Gospel Oak, Polstead

The Gospel Oak was a veteran tree in Polstead, Suffolk. The tree is associated with Saint Cedd, who reputedly planted it or preached beneath it. The oak tree is thought to have been named for its association with an annual church service, reputedly held beneath it for more than a millennium, and the tree is said to have been the oldest in the county when it collapsed in November 1953. A descendant grows nearby and has since been used as the site for the annual service.
Association with Saint Cedd.
The tree is associated with Saint Cedd (died 664 AD), a Northumbrian from the Lindisfarne monastery who preached the gospel in East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria. The Gospel Oak is thought to date from around this time and legend holds that Cedd and his monks preached from beneath the tree in the years before the village's St Mary's Church was built. Other legends state that the tree was planted by Cedd or one of his followers. The tree is one of two associated with Cedd, the other is the "Great Oak" at Great Yeldham, Essex – which lay within Cedd's diocese as bishop of the East Saxons.
It has been claimed that the Gospel Oak has been the venue for an annual service for more than a millennium. It is thought that this ceremony is a survival of the Rogationtide tradition of beating the bounds in which a procession, led by the parish priest, would mark the extent of the parish lands, and ask God for good weather and a bountiful harvest. Such processions often paused under an ancient tree in the parish where the priest would read a sermon from the gospels. As a result these trees became known as "gospel trees". It is known that an annual service has been held at the tree in the first week of August since 3 August 1902 when it was held by the Reverend Francis John Eld.
Later history.
The tree was described as the oldest in England in 1903, though this is unlikely given the ages of other known trees. It is, however, thought to have been the oldest tree in Suffolk at around 1,300 years old. It was later incorporated into the grounds of Polstead Hall, visible from the churchyard, and by 1900 stood at in circumference. It collapsed in November 1953 and, as of 2010, its remains were visible near to the village war memorial.
A naturally seeded sapling from the tree grows nearby and has been used as the venue for the annual service since the loss of the original tree.


Lithocarpus neorobinsonii

Lithocarpus neorobinsonii is a species of plant in the family Fagaceae. It is a tree endemic to Peninsular Malaysia.


Cyatheaceae

The Cyatheaceae are a family of tree ferns, the scaly tree ferns, one of eight families in the order Cyatheales in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). Alternatively, the family may defined much more broadly (Cyatheaceae "sensu lato") as the only family in the Cyatheales, with the PPG I family treated as the subfamily Cyatheoideae. The narrower circumscription is used in this article.
The family includes the world's tallest tree ferns, which reach heights up to 20 m. They are also very ancient plants, appearing in the fossil record in the late Jurassic, though the modern genera likely appeared in the Cenozoic. Cyatheaceae are the largest family of tree ferns, including about 640 species. Cyatheaceae and Dicksoniaceae, together with Metaxyaceae and Cibotiaceae, are a monophyletic group and constitute the "core tree ferns". Cyatheaceae are leptosporangiate ferns, the most familiar group of monilophytes.
The Cyatheaceae usually have a single, erect trunk-like rhizome (stem). Their fronds (leaves) are also very large, some of the largest in the plant kingdom. Some species have fronds reaching 3–4 m in length, and have a final crown width of some 6 m. The fronds are circinate before unfolding and usually pinnately or bipinnately compound, with deeply pinnately lobed leaflets. The large leaves are covered in scales and hairs, and bear sori (spore clusters) on their undersides. The sori are often covered by a flap of tissue called an indusium, a useful characteristic for classifying the Cyatheaceae. Some indusia are cup-shaped (cyatheoid), while others are hood-shaped (hemitelioid), enclose the sorus (sphaeropteroid), or scaly. Like most ferns, members of the Cyatheaceae are homosporous. Cyatheaceae are found in both New and Old World tropical wet montane forests and cloud forests, with some species extending into south-temperate regions. Most Cyatheaceae are terrestrial, with one sometimes being epiphytic and others having a creeping habit, but these are exceptions to the family norm.
Cyatheaceae can be distinguished from arborescent "Dicksonia" by the presence of scales, the position of the sori, and the morphology of sporangia and spores. In the Cyatheaceae, the sori occur away from the margins of the pinnules, and are elongate or rounded.
Taxonomy.
, two different circumscriptions of the family Cyatheaceae are used, as summarized in the table below. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family is one of eight in the order Cyatheales, and has three genera. In the classification of Christenhusz & Chase (2014), the family is the only one in the order Cytheales, the families of PPG I being reduced to subfamilies. It then has 13–14 genera. The "sensu stricto" circumscription of PPG I is used here.
Genera.
Since the exact number of species is not known, classification of the Cyatheaceae "s.s." has had a long and controversial history, and is still undergoing revision. Three tentative clades have been developed: "Alsophila", "Cyathea", and "Sphaeropteris". These are frequently used as genus names. "Cnemidaria", "Trichopteris" (or "Trichipteris"), and "Nephelea" (or "Nephelia") have also been suggested as genera. Initially, indusium and scale morphology were used to organize the Cyatheaceae into taxonomic ranks. Most recently, plastid DNA has been used, suggesting the Cyatheaceae should be split into four clades: "Sphaeropteris", "Cyathea", "Alsophila", and "Gymnosphaera + A. capensis". , it remained unclear which of these groups should be considered genera and which subgenera.
The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I) accepts three genera, placing the "Gymnosphaera" clade within "Alsophila":
In 2018, Dong and Zuo provided names in "Gymnosphaera" for species they considered to belong in this genus. Their hypothesis for the evolutionary relationship between these genera, based on their molecular phylogenetic study, is shown in the cladogram below.


Duncan Cedar

The Duncan Cedar, also known as the Duncan Memorial Cedar and the Nolan Creek Tree, is a large specimen of Western redcedar. The tree is located on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It is currently the second largest known Western redcedar in the world, after the Cheewhat Giant on Canada's Vancouver Island.
After the death in 2016 of the Quinault Big Cedar, the Duncan Cedar became the largest known Western redcedar in the United States by volume. It is also the largest tree of any species in Washington state, and among the largest trees on earth outside of California's remaining old-growth Redwood forests.
The Duncan Cedar is located in Jefferson County, approximately 15 miles from U.S. Route 101 on land managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and is accessible only by unmaintained logging roads. The tree is surrounded by second growth forest that has grown up after the original old-growth rainforest in this area was clearcut by commercial logging interests in the mid-20th century. It is not known why this individual tree was spared by the loggers. The tree is named after the loggers who discovered it.
The Duncan Cedar is estimated to be over 1,000 years old. Most of the tree is dead, with the exception of a strip of bark on one of the trunks. In addition, the tree's root system was damaged when an interpretive trail was built around its trunk. However, due to redcedar's natural resilience to pests and rot, the Duncan Cedar is not necessarily in poor health. According to University of Washington Forestry Professor Robert Van Pelt, the tree may live for many more centuries, unless destroyed by wind, fire, or human intervention.


Nepenthes manobo

Nepenthes manobo is a tropical pitcher plant endemic in the Philippines discovered in the Pantaron Range on the island of Mindanao, where it grows at a narrow elevation range of 1000–1020 m above sea level.
The species was compared to "N. surigaoensis". "Nepenthes manobo" can be distinguished from "N. surigaoensis" due to it having sessile leaves clasping 1/2 of the stem diameter with three nerves on either side of the stem diameter, the bottom half of its lower pitchers are bulbous and ovate in shape but cylindrical towards the opening, its upper pitchers had a distinctive hip with an orbicular to ovate lid shape, and the inner margin of the peristome had short teeth-like projections, whereas "N. surigaoensis" has a strongly decurrent petiole with three to four nerves, wholly cylindrical or ellipsoidal lower pitchers, and apparent hip on its upper pitchers, ovate to elliptic lid shape, and long teeth-like projections on peristome's inner margin
Etymology.
The specific epithet "manobo" was chosen to acknowledge the indigenous Manobo tribe where the species is said to occur in their ancestral territory in the Pantaron range.


Roelof Benjamin van den Bosch

Roelof Benjamin van den Bosch (1810–1862) was a Dutch botanist known for studying ferns and mosses.


Adinandra

Adinandra is a genus of plant in the family Pentaphylacaceae. It contains the following species:


Astridia hallii

Astridia hallii is a species of plant in the family Aizoaceae. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitat is rocky areas.


Nepenthes distillatoria

Nepenthes distillatoria (; New Latin, from Latin: "destillo" "to distill", "-oria", adjectival ending; "something from which a liquid is distilled", i.e., pitcher) is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sri Lanka. It was the second "Nepenthes" species to be described in print and the first to be formally named under the Linnaean system of taxonomy. It is therefore the type species of the genus.
Botanical history.
"Nepenthes distillatoria" was the second "Nepenthes" species to be described in print, after "N. madagascariensis". In 1677, Danish physician Thomas Bartholin made brief mention of it under the name "Miranda herba", Latin for "marvellous herb". Three years later, Dutch merchant Jacob Breyne referred to this species as "Bandura zingalensium", after a local name for the plant. "Bandura" subsequently became the most commonly used name for the tropical pitcher plants, until Linnaeus coined "Nepenthes" in 1737.
"Nepenthes distillatoria" was again described in 1683, this time by Swedish physician and naturalist Herman Niklas Grim. Grim called it "Planta mirabilis destillatoria", or the "miraculous distilling plant", and was the first to clearly illustrate a tropical pitcher plant. Three years later, in 1686, English naturalist John Ray quoted Grim as saying:
The root draws up moisture from the earth which with the help of the sun's rays rises up into the plant itself and then flows down through the stems and nerves of the leaves into the natural utensil to be stored there until used for human needs. [translated from Latin in "Pitcher-Plants of Borneo"]
Linnaeus used Grim's original specific epithet when naming "N. distillatoria" in 1753.
"Nepenthes distillatoria" was again illustrated in Johannes Burmann's "Thesaurus Zeylanicus" of 1737. The drawing depicts the end of a flowering stem with pitchers. Burmann refers to the plant as "Bandura zeylanica".
In the horticultural trade of the late 19th century, "N. distillatoria" was often confused with "N. khasiana" of India.
Ecology.
"Nepenthes distillatoria" is endemic to Sri Lanka and is the only "Nepenthes" species recorded from the island. It grows in waterlogged open scrub, along road embankments and other cleared areas, and in forest. "N. distillatoria" occurs from sea level to 700 m altitude.
Due to its isolation, "N. distillatoria" has no known natural hybrids.
Infraspecific taxa.
Three infraspecific taxa of "N. distillatoria" have been described, although they are no longer considered valid.


Haworthia decipiens

Haworthia decipiens ("Papierrosie") is a species of "Haworthia", in the family Asphodelaceae, in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa.
Description.
"Haworthia decipiens" is frequently confused with its western relative, "Haworthia arachnoidea" and is both variable and hard to identify ("decipiens" = "deceptive"). Like its relatives, it has rosettes of dense succulent leaves, which dry and contract during drought, and are covered in soft bristles
This species can be distinguished by its shorter, flatter, wider leaves; a lighter colour; translucent leaf tips; larger and sparser bristles which are mainly only on the leaf margins; and only a very weak leaf keel.
It has a range of local forms and varieties. To the west, this species gradually becomes "Haworthia lockwoodii", and to the south-west it becomes "Haworthia mucronata" (south of the Swartberg Mountains).
Flowering time is in the Spring.
Distribution.
This is a widespread species, occurring from near Prince Albert in the west, along the north of the Swartberg Mountains as far as Uniondale and Willowmore in the Eastern Cape. It occurs in a wide range of habitats and usually in the shelter of protective shading bushes.


Euonymus dichotomus

Euonymus dichotomus is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to Western Ghats.


Bryobrittonia

Bryobrittonia is a genus of moss in the family Encalyptaceae; it contains the single species Bryobrittonia longipes. This species grows on calcareous soil in cooler climates of North America, Europe, and central Asia.
The genus is named in honor of Elizabeth Gertrude Britton, a founder of the Wild Flower Preservation Society of America.


Eucalyptus lucens

Eucalyptus lucens, commonly known as the shiny-leaved mallee, is a species of mallee that is endemic to northwestern Australia. It has small, pale greyish to brown bark, glistening, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven on a branching peduncle, creamy white flowers and conical fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus lucens" is a mallee that typically grows to a height of but sometimes as high as , and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth pale grey to brownish bark, but often with some rough, fibrous or flaky bark near the base. Young plants and coppice regrowth have lance-shaped leaves arranged alternately, long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, lance-shaped, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flowers are mostly arranged on the ends of the branches in groups of seven on a thin, branching peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels long. Flowering occurs between December and March and the flowers are creamy white. The fruit is a woody, conical capsule long and wide with the valves near rim level.
This eucalypt is a comparatively rare species but is conspicuous due to its glistening leaves, contrasting with those of the few other eucalypts growing in similar areas.
Txonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus lucens" was first formally described in 1978 by Ian Brooker and Clyde Dunlop from a specimen collected by Dunlop on Mount Sonder in 1973. The description was published in the journal "Australian Forest Research". The specific epithet ("lucens") is a Latin word meaning "shining", "glistening" or "polished", referring to the shining leaves.
Distribution and habitat.
Shiny-leaved mallee grows in open shrubland on shallow soils on sandstone and quartzite hills, mainly on the ranges west of Alice Springs in the northern Territory, but also in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Conservation status.
This mallee is classified as "Priority One" in Western Australia, by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife, meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations which are potentially at risk.


Bauhinia integerrima

Bauhinia integerrima is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae, in Brazil. The plant is endemic to southern Bahia state, in the Atlantic Forest ecoregion of Southeast Brazil.


Cryptantha muricata

Cryptantha muricata is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name pointed cryptantha. It is native to California and adjacent parts of Arizona, Baja California, and Nevada, where it is known from many habitat types. It is an annual herb producing a branching 10 centimeters to one meter in height which is coated densely in rough and soft hairs. The leaves are linear in shape and no more than 4 centimeters long. They have hairs and bristles, some of which have bulbous bases. The inflorescence is a length of very hairy developing fruits tipped with a cluster of small five-lobed white flowers.


Matudaea

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


Acrodon

Acrodon is a genus of ice plants from South Africa. It comprises 8 species, mostly endangered and all restricted to the southern Cape regions of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape Provinces, South Africa.
Description.
Species of "Acrodon" form dense, low mats or tufts of growth, and their leaves are triangular in cross-section.
Another distinctive feature is that the leaves and flowers have a few tiny teeth along the ends of their margins and keels.
The white or pink flowers often have striped petals. The fruits are solid and persistent, with five deep locules.
Relatives.
It is frequently confused with related genera that grow in the same region, such as "Brianhuntleya" or "Cerochlamys".


Sceptridium lunarioides

Sceptridium lunarioides, the winter grapefern, is a species of fern in the Ophioglossaceae family native to the southeastern United States. In Florida, it can be found in the western panhandle. It can be found in "open grassy places in prairies, cemeteries, and weedy roadsides." Like other grape ferns, it depends on a mycorrhizal association in the soil to survive.


Tropidia territorialis

Tropidia territorialis, commonly known as the striped crown orchid, is an evergreen, terrestrial plant with between three and six thin, pleated, dark green leaves and up to twenty crowded, green and white flowers. It is only known from about five places in the Northern Territory, Australia.
Description.
"Tropidia territorialis" is an evergreen, terrestrial herb with thin, upright stems tall with between three and six thin, pleated, dark green leaves long and wide. The leaves have five prominent veins. Above the leaves is a flowering stem long with between ten and twenty resupinate green and white flowers. The flowers open widely and are long and wide. The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped, long and about wide. The lateral sepals are a similar size to the dorsal sepal and are joined to each other for half their length then spread widely apart. The petals are about the same size as the sepals. The labellum is long, about wide with a pouch at its base and its tip curved downwards. Flowering occurs between December and January.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Tropidia territorialis" was first formally described in 2004 by David Jones and Mark Clements and the description was published in "The Orchadian".
Distribution and habitat.
The striped crown is only known from about five locations in monsoon rainforest in the Northern Territory including on Groote Eylandt.


British NVC community CG2

NVC community CG2 ("Festuca ovina - Avenula pratensis" grassland) is one of the calcicolous grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of three short-sward communities associated with heavy grazing, within the lowland calcicolous grassland group, and is regarded as "typical" chalk grassland.
It is a comparatively widely distributed community. There are four subcommunities.
Community composition.
The following constant species are found in this community:
The following rare species are also associated with the community:
Distribution.
This community is found in lowland limestone grassland throughout England and Wales.
Subcommunities.
There are four subcommunities, one of which is subdivided into three variants:


Chinese Wisteria


Oxalis adenophylla

Oxalis adenophylla, commonly known as Chilean oxalis or silver shamrock (among other common names), is an Argentinian and Chilean alpine plant.
It does well in far-north locations such as Sweden, Norway and Nova Scotia (Canada), as well as in purely temperate regions. Its cold-hardiness comes from the bulb's adaptation to freezing during dormancy. It is, however, susceptible to rot in the winter in temperate zones, a problem not present where ground freezes in winter. It is tolerant of some shade, but will bloom most with southern full sunlight .
Cultivation.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 4-10. Outside of its native location, it is often used for rock gardens. It can also do well as a houseplant.
In the UK this plant has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Brachybasidiaceae

The Brachybasidiaceae are a family of fungi in the Basidiomycota, Exobasidiales order. Species in the family have a widespread distribution, especially in tropical and temperate regions of the world. Members of the Brachybasidiaceae are plant pathogens that grow on the leaves of plants such as palms, grasses, sedges, and spiderwort species.


Herniaria glabra

Herniaria glabra, the smooth rupturewort, is a plant of the family Caryophyllaceae. Growing in North America and Europe. It contains herniarin, a methoxy analog of umbelliferone.


Apiales

The Apiales are an order of flowering plants. The families are those recognized in the APG III system. This is typical of the newer classifications, though there is some slight variation and in particular, the Torriceliaceae may be divided.
Under this definition, well-known members include carrots, celery, parsley, and "Hedera helix" (English ivy).
The order Apiales is placed within the asterid group of eudicots as circumscribed by the APG III system. Within the asterids, Apiales belongs to an unranked group called the campanulids, and within the campanulids, it belongs to a clade known in phylogenetic nomenclature as Apiidae. In 2010, a subclade of Apiidae named Dipsapiidae was defined to consist of the three orders: Apiales, Paracryphiales, and Dipsacales.
Taxonomy.
Under the Cronquist system, only the Apiaceae and Araliaceae were included here, and the restricted order was placed among the rosids rather than the asterids. The Pittosporaceae were placed within the Rosales, and many of the other forms within the family Cornaceae. "Pennantia" was in the family Icacinaceae. In the classification system of Dahlgren the families Apiaceae and Araliaceae were placed in the order Ariales, in the superorder Araliiflorae (also called Aralianae).
The present understanding of the Apiales is fairly recent and is based upon comparison of DNA sequences by phylogenetic methods. The circumscriptions of some of the families have changed. In 2009, one of the subfamilies of Araliaceae was shown to be polyphyletic.
Gynoecia.
The largest and obviously closely related families of Apiales are Araliaceae, Myodocarpaceae and
Apiaceae, which resemble each other in the structure of their gynoecia. In this respect however, the Pittosporaceae is notably distinct from them.
Typical syncarpous gynoecia exhibit four vertical zones, determined by the extent of fusion of the carpels. In most plants the synascidiate (i.e. "united bottle-shaped") and symplicate zones are fertile and bear the ovules. Each of the first three families possess mainly bi- or multilocular ovaries in a gynoecium with a long synascidiate, but very short symplicate zone, where the ovules are inserted at their transition, the so-called cross-zone (or "Querzone").
In gynoecia of the Pittosporaceae, the symplicate is much longer than the synascidiate zone, and the ovules are arranged along the first. Members of the latter family consequently have unilocular ovaries with a single cavity between adjacent carpels.


Acacia uncifolia

Acacia uncifolia, commonly known as coast wirilda, is a wattle endemic to south-eastern Australia. It grows as a tall shrub or small tree, up to 2–6 m high and 2–4 m wide, in coastal areas of South Australia and Victoria, as well as on Tasmania’s Flinders Island and possibly other islands in Bass Strait. Its preferred habitats are coastal heathland, shrubland and dry open woodland on calcarenite soils. The phyllodes have hooked tips and the flowers are pale yellow. It is a host of the wireleaf mistletoe. It is listed as Rare under Tasmania's Threatened Species Protection Act 1995.


Erythroxylum incrassatum

Erythroxylum incrassatum is a species of plant in the Erythroxylaceae family. It is endemic to Jamaica.


Alsophila atropurpurea

Alsophila atropurpurea, synonym Cyathea atropurpurea, is a species of tree fern native to the islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Leyte and Mindanao in the Philippines, where it grows in forest at above 1000 m. The erect trunk is slender and may be up to 3 m tall. Fronds are bipinnate and 1–2 m long. Characteristically of this species, the final pair of pinnae are usually reduced and occur towards the base of the stipe. These, along with the stipe bases, are persistent and retained around the trunk long after withering. The stipe itself is dark and covered with scales, which are either small, dull and brown or large, dark and glossy. Sori occur near the midvein of fertile pinnules and lack indusia. Fertile pinnules are notably smaller than sterile ones.
"A. atropurpurea" is very similar to "Alsophila ramispina" and may in fact represent the same species. It differs only in its smaller pinnae and pinnules, as well as other frond details.


Zingiberidae

Zingiberidae is a botanical name at the rank of subclass. Circumscription of the subclass will vary with the taxonomic system being used (there are many such systems); the only requirement being that it includes the family Zingiberaceae.
Cronquist system.
The Cronquist system (1981) treats this as one of four subclasses in class Liliopsida (=monocotyledons). It consists of:
APG II system.
The APG II system does not use formal botanical names above the rank of order. The plants involved here are assigned to order Zingiberales and Poales, both monocots.


Eriogonum caespitosum

Eriogonum caespitosum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name matted buckwheat, or mat buckwheat. This is a common perennial plant native to the western United States from California to Montana, especially the Great Basin. It is also cultivated as a rock garden plant.
This is a tough perennial plant which grows in flat, woody mats in sand and gravel substrates. It has small, fuzzy gray leaves which are scoop-shaped due to their rolled edges. From the mat emerge many erect inflorescences with clusters of greenish-yellow and bright red rounded flowers which hang backwards over the edge of the involucre. Some of the flowers are bisexual and up to a centimeter wide each, and some are only staminate and are much smaller.


Cacalia

The genus Cacalia L. is a "nomen rejiciendum" (rejected name) under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. The type species "C. alpina" L. has been transferred to "Adenostyles alpina" (L.) Bluff & Fingerh., and the former species of "Cacalia" now reside in a few different genera.


Echinocereus pectinatus

Echinocereus pectinatusi is a species of hedgehog cactus. It was first described by Engelm in 1848. It is found in the south-western US (New Mexico and Texas) and northern Mexico (Chihuahua and Sonora).


British NVC community M3

NVC community M3 ("Eriophorum angustifolium" bog pool community) is one of the mire communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system.
It is a localised community of northern Britain. There are no subcommunities.
Community composition.
The following constant species is found in this community:
No rare species are associated with the community.
Distribution.
This community is found in various locations in northern England, on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, and in a site in Wales.


Tetraphidaceae

Tetraphidaceae is a family of mosses. It includes only the two genera "Tetraphis" and "Tetrodontium", each with two species. The defining feature of the family is the 4-toothed peristome.
Range.
This family of mosses is most commonly found in northern latitudes.
"Tetraphis".
"Tetraphis pellucida" is the most common species in the family and is usually found in deciduous forests. Its leaves become wider in colder climates, which often leads to a misclassification of the species. "Tetraphis geniculata" is less commonly found and also appears in northern latitudes. The species often grows alongside the only other species in the genus, "T. pellucida". Both "Tetraphis" species are found growing on moist sedimentary rocks and also on soil with high organic content, but the genus is mostly found growing on rotting logs.
"Tetrodontium".
"Tetrodontium brownianum" grows most frequently on wet and shady rocks, of either granite or sandstone. The species normally grows alone but has been found growing with other bryophytes. "Tetrodontium repandum" is extremely rare and has been found growing in parts of central Europe, western North America and southeast Asia.
Morphology.
The most notable anatomical structure in the family Tetraphidaceae is the four teeth that make up the peristome. The teeth are whole, thick-walled cells which classifies the moss family as nematodontous. The teeth help the plant adapt as they can sense changes in the moisture in change length.
"Tetraphis".
The genus "Tetraphis" is made up of the species "T. pellucida" and "T. geniculta". The shoots on "T. pellucida" can be up to 1.5 cm tall and the lower leaves are often only 1 mm in length. The fertile shoot tips are longer with distinct leaves while the leaves on the sterile shoot tips are more clumped together. The crowded leaves of the non-fertile shoot tip may form a gemma cup. The capsule, which is only about 2–3 mm in length, contains the spores used in asexual reproduction and is made up of four peristome teeth. The capsule usually fruits around early summer and the green, papillose spores are spread by wind.
The main contrast between "T. pellucida" and "T. geniculta" is the characteristics of the setae. In "T. pellucida" the setae are smooth and straight while in "T. geniculta" they are bent and papillose. In their immature forms, it is often difficult to tell one species from another as the seta is not yet fully developed.
"Tetrodontium".
"Tetrodontium brownianum" has short, bristle-like structures that grow out of the protonemal leaves. These structures can be up to 4 mm long and the protonemal leaves can be up to 2.5 mm long. Four triangular teeth make up the egg-shaped capsules which are normally only 1 mm long. The spores are smooth, in contrast to the papillose spores produced by species in the genus "Tetraphis". "Tetrodontium repandum" is very similar but has long, thin branches and the stem usually only grows to be about 2 mm in height. In some cases, a colony of "Tetrodontium" is made up only of the protonemal leaves. Additionally, "Tetrodontium" species do not have specialized asexual structures, in contrast to species in the genus "Tetraphis".
History of taxonomy.
Johann Hedwig first described and named the genus "Tetraphis" and the species "Tetraphis pellucida" in his book "Species Muscorum Frondosorum," published in 1801. In 1824 Christian Friedrich Schwägrichen named the genus "Tetrodontium". The phylogeny and taxonomy of the family Tetraphidaceae, in relation to other bryophytes, have long been disputed among bryologists. Some believe that there are characteristics of the family, like the thalloid protonema or the development of the peristome, that indicate that the moss is primitive and may share a common ancestor with Sphagnopsida and Andreaeidae. The exact phylogeny of the family and its species continues to be discussed among bryologists.


Ferocactus viridescens

Ferocactus viridescens is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae. This rare barrel cactus is known by several common names, including coast barrel cactus, keg cactus and San Diego barrel cactus. Most of its native range is in San Diego County, California, where it is threatened by development, agriculture, and other alterations in its habitat. It is also found in northern Baja California, Mexico.
It is spherical, oblate, or nearly cylindrical, usually wider than tall, and less than in height. The flesh is bright green and arranged into several ribs covered in arrays of long spines. The spines, which stick straight out and may curve slightly, are red when new, dulling to gray or tan. The cactus bears yellow to greenish flowers with red or pink scales. The fruit is yellow or red.
The Latin specific epithet "viridescens" means "turning green".
This plant, which is hardy down to , must be grown under glass in temperate regions, though it may be placed outside in a sheltered spot in the warm summer months. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Neckera

Neckera is a genus of moss belonging to the family Neckeraceae.
The genus was first described by Johann Hedwig.
The genus has cosmopolitan distribution.
Species:


Stutzia covillei

Stutzia covillei, the arrow-scale or Coville's orach, is an annual plant in the amaranth family (Amaranthaceae) that grows in dry climates and deserts of the southwestern United States. Formerly part of genus "Atriplex" and transferred to "Stutzia" in 2010.


Hymenophyllum helicoideum

Hymenophyllum helicoideum is a species of fern in the family Hymenophyllaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Boerhavia wrightii

Boerhavia wrightii is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common name largebract spiderling. It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows amongst desert shrubs. This is an annual herb producing a slender, spidery erect stem to about 70 centimeters in maximum length. The leaves are lance-shaped to oblong with rippled edges and roughly pointed ends. Most of the leaves grow near the base of the plant. The inflorescences appear at the ends of the slim stem branches. They bear a few pale pink flowers, each just a few millimeters long, with adjacent reddish or pinkish bracts.


Olearia traversiorum

Olearia traversiorum, the Chatham Island akeake, or Chatham Island tree daisy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand. It is also known by the synonym "O. traversii".
It is grown in other areas with mild oceanic climates such as Scotland.


Dryandra ser. Niveae

Dryandra" ser. "Niveae is an obsolete series within the former genus "Dryandra" (now "Banksia" ser. "Dryandra"). It was first published by George Bentham in 1870, and was given a new circumscription by Alex George in 1996, but was ultimately discarded in 2007 when Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele sunk "Dryandra" into "Banksia".
According to Bentham.
Bentham's definition of "D." ser. "Niveae" was "Flowering stems from a creeping trunk very short, with one or few ovoid flower-heads surrounded by long floral leaves. Leaves pinnate with numerous rigid segments white underneath except in D. nana." Four species were included; the placement and circumscription of the series may be summarised as follows:
According to George.
With the passage of time following the publication of Bentham's arrangement, "D." ser. "Niveae" was gradually abandoned. As the flowers and fruit are highly similar across all species in the series, it is difficult to distinguish individual species. For this reason the name "Dryandra nivea" began to be used in a broad sense, to refer to the entire group, and the other species names fell into disuse.
When Alex George published his revision of "Dryandra" in 1996, he recognised that there were several taxa in the series, and that these could be distinguished by their leaf shape. He resurrected a number of abandoned names, and published some new species and varieties. A new circumscription was given for the series: essentially the series was defined as containing those species in which the flowers of a flower head form a circle about a central hole.
George's placement and circumscription of "D." ser. "Niveae", as amended in 1999 and 2005, may be summarised as follows:
Recent developments.
Since 1998, Austin Mast has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data for the subtribe Banksiinae. His analyses have provided compelling evidence of the paraphyly of "Banksia" with respect to "Dryandra"; that is, it seems that "Dryandra" arose from within the ranks of "Banksia". Early in 2007, Mast and Kevin Thiele initiated a rearrangement of "Banksia" by sinking "Dryandra" into it as "B." ser. "Dryandra". This transfer necessitated the setting aside of George's infrageneric arrangement of "Dryandra"; thus "D." ser. "Niveae" is no longer current. Mast and Thiele have foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of "Dryandra" is complete.


Mitella caulescens

Mitella caulescens, the slightstemmed miterwort, star-shaped mitrewort, leafy miterwort, or creeping miterwort, is an herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Saxifragaceae native to western North America.


Oenothera odorata

Oenothera odorata is a perennial plant belonging to the genus "Oenothera" and native to South America.
"Oenothera odorata" grows to 60–90 cm (24–36 in) tall. It flowers in summer with yellow flowers which become red in time.


Torreyochloa pallida

Torreyochloa pallida is a species of grass known by the common names pale false mannagrass and weak manna grass. It is native to North America, especially the east and west sides. It grows in wet habitat, such as rivers, lakesides, bogs, and swamps. It is a rhizomatous perennial grass producing thick, erect to decumbent, sometimes matted stems which can easily exceed one meter in maximum length. The inflorescence is a branching panicle up to 25 centimeters long by 12 wide containing compressed spikelets with up to 8 florets each.
There are three varieties of this grass which are distinguished by appearance and distribution.


Plagiochila fasciculata

Plagiochila fasciculata is a species of liverwort in the family Plagiochilaceae. Found in eastern Australia and New Zealand in moist sites.


Aliciella triodon

Aliciella triodon (formerly "Gilia triodon") is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name coyote gilia. It is native to the American desert southwest from California to New Mexico, where it grows in desert habitat such as scrub and woodland. This small herb produces a thin, glandular stem not more than about 13 centimeters tall. The stem is surrounded by a basal rosette of fleshy, sharp-lobed leaves each up to 2 centimeters long. There are sometimes smaller, unlobed leaves on the stem itself. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or loose array of two or three flowers each about 5 to 7 millimeters wide. Each flower has a hair-thin tubular throat opening into a whitish corolla. The corolla lobes each have three distinct teeth.


Blue huckleberry

"Blue huckleberry" refers to either of two plants native to North America:


Lilium arboricola

Lilium arboricola is an epiphytic lily species with green flowers, and orange-red anthers. It was first botanically described by Francis Kingdon-Ward and his assistants Chit Ko Ko and Tha Hla after a collection in the Shan region of Myanmar in 1953. Specimens from this collection flowered once in cultivation in Great Britain and were then lost. It was thought that it had been rediscovered in Lao Cai, Vietnam, in 2006, and introduced thence to Britain and Canada, but this turned out to be a new species ("Lilium eupetes")


Wedelia spilanthoides

Wedelia spilanthoides is a herbaceous flowering plant in the sunflower family, Asteraceae. The natural habitat is open woodland of Australia and New Guinea. It was first described by Victorian State Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1865.


Dalbergia setifera

Dalbergia setifera is a low growing shrub in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Ghana.
It is threatened by habitat loss.


Sarcococca confusa

Sarcococca confusa, the sweet box, is a species of flowering plant in the family Buxaceae, probably native to western China. It is an evergreen shrub growing to tall by broad, with glossy green ovate leaves and honey-scented white flowers in winter, followed by glossy black spherical fruits, 5 mm in diameter.
It is a very adaptable and reliable shrub that is easily grown in many situations, including dense shade with very dry soil. It will however grow in full sun, even though the [foliage appears to bleach a little. The soil should be kept damp if grown in sun or part shade. The shrub is midwinter flowering with a sweet scent. The small black berries are eaten by birds which disperse the seeds.
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


Ferocactus emoryi

Ferocactus emoryi, known commonly as Emory's barrel cactus, Coville's barrel cactus and traveler's friend, is a barrel cactus in the genus "Ferocactus".
Description.
"Ferocactus emoryi" is spherical or cylindrical solitary barrel cactus, light green to glaucous, reaching a diameter of and a height of . It has 15 to 30 ribs with tubercles, especially in the juvenile stage. The spines are white to reddish. The central spine is very strong, 4–10 cm long, while the seven to twelve radial spines reach lengths of up to 6 cm. The large and funnel-shaped flowers are usually red or yellow, reach lengths of up to 7.5 centimeters and have a diameter of 5 to 7 centimeters. The fruit is ovoidal, about 5 cm long.
Distribution.
This species is found in nature in Mexico (Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California Sur) and in the United States (Arizona).
Habitat.
"Ferocactus emoryi" grows in the desert scrubs, hillsides, rocky slopes and gravely rocky or sandy soils, at an elevation of about above sea level.


Heliotropium shoabense

Heliotropium shoabense is a species of plant in the family Boraginaceae. It is endemic to Yemen.


Pseudechinolaena

Pseudechinolaena is a genus of tropical and subtropical plants in the grass family, all but one species endemic to Madagascar.
see "Echinochloa"


Nartheciales


Borthwickiaceae


Eleocharis flavescens

Eleocharis flavescens is a perennial flowering plant species called bright green spikerush, pale spike-rush, or wrinkle-sheathed spike-rush; it is a type of spikerushes belonging to Juncaceae. It is clump-forming species that also spreads into colonies. It is a small species that looks similar to other Spikerush species. It is native to temperate North America, the West Indies, and South America.
Varieties.
There are two varieties.
"Eleocharis flavescens" var. "olivacea" : is found along shorelines in eastern North America along the Atlantic coast and inland south of the Great Lakes to Minnesota. It is a short caespitose plant with biconvex, green to dark brown, achenes. The achenes have a two-cleft style and bristles that are as long or longer than the achene. The scales of the achene are rounded with round tips and have a green midrib. In Minnesota it reaches its most westerly distribution and it is listed as a Threatened species because of its rarity. It is a wetland species found in only a few locations in Minnesota but this may be due to under collecting because the species is small and looks like other species. In Minnesota, it has been found growing on a mucky lakeshore in a mixed forest, and along a muddy shoreline of a peat pond.
"Eleocharis flavescens" var. "flavescens": with red-brown to dark brown ripe achenes. It grows in southern and western USA, the West Indies, and South America.


Thermopsis montana

Thermopsis montana, the false lupin, mountain goldenbanner, golden pea, mountain thermopsis, or revonpapu, is a plant species which is native of the western United States.
The Latin specific epithet "montana" refers to mountains or coming from mountains.
Cultivation.
It is used as a medicinal plant, and as an ornamental plant in gardens. However, it is suspect of being poisonous. It is avoided by livestock.


Clarkia australis

Clarkia australis is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name Small's southern clarkia. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the forests of the central Sierra Nevada. It is an uncommon species threatened by such forest activities as logging. This annual herb produces a slender, erect stem approaching a meter in height. The leaves are widely linear in shape and borne on short petioles. The top of the stem is occupied by the tall inflorescence, which bears hanging buds that open from the lowest upward so that there are several closed buds above open flowers. The sepals do not remain fused as the flower opens. The petals are diamond-shaped and sometimes lobed and curling at the tip. They are mottled or spotted lavender, purple, and reddish in color, and each is up to 1.5 centimeters long. There are 8 long stamens tipped with large anthers bearing blue-gray pollen. The stigma protrudes past the anthers.
This species of "Clarkia" is very closely related to "Clarkia virgata", and it has been suggested that it is not actually a separate species, but hybridization studies have demonstrated that there has been sufficient reproductive isolation to produce hybrid incompatibility between the two taxa, confirming that they should be treated as separate species.


Ammannia arnhemica

Ammannia arnhemica is a species in the family Lythraceae that is endemic to northern Australia.
The species is found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.


Calymmanthium substerile

Calymmanthium substerile is a species of "Calymmanthium" from Peru.


Ottelia muricata

Ottelia muricata is a species of aquatic plant native to central and southern Africa.


William Starling Sullivant

William Starling Sullivant (January 15, 1803 – April 30, 1873) was an early American botanist recognized as the foremost authority on bryophytes in the United States.
Biography.
Sullivant was the oldest son of Lucas Sullivant and Sara (Starling) Sullivant. He was born in Franklinton, Ohio, a frontier town that had recently been established by his father and which eventually became part of Columbus, Ohio. He was sent to Kentucky for his initial education, then spent a year studying at Ohio University when it first opened in Athens, Ohio. Later he transferred to Yale and received a bachelor's degree in 1823.
The death of his father that same year obliged Sullivant to return home and take over management of the family business. He became a surveyor and civil engineer and successfully invested in mills, stone quarries, canals and other endeavors. He became interested in botany around 1834, influenced in part by his second wife, Eliza Griscom Wheeler. Initially he was interested in flowering plants and in 1840 published "A Catalogue of Plants, Native and Naturalized, in the Vicinity of Columbus, Ohio".
Sullivant collected plants throughout the Ohio region and built up a large herbarium with an emphasis on grasses and sedges. He identified and published several new plant species. He became acquainted with other botanists in America, notably Asa Gray and John Torrey. Their support encouraged Sullivant to continue his botanical studies and he turned his focus to mosses and liverworts.
In 1843 Sullivant traveled with Asa Gray through the Allegheny Mountains collecting mosses. He presented his findings in a bound two-volume folio, "Musci Alleghaniensis" (1845,1846), containing dried specimens of the mosses he had collected along with accompanying text in Latin for each species. He also authored the sections on mosses and liverworts in Gray's "Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States" (1848). Sullivant's contribution was later published separately under the title, "The Musci and Hepaticae of the United States, east of the Mississippi River" (1856).
He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1862.
In 1864 Sullivant published his most important work, "Icones Muscorum", containing 129 illustrations and descriptions of the mosses indigenous to eastern North America. The breadth of this work and the excellent illustrations cemented Sulivant's reputation as the pre-eminent American bryologist of his time.
He contracted pneumonia and died in Columbus on April 30, 1873. He had been working on a supplement to "Icones Muscorum" which was completed in 1874 by his colleagues, Leo Lesquereux. Lesquereux and Thomas P. James also completed his "Manual of Mosses of North America" in 1884.
During his career Sullivant had named and described 270 species of bryophytes and had gained worldwide recognition as the preeminent authority on North America mosses and related plants. He built an herbarium of some 18,000 moss specimens which were donated to Harvard University. The Sullivant Moss Society was named in his honor and later became known as the American Bryological and Lichenological Society.
He married three times: Jane Marshall in 1824, Eliza Griscom Wheeler in 1834 and Caroline Eudora Sutton in 1851. He had thirteen children with his three wives. His son, T. S. Sullivant, was the influential cartoonist published in "Life" and other magazines.


Rheophyte

A rheophyte is an aquatic plant that lives in fast moving water currents in an environment where few other organisms can survive. Rheophytes tend to be found in currents that move at rates of 1 to 2 meters per second and that are up to 1 to 2 m deep. The amount of force produced by these currents, and the damaging debris they can carry, makes this environment inhospitable to most plants. Rheophytes are able to live in such environments because their leaves are streamlined so as put up little resistance to the flow of water. The leaves tend to be quite narrow and flexible as well. In order to prevent the plants from being uprooted, rheophytes have an extremely strong wide spreading root systems.
Many rheophytes live in areas that sustain flash floods and they are dependent on the oxygenated water and buoyancy brought along with it. Simply being an aquatic plant with narrow leaves is not a sufficient condition for being a rheophyte. Also, plants that grow in slow moving water that occasionally receive fast currents aren't rheophytes either if they don't need these fast currents to survive. Plants that fall into this category are known as facultative rheophytes. When low water levels occur rheophytes often quickly begin to flower to take advantage of these occurrences.
Examples of rheophytic plants are "Asplenium obtusifolium", "Osmunda lancea", and "Tectaria lobbii" (ferns) and "Gosong brevipedunculata" (an aroid).


Japanese Wisteria


Plant secondary metabolism

Secondary metabolism produces a large number of specialized compounds (estimated 200,000) that do not aid in the growth and development of plants but are required for the plant to survive in its environment. Secondary metabolism is connected to primary metabolism by using building blocks and biosynthetic enzymes derived from primary metabolism. Primary metabolism governs all basic physiological processes that allow a plant to grow and set seeds, by translating the genetic code into proteins, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Specialized compounds from secondary metabolism are essential for communicating with other organisms in mutualistic (e.g. attraction of beneficial organisms such as pollinators) or antagonistic interactions (e.g. deterrent against herbivores and pathogens). They further assist in coping with abiotic stress such as increased UV-radiation. The broad functional spectrum of specialized metabolism is still not fully understood. In any case, a good balance between products of primary and secondary metabolism is best for a plant’s optimal growth and development as well as for its effective coping with often changing environmental conditions. Well known specialized compounds include alkaloids, polyphenols including flavonoids, and terpenoids. Humans use many of these compounds for culinary, medicinal and nutraceutical purposes.
History.
Research into secondary plant metabolism primarily took off in the later half of the 19th century, however, there was still much confusion over what the exact function and usefulness of these compounds were. All that was known was that secondary plant metabolites were "by-products" of the primary metabolism and were not crucial to the plant's survival. Early research only succeeded as far as categorizing the secondary plant metabolites but did not give real insight into the actual function of the secondary plant metabolites. The study of plant metabolites is thought to have started in the early 1800s when Friedrich Willhelm Serturner isolated morphine from opium poppy, and after that new discoveries were made rapidly. In the early half of the 1900s, the main research around secondary plant metabolism was dedicated to the formation of secondary metabolites in plants, and this research was compounded by the use of tracer techniques which made deducing metabolic pathways much easier. However, there was still not much research being conducted into the functions of secondary plant metabolites until around the 1980s. Before then, secondary plant metabolites were thought of as simply waste products. In the 1970s, however, new research showed that secondary plant metabolites play an indispensable role in the survival of the plant in its environment. One of the most ground breaking ideas of this time argued that plant secondary metabolites evolved in relation to environmental conditions, and this indicated the high gene plasticity of secondary metabolites, but this theory was ignored for about half a century before gaining acceptance. Recently, the research around secondary plant metabolites is focused around the gene level and the genetic diversity of plant metabolites. Biologists are now trying to trace back genes to their origin and re-construct evolutionary pathways.
Primary vs. Secondary Plant Metabolism.
Primary metabolism in a plant comprises all metabolic pathways that are essential to the plant's survival. Primary metabolites are compounds that are directly involved in the growth and development of a plant whereas secondary metabolites are compounds produced in other metabolic pathways that, although important, are not essential to the functioning of the plant. However, secondary plant metabolites are useful in the long term, often for defense purposes, and give plants characteristics such as color. Secondary plant metabolites are also used in signalling and regulation of primary metabolic pathways. Plant hormones, which are secondary metabolites, are often used to regulate the metabolic activity within cells and oversee the overall development of the plant. As mentioned above in the History tab, secondary plant metabolites help the plant maintain an intricate balance with the environment, often adapting to match the environmental needs. Plant metabolites that color the plant are a good example of this, as the coloring of a plant can attract pollinators and also defend against attack by animals.
Types of Secondary Metabolites in plants.
There is no fixed, commonly agreed upon system for classifying secondary metabolites. Based on their biosynthetic origins, plant secondary metabolites can be divided into three major groups:
Other researchers have classified secondary metabolites into following, more specific types
Some of the secondary metabolites are discussed below:
Atropine.
Atropine is a type of secondary metabolite called a tropane alkaloid. Alkaloids contain nitrogens, frequently in a ring structure, and are derived from amino acids. Tropane is an organic compound containing nitrogen and it is from tropane that atropine is derived. Atropine is synthesized by a reaction between tropine and tropate, catalyzed by atropinase. Both of the substrates involved in this reaction are derived from amino acids, tropine from pyridine (through several steps) and tropate directly from phenylalanine. Within Atropa belladonna atropine synthesis has been found to take place primarily in the root of the plant. The concentration of synthetic sites within the plant is indicative of the nature of secondary metabolites. Typically, secondary metabolites are not necessary for normal functioning of cells within the organism meaning the synthetic sites are not required throughout the organism. As atropine is not a primary metabolite, it does not interact specifically with any part of the organism, allowing it to travel throughout the plant.
Flavonoids.
Flavonoids are one class of secondary plant metabolites that are also known as Vitamin P or citrin. These metabolites are mostly used in plants to produce yellow and other pigments which play a big role in coloring the plants. In addition, Flavonoids are readily ingested by humans and they seem to display important anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and anti-cancer activities. Flavonoids are also found to be powerful anti-oxidants and researchers are looking into their ability to prevent cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Flavonoids help prevent cancer by inducing certain mechanisms that may help to kill cancer cells, and researches believe that when the body processes extra flavonoid compounds, it triggers specific enzymes that fight carcinogens. Good dietary sources of Flavonoids are all citrus fruits, which contain the specific flavanoids hesperidins, quercitrin,and rutin, berries, tea, dark chocolate and red wine and many of the health benefits attributed to these foods come from the Flavonoids they contain. Flavonoids are synthesized by the phenylpropanoid metabolic pathway where the amino acid phenylalanine is used to produce 4-coumaryol-CoA, and this is then combined with malonyl-CoA to produce chalcones which are backbones of Flavonoids Chalcones are aromatic ketones with two phenyl rings that are important in many biological compounds. The closure of chalcones causes the formation of the flavonoid structure. Flavonoids are also closely related to flavones which are actually a sub class of flavonoids, and are the yellow pigments in plants. In addition to flavones, 11 other subclasses of Flavonoids including, isoflavones, flavans, flavanones, flavanols, flavanolols, anthocyanidins, catechins (including proanthocyanidins), leukoanthocyanidins, dihydrochalcones, and aurones.
Cyanogenic glycoside.
Many plants have adapted to iodine-deficient terrestrial environment by removing iodine from their metabolism, in fact iodine is essential only for animal cells.
An important antiparasitic action is caused by the block of the transport of iodide of animal cells inhibiting sodium-iodide symporter (NIS). Many plant pesticides are cyanogenic glycoside which liberate cyanide, which, blocking cytochrome c oxidase and NIS, is poisonous only for a large part of parasites and herbivores and not for the plant cells in which it seems useful in seed dormancy phase. To get a better understanding of how secondary metabolites play a big role in plant defense mechanisms we can focus on the recognizable defense-related secondary metabolites, cyanogenic glycosides. The compounds of these secondary metabolites (As seen in Figure 1) are found in over 2000 plant species. Its structure allows the release of cyanide, a poison produced by certain bacteria, fungi, and algae that is found in numerous plants. Animals and humans possess the ability to detoxify cyanide from their systems naturally. Therefore, cyanogenic glycosides can be used for positive benefits in animal systems always. For example, the larvae of the southern armyworm consumes plants that contain this certain metabolite and have shown a better growth rate with this metabolite in their diet, as opposed to other secondary metabolite-containing plants. Although this example shows cyanogenic glycosides being beneficial to the larvae many still argue that this metabolite can do harm. To help in determining whether cyanogenic glycosides are harmful or helpful researchers look closer at its biosynthetic pathway (Figure 2). Past research suggests that cyanogenic glucosides stored in the seed of the plant are metabolized during germination to release nitrogen for seedling to grow. With this, it can be inferred that cyanogenic glycosides play various roles in plant metabolism. Though subject to change with future research, there is no evidence showing that cyanogenic glycosides are responsible for infections in plants.
Phytic acid.
Phytic acid is the main method of phosphorus storage in plant seeds, but is not readily absorbed by many animals (only absorbed by ruminant animals). Not only is phytic acid a phosphorus storage unit, but it also is a source of energy and cations, a natural antioxidant for plants, and can be a source of myoinositol which is one of the preliminary pieces for cell walls.
Phytic acid is also known to bond with many different minerals, and by doing so prevents those minerals from being absorbed; making phytic acid an anti-nutrient. There is a lot of concern with phytic acids in nuts and seeds because of its anti-nutrient characteristics. In preparing foods with high phytic acid concentrations, it is recommended they be soaked in after being ground to increase the surface area. Soaking allows the seed to undergo germination which increases the availability of vitamins and nutrient, while reducing phytic acid and protease inhibitors, ultimately increasing the nutritional value. Cooking can also reduce the amount of phytic acid in food but soaking is much more effective.
Phytic acid is an antioxidant found in plant cells that most likely serves the purpose of preservation. This preservation is removed when soaked, reducing the phytic acid and allowing the germination and growth of the seed. When added to foods it can help prevent discoloration by inhibiting lipid peroxidation.
There is also some belief that the chelating of phytic acid may have potential use in the treatment of cancer.
Gossypol.
Gossypol has a yellow pigment and is found in cotton plants. It occurs mainly in the root and/or seeds of different species of cotton plants. Gossypol can have various chemical structures. It can exist in three forms: gossypol, gossypol acetic acid, and gossypol formic acid. All of these forms have very similar biological properties. Gossypol is a type of aldehyde, meaning that it has a formyl group. The formation of gossypol occurs through an isoprenoid pathway. Isoprenoid pathways are common among secondary metabolites. Gossypol's main function in the cotton plant is to act as an enzyme inhibitor. An example of gossypol's enzyme inhibition is its ability to inhibit nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-linked enzymes of Trypanosoma cruzi. Trypanosoma cruzi is a parasite which causes Chaga's disease.
For some time it was believed that gossypol was merely a waste product produced during the processing of cottonseed products. Extensive studies have shown that gossypol has other functions. Many of the more popular studies on gossypol discuss how it can act as a male contraceptive. Gossypol has also been linked to causing hypokalemic paralysis. Hypokalemic paralysis is a disease characterized by muscle weakness or paralysis with a matching fall in potassium levels in the blood. Hypokalemic paralysis associated with gossypol in-take usually occurs in March, when vegetables are in short supply, and in September, when people are sweating a lot. This side effect of gossypol in-take is very rare however. Gossypol induced hypokalemic paralysis is easily treatable with potassium repletion.
Phytoestrogens.
 Plants synthesize certain compounds called secondary metabolites which are not naturally produced by humans but can play vital roles in protection or destruction of human health. One such group of metabolites is phytoestrogens, found in nuts, oilseeds, soy, and other foods. Phytoestrogens are chemicals which act like the hormone estrogen. Estrogen is important for women's bone and heart health, but high amounts of it has been linked to breast cancer. In the plant, the phytoestrogens are involved in the defense system against fungi. Phytoestrogens can do two different things in a human body. At low doses it mimics estrogen, but at high doses it actually blocks the body's natural estrogen. The estrogen receptors in the body which are stimulated by estrogen will acknowledge the phytoestrogen, thus the body may reduce its own production of the hormone. This has a negative result, because there are various abilities of the phytoestrogen which estrogen does not do. Its effects the communication pathways between cells and has effects on other parts of the body where estrogen normally does not play a role.
Carotenoids.
Carotenoids are organic pigments found in the chloroplasts and chromoplasts of plants. They are also found in some organisms such as algae, fungi, some bacteria, and certain species of aphids. There are over 600 known carotenoids. They are split into two classes, xanthophylls and carotenes. Xanthophylls are carotenoids with molecules containing oxygen, such as lutein and zeaxanthin. Carotenes are carotenoids with molecules that are unoxygenated, such as α-carotene, β-carotene and lycopene. In plants, carotenoids can occur in roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Carotenoids have two important functions in plants. First, they can contribute to photosynthesis. They do this by transferring some of the light energy they absorb to chlorophylls, which then uses this energy for photosynthesis. Second, they can protect plants which are over-exposed to sunlight. They do this by harmlessly dissipating excess light energy which they absorb as heat. In the absence of carotenoids, this excess light energy could destroy proteins, membranes, and other molecules. Some plant physiologists believe that carotenoids may have an additional function as regulators of certain developmental responses in plants. Tetraterpenes are synthesized from DOXP precursors in plants and some bacteria. Carotenoids involved in photosynthesis are formed in chloroplasts; Others are formed in plastids. Carotenoids formed in fungi are presumably formed from mevalonic acid precursors. Carotenoids are formed by a head-to-head condensation of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate or diphosphate (GGPP) and there is no NADPH requirement.


Orinus

Orinus is a genus of Asian plants in the grass family.


Trisetum canescens

Trisetum canescens is a species of grass known by the common names tall trisetum and tall false oat.
Distribution.
The bunchgrass is native to western North America from Alaska and British Columbia to central California and Arizona, where it occurs in forests, mountain meadows, and streambanks, being most common among Ponderosa pines and stands of spruce and fir.
Description.
"Trisetum canescens" is a perennial bunchgrass forming clumps of erect stems up to tall, but known to exceed .
There are three to four leaves per stem, the blades reaching up to 30 centimeters in length. The sheaths can be hairless to quite hairy, the hairs sometimes long and shaggy.
The inflorescence is an open or compact panicle of green, tan, or purplish spikelets up to 20 centimeters long.


Conospermum densiflorum

Conospermum densiflorum, commonly known as crown smokebush, is a shrub endemic to Western Australia.
The erect many-branched shrub typically grows to a height of . It blooms between September and January producing cream-white-blue flowers.
It is found in low-lying areas in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia where it grows in gravelly-clay soils often over laterite.


Ozothamnus turbinatus

Ozothamnus turbinatus, the coast everlasting, is a shrub in the family Asteraceae, native to the states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania in Australia. It grows to between 1 and 2 metres in height.


Evolvulus

Evolvulus is a genus of flowering plants in the Convolvulaceae, the morning glory family. They are known generally as dwarf morning glories. Most all are native to the Americas. There are about 100 species.
Description.
These plants are annual and perennial herbs and shrubs. They have non-twining stems. The leaves have smooth edges. Flowers are borne singly or in small clusters, or sometimes in spikes. The corolla is round and flat or bell-shaped. The fruit is a capsule containing 1 to 4 seeds.
Taxonomy.
Etymology.
The genus name "Evolvulus" comes from the Latin word meaning "to unroll", inspired by its non-vining form.
Species.
The following species are recognised in the genus "Evolvulus":


Alsophila catillifera

Alsophila catillifera, synonym Cyathea catillifera, is a species of tree fern native to eastern New Guinea, where it grows in montane scrub at an altitude of about 2800 m and above. It is a rare plant, known only from the type locality. The erect trunk is up to about 1 m tall and 10 cm in diameter. Characteristically of this species, the trunk often branches at the base. Fronds are bi- or tripinnate, 1–2 m long and may bear a pair of reduced pinnae towards the base. There are usually around six live fronds per crown at any one time. The stipe is spiny, warty and pale on the upper surface to dark at the base. It is |covered with scattered basal scales that are glossy dark brown and have a paler margin. Stipes are persistent with bases retained on the trunk. Sori occur near the midvein of fertile pinnules and are covered by thin, brown indusia that are saucer-like in appearance.


Eucalyptus rhomboidea

Eucalyptus rhomboidea, commonly known as the diamond gum, is a species of mallet or tree that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, pale yellow flowers and cup-shaped to funnel-shaped fruit that is glaucous at first.
Description.
"Eucalyptus rhomboidea" is a mallet that typically grows to a height of but does not form a lignotuber. It has smooth greyish to brownish bark that is shed in ribbons. Young plants have stems that are square in cross-section and egg-shaped to elliptical leaves that are sessile, glaucous and arranged in opposite pairs. Adult leaves are lance-shaped, the same shade of green on both sides, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven on an erect, unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels long. Mature buds are oval to rhomboid, about long and wide with a conical to slightly beaked operculum. Flowering occurs from September to October and the flowers are pale yellow. The fruit is a woody, cup-shaped to funnel-shaped capsule, glaucous at first and with the valves protruding strongly.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus rhomboidea" was first formally described in 2007 by Stephen Hopper and Dean Nicolle in the journal "Nuytsia" from material collected by Nicolle in 1998. The specific epithet ("rhomboidea") is from the Latin word "rhombus" meaning "diamond-shaped", referring to the distinctively shaped flower buds.
Distribution and habitat.
Diamond gum is only known from level or slightly undulating country in the Bremer Range between Lake King and Norseman where it grows in low woodland or tall shrubland.
Conservation status.
This eucalypt is classified as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife, meaning that is rare or near threatened.


Comesperma calymega

Comesperma calymega, commonly known as blue-spike milkwort, is a slender herb in the family Polygalaceae. It is a perennial herb growing to between 10 cm and 50 cm high, from a short woody rhizome.
The species was first formally described by French botanist Jacques Labillardière in "Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen" in 1806, from a specimen collected in Tasmania.
The species occurs in the states of South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia.


Dittrichia viscosa

Dittrichia viscosa, also known as false yellowhead, woody fleabane, sticky fleabane and yellow fleabane, is a flowering plant in the daisy family.
"Dittrichia viscosa" is a highly branching perennial common throughout the Mediterranean Basin. It has long, narrow leaves that are pointed at both ends and have teeth along the edges and glandular hairs on the surfaces. One plant can produce many yellow flower heads each with as many as 16 ray florets and 44 disc florets.
Originally, the species was found mainly in dry riverbeds and abandoned fields up to a 1500 m (5000 feet) elevation. Nowadays it is quite common in roadsides and ruderal habitats, even in urban areas. It is considered an invasive species in Australia. The false yellowhead is a tough plant, very resistant to adverse conditions and degraded environments. It is important as food for the caterpillars of certain butterflies and moths, like "Iolana iolas".
Despite the fresh-looking green color of its leaves and its attractive inflorescence, this plant is sticky and has a certain smell that most people find unpleasant. It contains an essential oil and has been used in traditional medicine since ancient times, especially in the Levant, as an astringent. A yellow dye substance has, since ancient times, been produced from its roots.
It is an important plant in Catalan tradition, often mentioned in adages and proverbs. One adage says that: "No vos 'nemoreu, amor,de cap fadrina gallarda que és com la flor d'olivarda molt guapa, i dolenta d'olor." [My dear one, don't fall in love with any woman who only has good looks, she is like a false yellowhead flower: beautiful, but full of stench.]


Corokia

Corokia is a genus in the Argophyllaceae family. The genus was first described in 1839. It comprising six species native to New Zealand, Australia and Rapa Iti. "Corokia" species are shrubs or small trees with zigzagging (divaricating) branches. In fact, "Corokia cotoneaster" is commonly known as wire-netting bush. The stems of the shrubs are dark when mature, covered with downy or silky hairs (tomentum) when young. In spring, they produce clusters of small, star-shaped yellow blossoms. Berries are red or yellow. The shrubs prefer forests and rocky areas, sun or light shade, reasonably well drained soil, and moderate watering.
Species.
Species found in the genus include:


Vanilla (genus)

Vanilla, the vanilla orchids, forms a flowering plant genus of about 110 species in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). The most widely known member is the flat-leaved vanilla ("V. planifolia"), native to Mexico, from which commercial vanilla flavoring is derived. It is the only orchid widely used for industrial purposes in flavoring such products as foods, beverages and cosmetics, and is recognized as the most popular aroma and flavor. The key constituent imparting its popular characteristics is the phenolic aldehyde, vanillin.
This evergreen genus occurs worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions, from tropical America to tropical Asia, New Guinea and West Africa. Five species are known from the contiguous United States, all limited to southern Florida.
The genus was established in 1754 by Plumier, based on J. Miller. The word vanilla, derived from the diminutive of the Spanish word vaina (vaina itself meaning sheath or pod), simply translates as little pod.
Description.
This genus of vine-like plants has a monopodial climbing habitus. They can form long thin stems with a length of more than 35 m, with alternate leaves spread along their length. The short, oblong, dark green leaves of "Vanilla" are thick and leathery, even fleshy in some species. But there are also a significant number of species that have their leaves reduced to scales or have become nearly or totally leafless and appear to use their green climbing stems for photosynthesis. Long and strong aerial roots grow from each node.
The racemose inflorescence's short-lived flowers arise successively on short peduncles from the leaf axils or scales. There may be up to 100 flowers on a single raceme, but usually no less than 20. The flowers are quite large and attractive with white, green, greenish yellow or cream colors. The flowers' sepals and petals are similar. The lip is tubular-shaped and surrounds the long, bristly column, opening up, as the bell of a trumpet, at its apex. The anther is at the top of the column and hangs over the stigma, separated by the rostellum. Most "Vanilla" flowers have a sweet scent.
Blooming occurs only when the flowers are fully grown. Each flower opens up in the morning and closes late in the afternoon on the same day, never to reopen. If pollination has not occurred meanwhile, it will be shed. The flowers are self-fertile, but need pollinators to perform this task. In the Neotropics, the flowers were historically presumed to be pollinated by stingless bees (e.g. "Melipona") or hummingbirds, but this was never confirmed; the only actual documented pollination (i.e., producing seed set) is recorded for an orchid bee, "Eulaema meriana", visiting "Vanilla grandiflora" in Peru, and pollinia of "Vanilla" species have been observed attached to other species of "Eulaema" in Panama. Hand pollination is the most reliable method in commercially grown vanilla. Vanilla plantations require trees for the orchids to climb and anchor by its roots.
The fruit is termed "vanilla bean", though true beans are fabaceous eudicots not at all closely related to orchids. Rather, the vanilla fruit is technically an elongate, fleshy and later dehiscent capsule 10–20 cm long. It ripens gradually for 8 to 9 months after flowering, eventually turning black in color and giving off a strong aroma. Each pod contains thousands of minute seeds, and both the pods and seeds within are used to create vanilla flavoring. Vanilla beans are harvested by hand from commercial orchards.
"Vanilla" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, such as the woolly bear moths "Hypercompe eridanus" and "H. icasia". Off-season or when abandoned, they may serve as habitat for animals of open forest, e.g. on the Comoros for Robert Mertens's day gecko ("Phelsuma robertmertensi").
Selected species.
The taxonomy of the genus "Vanilla" is complex.
see List of "Vanilla" species
This is a partial list of species or synonyms:
Aroma and flavor.
Regarded as the world's most popular aroma and flavor, vanilla contains the phenolic aldehyde, vanillin, as well as anisaldehyde, together accounting for its predominant sensory characteristics. Vanilla is a widely used aroma and flavor compound for foods, beverages and cosmetics, as indicated by its popularity as an ice cream flavor.


Ilex longzhouensis

Ilex longzhouensis is a species of plant in the family Aquifoliaceae. It is endemic to China.


Peltandra virginica

Peltandra virginica is a plant of the arum family known as green arrow arum and tuckahoe. It is widely distributed in wetlands in the eastern United States, as well as in Quebec, Ontario, and Cuba. It is common in central Florida including the Everglades and along the Gulf Coast. Its rhizomes are tolerant to low oxygen levels found in wetland soils. It can be found elsewhere in North America as an introduced species and often an invasive plant.
"P. virginica" is a hydrophytic marshland aquatic plant pollinated by a chloropid fly through providing a brood site and releasing the pollen onto them. The primary dispersal mechanisms are via water and animals.
Description.
This is an emergent perennial herb growing from a large rhizome and producing many large leaves. An individual leaf may have a petiole nearly a meter long and a blade half a meter in length. The leaves are quite variable in shape and size, but they are often generally arrowhead-shaped.
The inflorescence bears male and female flowers, as well as sterile flowers. The flower varies from whitish to greenish to yellow. The fruit is a brown berry containing a few seeds within a clear gelatinous pulp. Large number of seeds can accumulate in the soil of wetlands.
"Peltandra virginica" is a marshland aquatic plant, growing in North America bogs, ponds, and marshes. The roots and base grow into the submerged substrate, and the leaves and inflorescences project up and out of the water. The roots form a perennial rhizome. Various forms of leaf blades have been observed, both in larger ranges and smaller individual populations. Petioles range from green to green-purple to purple with a medium green blade petiole lengths between 38 and 98 centimeters and blade length being between 9 and 57 centimeters. Lateral veins also have variable thicknesses. Inflorescences are generally pale green to white, being lighter within the spathe. Lengths for the inflorescense range between 7 and 25 centimeters with the spadix being about half the size to the full length of the spathe with greenish to white flowers, producing fruits that rot within the closed spathe. Fruits are pea green to mottled green and purple and range from 6 to 16 millimeters. In most of its range, it blooms from spring to late summer and fall and in warmer regions, it will bloom into the winter. It generally thrives in low salinity environments.
Taxonomy.
Arrow arum, "Peltandra virginica", is a member of the arum family, Araceae, and is known by the names tuckahoe, green arrow arum, and peltandre. It was originally described as "Arum virginicum" by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and has also been placed in the genera "Alocasia", "Caladium", "Calla", "Lecontia", and "Rensselaeria". Other synonyms include "Peltandra luteospadix" and "P. tharpii".
In the eastern United States and Canada where "Peltandra virginica" resides, one other "Peltandra" species exists, "P. sagittifolia". "P. virginica" can be distinguished from the other extant taxon of "Peltandra" by the variation in leaf form, average greater size in non-reproductive structures, and the difference in color of the fruit. The fruit of "P. sagittifolia" is red with a white spathe, and the fruit of "P. virginica" are green to purple with a green to yellow green spathe.
Distribution and habitat.
"Peltandra virginica" is a native to North America; its range spans the entire eastern coast of the United States and goes as far west as Texas. It is also naturalized in areas of California up to Oregon and is present in eastern regions of Canada. It mostly inhabits the wetlands and swamps, including marshes and bogs.
Conservation.
Based on the Red List of Threatened Species 2016, "P. virginica" is a taxon of Least Concern, this is because of its broad range in eastern and central North America. In some areas within the range of "P. virginica" the populations are diminishing. It has also been found in California. While common in most of its range, "P. virginica" is listed as Endangered in Iowa.
Pollination biology.
In the pistillate stage the spadix of "P. virginica" is entirely covered by the spathe, not allowing insects to pollinate female flowers. Pollination is achieved by the plant's utilizing brood-site-based pollination. The chloropid fly "Elachiptera formosa" forms a symbiotic relationship with the inflorescence. The flies are attracted to the odor of the male flowers in an inflorescence's staminate stage where they feed on pollen and mate then find oviposition sites, followed by the development of the larvae and maturity of the flies.
Ethnobotany.
The plant contains calcium oxalate crystals, making it unpalatable. Indigenous peoples of the Americas used most parts of the plant for food, however, cooking it for hours first to make it safe to eat.
Historical accounts suggest that Native Americans may have used "Peltandra virginica" as a food source. They may have eaten the seeds and fruits as well as the leaves and roots. The section of "P. virginica"s range where its populations are highest, from Pennsylvania to coastal Virginia, are where it was most likely used for food. In other times and places, it has been used as an ornamental plant and to stabilize sediments in small bodies of water.
Wildlife.
"Peltandra virginica" is considered a low percentage of various animals' food sources. "Peltandra virginica" makes up 5-10% of the diet of small mammals that reside within its range and makes up 10-25% of the diet of water birds that share its range. "Peltandra virginica" makes up 5-10% of the diet of water birds that share its range.
Toxicity.
The non-reproductive structures of "Peltandra virginica" are known to contain calcium oxalate crystals, that can irritate the gastrointestinal system of animals and people and has been linked to the development of kidney stones.


Draba cruciata

Draba cruciata is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known as the Mineral King draba. This is an uncommon plant endemic to California, where it is known only from the Sierra Nevada in Tulare County. It was named for Mineral King, a historic valley in the area. This plant is a squat, mat-forming perennial adapted to high mountain climates. It has small paddle-shaped leaves covered in a thick coat of hairs. It bears an inflorescence of 5 to 20 yellow flowers, each flower about a centimeter across. The stem bears widely spaced fruits, which are siliques about a centimeter long each.


Xanthophyllum korthalsianum

Xanthophyllum korthalsianum is a tree in the family Polygalaceae. It is named for the Dutch botanist Pieter Willem Korthals.
Description.
"Xanthophyllum korthalsianum" grows up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The inflorescences are branched and may be much longer than the leaves.
Distribution and habitat.
"Xanthophyllum korthalsianum" is a rare species, growing naturally in Sumatra and Borneo. Its habitat is ridge forest at around altitude.


Bursera aromatica

Bursera aromatica is a species of plant in the Burseraceae family. It is endemic to Jamaica.


Osyris lanceolata

Osyris lanceolata, also known as African sandalwood, is used for its scented wood and to extract essential oil. The hemi-parasitic plant is found from South Africa to Zimbabwe and east Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda; northwest Africa; the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula and Macaronesia. It grows in rocky areas or along the margins of dry forest, but is usually not abundant in any one place.
The wood is overexploited in parts of its range despite legal protection.


Alsophila schliebenii

Alsophila schliebenii, synonym Cyathea fadenii, is a species of tree fern endemic to the Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania, where it grows on exposed ridges and on the upper edge of montane forest at an altitude of 1700–2100 m. The trunk is erect, up to 4 m tall and 3–5 cm in diameter. Fronds are bipinnate. Characteristically of this species, the most basal pair of pinnae are reduced, often to veins alone.


Hackelia setosa

Hackelia setosa is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name bristly stickseed. It is native to the Klamath Mountains of northern California and southern Oregon and it is also known from Sierra Valley to the southeast of that range. It grows in open and wooded habitat. It is a hairy perennial herb up to about 60 centimeters tall. Most of the leaves are located around the base of the plant, reaching up to 22 centimeters long. Leaves higher on the stem are shorter and narrower. The hairy inflorescence is an open array of branches, each a coiling panicle of white-throated blue flowers. The fruit is a cluster of prickly nutlets.


Sequoiadendron

Sequoiadendron is a genus of evergreen trees, with two species, only one of which survives to the present:
Fossil record.
"Sequoiadendron" fossil pollen and macrofossils may have been found as early as the Cretaceous and throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including locations in western Georgia in the Caucasus region.


Centropogon zamorensis

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


Boechera hoffmannii

Boechera hoffmannii (formerly "Arabis hoffmannii") is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Hoffmann's rockcress. It is endemic to the Channel Islands of California, where it is known from only three or four populations on two of the eight islands. A 2005 report estimated a remaining global population of 244 individual plants. It is a federally listed endangered species.
This is a perennial herb producing one or more erect stems from a scaly, hairy caudex. The stems reach a maximum height between 50 and 70 centimeters and branch near the top. Leaves are densely clustered around the caudex in a basal rosette. They are lance-shaped, leathery with hairy undersides, and up to 10 centimeters long. There are more widely spaced leaves along the stem which are 3 to 6 centimeters long. The inflorescence bears many white or purple flowers with thick, dark sepals. The fruit is a tough, hairless silique up to 10 centimeters long containing 2 rows of seeds.
The main threats to the existence of this rare plant are grazing and erosion caused by feral pigs and competition by invasive grasses. The populations of this plant are also slow to reproduce. They are monocarpic, with each individual living for a few years, fruiting once, and then dying, and each population has relatively few actively reproducing individuals in any given year.


Ilex maingayi

Ilex maingayi is a species of plant in the family Aquifoliaceae. It is endemic to Malaysia. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Hedera colchica

Hedera colchica is a species of ivy (genus "Hedera") which is native to Near and Middle East. It is commonly called Persian ivy or colchis ivy. It is an evergreen climbing plant, growing to 30 m high where suitable surfaces (trees, cliffs, walls) are available, and also growing as ground cover where there are no vertical surfaces. It climbs by means of aerial rootlets which cling to the substrate. In warm climates, it grows more rapidly and becomes established faster than other "Hedera" species.
Description.
The leaves are alternate, they are of two types, with palmately five-lobed juvenile leaves on creeping and climbing stems, and unlobed cordate adult leaves, lauroid type, on fertile flowering stems exposed to full sun, usually high in the crowns of trees or the top of rock faces. Stems are green.
It has the largest leaves of any ivy to 15 cm wide and 25 cm long.
The flowers are produced from late summer until late autumn, individually small, greenish, produced in large numbers in umbels, and very rich in nectar, an important food source for bees and other insects. It flowers in September and fruits form during or after winter. The fruits are berries, globular and black when ripe. They are an important food for many birds. There are one to five seeds in each berry, which are dispersed by the birds swallowing the berries.
The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
Ecology.
It is a woody evergreen climbing shrub, which can grow in a range of conditions. It prefers well-drained or alkaline soils rich in nutrients and humus with good water provision, but is extremely tough and adaptable. Like many climbing plants, it prefers its roots in cool shade with its crown in full sun. It can live over 400 years, reaching heights of 30m where suitable surfaces (trees, cliffs, walls) are available. It climbs by means of aerial rootlets with matted pads that cling strongly to the substrate. Its favoured distribution is humid microclimates, such as cloud forest, stream valleys, and the mountain ranges on the Turkish coast of the Black Sea, Asia minor, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and some islands of the Red Sea.
Etymology.
The ancient Latin name for Ivy.
Derived from the name ‘Colchis’ or ‘Colchidis’, a Caucasian area once famous for producing poisons.


Picramnia

Picramnia, the bitterbushes, is a genus of plant considered to be in the family Picramniaceae, but sometimes placed in Simaroubaceae. The name is conserved against the genera "Pseudo-brasilium" , and "Tariri" , both which have been rejected ("nomen rejiciendum").


Maytenus bilocularis

Maytenus bilocularis, commonly known as orangebark, is a tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It grows to 10 metres high and has leaves with toothed edges that are 3 to 9 cm long and 1.3 to 3 cm wide and elliptic, ovate or obovate in shape.
The flowers, in short racemes or clusters, appear between September and December in the species' native range.
The species was formally described in 1859 by Victorian Government Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, who gave it the name "Celastrus bilocularis". The species was transferred to the genus "Maytenus" in 1942.
The species occurs in dry rainforest and eucalypt forest in a discrete population near Atherton, Queensland as well from Biloela, Queensland southwards to Dorrigo, New South Wales.


Cotyledon chrysantha

Cotyledon chrysantha (syn. "Umbilicus chrysanthus" Boiss. & Heldr.) is an ornamental plant of family Crassulaceae.


Baldellia

Baldellia is a genus of aquatic plants commonly known as lesser water-plantains. It includes three species found across much of Europe and the Mediterranean from Ireland and the Canary Islands to Turkey and Estonia. The genus is named in honor of the Italian nobleman Bartolomea Bartoloni-Baldelli. "Baldellia" is very closely related to "Echinodorus".
Description.
Leaves aerial, elliptical to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate. Flowers hermaphrodite, in 1 - 3 whorls in umbels or racemes, or long-pedunculate in leaf-axils. Stamens 6. Carpels numerous, spirally arranged in a globose head, free, each with 1 ovule; styles apical. Fruitlets achenial, longitudinally 5-ribbed (3 dorsal ribs and 2 closely approximated ventral ribs), with a short, apical beak. 2n=16.
Variable in form according to ecological conditions.
Species.
Three species are recognized:


Clermontia samuelii

Clermontia samuelii is a rare species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common name Hana clermontia. It is one of several Hawaiian lobelioids in genus "Clermontia" that are known as `oha wai. This plant is endemic to Maui, where there are fewer than 250 mature specimens remaining. This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
This is a shrub which can reach five meters in height. It grows in wet "Metrosideros" forests. Some individuals are protected within Haleakalā National Park. Threats to the species include invasive plant species such as glory bush ("Tibouchina herbacea") and Vaseygrass ("Paspalum urvillei"), and feral pigs, which inflict severe damage upon the ecosystem.


Betula grossa

Betula grossa, commonly known as Japanese cherry birch (Japanese: 梓 "azusa"), is a species of birch native to Japan, where it grows naturally in mixed woodland on hill and mountain slopes in Honshu, Shikoku , and Kyushu. It was introduced to the West in 1896, but remains rare in cultivation.
Description.
"Betula grossa" is conical in outline, but its most distinctive feature is its cherry-like bark, with horizontal stripes of reddish-grey becoming dark grey with age, exfoliating in thin papery curls. The dark green leaves are up to 10 cm long and turn golden-yellow in autumn. The shoots are aromatic, and carry long, yellow-brown, male catkins in early spring. . The species is considered closely related to the American birch "Betula lenta". Hardiness: RHS H4.


Eriogonum butterworthianum

Eriogonum butterworthianum is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Butterworth's buckwheat. It is endemic to the Santa Lucia Mountains of central Monterey County, California, where it is known from a few occurrences in the wilderness southeast of Big Sur in the vicinity of Junipero Serra Peak. It grows in woodland and chaparral habitat on sandstone soils. This is a small clumpy shrub or subshrub growing up to about 30 centimeters tall and wide. The reddish-green, woolly leaves are oval in shape and curled under at the edges. They are up to 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers up to 2 or 3 centimeters wide, each individual flower a few millimeters wide and dull yellowish to pinkish in color.


Cadaba fruticosa

Cadaba fruticosa is a species of plant in the family Capparaceae.
It is endemic on Indian Subcontinent: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indo-China: Myanmar.
Its habitat includes the dry parts of the Gangetic plain, down through the Vindhya range, to Deccan thorn scrub forests
South India. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is known from Pakistan and Bangladesh to the Gangetic plains, south to Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana. It is found in Rayalaseema, central and eastern parts of Karnataka and south to Tamil Nadu, west to rainshadow regions around Palakkad and Punalur.
In Tamil Nadu, "Cadaba fruticosa" is known as '"vizhuthi"(Tamil: விழுதி ("viļuti")) and used in Siddha medicine for more than 2000 years. The juice of the leaves is especially used to cure gonorrhoea (Tamil: வெண்மேகம் ("věṇmēkam")).


Valerianella palmeri

Valerianella ozarkana is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name Palmer's cornsalad. It is found in Arkansas and Oklahoma in the United States.


Acer yinkunii

Acer yinkunii is a rare Asian species of maple. It has been found only in Guangxi Province in southern China.
"Acer yinkunii" is a shrub or small tree up to 5 meters tall with brown or purple bark. Leaves are non-compound, up to 5.5 cm wide and 2 cm across, leathery, with no lobes but a long tapering point at the tip.


Drepanolejeunea senticosa

Drepanolejeunea senticosa is a species of liverwort in the family Lejeuneaceae. It is native to Cuba. The species is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN.


Ribes amarum

Ribes amarum is a species of currant known by the common name bitter gooseberry. It is endemic to California, where it is known from mountains, foothills, and canyons. Its habitat includes Chaparral.
Description.
"Ribes amarum" is a shrub growing to one to two meters (40-80 inches) in height. Nodes along the stem each bear three spines up to a centimeter (0.4 inch) in length. The hairy, glandular leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters (0.8-1.6 inches) long and generally rounded in shape, divided into 3 to 5 rounded toothed lobes.
The inflorescence is a solitary flower or raceme of up to three flowers which hang from leaf axils. The showy flower has five pointed sepals in shades of purple-red which are reflexed upward. At the center is a tubular corolla of white or pink-tinged petals around five stamens and two styles. The fruit is a bristly berry up to 2 centimeters wide which is bright red, ripening purple.


Pseudobryopsis

Pseudobryopsis is a genus of green algae in the family Bryopsidaceae.