Taxonomy of Allium

The precise taxonomy of the genus "Allium" is still poorly understood with incorrect descriptions being widespread. With over 850 species distributed over the Northern hemisphere "Allium" is the sole genus in the Allieae, one of four tribes of subfamily Allioideae (Amaryllidaceae). New species continue to be described and "Allium" is both highly variable and one of the largest monocotyledonous genera, but the precise taxonomy of "Allium" is poorly understood, with incorrect descriptions being widespread. The difficulties arise from the fact that the genus displays considerable polymorphism and has adapted to a wide variety of habitats. Furthermore, traditional classications had been based on homoplasious characteristics (what turn out to be independently evolved similar features in species from different lineages). However, the genus has been shown to be monophyletic, containing three major clades, although some proposed subgenera are not. Some progress is being made using molecular phylogenetic methods, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, including the 5.8S rDNA and the two spacers ITS1 and ITS2, is one of the more commonly used markers in the study of the differentiation of the "Allium" species.
"Allium" includes a number of taxonomic groupings previously considered separate genera ("Caloscordum" Herb., "Milula" Prain and "Nectaroscordum" Lindl.) "Allium spicatum" had been treated by many authors as "Milula spicata", the only species in the monospecific genus "Milula". In 2000, it was shown to be embedded in "Allium".
Description.
The genus "Allium" are herbaceous geophytes is characterised by bulbs enclosed in membranous tunics, that may become fibrous and may be carried on rhizomes, with tepals that are free or almost free, and a subgynobasic style. The majority of species produce cysteine sulphoxides that are the source of their distinctive garlic and onion odor and taste. About twenty species are grown as edible crops, such as onions, garlic and leeks, while others are foraged from the wild, such as ramps. Many species are xerophytic and the over 850 species are found almost exclusively in the Northern hemisphere, being particularly diverse in the warm dry summers and cool wet winters of the Mediterranean. The main centre of diversity is the Old World with species rich areas in Central Asia as well as the Mediterranean Basin. A second centre, in the New World, is western North America.
History.
Descriptions of "Allium" taxonomy date back at least as far as Carolus Clusius' "Rariarum plantarum historia" (1601). When Linnaeus formerly described the genus "Allium" in his "Species Plantarum" (1753), there were thirty species with this name. He placed "Allium" in a grouping he referred to as "Hexandria monogynia" (i.e. six stamens and one pistil) containing 51 genera in all. In 1763, Michel Adanson, who proposed the concept of families of plants, included "Allium" and related genera as a grouping within 'Liliaceae' as Section IV, "Les Oignons" (Onions), or "Cepae" in Latin. De Jussieu is officially recognised as the first formal establishment of the suprageneric grouping into families (Ordo) in 1789. In this system "Allium" was one of fourteen genera in Ordo VI, "Asphodeles" (Asphodeli), of the third class ("Stamina epigyna") of Monocots. Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire (1805), who developed the concept of Amaryllidaceae, continued Jussieu's treatment of "Allium" under Asphodeli (which he considered synonymous with Adanson's Liliaceae and Jussieu's Asphodeli). He placed "Allium" in an unnamed monotypic section of Asphodeli defined as "Fleurs en ombelle, racine bulbeuse. Calice à six parties egales" (umbellate flowers, bulbous, calyx of six equal parts).
Subsequently, de Candolle reverted the family name back to Liliaceae from Asphodeli. He divided the Liliaceae into a series of Ordres, and the second ordre was named "Asphodèles", based on Jussieus' family of that name, in which he placed "Allium". The term 'Alliaceae' then reappeared in its subfamilial form, Allieae, in Dumortier's "Florula Belgica" (1827), with six genera. The 'Alliaceae' have been treated as Allieae within the family Liliaceae (or Aspholecaceae, a partial synonym) by most authorities since.
Regel produced a major monograph of the genus in 1875, and this remained the major reference work for over 100 years till the molecularly based study of Friesen and colleagues in 2006. Despite recent advances the precise taxonomy of "Allium" remains still poorly understood with incorrect descriptions being widespread.
Subdivision.
Linnaeus originally grouped his 30 species into three alliances, "e.g." "Foliis caulinis planis" and as the number of recognised species increased, so did the number of subgroups. Since then, many attempts have been made to divide the growing number of recognised species into infrageneric subgroupings, initially as sections, and then as subgenera further divided into sections. For a brief history, see Friesen "et al." (2006) and Li "et al." (2010) Regel's 1875 treatise on "Allium" divided his 262 species between the six sections proposed by Don, in his 1832 monograph on the genus. Stearn (1944) described 14 subgenera. Traub (1968) described 3 subgenera, 36 sections and subsections and about 600 species. By 1992 there were 6 sub-genera, 50 sections and subsections and 600–700 species. The situation was further confused by the presence of over 1,000 taxonomic names, many of which turned out to be synonyms.
The modern era of phylogenetic analysis dates to 1996. In 2006 Friesen, Fritsch, and Blattner described a new classification with 15 subgenera, 56 sections, and about 780 species based on the nuclear ribosomal gene internal transcribed spacers. Some of the subgenera correspond to the once separate genera ("Caloscordum", "Milula", "Nectaroscordum") included in the Gilliesieae. The terminology has varied with some authors subdividing subgenera into Sections and others Alliances.
The term alliance has been used for both subgroupings within species, "e.g." "Allium nigrum", as well as infrageneric subsections. These alliances are informal groupings based on morphological similarity and reflecting hypotheses of evolutionary relationship. and can be used between any two formal ranks. For instance the some 70 North American species were divided into nine well-defined species alliances, of which the largest was the "Allium falcifolium" alliance with 31 taxa. These alliances are usually referred to as the Ownbey alliances, after Marion Ownbey and were also used by Traub. A number of classification schemes have chosen to retain these, the Traub system not being universally accepted.
Subsequent molecular phylogenetic studies have shown the 2006 classification is a considerable improvement over previous classifications, but some of its subgenera and sections are probably not monophyletic. Meanwhile, the number of new species continued to increase, reaching 800 by 2009, 900 by 2016 and the pace of discovery has not decreased. Detailed studies have focused on a number of subgenera, including "Amerallium". "Amerallium" is strongly supported as monophyletic. Subgenus "Melanocrommyum" has also been the subject of considerable study (see below), while work on subgenus "Allium" has focused on section "Allium", including "Allium ampeloprasum", although sampling was not sufficient to test the monophyly of the section.
The major evolutionary lineages or lines correspond to the three major clades. Line one (the oldest) with three subgenera is predominantly bulbous, the second, with five subgenera and the third with seven subgenera contain both bulbous and rhizomatous taxa. Banfi and colleagues (2011) have suggested that the phylogenetic trichotomy of this genus "Allium" "sensu lato" is sufficiently distinct as to warrant splitting it into three separate genera. Banfi's scheme thus proposes the restoring the three originally separate genera "Nectaroscordum" Lindl. (type: "N. siculum"), "Caloscordum" Herb. (type: "C. neriniflorum") and "Allium" L. "sensu stricto" (type: "A. sativum") to correspond to lines 1-3.
Evolutionary lines and subgenera.
The three evolutionary lineages and 15 subgenera here represent the classification schemes of Friesen "et al." (2006) and Li (2010), and subsequent additional species and revisions.
First evolutionary line.
Although this lineage consists of three subgenera, nearly all the species are attributed to subgenus "Amerallium", the third largest subgenus of "Allium". The lineage is considered to represent the most ancient line within "Allium", and to be the only lineage that is predominantly bulbous, the other two having both bulbous and rhizomatous taxa. "Nectaroscordum" and "Microscordum" are bulbous, but "Amerallium" contains some rhizomatous elements. Within this lineage "Amerallium" is a sister group to the other two subgenera ("Microscordum"+"Nectaroscordum").
Subgenus "Nectaroscordum".
Disjunct distribution, involving the western Mediterranean (type species) and southwest Asia
Subgenus "Microscordum".
East Asia
Subgenus "Amerallium".
This large monophyletic subgenus is extremely diverse, both morphologically and ecologically and is characterised by leaves with one row of vascular bundles, absence of palisade parenchyma and a subepidermal position of laticifers, with a predominant base chromosome number x=7.
"Amerallium" is a relatively large subgenus with about 120–140 species. Under the alliance system of classification proposed by Ownbey (1966), species north of Mexico and two Mexican endemics were treated as eight informal alliances: the "A. acuminatum", "A. campanulatum", "A. canadense", "A. cernuum", "A. falcifolium", "A. kunthii", "A. sanbornii", and "A. validum" alliances. Traub (1968) then arranged the New World alliances into four sections: "Amerallium" Traub, "Caulorhizideum" Traub, "Lophioprason" Traub, and "Rhopetoprason" Traub. In addition he arranged the Old World species into 6 sections.
Since Traub's revision of the subgenus, two biogeographical sister clades (or alliances) have been recognised. The Old World clade is represented by two relatively small groups from the Mediterranean and East Asia. The larger New World clade by all North American species of "Allium". The New World sections are "Lophioprason", "Amerallium", and "Rhophetoprason", while the Old World is represented by sections "Arctoprasum", "Briseis", "Narkissoprason", "Molium", "Bromatorrhiza" and "Rhynchocarpum".
The subgenus is thought to originate in the Old World, with a later split, and to have its origin in the higher latitudes of East Asia, at the time of transition from Cretaceous to Tertiary, dispersing to western North America. Twelve sections were subsequently recognized, with sections "Amerallium" and "Molium" further split into two subsections.
"Amerallium" is widely distributed within North America, Europe, north Africa, Ethiopia, the Caucasus, northern Iran, southeast Tibet, and southwest China. The greatest species diversity occurs in North America with 81 species recognized in the 2002 Flora of North America (north of Mexico) and a further 13 are unique to Mexico, and a total of 26 species recognised there. Within N America, the genus covers most of the area south of the 53rd parallel, including the oak hillsides of California and Oregon, deserts of Nevada and Texas, alpine meadows of Utah and Idaho, prairies of Nebraska and Manitoba, and forest glades of Missouri and Arkansas.
Both bulbous and rhizomatous species occur in both Old World and New World alliances. The subgenus includes both ornamentals, such as "A. moly", "A. roseum", "A. unifolium" and "A. neapolitanum", and culinary species such as "A. ursinum".
15 Sections
Second evolutionary line.
Nearly all the species in this lineage of five subgenera are accounted for by subgenus "Melanocrommyum", which is most closely associated with subgenera "Vvedenskya" and "Porphyroprason", phylogenetically. These three genera are late-branching whereas the remaining two subgenera, "Caloscordum" and "Anguinum" are early branching. Of the five subgenera, the large "Melanocrommymum" and the oligo- or monotypic "Caloscordum", "Vvedenskya" and "Porphyroprason" are bulbous and the remaining small subgenus "Anguinum" is rhizomatous.
Subgenus "Caloscordum".
East Asia
Subgenus "Anguinum".
Two distinct distributions:
1. Eurasian-American ("A. victorialis" alliance, including "A. tricoccum") 2. East Asia ("A. prattii", "A. ovalifolium")
Subgenus "Melanocrommyum".
This Eurasian subgenus, the second largest, is complex and has had a confusing taxonomic history and is extremely diverse, morphologically. It is distributed from the Mediterranean to the Near and Middle East, to north-western China and Pakistan in the east, and southern Siberia in the north. The centre of diversity is Central Asia where it evolved, but its ancestry is located in East Asia. The 2006 classification of Fritsch and colleagues included 150 species but this has continued to grow. An extensive molecular based study in 2010 confirmed its monophyly but showed that the traditional sections were either para- or polyphyletic. On the other hand, a number of monophyletic subgroups were recognised, with about 40 clades, although their exact relationships remained not fully resolved. Consequently, traditional sections required considerable re-alignment. Eventually 160 species and subspecies were recognised in 20 sections and 22 subsections.
Description: The subgenus is characterised by true tunicated bulbs, annual roots, leaves that are mostly broad and flat with subterranean sheath parts that are barely visible above the ground, scapes that are strong and most often strictly upright and of varying length, and large, fasciculate to globular inflorescences. The latter are composed of many moderately small to large, often star-like, flowers, and some of which have a sweet or noticeable odor.
History: Early (prior to 1950) classifications of "Allium" included many of the members of this subgenus within the bulbous section, "Mollium" based on morphological characteristics. "Mollium" was later raised to subgenus level (and then again reduced to a section of "Amerallium" after transferring many species to "Melanocrommyum". The subgenus was then divided into sections in 1969. Molecular methods in the 1990s confirmed the identity of "Melanocrommyum" as a distinct monophyletic group, together with the presence of several subgroups, but the deeper relationships remained inconsistent.
Subdivision: Subdivision of the subgenus was first proposed by Wendelbo in 1966, proposing section "Regeloprason" Wendelbo, followed in 1969 by "Melanocrommyum" Webb & Berthel., "Kaloprason" K. Koch, "Acanthoprason" Wendelbo, "Megaloprason" Wendelbo, and "Thaumasioprason" Wendelbo. Kamelin (1973) provided an alternative arrangement of sections, which was supplanted by the Gatersleben "Allium" Group classification (1992) which used a broad range of variables.
The use of molecular markers to develop phylogeny began in the 1990s and showed that the subgenus was a well separated taxon with a number of subgeneric groupings. Friesen and colleagues (2006) carried out an extensive molecular phylogenetic study resulting in a taxonomy based on 15 sections. These were then further subdivided into five of the sections to create 17 subsections. While "Melanocrommyum" itself appeared monophyletic, most of the sections were either para- or polyphyletic, favouring the formation of a larger number of smaller subgroups. In their study there were a number of larger sections with 15–35 species, "Acmopetala", "Megaloprason", "Regeloprason", "Kaloprason", and "Acanthoprason". The remaining sections are either oligogotypic with 2–8 species ("Compactoprason", "Pseudoprason", "Miniprason", "Brevicaule", "Thaumasioprason", "Verticillata") or monotypic ("Acaule", "Aroidea", "Popovia").
In a more focused study in 2010 this was expanded to 20 sections and 22 subsections, or in some cases, "e.g." section "Melanocrommyum" (type: "A. nigrum") into nine alliances and "Acanthoprason" into seven. This section is the most diverse one within the subgenus in which subgroups differ according to the relationships of the lengths of leaves and scapes (leaves shorter, equal or longer than scapes) and inflorescences (fasciculate, umbellate or subglobose). The increased number of sections resulted from the splitting of some of the earlier sections, such as "Acmopetala". The two species in the resulting section "Longibidentata" are sister to all the remaining sections (core clade). This section, together with another new section, "Decipientia" form the basal clade. Although Li "et al." (2010) included three sections, their study was confined to species endemic to China.
Uses: The subgenus also contains many species grown as ornamentals, such as "A. giganteum", "A. cristophii", "A. schubertii", "A. aflatunense", "A. atropurpureum", "A. nigrum" and "A. karataviense". These species are predominantly from Southwestern and Central Asia, where they are used for both culinary and medicinal purposes. The latter usage is associated with the presence of cysteine sulphoxides and also radical scavenger activity, although many members of the subgenus possess less of these compounds and lack the distinctive taste and smell of garlic and onion, their properties appear to be associated with dithiodipyrroles and sulfur-pyridins. These substances also occur in the ornamental species, that were introduced into European and North American gardens in the early 19th century, and now are represented by an increasing number of named cultivars and hybrids. Cysteine sulphoxides are also largely responsible for the flavour and spicy taste of these species, predominantly the isomeric cysteine derivatives alliin and isoalliin.
15 sections
Third evolutionary line.
The third evolutionary line contains the most number of subgenera (seven) and also the largest subgenus of the genus "Allium", subgenus "Allium" which includes the type species of the genus, "Allium sativum". This subgenus also contains the majority of the species in the line. Within the lineage the phylogeny is complex. Two small subgenera "Butomissa" and "Cyathophora" form a sister clade to the remaining five subgenera, with "Butomissa" as the first branching group. Amongst the remaining five subgenera, "Rhizirideum" forms a medium-sized subgenus that is the sister to the other four larger subgenera. However, they may not be monophyletic. Of the seven subgenera, the large subgenus "Allium", represents the bulbous elelement.
Subgenus "Butomissa".
2 sections
Subgenus "Cyathophora".
Asia (Tibet and the Himalayas)
3 sections
Subgenus "Rhizirideum".
~ 37 species. Eurasian steppes, with greatest diversity in southern Siberia and Mongolia. Only a few species distributed in Europe, with Portugal as most western point. Some species occur also in Korea and far eastern Russia, and one in Japan.
5 sections
Subgenus "Allium".
Subgenus "Allium", the youngest of the subgenera, is predominantly Mediterranean but its distribution extends east towards Central Asia. This very large subgenus is divided into 15 - 16 sections and demonstrates two main groups. One has been referred to as "classical" "Allium" with tripartite inner filaments and only one thick storage cataphyll. The other is more diverse morphologically reflected in less closely related sections. A number of sections appear to be non-monophyletic, including "Avulsea", "Pallasia", "Brevispatha" and "Kopetdagia". It includes both ornamentals, such as "A. sphaerocephalon", "A. caeruleum", "A. carinatum" and "A. flavum" as well as food crops such as "A. sativum" and "A. ampeloprasum".
16 Sections
Section "Allium".
This is the largest section with about 114 species, a number of which are economically important, such as "A. sativum" (garlic) and "A. ampeloprasum" (leek). This section also expresses frequent polyploidy and contains a number of species whose boundaries have been difficult to establish, notably "A. ampeloprasum" which includes a number of subspecies and varieties, as well as synonymous species, which have been labelled the ""A. ampeloprasum" complex". Horticulturally, it is represented by at least four groups, including leeks, whose exact ancestry has been considered uncertain. In the molecular phylogenetic study by Hirschegger and colleagues (2010) showed section "Allium" to be a well supported clade with two main subclades, one of which included two smaller clades. All of the tetraploid forms of "A. ampeloprasum" were resolved in a single clade, and leeks appeared to be more closely allied to "A. iranicum" and "A. atroviolaceum" than "A. ampeloprasum". Restoration of "A. porrum" L. was therefore proposed for the tertraploid forms, reserving "A. ampeloprasum" for the forms known horticulturally as great headed garlic and "A. ampeloprasum" var. "babingtonii".
Section "Codonoprasum".
Section "Codonoprason" is strongly monophyletic and has its centre of diversity in the Mediterranean region, particularly Greece and Turkey, but extends to other areas of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It was originally conceived of as a separate genus, "Codonoprasum" by Reichenbach in 1828. The taxonomy of the section is complicated with inconsistent speciation. In 2005 the section was considered to consist of 58 species and 7 subspecies. The section is characterised as large plants with multiflowered inflorescences, long pedicels, very long spathe valves and a cylindrical-campanulate perigon, with unequal and long-caudate spathe leaves.
Historically the section has been considered to have a number of subsections. Friesen recognised 2, while others have described 3, "e.g.";
Many species were previously included in a grouping referred to as the "Paniculatum" complex. Molecular studies demonstrate the presence of two clades within the section. Clade A contains the two autumn flowering species, "Allium tardans" and "Allium parciflorum" as a subclade. Clade B contains the smaller taxa within the section.
Subgenus "Reticulatobulbosa".
The second largest subgenus in the third evolutionary line.
5 sections.
Subgenus "Polyprason".
4 sections
Subgenus "Cepa".
Polyphyletic. 5 sections.
Etymology.
The name "Allium" is ancient, and the plant was known to both the Romans and the Greeks. The name is thought to be Celtic in origin, meaning "to burn", in reference to its taste and smell. One of the earliest uses of the name in botany, was by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656- 1708).


Dicranoweisia brevipes

Dicranoweisia brevipes is a species of moss that occurs on the Antarctic Peninsula and regional islands.


Agelanthus

Agelanthus is a genus of Afrotropical plants in family Loranthaceae. They grow in trees, including Acacia and Combretum species, as hemiparasitic shrubs of varying sizes. The host plant is penetrated by a single haustorium, and the stems typically have swollen, flower-producing nodes. The flowers are often closely clustered (fascicled) with the five petals (pentamerous) fused into a tube (gamopetalous). The flower may have a swollen base and the tubes open along unilateral, V-shaped splits. The filaments remain spirally rolled inward when the flowers open, while the styles are inconspicuous, slender filaments that are somewhat thickened in the middle. Berries range from pink to orange and red in colour, and are around 1 cm in diameter.
The genus was first described by Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem in 1895.
Species.
It is the largest genus of the Afrotropical Loranthaceae containing some 61 species, including:


Macrocalyx

Macrocalyx is a taxonomic plant genus synonym that may refer to:


Hunga gerontogea

Hunga gerontogea is a species of plant in the family Chrysobalanaceae. The species is endemic to New Caledonia.


Solanum roseum

Solanum roseum is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. It is endemic to Bolivia.


Ipomoea quamoclit

Ipomoea quamoclit (cypress vine, cypressvine morning glory, cardinal creeper, cardinal vine, star glory or hummingbird vine) is a species of vine in the genus "Ipomoea" native to tropical regions of the New World and naturalized elsewhere in the tropics.
Description.
It is an annual or perennial, herbaceous, twining vine growing tall. The leaves are long, deeply lobed (nearly pinnate), with 9-19 lobes on each side of the leaf. The flowers are long and in diameter, trumpet-shaped with five points, and can be red, pink or white.
Distribution and habitat.
Native from northern South America north to Mexico.
Vernacular names.
In southern India, it is called "mayil manikkam" in . In Malayalam, it is called "ākāśamulla". In Assamese it is known as Kunjalata (কুঞ্জলতা), while in the Marathi language it is known as "Ganesh Vel". In Bangladesh, it has the vernacular names "Tarulata", "Kamalata", "Kunjalata" and "Getphul".
In Telugu, it is called 'Kasiratnam'. In Mizo, it is called 'Rimenhawih'. In Jamaica it is called 'Indian creeper'.
Cultivation and uses.
It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant throughout the tropics, and also outside of tropical regions, where it is grown as an annual plant only, not surviving temperate zone winters. In some tropical areas, it has become naturalized.
It flowers in summer and fall. Its seeds are sown in rainy season. It blooms continuously from August to December in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and February to June in temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere.
Seedlings must always be kept moist. They require full sun for good growth. This vine is one of the best plants for attracting hummingbirds, and is a vigorous grower. In warmer climates, this plant can be extremely invasive.
It doesn't require any fertilizer and gives blooms without any care. It can be grown anywhere... In containers along with other plants, it can be grown in small containers, or in big containers it thrives well in small spaces and big spaces alike.
"Ipomoea" × "multifida" is a hybrid between "I. quamoclit" (the cypress vine) and "I. coccinea". The allotetraploid of this hybrid is "Ipomoea sloteri". Both are known as cardinal climber.


Monrosia

Monrosia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae, with the sole species Monrosia pterolopha, native to northwest Argentina.


Mesoptychia

Mesoptychia is a genus of liverworts belonging to the family Jungermanniaceae.
The species of this genus are found in Northern Hemisphere.
Species:


Poodae


Burmeistera cylindrocarpa

Burmeistera cylindrocarpa 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.


Microtropis rigida

Microtropis rigida is a species of plant in the family Celastraceae. It is a tree endemic to Borneo where it is confined to Sarawak.


Xanthophyllum ellipticum

Xanthophyllum ellipticum is a plant in the family Polygalaceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin meaning "elliptical", referring to the leaves.
Description.
"Xanthophyllum ellipticum" grows as a shrub or tree up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The smooth bark is grey or reddish brown. The flowers are white or pale yellow, drying brown or dark orange. The round fruits are initially orange, drying to brown or blackish. They measure up to in diameter.
Distribution and habitat.
"Xanthophyllum ellipticum" grows naturally in Thailand, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Borneo. Its habitat is lowland forests from sea-level to altitude.


Praeornis

Praeornis is a dubious genus of early avialan or bird-like dinosaur, named on the basis of a single feather discovered in the Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan by Sharov in 1971. A second specimen was discovered in 2010 by Dzik et al. The feathers of "Praeornis" likely represent modified tail feathers used for display or balance, similar to those found in some other early avialans. The feathers of "Praeornis" are unique thanks to their extremely thick central quill (rachis) and stiffened barbs.
In 1978, Rautian officially named the feather (cataloged as specimen PIN 2585/32) "Praeornis sharovi". He believed it belonged to a bird more primitive than "Archaeopteryx", and assigned it to its own subclass (Praeornithes), order (Praeornithiformes) and family (Praeornithidae). However, in 1986, Bock published a paper arguing that the "feather" was in fact the leaf of a cycad. This opinion was followed by Doludenko and colleagues in 1990, who noted that it was similar to the leaves of the cycad species "Paracycas harrisii". L.A. Nessov, in 1992, also suggested that it belonged to a cycad, but synonymized it with the species "Cycadites saportae". The opinion that it represents a leaf has since been followed by Alan Feduccia in 1996 and Peter Wellnhofer in 2004.
Three studies since the original description have supported the identification of "Praeornis" as a feather, rather than a leaf. In 1991, Glazunova and colleagues examined the specimen using an electron microscope and found that the microstructure had features in common with the "primitive" feathers of ratite birds [since ratites are now known to be secondarily flightless paleognathous birds, their feathers are not primitive but degenerate flight and contour feathers]. In a 2001 paper, Kurochkin also accepted its identity as a feather. A more comprehensive study was published in 2010 by Dzik et al., in which the authors conducted a biochemical analysis of a "Praeornis" feather and other fossils from the same site, including plants and fish. The analysis showed that the chemical markers of the "Praeornis" fossil was more similar to the fish scales than to the plant leaves, supporting the hypothesis that the feathers were animal in origin. Besides identifying "Praeornis" as a feather, Dzik et al. also noticed similarities between the purported feathers of "Longisquama" and those of "Praeornis".
In 2017, a fossil of an enantiornith found in Brazil was shown to have a pair of rachis-dominated tail feathers very similar to the type specimen of "Praeornis", making it likely that "Praeornis" represents an enantiornith or similar species.


Erinus

Erinus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae (previously in the family Scrophulariaceae), native to stony mountainous sites in North Africa and southern Europe. Some members of the genus have been cultivated as ornamental plants, particularly "Erinus alpinus", for which a number of different cultivars are available.


Selaginella apoda

Selaginella apoda, commonly known as meadow spikemoss, is a perennial lycophyte native to much of the eastern United States and parts of northeastern Mexico. The life cycle is the shortest of the genus "Selaginella", as well as one of the shortest among the lycophytes. "Selginella apoda" is found primarily in damp soils in habitats such as swamps, wet fields, open woods and along stream banks. "Selaginella apoda" presents the potential for case studies involving the plant's adaptability to environmental toxins. A lowland plant, it has only been recorded at elevations below 100 meters. It is closely related to "Selaginella eclipes" and "S. ludoviciana", both of with which it has been reported to form hybrids. This group is characterized by relatively flat strobili and large megasporophylls which occur in the same plane as the lateral leaves.
The plant was originally described, and named "Lycopodium apodum" by Carl Linnaeus in his "Species Plantarum" (1753).
Description.
"Selaginella apoda" stems have smaller leaves in two rows as well as larger leaves in two rows. This species can be differentiated from a regular moss species based on its veins running along the leaves. The stem of "S. apoda" can best be described as leafy. "Selaginella" species possess rhizophores.
Many species in the genus "Selaginella" also demonstrate dichotomous branching. Vegetative leaves on "S. apoda" are lined with small teeth, have a scale-like appearance, are short in length, and change in shape and size in the same node. "Selaginella apoda" branches can be a maximum of 15 centimeters in height and have a creeping style. The ligule on "Selaginella" species can be found rising on the adaxil surfaces of leaves at their base, as well as on sporophylls. The shape of the ligule is awl-shaped and occurs singly. The leaves of "S. apoda" contain a cuticle layer on their adaxial surfaces and they do not have hairs on their abaxial surfaces.
The internodes of "S. apoda" branches can be used to classify the branches as reproductive or vegetative, as the internodes are extended on vegetative branches. "Selaginella apoda" adventitious and primary roots contain a root cap at their tips, have the ability to branch when growing, are white, and possess root hairs, located in close proximity to the tips. "Selaginella apoda" primary root system contains only three single root strands; as such, the system is ailing, for it also does not branch significantly. Adjacent to the axil, sporangia are created from artificial cells. While stomata can be found following the leaf margin on the lower surface of the plant's leaves, stomata on the upper surface of "S. apoda" leaves disperse entirely following the laminae.
The dorsal leaves of "S. apoda" have acuminate apices. The primary leaves of "S. apoda" significantly contrast in shape from the cotyledons of the plant. "Selaginella apoda" leaf blades have borders with a margin that is light green in appearance or simply identical to each other. The strobilus of "S. apoda" is often restricted to a length of 1-2 centimeters. Typically, the strobili of "S. apoda" are in an erect position. Within the sporangia, the two gametophyte forms start development. "Selaginella apoda" sporangia can be distinguished from other species of "Selaginella" in how its wall is composed of two layers instead of three.
Taxonomy.
The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as "Lycopodium apodum". The specific epithet "apodum" is the neuter form of an adjective "apodus", coined by Linnaeus, meaning "footless". When in 1840 Antoine Frédéric Spring transferred it to the genus "Selaginella", he did so under the name "Selaginella apus", "apus" being a noun used in apposition rather than Linnaeus's adjective, on the grounds that in classical Latin, there is no such adjective as "apodus". In 1915, Merritt Lyndon Fernald published the name "Selaginella apoda", following Linnaeus in using an adjective as the specific epithet, in this case agreeing in gender with the feminine noun "Selaginella". Both names have been used.
"Selaginella apoda" falls under the order Selaginellales and the family Selaginellaceae, the biggest family of the lycophytes group and of which "Selaginella" is the single genus. The lycophytes contain over 1000 species across 10-15 extant genera. In the order Selaginellales, Selaginella also is the only living genus. Approximately 700-800 species comprise the genus "Selaginella" worldwide, of which about 320 can be found in the Western Hemisphere alone. "Selaginella apoda" is a synonym for "Lycopodioides apoda" as well as "Lycopodium apodum". This plant species was named based on Linnaeus’ observation that its strobili were stalkless.
"Selaginella apoda" can be subcategorized into the subgenus "Stachygynandrum". The genus "Selaginella" has been subjected to taxonomic treatments, including the arrangement of a plant's sporangia as well as the types of spores the plant species produces. In terms of phylogenetics, "S. apoda" falls under the "S. pallescens" OPHA clade, species that are native to the American continent and have one type of sporophyll in the form of a megaspore network. In the family Selaginellaceae, microsporangia are larger than the megasporangia and the strobili are quadrangular in shape or flat. "Selaginella apoda", under the synonymous name of "Lycopodium apodum", can be identified by stomata spread across the plane of the adaxial sides of its leaves, the leaf margins of the plant are all similar to each other, the diameter of their megaspores within the range of 0.29 – 0.35 millimeters, and the plant has acute to attenuate apices on at least 5 of their leaves.
Distribution and habitat.
Minus Antarctica, "Selaginella" species can be found scattered across the world's continents. "Selaginella apoda" occurs naturally in the Midwestern and Eastern states of the United States. In the Americas, "S. apoda" can be found as far north as the U.S. state of Maine to as far south as Guatemala.
While studies show that it can be located across U.S. States bordering the Gulf of Mexico, greater populations occur in the Cumberland Mountains, the larger Appalachian Mountains range, and the piedmonts of these states rather than directly in coastal environments. It can grow along lake or river shores, in meadows, human-disturbed habitats, as well as in aquatic habitats such as rivers. Primarily, "Selaginella apoda" thrives in environments heavily shaded from the sun and with high moisture content in the soils. Such environments can include the edges of wetland marshes, oceanic cliffs, wetland meadows, bogs, along the banks of running streams, or any similar saturated environment.
Boron effects on "Selaginella".
In a study testing the effects of boron on "Selaginella" species, the sporophyte heights in "S. apoda" demonstrated important contrasts between specimens treated with a small dose of boron and specimens without chemical treatment. The "S. apoda" specimens that lacked treatment with boron resulted in a yellow-green pigmentation and reduction in size, while the plant specimens chemically treated with boron demonstrated their expected green pigmentation as well as normal size. "Selaginella apoda" tested in the study demonstrated strobili reductions of ¼ its normal length in specimens not treated with boron than specimens treated with boron, and the boron-treated plants experienced abortion in their strobili. In the growth stages of "S. apoda", boron influences reproduction.
Ecology.
Tropical regions have diverse "Selaginella" floras. "Selaginella" hybrid species are rare because they do not have spore dispersal methods that allow for scattering of them across great distances. "Selaginella apoda" megaspores may be dispersed by wind or water. It may take as few as 85 days for "S. apoda" to finish its life cycle. In relation to the life cycle of other species of the genus "Selaginella", this time frame is much briefer.
While scientists have already concluded that the life cycle span of "S. apoda" is reliant in large part on the temperature of its habitat, researchers suggest that the duration of daylight may play a key role in determining the duration of the "S. apoda" life cycle as well. The primary root system of "S. apoda" is fragile. The root hairs are able to live on the roots for months and are mature on the roots prior to the root system penetrating the soil in the early growth stages. The roots, angle meristems, as well as rhizophores of "S. apoda" experience supplemental growth as the plant itself increases in height. This additional growth occurs in order to ensure the species does not have to transfer water in abundance while still being able to grow across a vast surface plane.
The lower surface on dorsal leaves of "S. apoda", as well as the upper surface of its ventral leaves, experience sunlight exposure if the stem of the plant experiences creeping growth, while the dorsal leaves’ upper surfaces and the ventral leaves’ lower surfaces are pointed away from direct light exposure. Strobilus length, as well as microsporangia counts, in "S. apoda" are reliant on their development season in addition to the strobilus’ age. Typically, "S. apoda" is prostrate, meaning that it lays flat on the ground.
Cultivation.
Due to "S. apoda’s" simple requirements, as well as its life cycle being so short in comparison to other "Selaginella" species, the plant is considered a model species suitable for related scientific studies .


Gentiana macrophylla

Gentiana macrophylla, the large leaf gentian, is called qin jiao(秦艽) in Chinese. Synonyms include "G. straminea", "G. crassiaulisor", and "G. dahurica". It is found in China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia.
Chemistry.
Chemical constituents include gentianine, gentianidine, gentiopicroside, gentianol.


Chrysosplenium americanum

Chrysosplenium americanum, the American golden saxifrage, is a species of golden saxifrage native to eastern North America.


Amblystegium tenax

Amblystegium tenax is a species of moss belonging to the family Amblystegiaceae.
It is native to Europe and Northern America.


Festuca subuliflora

Festuca subuliflora is a species of grass known by the common name crinkleawn fescue. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California where it is most abundant in the moist forests of the coastal mountains.
Description.
This fescue is a loosely clumping perennial bunchgrass with stems reaching one half to over one meter in height. It has many soft, flat, somewhat hairy leaves which often have prominent ribs. The drooping inflorescence has narrow spikelets with awns up to 15 millimeters long which are often, but not always, crinkled.


Eucalyptus wilcoxii

Eucalyptus wilcoxii, commonly known as Deua gum, is a species of mallee or tree that is endemic to south-eastern New South Wales. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three, white flowers and cup-shaped or bell-shaped fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus wilcoxii" is a mallee, sometimes a tree, that typically grows to a height of and forms a lignotuber. It has smooth grey, copper-coloured or greenish bark that is shed in long ribbons. Young plants and coppice regrowth have bluish green leaves that are paler on the lower surface, narrow elliptical, long and wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of green on both sides, lance-shaped to curved, long and wide, tapering to a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of three on an unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds on pedicels long. Mature buds are pear-shaped, cylindrical to oval, about long and wide with a beaked or conical operculum long. Flowering has been observed in March and the flowers are white. The fruit is a woody cup-shaped, bell-shaped or cylindrical capsule long and wide with the valves slightly protruding.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus wilcoxii" was first formally described in 1987 by Douglas John Boland and David Arthur Kleinig in the journal "Brunonia" from specimens collected by Boland on the northern slope of Mother Woila Mountain in Deua National Park in 1982. The specific epithet ("wilcoxii") honours Michael David Wilcox who made one of the first collections of this species.
Distribution and habitat.
Deua gum grows in poor soil on steep scree slopes near the headwaters of the Tuross and Moruya Rivers in the Deua and Wadbilliga National Parks.


Limonium binervosum

Limonium binervosum, commonly known as rock sea-lavender, is an aggregate species in the family Plumbaginaceae.
Despite the common name, rock sea-lavender is not related to the lavenders or to rosemary but is a perennial herb with small violet-blue flowers with five petals in clusters.
Eight rock sea-lavenders are endemic to Britain and Guernsey and the taxonomy was reviewed in 1986 to include a range of subspecies.
Growing 10–70 cm tall from a rhizome, "Limonium binervosum" flourishes in saline soils, so are therefore common near the western coasts and in salt marshes, and also on saline, gypsum and alkaline soils such as found on Flat Holm island in Wales, UK


Richard Austin Bastow

Richard Austin Bastow (14 May 1839 – 14 May 1920) was an Australian naturalist and bryologist.
R.A. Bastow was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of a scholarly parson James Austin Bastow. He was educated at The Royal Grammar School. In 1862 he eloped with Catherine Broadbent to America, Austin Bastow his son, was born in Cleveland Ohio in 1867. Richard and Catherine returned to England because of Catherine's mother's delicate health, after her death Richard and Catherine decided to emigrate to Tasmania, Australia, where in 1884 he became Town Surveyor in HobartTown. He had 5 children, 2 dying young, the other three were a son, Austin and 2 daughters, Dorothea Kate and Daisy Winifred. Richard and Catherine were buried in the Booroondara General Cemetery, Melbourne, Australia
It was in Tasmania that Bastow became interested in bryology. His definitive work, "Mosses of Tasmania", was published in Hobart. in 1886. Other significant works followed over the years. His last paper was "Victorian Hepaticae" in 1914, the pioneer paper in the field for that Australian state
In 1888 Bastow moved to Victoria,arriving aboard the 'Mangana' on 13 March. In Victoria he initially worked privately but later became an employee of the Public Works Department until his retirement. Richard found self-employment a task he was not suited to and being employed allowed him the time he felt he needed to follow his true passion "seaweeds and mosses". He was largely responsible for the original Melbourne Fish Market. In Victoria he continued with his field work and enthusiastic presentation of papers at the Field Naturalists Club and Royal Society of Victoria. He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London between 1885 and 1889
after his death his son Austin donated to the National Museum of Melbourne his collection of more than 10,000 molluscs. His main collection is in the Melbourne Herbarium, other collections in the Museum of Victoria.
The following species are named after Bastow:


Austrostipa setacea

Austrostipa setacea, the corkscrew bamboo grass, is found in many areas of inland Australia. This bunchgrass may reach tall. Flowering may occur at any time of the year. This is one of the many plants first published by Robert Brown with the type known as "(J.D.) v.v." Appearing in his "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen" in 1810. The specific epithet "setacea" is derived from Latin, referring to the bristly leaves.


Clematis glycinoides

Clematis glycinoides, commonly known as headache vine, is a climbing shrub of the family Ranunculaceae, found in eastern Australia, and New Caledonia.
Name.
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle described the species in 1817, from a specimen from the herbarium of Sir Joseph Banks. The species gains its common name from a folk use as a supposed remedy for headaches. The aroma from the crushed leaves is inhaled, appearing to relieve headaches as a result of the highly irritant properties of the resulting fumes. This process was explained by herbalist Cheryll Williams:
The uncomfortable sensation of breathing in the ammonia-like fumes has been described as "the head 'exploding', the eyes 'watering' and intense irritation of the nasal passages" – such that the initial headache was quickly forgotten.
Two varieties are recognised—"C. glycinoides glycinoides" and "C. glycinoides submutica".
Description.
"Clematis glycinoides" is a woody-stemmed vine that can reach long, with simple lanceolate (spear-shaped) to oblong leaves that are long by wide. The cream-white flowers appear from July to December, although these
are most abundant in September. The species is dioecious: the plants have either male or female flowers. The seedheads have several feathery 'tails' up to long.
Distribution.
"C. glycinoides" is found in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. It grows in woodland, forests and rainforests, on basalt, limestone, shale or sandstone soils with good drainage. Open forest species that it grows under include grey myrtle ("Backhousia myrtifolia"), grey ironbark ("Eucalyptus paniculata") and manna gum ("E. viminalis"), as well as floodplain forest trees such as cabbage gum ("Eucalyptus amplifolia") and broad-leaved apple ("Angophora subvelutina").
Honeybees visit the flowers.
"C. glycinoides" is possibly not as vigorous as other "Clematis" in cultivation, and requires moist conditions to do well. Its white flowers are considered to be an attractive feature.


Brunellia subsessilis

Brunellia subsessilis is a species of plant in the Brunelliaceae family. It is endemic to Colombia.


Brachyscome angustifolia

Brachyscome angustifolia is a former species name in the flowering plant genus Brachyscome.
Brachyscome angustifolia "var." angustifolia is currently known as Brachyscome graminea.
The name Brachyscome angustifolia "var." heterophylla is currently referred to the following species:


Eutaxia empetrifolia

Eutaxia empetrifolia is a shrub species in the family Fabaceae. The species is endemic to Australia. It occurs in South Australia and the south-west of Western Australia.


Deparia

Deparia (or the false spleenworts) is a genus of ferns. The Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I) places the genus in the family Athyriaceae, although other sources include it within an expanded Aspleniaceae or Woodsiaceae.
Species.
, the "Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World" accepted the following species (with a note that there are "probably still too many described species in China").
Some hybrids are also known:


Passiflora gibertii

Passiflora gibertii is a fast-growing ornamental vine with edible fruits. The flowers are also ornamental. The fast-growing vine can grow up to 27 feet long. It has three-lobed (occasionally 5-lobed) leaves which can grow to a few inches long. Vines may trail across arbors or climb trees or fences. The plant is easily container-grown and will flower readily. Flowering generally occurs in warm months. Some fruits may follow, and the ripe fruits which are yellow to orange in color are edible, though some reports claim the unripe fruits are poisonous. Its hardiness is to about 32 °F. It grows in full sun or in part shade. The vines need regular water, especially during the growing season. Vines can be pruned if needed, as secondary shoots readily sprout. Seeds benefit from presoaking and require warm temperatures of 75–85 °F for germination. Germination time is erratic and often takes several weeks to a few months. "P. gibertii" is not as commonly planted as some of the other Passifloras. It is native to South America, from Argentina through Paraguay and Brazil.


Echinopepon racemosus

Echinopepon racemosus is a species of flowering plant in the genus "Echinopepon", native to Latin America. A vine, its densely echinate fruits are dehiscent, but not explosive.


Mareya

Mareya is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described as a genus in 1860. It is native to tropical western and central Africa.
"Mareya micrantha" is said to have local anaesthetic properties. It is also used as an abortifacient.
transferred to "Mareyopsis"


Pentarhizidium orientale

Pentarhizidium orientalis, the Oriental ostrich fern, is a fern native to China, Japan, and the Himalayas. It grows to about 0.6 m (2 ft) in height by 0.6 m (2 ft) wide. It was formerly included in the genus "Matteuccia", but phylogenetic studies mandated that it and "Pentarhizidium intermedium" be moved to a new genus.


Commelinoideae

Commelinoideae is a subfamily of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the dayflower family (Commelinaceae). The Commelinoideae is one of two subfamilies within the Commelinaceae and includes 39 genera (out of 41 in the family) and all but 12 of the family's several hundred known species. The subfamily is further broken down into two tribes, the Tradescantieae, which includes 26 genera and about 300 species, and the Commelineae, which contains 13 genera and about 350 species.
The Commelinoideae is separated morphologically from the other subfamily, Cartonematoideae, in having glandular microhairs, arteries containing needle-like calcium oxalate crystals called raphide canals in between the veins of the leaves, and flowers that are virtually never both yellow and actinomorphic. Molecular phylogenetics also supports the separation of the two subfamilies.
Phylogeny.
The following is a phylogeny, or evolutionary tree, of most of the genera in Commelinoideae based on DNA sequences from the plastid gene rbcL


Drimys granadensis

Drimys granadensis is a broadleaf evergreen tree of family Winteraceae. it is native to tropical montane forests from Peru to southern Mexico.


Dissotis rotundifolia

Dissotis rotundifolia, commonly called pink lady, Spanish Shawl, or rockrose, is a shrub in the family Melastomataceae that occurs in tropical Africa.
Description.
"Dissotis rotundifolia" can grow in a variety of ways, from straight up and erect to lying flat and prostrate to decumbent, meaning the branches lie flat on the ground but turn up at the ends. When the stems trail, they root where the leaf connects to the stem, called the "node". The stems are woody on lower parts of the plant and become hirsute, meaning hairy, towards the top of the plant. The branches tend to spread wide, and range from pink to a dark reddish in color.
The leaves are oval shaped and three-ribbed, being long and wide. They are covered with short, appressed hairs on both sides. The stalks of the leaves are as long as , pilose, and pink.
The flowers of "Dissotis rotundifolia" are solitary, and the stalks of the flowers, like the leaves, are covered with tiny appressed hairs. The petals of the flower are in length and range from pink to a pale purple in color.
Habitat and ecology.
"Dissotis rotundifolia" is native to Africa, occurring naturally in central and western Africa from Sierra Leone to Zaire. It has been introduced as a ground cover and ornamental plant to other tropical areas such as Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Malaysia, and the West Indies, and has become naturalised in some topical parts of Australia. The shrub can grow anywhere in altitude from sea level to about above sea level.
Uses.
The leaves of "Dissotis rotundifolia" are used as a spice for sauces and as a potherb. In Liberia, the plant is used as a diuretic.


Eucalyptus surgens

Eucalyptus surgens is a species of mallee that is endemic to a small area on the south coast of Western Australia. It has rough bark near the base of the stems, glossy green lance-shaped leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, creamy yellow flowers and cup-shaped to cylindrical fruit.
Description.
"Eucalyptus surgens" is a mallee that typically grows to a height of , forms a lignotuber and has smooth bark apart from some rough bark near the base of the trunk. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull bluish green, broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves that are long, wide and petiolate. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy light green on both sides, lance-shaped, up to long and wide. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils on a thick, unbranched peduncle long, the individual buds on short pedicels. Mature buds have a bell-shaped floral cup and a cap-shaped operculum about long, wide and shorter than the floral cup. The flowers are creamy yellow and the fruit is a woody, cup-shaped to cylindrical capsule about long and wide with the valves below rim level.
Taxonomy and naming.
"Eucalyptus surgens" was first formally described in 1993 by Ian Brooker and Stephen Hopper in the journal "Nuytsia" from specimens collected by Hopper near Toolinna Cove in 1989. The specific epithet ("surgens") is a Latin word meaning "rising", referring to a prominent vertical scar on the rim of the fruit.
Distribution and habitat.
This mallee is only known from the type location near the coast on the western edge of the Nullarbor Plain.


Billygoat plum

Billygoat plum is a common name for several plants and may refer to:


Heliosperma

Heliosperma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus "Silene", but its members can be told apart from "Silene" by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority of the species are narrow endemics from the Balkan Peninsula, but "H. alpestre" is endemic to the Eastern Alps, and "H. pusillum" is found from the in northern Spain to the Carpathians. Like members of the genus "Silene" and other related genera, "Heliosperma" is attacked by species of the anther smut fungus "Microbotryum". Cases of parallel divergence events between alpine and mountain populations have been reported in this genus.
Species.
Around 15 species are currently recognised in the genus:


Plumbaginales

Plumbaginales is an order of flowering plants. The order is recognized by several systems, such as the Wettstein system, last revised in 1935, the Engler system, in its update of 1964 and the Cronquist system, 1981. Its circumscription is typically:
Cronquist placed this order in his subclass Caryophyllidae of three orders.


Euastrum

In taxonomy, Euastrum is a genus of green algae, specifically of the Desmidiaceae.


Amsinckia douglasiana

Amsinckia douglasiana is an uncommon species of fiddleneck known by the common name Douglas' fiddleneck. It is endemic to the coastal Santa Monica Mountains and Santa Ynez Mountains of southern California.
Description.
"Amsinckia douglasiana" is a bristly annual herb producing coiled, fiddlehead-shaped inflorescences of yellow-orange flowers similar to other fiddlenecks. The flowers are over a centimeter wide and often have fewer than five lobes. This species is heterostylous.
It is also known as an occasional introduced species on the East Coast of the U.S.


Aulacomnium

Aulacomnium is a genus of mosses of the family Aulacomniaceae, with a circumpolar distribution.
Species.
Species currently accepted by The Plant List are as follows:


Polygala crassitesta

Polygala crassitesta is a species of flowering plant in the family Polygalaceae. It is endemic to Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.


Castanopsis endertii

Castanopsis endertii is a tree in the family Fagaceae. It is named for the Dutch botanist and plant collector Frederik Endert.
Description.
"Castanopsis endertii" grows as a tree up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The brownish bark is slightly fissured with ring-like features. The coriaceous leaves measure up to long. Its roundish, edible nuts measure up to long.
Distribution and habitat.
"Castanopsis endertii" is endemic to Borneo. Its habitat is montane forests up to altitude.


Lithops julii

Lithops julii is a species of succulent plant of the genus "Lithops" under the family Aizoceae. It is native to Southern Africa, and was first collected by Professor Kurt Dinter, a German botanist, and named after his friend, Dr. Julius Derenberg.
Description.
"Lithops julii" has a leaf structure composed of pairs of leaves, out of the center of which flowers and new leaves grow. Leaves are usually a pale grey, with a grid of linear depressions. The colors of the depression vary from plant to plant, but can be tinges of red, brown, green, blue, pink, or beige. Flowers sprout from between the two leaves, and are white in color.


Bauhinia monandra

Bauhinia monandra is a species of leguminous trees, of the family Fabaceae. Common names include pink bauhinia, orchid tree, and Napoleon's plume. Naturally they grow in Madagascar, but have naturalised in Burma, Australia, Christmas Island, the Caribbean, southern USA and the Pacific Islands. The species is invasive in New Caledonia.


Xanthophyllum vitellinum

Xanthophyllum vitellinum is a plant in the family Polygalaceae. The specific epithet "" is from the Latin meaning "egg-yolk yellow", referring to the colour of the flower petals.
Description.
"Xanthophyllum vitellinum" grows as a shrub or tree up to tall with a trunk diameter of up to . The smooth bark is whitish or greyish brown. The flowers are yellow or white, drying orange to dark reddish. The brown-green fruits are round and measure up to in diameter.
Distribution and habitat.
"Xanthophyllum vitellinum" grows naturally in Thailand and western Malesia. Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp, riverine or lower montane forests from sea-level to altitude.


Conospermum ericifolium

Conospermum ericifolium is a slender shrub of the family Proteaceae native to eastern Australia. The habitat is drier eucalyptus woodlands or heathland. The specific epithet "ericifolium" refers to the similarity of the leaves to the European Heath.
Mostly seen around Sydney, though scattered individuals occur as far south as Jervis Bay. Flowering occurs from late winter to spring.
Surgeon John White collected this small plant in the late eighteenth century near Sydney. It first appeared in scientific literature in 1807 in Rees's Cyclopædia, authored by the prominent English botanist, James Edward Smith.


Zygostigma

Zygostigma australe is a species of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae native to South America. It was originally described as "Sabattia australis" in 1826 and transferred to the genus Zygostigma, of which it is the only member, in 1908.


Gymnocalycium bruchii

Gymnocalycium bruchii is a species of "Gymnocalycium" from Argentina.


Trochocarpa montana

Trochocarpa montana, the mountain tree heath, is an Australian shrub or small tree. It occurs at high altitude from the Barrington Tops to the Dorrigo region of northern New South Wales.
The habitat is above 1000 metres above sea level in cool temperate rainforest, usually dominated by Antarctic Beech or Sassafras.
The Latin specific epithet "montana" refers to mountains or coming from mountains.
Description.
A small tree or shrub. The crooked trunk can be up to 30 cm in diameter, slightly flanged at the base. Often seen a few metres tall, but it can grow to ten metres. The bark is thin, mottled brown, pinkish or fawn in colour. Bark is in scaly patterns. The underbark is much darker in colour.
Leaves alternate, not particularly grouped at the ends of the branchlets as seen in Trochocarpa laurina. Leaves not toothed, elliptic, 1.5 to 7 cm long, 0.4 to 2.5 cm wide, pointed at the tip. Glossy green both sides, paler beneath. Five parallel veins on the leaf, venation more evident under the leaf. New leaves red. Leaf stalks 2 to 3 mm long, hairy.
Small creamy brown flowers appear on spikes from March to July. The fruit is a small flattened drupe; blue to purplish black in colour, maturing from November to February. Within the aril of the drupe is a ten ribbed bony endocarp, each of the ten cells within contains a seed.


Typha tzvelevii

Typha tzvelevii is a plant species endemic to the Primorye region of the Russian Far East. It grows in wet places.


Keckiella rothrockii

Keckiella rothrockii is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name Rothrock's keckiella. It is native to the desert mountains of southeastern California and adjacent Nevada, where it lives in sagebrush and woodland. This is a short, wide shrub reaching maximum heights near half a meter. The hairy green stems bear small oval-shaped leaves up to 1.5 centimeters long. The flowers vary in color from brownish to yellow to cream, and are sometimes striped with dull purple or brown. Each is up to about 2 centimeters long with curling lobes at the mouth. Inside the tubular flower are stamens, including a flat, sterile stamen known as a staminode.


Doryopteris

Doryopteris is a genus of ferns in the subfamily Cheilanthoideae of the family Pteridaceae.
Species.
The circumscription of the genus was uncertain . The "Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World" lists species in three groups.
1. "Dorypteris" s.s. – species and hybrids assigned to the genus in molecular phylogenetic studies:
2. Additional species belonging to "Doryopteris" s.l. – placed outside of "Doryopteris" s. str. by Yesilyurt et al. (2015), but with no alternative placement:
3. Species placed outside of "Doryopteris" s.s. by Yesilyurt et al. (2015) that may be part of a redescribed "Pellaeopsis" or "Hemionitis":


Arctoa

Arctoa is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Dicranaceae.
The species of this genus are found in Europe and America.
Species:


Cynophalla heterophylla

Cynophalla heterophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Capparaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Perreiraara

× Perreiraara, abbreviated Prra. in the horticultural trade, is the nothogenus for intergeneric hybrids between the orchid genera "Aerides", "Rhynchostylis" and "Vanda" (Aer. x Rhy. x V.).


Begonia preussii

Begonia preussii is a species of plant in the family Begoniaceae. It is found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.


Triplasis purpurea

Triplasis purpurea, the purple sand-grass, is a grass native to North America. The specific epithet "purpurea" is Latin for "purple", referencing the purple spikelets of the grass.
Description.
"Triplasis purpurea" up grows to in height. Its wiry, tufted culms are either widely spreading or ascending, with pubescent nodes. The leaf sheathes and small, rigid leaves of the grass are scabrous. The ligule is a ring of short hairs. Its terminal panicles are long, with rigid and divergent branches. The rose-purple spikelets of the grass are long with two to five flowers and have rather short pedicels. The flowering scales are oblong and twice lobed at their apex, with glabrous lower scales. The joints of the rachilla are as half as long as the flowering scales. The awn of the lemma barely exceeds its truncate lobes.
The grass flowers from August to October.
Distribution and habitat.
"Triplasis purpurea" is endemic to North America, mostly throughout along eastern coast but also in the midwest.
The grass prefers the sandy dunes and beaches of the Atlantic coast, Gulf coast, and the Great Lakes, though it can also occur in disturbed areas inland such as roadsides.


Buergersiochloa

Buergersiochloa is a genus of New Guinean in the grass family.
The only known species is Buergersiochloa bambusoides.


Nepenthes peltata

Nepenthes peltata is a tropical pitcher plant known only from the upper slopes of Mount Hamiguitan on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It is characterised by a peltate tendril attachment and conspicuous indumentum. The species typically produces ovoid pitchers with a prominent basal crest and large nectar glands on the lower surface of the lid.
The specific epithet "peltata" is Latin for "peltate" and refers to the distinctive tendril insertion of this species.
Botanical history.
"Nepenthes peltata" was formally described by Shigeo Kurata in the January 2008 issue of the "Journal of Insectivorous Plant Society". The herbarium specimen "Koshikawa 44" is the designated holotype, and is deposited at the herbarium of the Botany Department of Kyoto University (KYO) in Kyoto, Japan. The specimen is a plant that was taken from the Mount Hamiguitan Range and later cultivated at Nanso Botanic Gardens.
Description.
"Nepenthes peltata" is a scrambling plant typically growing to a height of 1 m, although stems up to 3 m long have been recorded. The species does not appear to produce a climbing stem.
The lamina (leaf blade) is oblong in shape and reaches 50 cm in length by 9 cm in width. The apex of the lamina is rounded, while the base is abruptly contracted into the petiole, which is canaliculate and up to 7 cm long in mature plants. Young plants may have sessile leaves lacking a petiole. The lower surface of the lamina is often dark red in colour, contrasting sharply with the dark green upper surface. The margins of the lamina are sometimes curled upwards. Tendrils have a peltate insertion, with the point of attachment being up to 27 mm from the apex.
Rosette and lower pitchers vary widely in morphology, ranging from ellipsoidal to urceolate or entirely ovate. They are relatively large, growing to 28 cm in height by 16 cm in width. A pair of wings (≤10 mm wide), with fringe elements up to 9 mm long, runs down the ventral surface of the pitcher cup. The peristome is approximately cylindrical and up to 2 cm wide. It bears ribs up to 1.5 mm high and spaced up to 2 mm apart, which may terminate in teeth up to 1 mm long. The pitcher lid or operculum is ovate to elliptic in shape and measures up to 8 cm in length by 6 cm in width. A triangular basal crest is sometimes present on the underside of the lid together with scattered giant nectar glands measuring up to 3 mm across. An unbranched spur (≤12 mm long) is inserted near the base of the lid.
Upper pitchers of "N. peltata" have never been observed and are either very rare or absent altogether. It has been speculated that the species may produce aerial pitchers only in deep shade or if provided with sufficient vegetation to support a climbing stem, as is the case with the closely related "N. deaniana" and "N. mira".
"Nepenthes peltata" has a racemose inflorescence measuring up to 75 cm in length. Its thickness varies from up to 3.5 cm in males to up to 6.5 cm in females. The peduncle itself may be up to 46 cm long and 9 mm wide, while the rachis can reach 20 cm. Partial peduncles are mostly two-flowered and bear a bract (≤7 mm long). Their unbranched basal portion is up to 3 mm long, while the branches reach 14 mm. The ovate tepals measure up to 4 mm in length and have an acute apex. Fruits are approximately 20 mm long, while seeds measure around 4 mm.
An indumentum of long, brown hairs is present on the stem, tendrils, petioles, and underside of the lamina. A sparse covering of these hairs may or may not be present on the pitchers and upper surface of the lamina.
Ecology.
At present, "N. peltata" has only been recorded from the upper slopes of Mount Hamiguitan on the Philippine island of Mindanao. Much of the surrounding region has not been explored for "Nepenthes", therefore this species may yet be found in other parts of southern Mindanao. "Nepenthes peltata" has an altitudinal distribution that stretches from 865 m above sea level to the summit at 1635 m.
"Nepenthes peltata" grows terrestrially in a wide range of habitats, including upper montane mossy forest, secondary vegetation, ridge tops, cliff sides, and landslides. Vegetation is often very stunted in the more exposed sites. While "N. peltata" tolerates shady conditions, it grows best under direct sunlight. Like many of its close relatives, "N. peltata" is restricted to ultramafic substrates. On Mount Hamiguitan, it grows together with "N. alata" ("sensu lato"), "N. justinae" (previously identified as "N. mindanaoensis"), and "N. micramphora", and in the same altitudinal range as "N. hamiguitanensis". Despite this, no natural hybrids have been observed with certainty.
In his 2009 book, "Pitcher Plants of the Old World", Stewart McPherson writes that "N. peltata" is "not currently threatened" owing to its extensive populations on Mount Hamiguitan and the fact that visitors are only permitted to climb the mountain with the assistance of a guide. The future of wild populations of "N. peltata" will be further secured if provincial officials of Davao Oriental are successful in their bid to gain recognition of Mount Hamiguitan as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Related species.
"Nepenthes peltata" shows affinities to members of the "N. villosa" complex of species, which are predominantly localised on ultramafic soils in the north of Borneo and in the highlands of Palawan. As such, the presence of this species in Mindanao is thought to be evidence for the origin of the distinctive "N. villosa" complex from a common ancestor in Borneo.
"Nepenthes peltata" appears to be most closely allied to the Palawan endemics "N. attenboroughii", "N. deaniana", "N. mantalingajanensis", and "N. mira". It can be distinguished from all of these species on the basis of its unusual lamina colouration, conspicuous indumentum of the vegetative parts, and peltate tendril attachment. It shares this last feature, among others, with "N. rajah" of Borneo, which is also restricted to ultramafic soils and thought to be related to the Palawan species.
Natural hybrids.
"Nepenthes peltata" has no confirmed natural hybrids, although certain plants from Mount Hamiguitan may represent crosses involving it and "N. hamiguitanensis", "N. justinae" (previously identified as "N. mindanaoensis"), and "N. micramphora". Plants that were originally thought to represent a natural hybrid between "N. micramphora" and "N. peltata" are now recognised as belonging to a distinct species of possible hybridogenic origin, "N. hamiguitanensis".


Bindweed

Bindweed may refer to:


Typha laxmannii

Typha laxmannii, common name graceful cattail, is a wetland plant species widespread across Europe and Asia. "Typha laxmannii" is not as tall as many of the other species in the genus, rarely more than 130 cm high. A noticeable space separates the staminate (male) flowers from the pistillate (female) ones.


Achyronychia

Achyronychia is a monotypic genus of flowering plant containing the single species Achyronychia cooperi, which is known by the common names onyxflower and frost-mat. This plant is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of northern Mexico and the U.S. states of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. In California, it is known from San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Inyo Counties. In Arizona, it occurs in Yuma, Mohave, Pima, Pinal and Maricopa Counties. It has also been reported from Washington County in Utah, and from Clark County, Nevada.
Onyxflower is a diminutive plant which lies in a small mat flat on the ground. Its habitat is sand. It radiates several prostrate stems in all directions, each only a few centimeters long. The thick pale green leaves are paddle-shaped and under 2 centimeters long. In the leaf axils grow dense bunches of tiny flowers. There are no petals, but each flower has five thin shiny white sepals that look like tiny fingernails; the genus name "Achyronychia" is Greek for "chaff fingernail".


Pagiophyllum

Pagiophyllum is a form genus of fossil coniferous plant foliage. Plants of the genus have been variously assigned to several different conifer groups including Araucariaceae and Cheirolepidiaceae. They were found around the globe during the Carboniferous to the Cretaceous period.


Albugo occidentalis

Albugo occidentalis, the causal agent of spinach white rust, is an oomycete plant pathogen, although some discussions still treat it as a fungal organism. "Albugo occidentalis" is one of the most important spinach diseases in North America, found throughout the United States east of the rocky mountains.
Hosts and symptoms.
The economically important host of "Albugo occidentalis" is spinach ("Spinacia oleracea"); although the oomycete has also been reported to affect plants of the genus "Chenopodium", the genus including the crop plant quinoa. This pathogen causes white rust or white blister of spinach. It is unrelated to the basidiomycete rusts biologically, but appears somewhat similar on the surface of the leaf, sometimes causing the plant to form white or yellow blister-like pustules on leaves. The early stage, a milder chlorosis, is found on the on abaxial face, but if the white rust is allowed to thrive, it can blister and be visible on the adaxial surface as well.
Disease cycle.
Like all the other species in its genus, "Albugo occidentalis" is an oomycete. The survival structure is an oospore, which is the result of the karyogamy of two haploid gametes (the oogonium and antheridium). The oospore can overwinter in the soil, and in the spring it produces zoospores which will encyst on the surface of spinach leaves in the presence of water and germinate. Asexual propagation of "Albugo occidentalis" occurs via the production of sporangia on sporangiophores. These sporangia disperse and form zoospores, which complete the asexual cycle by re-infecting or infecting a new spinach leaf. The asexual oomycete can overwinter in spinach debris.
Environment.
Because it is an oomycete, presence of water or atmospheric moisture is essential for infection via motile zoospores. Periods of greatest risk of infection include spring and fall when cool evenings promote dew formation on leaf and days are not hot and dry enough to dry out the leaf surface. "Albugo occidentalis" is most successful at temperatures between 12° and 18 °C, and in this range the white rust takes about three days to germinate. It takes longer at temperatures outside of this window.


Umbilicus horizontalis

Umbilicus horizontalis, the horizontal navelwort, is a fleshy perennial flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae (in the genus "Umbilicus") native to the Mediterranean Basin and Middle East, from the Azores in the west to Oman in the east in rocky habitats.
Horizontal navelwort grows to an average of high. The thickly clustered, bell-shaped flowers are pale green, and grow in a raceme perpendicular to the spike, unlike common navelwort, whose flowers droop (thus the term "horizontal").
The plant often grows on shady walls or in damp rock crevices that are sparse in other plant growth, where its succulent, dark green leaves develop in rosettes that are about wide. Horizontal navelwort is similar to common navelwort in many respects, but is noticeably more succulent.


Dictyochloridaceae

Dictyochloridaceae is a family of green algae in the class Chlorophyceae.


Aspidotis californica

Aspidotis californica is a species of fern known by the common name California lacefern. It is native to California and Baja California.
It grows in rock cracks and crevices in many types of habitat, including Chaparral, Yellow pine forest, Foothill oak woodland, and Valley grassland.
Description.
"Aspidotis californica" has leaves that are thin and dissected into many triangular leaflets which are subdivided into small segments with curled teeth.
The leaf segments bear sori containing sporangia, with the edges of the leaves rolled under to create a false indusium over the sori.


Megachile albonotata

Megachile albonotata is a bee species in the genus "Megachile"; found notably in Spain, it is the pollinator of the orchid "Ophrys drumana".


Lewisia oppositifolia

Lewisia oppositifolia is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Montiaceae known by the common name opposite-leaf lewisia. It is native to the Klamath Mountains of Josephine County, Oregon, and Del Norte County, California, where it is a local serpentine endemic generally found in moist areas. This is a perennial herb growing from a small taproot and caudex unit. It produces a basal rosette of several lance-shaped, blunt-tipped fleshy leaves up to 11 centimeters long. There are sometimes smaller leaves located on the lower stem. The inflorescence is made up of one or more erect stems up to about 20 centimeters long, each bearing 1 to 6 flowers. The flower has 8 to 11 white to pale pink petals with blunt or jagged tips, each between 1 and 2 centimeters long. At the center are several stamens with pale anthers. This plant has a limited distribution and it is threatened by human activity in the area, such as logging.


Chlorella lewinii

Chlorella lewinii is a euryhaline, unicellular microalga in the Division Chlorophyta. It is spherical to oval-shaped, is solitary and lacks a mucilaginous envelope.


Torreya clarnensis

Torreya clarnensis is an extinct species of conifer in the yew family Taxaceae solely known from the middle Eocene sediments exposed in north central Oregon. The species was first described from a series of isolated fossil seeds in chert.
History and classification.
"Torreya clarnensis" has been identified from a single location in the Clarno Formation, the Clarno nut beds, type locality for both the formation and the species. The nut beds are approximately east of the unincorporated community of Clarno, Oregon and currently considered to be middle Eocene in age, based on averaging zircon fission track radiometric dating which yielded an age of 43.6 and 43.7 ± 10 million years ago and Argon–argon dating radiometric dating which yielded a 36.38 ± 1.31 to 46.8 ± 3.36 mya date. The average of the dates resulted in an age range of 45 to 43 mya. The beds are composed of silica and calcium carbonate cemented tuffaceous sandstones, siltstones, and conglomerates which preserve either a lake delta environment, or alternatively periodic floods and volcanic mudflows preserved with hot spring activity.
The species was described from a series of type specimens, the holotype specimen UF6510, which is currently preserved in the paleobotanical collections of the University of Florida and two paratype specimens, both of which are part of the National Museum of Natural History collections in Washington, D.C.. The fossils were part of approximately 20,000 specimens collected from 1942 to 1989 by Thomas Bones, A. W. Hancock, R. A. Scott, Steven R. Manchester, and a number of high school students.
The "Torreya clarnensis" specimens were studied by paleobotanist Steven R. Manchester of the University of Florida. He published his 1994 type description for "T. masonii" in the Journal "Palaeontographica Americana". The specific epithet "clarnensis" was chosen in recognition of the type locality, the Clarno Formation.
Description.
The seeds of "Torreya clarnensis" are fusiform and bilaterally symmetrical with a pointed tip and base. The seeds have an overall length raging between and a width between . The seeds are identified as from a "Torreya" species by several features of the exterior morphology. The overall cross section shape is obovate, with an acutely rounded base where an aril would have attached, a keeled apex, and a pair of vascular scars near the tip. The seeds have a pair of vascular pores positioned on the upper and lower surfaces approximately one third of the way below the apex. The apical area of the seed is defined by a keel created by the edges of the upper and lower faces.


Anastatica

Anastatica is a monotypic genus with the type species Anastatica hierochuntica. The genus is a member of the family "Brassicaceae" (formerly "Cruciferae"), in the division Magnoliophyta of the class Magnoliopsida. The plant is a small gray annual herb that rarely grows above high, and bears minute white flowers. It is a tumbleweed and a resurrection plant.
This species is not to be confused with "Selaginella lepidophylla", also sometimes referred to as "rose of Jericho", or "false rose of Jericho".
Names.
Common names include Maryam's flower, flower of St Mary, St. Mary's flower, Mary's flower, white mustard flower , and rose of Jericho.
Range.
"Anastatica" is found in arid areas in the Middle East and the Sahara Desert, including parts of North Africa and regions of Iran, Egypt, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan and India.
Description.
A plant with great resistance to desiccation, its branches have the property of contracting with dryness, remaining closed and dry for many years, reopening with moisture or contact with water, regaining all its freshness and beauty. After the rainy season, the plant dries up, dropping leaves and curling branches into a tight ball, and aestivates. Within the ball, the fruits remain attached and closed, protecting the seeds and preventing them from being dispersed prematurely. The seeds are very hardy and can remain dormant for years. Moistened again in a later rainy season, the ball uncurls and the plant wakes up from its dormant state, which causes the capsular fruits to open to disperse the seeds. If water is sufficient, the dispersed seeds germinate within hours. After it curls, it is easy for the wind itself to lift and drag it large distances, making them obligatory travellers through steppes and deserts crossing the borders of various countries in Asia and disseminating their seeds for all of them.
A fraction of the seeds are dispersed in the vicinity of the parent plant by raindrops hitting a spoon-like appendix on the seeds. The seeds have a sticky coat that helps them adhere to the soil, but they also may be carried downstream by surface wash. However, seeds swept downstream do not survive.
The process of curling and uncurling is completely reversible and can be repeated many times. The ability of the plant to do this is attributed to the presence of trehalose, a disaccharide sugar involved in several mechanisms of cryptobiosis. Although the rehydrated plant sometimes is described as putting out new leaves, flowers, and fruits, this is disputed; instead, the seeds may sometimes germinate and sprout new plants while still seated in the fruit on the dead parent plant.
"Anastatica" has been described as "the most famous tumble weed". Once dry, the ball is said to become detached and is dispersed by wind. This tumbleweed habit has been interpreted as a mechanism of avoiding burial in dunes. However, "Anastatica" may possess this habit only in the literature, or tumble only rarely, if uprooted by accident.
Culture.
Since ancient times it was used as an element to guess the climate, since being a vegetable hygrometer, the wise man or shaman, predicted it with success. In dry weather the plant remains completely closed; in wet weather, it opens slowly; if it threatens rain, it opens in a very showy way and with more or less speed according to the proximity of discharge of the clouds.


Bollygum

Bollygum may refer to a number of tree species:


Chylocladia verticillata

Chylocladia verticillata is a medium-sized red marine alga.
Description.
"Chylocladia verticillata" is a marine alga which grows erect to a length of 30 cm from an disk-shaped holdfast. It branches in a whorled manner the thallus is hollow and shows constrictions at intervals, it is mucilaginous, gelatinous, and up to 5 mm broad. In colour it is pinkish or purple. The structure is multiaxial.
Habitat.
Epilithic or epiphytic in the lower littoral in rock pools and in the sublittoral.Commonly found in the Laminarian zone.
Reproduction.
This alga is dioecious, cystocarps occur between April and October and tetraspores between May and September.The male structures are arranged around the constrictions. The sporangia are visible in the tissue of the younger branches.
Distribution.
Found around the shares of the British Isles but more rarely on the eastern shores. Also recorded from Norway to Morocco into the Mediterranean including the Canary Isles,also from the Channel Islands.
Similar species.
"Champia parvula" is not common but small specimens of "Chylocladia verticillata" may appear similar.


Algarrobilla

Algarrobilla, small carob (algarrobo) in Spanish, also written "algarovilla", may refer to :


Ulva chaetomorphoides

Ulva chaetomorphoides is a species of tropical and benthic seaweed in Ulvaceae family that can be found in Gulf of Mexico and European waters.


Equisetum diffusum

The Himalayan horsetail ("Equisetum diffusum") is a perennial that averages at 10-25 inches. The Himalayas plant is silica rich and has a rhizomatous stem. This shiny brown stem can have many small hair-like roots and may also grow tubers.


Pentameris

Pentameris is a genus of plants in the grass family, native primarily to Africa, with a few species in Yemen and on certain islands in the Indian Ocean.
A significant number of species are endemic to South Africa.
see "Chaetobromus Danthonia Merxmuellera Pseudopentameris Tenaxia"


Lists of trees

A listing of lists of trees.


Asphodeloideae

Asphodeloideae is a subfamily of the monocot family Asphodelaceae in the order Asparagales. It has previously been treated as a separate family, Asphodelaceae "sensu stricto". The family Asphodelaceae has now been proposed to be a nomen conservandum, and the proposal has been recommended for ratification in 2017. In that case, Asphodelaceae will have priority over Xanthorrhoeaceae. This is reflected in the APG IV family lists.
The subfamily name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, "Asphodelus". Members of group are native to Africa, central and western Europe, the Mediterranean basin, Central Asia and Australia, with one genus ("Bulbinella") having some of its species in New Zealand. The greatest diversity occurs in South Africa.
The genera "Aloe", "Asphodelus", and "Kniphofia" are perhaps best known from their use in horticulture as ornamental plants.
Description.
The Asphodeloideae are distinguished by a general presence of anthraquinones, simultaneous microsporogenesis, atypical ovules morphology, and the presence of an aril. Asphodeloideae also have a characteristic secondary growth by means of a secondary thickening meristem. This character, however, is also found in other taxa in the Asparagales, including Agavaceae, Iridaceae, and Xanthorrhoeoideae. It is confined to Asparagales among the monocots and is believed to have evolved independently in most families.
Aloin cells.
The presence of aloin cells is a distinctive character of the Aloeae. These cells are present in all Aloeae, but are absent in most of the other genera within Asphodeloideae. A well-developed cap of thin-walled parenchyma cells occurs at the phloem pole of each vascular bundle. Chase posits that they are involved in secondary metabolite production, but Beaumont suggests that the cells act as a storage tissue for compounds synthesized in the surrounding layer of cells. The aloin cells are said to produce the characteristic thick exudate that is produced when the succulent leaf of aloe is severed. The aloin cells produce anthraquinone and chromone derivatives, which may be responsible for the medicinal attributes of "Aloe".
Taxonomy.
Lotsy (1911) placed a number of genera ("Kniphofia", "Notosceptrum", "Chortolirion" and "Aloe") into a family, separate from Asphodelaceae, the Aloinaceae. Other taxonomists have subsequently circumscribed a tribe, Aloineae (or Aloeae) to include "Gasteria", "Haworthia" and "Aloe". Other taxonomic terms have included Aloaceae, Alooideae, Aloideae, Aloidea, Aloides, Aloinae and Aloeace, with the type genus "Aloe".
Phylogeny of Asphodeloideae.
There is agreement among many researchers that Asphodeloideae can be further divided into a monophyletic group comprising "Aloe" and its immediate relatives, and a nonmonophyletic group of the remaining genera. The monophyletic group can be treated as the tribe Aloeae within the subfamily Asphodeloideae by those adopting the broad APG IV system circumscription of the Asphodelaceae. (Alternatively, it may be treated as the subfamily Alooideae within a more narrowly circumscribed family Asphodelaceae.) Aloeae are mainly rosulated-leaf succulents, while the other genera are not succulent. The genera in Aloeae are centered in southern Africa, while the other genera have mainly a Eurasian distribution.
Aloeae.
, Aloeae (or Alooideae s.s.) comprises "Aloe", "Aloiampelos", "Aloidendron", "Aristaloe", "Astroloba", "Gasteria", "Gonialoe", "Haworthia", "Haworthiopsis", "Kumara" and "Tulista". The genera within Alooideae have several morphological characters that can be distinguished in the field, namely the arrangement and type of leaf and inflorescence.
Evidence for monophyly of Aloeae is based on distinctive karyotype and characteristic leaf morphology. The "Bulbine" group has characteristics of Aloeae, but is not included in the group due to a lack of tubular flowers. "Kniphofia" is considered an outgroup of Aloeae since it has tubular flowers and a fusion of perianth segments, but it lacks succulent leaves.
Selected list of genera.
The genera listed below are those accepted by APWeb . Other treatments combine some of these genera into as few as seven.
For a phylogeny of the family, see the phylogenetic tree at Asphodelaceae.


Gastonia (plant)

Gastonia is a formerly accepted genus of flowering plants in the ivy and ginseng family, Araliaceae. It had been known as an unnatural group, but was recognized as late as 2010, when its nine species were distributed to four different subgenera of the large genus "Polyscias". Because the genus "Gastonia" is now obsolete, its species are herein referred to by their names in "Polyscias".
The species that constituted "Gastonia" are mostly island endemics, with Madagascar and New Guinea being the largest land masses on which any of them naturally occur. "Gastonia" had a disjunct distribution, with three species from the Seychelles, three more from the Mascarenes, one from Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, and two distributed from Malesia to the Solomon Islands.
"Gastonia" is a genus of small to large size trees. It shares with related genera, the lack of an articulation on the pedicel, below the flower. It is distinguished from "Reynoldsia", "Munroidendron", and "Tetraplasandra" by the radiating style arms that persist on the fruit.
Species.
Listed below are the nine species placed in "Gastonia" by Frodin and Govaerts (2003). Names in "Polyacias" are from Lowry and Plunkett (2010).
Notes on selected species.
"Polyscias spectabilis" is from New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It sometimes exceeds in height, and is the tallest member of Araliaceae. Like most members of "Polyscias", "P. spectabilis" is sparingly branched, sometimes even palm-like in form, at least when young. Mature individuals of "P. spectabilis" are sometimes unbranched for 3/4 of the height of the tree. Hermann Harms erected the monotypic genus "Peekeliopanax" for it in 1926, but was not followed by other authors.
The type species for "Gastonia" is "Gastonia cutispongia" (now "Polyscias cutispongia"). It is a tall, smooth tree with spongy bark. It is native to Réunion and sometimes planted there, but it has become very rare.
"Polyscias maraisiana" is endemic to Mauritius and was cultivated in Europe in the 19th century, but has not been seen there since that time. It was considered exotic on account of its strikingly heteroblastic leaves.
"Polyscias maraisiana" has been the subject of some nomenclatural instability. In 1984, Wessel Marais separated it from "Gastonia cutispongia" as "Gastonia mauritiana". In 2003, it was shown that the correct name for this species was "Gastonia elegans" because it had first been described in 1866 as "Terminalia elegans". This description was a large and unexpected taxonomic error because "Terminalia" is in the Myrtalean family Combretaceae. In 2010, when this species was transferred to "Polyscias", the specific epithet had to be changed again because the names "Polyscias mauritiana" and "Polyscias elegans" already existed. The latter two are in the "Polyscias" subgenera Grotefendia and Tieghemopanax, respectively.
The most widespread and variable of the species in the former "Gastonia" is "Polyscias serratifolia". It ranges thru most of Malesia and from there to the Solomon Islands. Some of its varieties have been named as separate species and placed in other genera, such as "Arthrophyllum" and "Tetraplasandra". These were united into one species by , as "Gastonia papuana" in 1970, and as "Gastonia serratifolia" in 1979.
History.
Quattrocchi states that "Gastonia" was "named after Gaston d'Orléans, 1608-1660, a patron and promoter of botany and floriculture". The name was originated by Philibert Commerson, but validated later, in 1788, by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in "Encyclopédie Méthodique.
Lamarck gave a detailed description of the species that he named "Gastonia cutispongia". He named another species, but gave it only a cursory description. No one today is really sure of what the other species was. Some authors believe that it was not even a member of Araliaceae.
Other species were added to "Gastonia" in the 19th century. In 1898, Hermann Harms transferred what is now "Polyscias sechellarum" to "Gastonia" in a landmark monograph on Araliaceae in Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien.
William Raymond Philipson gave "Gastonia" its modern definition in 1970. He included Malesian species that had been in "Tetraplasandra", thus restricting that genus to the Hawaiian Islands. He also reduced the monotypic genera "Indokingia" ("Polyscias crassa") and "Peekeliopanax" ("Polyscias spectabilis") into synonymy under "Gastonia".
William Botting Hemsley had named "Indokingia" in 1906 in Hooker's Icones Plantarum. "Peekeliopanax" was a name that Hermann Harms had applied to a flowering specimen in 1926. A few years later, he placed a fruiting specimen of the same species under "Gastonia".
In 2003, a checklist and nomenclator was published for Araliaceae by Kew Gardens. Nine species were recognized therein for "Gastonia". The genus was described as "generalized, altho in details, it is quite varied". Since that time, molecular phylogenetic studies, based on DNA sequences, have shown that "Gastonia" was polyphyletic. These studies have shown that biogeography is strongly correlated with relationships in Araliaceae.
In 2010, the genus "Polyscias" was expanded from about 100 species to 159. The number of species in "Polyscias" will be around 250 when the undescribed species are published. Six genera ("Arthrophyllum", "Cuphocarpus", "Gastonia", "Reynoldsia", "Munroidendron", and "Tetraplasandra") were placed in synonymy under "Polyscias". In accordance with the phylogenetic studies of DNA, "Polyscias" was divided into 11 subgenera (Polyscias, Grotefendia, Maralia, Arthrophyllum, Cuphocarpus, Tetraplasandra, Eupteron, Sciadopanax, Tieghemopanax, Indokingia, and Palmervandenbroekia) and seven species were left incertae sedis.
The nine species that had been in "Gastonia" went to four different subgenera of "Polyscias"; three species went to Grotefendia, three more to Indokingia, two to Tetraplasandra, and one to Maralia.
"Polyscias cutispongia", "Polyscias maraisiana", and "Polyscias rodriguesiana" are endemic to Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues, respectively. The latter two were separated from "P. cutispongia" in 1984. They are in "Polyscias" subgenus Grotefendia, which comprises 15 species, all from the Mascarene Islands. The type species for "Polyscias" subgenus Grotefendia is "Polyscias repanda".
"Polyscias" subgenus Grotefendia contains "Polyscias cutispongia", the type species for "Gastonia". If the subgenus Grotefendia were to be raised to the taxonomic rank of genus, the name "Gastonia" would have priority over Grotefendia, according to the ICNAFP.
"Polyscias crassa", "Polyscias sechellarum", and "Polyscias lionnetii" are all from the Seychelles, with "Polyscias lionnetii" being very rare and restricted to the island of Mahé. These are the only species of "Polyscias" in the Seychelles, and together, they constitute "Polyscias" subgenus Indokingia. "Polyscias seychellarum" is an orthographical variant of "Polyscias sechellarum". "Polyscias sechellarum" was divided into three varieties in 1987, but some authors have declined to recognize them until further studies can be done on this species.
"Polyscias duplicata" (formerly "Gastonia duplicata") is in "Polyscias" subgenus Maralia. Maralia is, by far, the largest subgenus of "Polyscias", with about 115 species. Most of them, like "Polyscias duplicata", are endemic to Madagascar.
"Polyscias serratifolia" and "Polyscias spectabilis" are now in "Polyscias" subgenus Tetraplasandra. This is a wide-ranging subgenus of 21 species. Eleven species are endemic to Hawaii, and ten others are distributed in a large area that includes Malesia and extends eastward to Tahiti.
Sources.
Gregory M. Plunkett, Jun Wen, Porter P. Lowry II, Murray J. Henwood, Pedro Fiaschi, and Anthony D. Mitchell. accepted, undated. Araliaceae, pages ??. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor); ?? (volume editor). "The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants" volume ??. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN ??


Delisea elegans

Delisea elegans is a species of red algae.