leaf spot advisory. In fields that utilize crop rotation, fungicides should be sprayed during the early pod stage (R3), which typically occurs during July, but can vary according to environment. After the first spray, the grower should continue to apply fungicides every 14 days or according to the leaf spot advisory. Chlorothalonil (Bravo; various generic brands), are the most successful fungicides, and have reduced risk of host resistance. An alternative approach to calendar sprays are to spray crops based on weather patterns. However, this method has proven to be less effective than calendar treatment approaches. Following a harvesting season, growers should collect, burn, or bury the remains of the crops to prevent the soil-borne pathogen from surviving and causing future disease outbreaks.


Virola venosa

Virola venosa is a species of tree in the family Myristicaceae. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil (in Amapá, Amazonas, Pará and Rondônia). It grows tall.
The fruits are ellipsoidal to subglobular, long and in diameter.


Geastrum leptospermum

Geastrum leptospermum is a species of fungus in the family Geastraceae. It was first described scientifically by American mycologist George F. Atkinson in 1903. The fungus produces small fruit bodies and grows in mosses on tree trunks.
Description.
The inner peridium, or spore sac, is nearly spherical, thick, pale gray to pale tan in color, and dusted with fine whitish particles that also cover the inner surface of the freshly opened rays. The mouth on the apex of the peridium is very small, minutely fibrous, and surrounded by a conical, white disc which is distinctly outlined and radially fibrous (if not deeply grooved). As the fruit body matures, the fibrous layer of the outer peridium splits, star-like, into three to six rays about halfway down or more. The fungus is "fornicate", meaning that the rays curve downward so that the base of the fruit body becomes arched up, which elevates the spore sac. This leaves its delicate fibrous, mycelial layer as a distinct, membranous, white cup on the underside, with its margin also rayed by slits, the rays attached to the rays of the plant above. When freshly opened, the inner surface of the rays is covered with a fleshy, pale buff, layer of tissue. This layer, when dry, forms the thin, tan or light brown, smooth and nearly complete membrane over the fibrous layer. The underside of the rays is white and smooth. There is no obvious columella (sterile tissue in the base of the gleba that extends into the gleba).
The spores are spherical and measure 2–3 μm. Under high power microscopy they appear as having a surface that is roughened by many small points or warts. The capillitium (coarse, thick-walled cells in the gleba) threads are unbranched, and measure about 3 μm thick. Both the spores and the capillitium are whitish to very pale yellow-brown.


Pseudotrichomonas keilini

Pseudotrichomonas keilini is a species of excavates that was discovered by Ann Bishop in 1939.


Bulbophyllum baronii

Bulbophyllum baronii is a species of orchid in the genus "Bulbophyllum".


Echium pininana

Echium pininana, the tree echium, pine echium or giant viper's-bugloss, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae. It is endemic to the Canary Islands, where it is restricted to the island of La Palma. It is cultivated in gardens of Britain and Ireland, and it has naturalized along the northern California coast in San Mateo and Mendocino Counties. Its native habitat is laurel forests, where it is now endangered through habitat loss.
The Latin specific epithet "pininana" means "small pine", though "E. pininana" is neither closely related to the pine, nor does it resemble that plant.
It is a biennial or triennial, showing little more than a leaf in the first year, but subsequently producing a flower spike up to high with a dense mass of leaves and small blue flowers.
The plant is recommended for the southern maritime counties of England, the Channel Islands and the Scilly Isles. There are, however, reports of successful cultivation in the English Midlands and Yorkshire, albeit in favourable locations. Specimens are also grown in Dublin gardens at Howth and in the Irish National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin. The plant also grows readily in North Wales where it seeds very widely. Although "E. pininana" is half-hardy in Britain and Ireland, it will self-seed to form clusters of plants, and it is suggested that by natural selection a hardier variety will emerge. The plant is most vulnerable to frosts in its first year. Because of its large leaves when partly grown, it is also very susceptible to wind damage. Hence a sheltered garden position is essential.
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Rimbachia paradoxa

Rimbachia is a species of fungus in the family Tricholomataceae, and the type species of the genus "Rimbachia". It was first described scientifically by the French mycologist Narcisse Théophile Patouillard in 1891.
Description.
The fruit bodies of "Rimbachia paradoxa" are somewhat flattened, with the cap is attached to the stem at an angle, and the spore-bearing surface (the hymenium) is reticulate and gill-like. The fruit bodies are saprobic, growing on dead wood.


Lake Phelps

Lake Phelps is North Carolina's second largest natural lake. It has a surface area of , and it is located primarily in Washington County on the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula between the Albemarle Sound and the Pamlico Sound. The easternmost part of the lake extends into Tyrrell County. An Indian dugout canoe was found in the lake dating back nearly 4,400 years. Other artifacts have been found around the area dating as early as 8,000 B.C.
Its origin has long puzzled scientists. Some say that its origin is underground springs, wave action, wind, a meteor, glacial activity or a peat burn. It is more or less a round shape.
Lake Phelps is named for Josiah Phelps, the first white man to enter its waters. Phelps and another colonial explorer, Benjamin Tarkington, were searching through what was then known as the Great Eastern Dismal or Great Alligator Dismal in 1755. Phelps and Tarkington were part of a group of hunters who entered the swamps in search of game and farmland. The group had become discouraged and were about to leave when Tarkington scaled one of the many trees and spotted the lake a short distance away. Phelps went ahead and ran into the water. As the first in the water he was given the honor of naming the lake.
The lake was established as a North Carolina State Lake in 1929, and it is managed by the adjacent Pettigrew State Park.


Leucospermum gerrardii

Leucospermum gerrardii is an evergreen, mat-forming shrub of mostly about 30 cm (12 in) high and up to in diameter, with branches originating from an underground rootstock. It has narrow leaves, sometimes with three or four teeth near the tip, and prominent, raised, netted to parallel veins. The flower heads are egg-shaped about 5 cm (2 in) in diameter and consist of at first yellow, later orange or scarlet perianths, and long styles reaching far beyond the perianth and together giving the impression of a pincushion. It is assigned to the family Proteaceae. It can be found in South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga) and Swaziland. It mostly flowers between September and November. The species is called dwarf pincushion or soapstone pincushion in English.
Description.
"Leucospermum gerrardii" is a high, evergreen, mat-forming shrub of up to in diameter, with upright branches originating from an underground rootstock. These generally form a closed cover of equal height, so the result is somewhat reminiscent of a cushion. The stems that carry the flower heads are slender, upright, thick, initially covered in spiderweb-like hairs, which get lost with age. The leaves linear to inverted lance-shaped, sometimes curved sideways like a sabre, long and ¾–2 cm (0.3–0.8 in) wide, at the foot gradually narrowing into a distinct leaf stalk. The leaves usually have an entire margin and end in a bony tip, but sometimes have three or four teeth with a bony tip. They initially have some fine and soft hair on their surface, but this soon wears off. The leaves also have a prominent pattern of raised, netted to parallel veins.
The flower heads are egg-shaped in diameter atop a long stalk, sit mostly individually, but sometimes with two or three together near the end of the branches. The communal base of the flowers in the same head has is cylinder-shaped 1½–2½ cm (0.6–1.0 in) long and in diameter. It is covered underneath by oval bracts with a pointy tip of about 1 cm (0.4 in) long and half as wide, very densely covered in soft hairs, rubbery in consistency and set in two or three whorls. The bracts that subtend the individual flowers are narrower oval with a pointy tip, are about 1 cm long and wide, rubbery in consistency and embracing the flower at its foot. It is thickly woolly at its base and ends in a tuft of long straight hairs at its tip. The perianth is 3–3½ cm (1.2–1.4 in) long, initially yellow but later coloring orange to scarlet. The lower part of the tetramerous perianth is fused into a tube, the middle part that consist of the claws is ruptured by the style at anthesis, the parts coiling, the lobe facing the center of the flower head with fine very short, powdery hairs, the other lobes are thickly set with felty hairy. The upper part of the periant (or limbs) are lance-shaped and pointy at the tip, about ½ cm (0.2 in) long, have a dense growth of with long straight hairs. The lance-shaped, pointy anthers are directly attached to the upper part of the perianth, are about 3 mm (0.12 in) long and lack a filament. The style that is about 5 cm (2 in) long, tapers towards the tip and slightly curves towards the center of the flower head. It is topped by a slight thickening called pollen presenter, which has a slender cone-shape with a pointy tip, is 2–2½ mm (0.08–0.1 in) long, with a groove at the very end that acts as the stigma. The ovary is subtended by four nectar producing awl-shaped scales of about 2 mm (0.08 in) long. It mostly flowers between September and December.
The subtribe Proteinae, to which the genus "Leucospermum" has been assigned, consistently has a basic chromosome number of twelve (2n=24).
Differences with related species.
The dwarf pincushion differs from its nearest relatives ("L. cuneiforme", "L. innovans" and "L. saxosum") and other species with cylinder-shaped receptacles (common base of the flowers in one head) by growing in low cushion-like clusters, by the linear to inverted lance-shaped leaves that slightly curve sideways (like a sabre), and by having raised veins.
Taxonomy.
Otto Stapf described the dwarf pincushion in 1912, and named it in honor of William Tyrer Gerrard, who had collected the first specimens known to science probably in 1865. Although plants from central KwaZulu-Natal overall have broader leaves than those from Mpumalange, a continuous grade between the extremes exists, and no subtaxa have been proposed. "L. gerrardii" has been assigned to the section "Crassicaudex".
Distribution, habitat and ecology.
The dwarf pincushion mainly occurs in grassveld among granite and quartzite outcrops in the higher mountain areas at 1200–1800 m (4,000–6,000 ft) in the Makhonjwa Mountains near Barberton and the northwest of Swaziland. A few small and isolated populations can be found on grassland on Table Mountain Sandstone and Ecca Sandstone in central Natal at 450–1100 m (1,500–3,500 ft) altitude. It is often associated with serpentine in the underground. Annual rainfall may be as much as 1000 mm (40 in) or 1500 mm (60 in) at the greater altitudes, mainly falling during the summer. The flowers are mainly pollinated by birds. The seeds are released from the heads about two months after flowering and are collected by ants that bring them to their underground nests. "L. gerrardii" plants survive the regular grass fires that kill the above-ground branches, because it regenerates from the many spreading, underground stems.
Conservation.
"L. gerrardii" is considered near threatened, due to a reduction of the population by about 30% over the last hundred years that was caused by afforestation, overgrazing, too high-frequency burning and habitat fragmentation.


Dipterocarpus rigidus

Dipterocarpus rigidus grows as a large tree up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . Bark is rust-brown. The fruits are roundish, up to in diameter. Habitat is mixed dipterocarp forest on low hills near coasts. "D. rigidus" is found in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo.


Simosthenurus occidentalis

Simosthenurus occidentalis is a species of sthenurine marsupial that existed in Australia during the Pliocene, becoming extinct in the Pleistocene epoch around 42 000 years ago. A large herbivorous biped that resembles large kangaroos, the species had a heavier body than the modern roo. The structure of the skull and teeth indicates it consumed tough vegetation, resembling koalas and panda bears, and is referred to as a short-faced kangaroo.
Taxonomy.
The type specimen was collected by E. A. Le Souef and noted in a report to the state's Caves Board, then revised and published by Ludwig Glauert as "Sthenurus occidentalis" in 1910. This holotype is fossil material preserving the left and right dentary of an adult found at Mammoth Cave in Southwest Australia.
The specific epithet "occidentalis", meaning "of the west", refers to the discovery of this species in Western Australia.
Description.
A mid-sized species of "Simosthenurus", known as 'short-faced' kangaroos, one of several genera in a macropodid lineage that diversified in Pliocene Australia. The mass of adults is estimated to have around 118 kilograms, standing at a similar height to larger modern roos but with a heavier and more robust body. The dentition contains molars set close to the jaw, which combined with the cranial structure, strongly indicates an animal capable of consuming tough vegetation. The short jaw and facial anatomy clearly distinguishes their appearance from the surviving lineage of kangaroos, which usually graze on grasses rather than a browsing diet, and more closely resembles the habits of the modern koala "Phascolarctos cinereus".
A set of powerful molars located close to the hinge of jaw, similar to but further back than a koala, improved the mechanical advantage and a potential enlargement of the zygomaticomandibularis muscles would have reduced the hazard of dislocation while biting with the rear molars.
Modelling of the bite force and the skulls resistance to torsional forces suggests that the species was able to consume tough material, such as leaves, bark and branches, that could be torn with the claws of the long forelimbs.
The diamond-like shape of the forehead and reinforced cheek bones was able to distribute the forces applied by large muscles to the rear molars at one side of the jaw, strongly suggesting that browsing habit included an ability to tear and chew hardy and fibrous material.
The morphology of the skull and dentition was found to be most comparable to Asian mammal "Ailuropoda melanoleuca" (panda), an animal that primarily feeds as a browser of tough plant material.
Distribution and habitat.
The species is represented in the records of many southern fossil sites in Australia, including Tasmania. The type locality is located in Southwest Australia, at Mammoth Cave, and evidence from another site in the southwest indicates it existed until about 42 000 years ago. Fossils assigned to the species have been obtained at sites in the Southwest, southern regions of Central Australia and the southeast of the continent. In Tasmania "S. occidentalis" has been identified at fossil sites in the northeast and central regions, the species has also been found at the nearby King Island.
Their distribution in the Pleistocene is dated to late-middle to late deposits.


Acacia camptoclada

Acacia camptoclada is a shrub belonging to the genus "Acacia" and the subgenus "Phyllodineae" endemic to arid parts of Western Australia.
The low spreading to erect shrub typically grows to a height of . It has slightly sticky and polished branchlets with easily detached stipules. The crowded, ascending to erect glaucous green phyllodes have an asymmetrical oblanceolate to narrowly oblong shape. It blooms from August to October and produces yellow flowers. The inflorescences occur in groups of two to five and have showy spherical heads containing 15 to 21 golden flowers. The seed pods that form after flowering are coiled with a width of and contain ovate to elliptic shaped shiny black seeds with a length of around .
The shrub belongs to the "Acacia prainii" group and is closely related to "Acacia dorsenna" and "Acacia prainii".
It is native to an area in the eastern Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia where it is found in low-lying areas, on sandplains and dunes growing in sandy or clay soils. The range extends from Newdegate in the west to around Balladonia in the east and is often part of mallee or "Eucalyptus woodland communities.


Kopsia singapurensis

Kopsia singapurensis (also called white kopsia) is a species of plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native to Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. It is threatened by habitat loss. It can grow up to five metres tall. When the plant is cut, white latex is produced. The flower has five petals. In Singapore, the tree can only be found in the Nee Soon Swamp Forest. In the wild, it flowers only twice a year, but when cultivated, it is free-flowering if grown under the right conditions.